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Food security is a global challenge and its only getting more critical, says Irving Fain, founder and CEO of Bowery Farming, the vertical farming company using hydroponics and digital agriculture to reimagine the future of produce. The problem were solving at Bowery is a problem thats not only relevant to the cities were in today or to cities in the U.S., but its relevant to cities around the world.

On a recent airing of the Most Innovative Companies Podcast, Fain explains how Bowery is seeking to reinvent and reimagine food and agriculture, reflecting on confirmation bias and his status as an outsider in agriculture, while also detailing how hes been able to retain critical focus on the bigger problem at handand why now is the time to innovate.

Irving is convinced that technology can secure the future of food, and that what Bowery is building will be a critical part of the agricultural and food supply chain. As he explains, you can grow almost anything hydroponicallyits just a matter of determining which crops make sense, financially and otherwise.

To that end, focus is critical with respect to innovation, says Fain. Scalable vertical farming is a notoriously hard problem to solve (many believe it impossible), which is why he started by growing only lettuce, using it as a prototype, before growing fruit like strawberries, and other smart produce: Just because we knew ultimately wed be able to grow so much more than just greens didnt mean that that was the right place to start.

It is through this initial focus, Fain explains, that Bowery has been able to build smart farms (or Bowerys, as he calls them) that operate 365 days a year, independent of climate events, and are 100 times more productive than traditional agriculture. Wherever food is needed we can grow it, he says.

Though one could argue entrepreneurship is second nature to him, Fain had to learn farming, a fact which he believes allows him to see opportunities others might miss.

Ignorance and navet can be an advantage for an entrepreneur, and its something that you can use to your benefit if youre thoughtful about it, Fain says. When youre too deep into an industry or too deep into a problem, its very easy to start to see all the reasons why new solutions cant work or wont work, or havent worked in the past.

Fast Company is a leading business media brand with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world-changing ideas, creativity, and design. See all author stories here.

Link:
100 Times More Productive Than Traditional Agriculture? Inside the Mind of Smart Farms - Greenhouse Grower