Jan 28, 2022
ep. 104: Jonathan Webb || where tech
embraces nature in controlled growing environments
"To feed the population of 2050 we'll need to grow more food
than we have in the entire history of human
agriculture. That's what keeps me up at night. That's a need
for more food than the previous 10,000 years of human food
production combined," explains Jonathan Webb. A Kentucky
native, Webb first made a name for himself in building-out clean
energy infrastructure throughout Appalachia. In starting
AppHarvest, Webb returned home to his Blue-Grass state roots to
build-out a large-scale state-of-the-art value-based food
production operation that is truly disrupting the apple cart. As
you'll hear once again in this conversation, 'Good food is the
foundation of genuine happiness'.
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NEW EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SALAD PLATE & FRUIT BOWL
Something that I found especially insightful in my conversation
with Jonathan was his storyline about regional food systems. He
draws-upon an analogy of shipping coal to support growth of cities
and spawn progress. Cities in his region first began to thrive much
thanks to the innovative supply chain that sourced consistent
energy from the hills of Kentucky.
After years of learning about decentralized energy in the Solar industry, Webb leveraged a skill set gained in clean energy production and large-scale infrastructure to build-out and now source good food at scale in that region. Funny enough, it’s once again all about a consistent source of ‘energy-units’ to make these cities thrive and prosper, but now that energy comes in the form of better quality, fresher, tastier, and vibrant fruit and veg. It’s like a whole new green energy innovation economy spawning in the hills of Kentucky. Feeding neighbors, employing communities and having a net positive impact on the planet - this is a CORE SYSTEMS CHANGE in food production that takes the best that tech & nature have to offer.
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With a consistent supply of fresh quality produce, Webb and
AppHarvest are making inroads into key supply chains. Through
affiliations, partnerships and ambassadors - AppHarvest is also
making headway for the entire CEA industry on both Main Street and
Wall Street. Utilizing a proven Dutch solution for large-scale
horizontal glass-house production farms - AppHarvest will have all
the capacity it needs to become real competition for fresh and
frozen markets alike across the US. So, look out fellow patriots on
either-side of the aisle, you're about to experience a
Green-Energy-Revolution coming straight out of
coal-country.
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CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE (CEA)
Once a regional market has been saturated with all kinds of good
veg & fruits - AppHarvest can expand its footprint and grow into
more. The Controlled Environment Ag (CEA) glass-house model that
AppHavest has established is a turn-key scalable solution that will
grow more good food in diverse regions in the United States for
years to come.
New footprints can made available anywhere there's a market ripe with evolving consumer POV and new expectations for food. From what we learn from Webb, the positive impacts for this better quality, healthier, fresher, smarter, and safer foods can be, and should enjoyed by everyone in his region; your region; all regions, really. With this first dip-of-the-chip in Morehead, KY - AppHarvest has only just begun to 'Fight the good Food Fight'.
#SourcingMatters