Alabama Indoor Vertical Farm Finds Delaware Soulmate
Lee Harrison, co-founder of Gardens on Air
Lee Harrison and his wife, LeeAnn, are the founders of Gardens on Air, an indoor vertical farm located in Rainbow City, Alabama. Operating in 3,000 sq. ft. of a 20,000 sq. ft. former grocery store, Gardens on Air grows chemical-free produce and herbs harvested and sold locally. They are a Certified Woman-Owned, Certified Natural Grown, Vegan Certified, and a Non-GMO Project business.
The parents of 13-year-old twins, the Harrisons are driven by a mission to improve people’s lives by ensuring the abundance of healthy food choices and offering second chances by providing employment opportunities to disadvantaged individuals. So strong is their belief in what they’re doing to make a positive difference that when a devastating turn of events threatened them with financial ruin, they took risks, made sacrifices, and fought the odds to not just survive, but triumph. They could hardly give up they are surrounded by friends and mentors whose encouragement and influence kept them forging ahead.
Lee traveled up to Delaware from Alabama on February 28 to see Second Chances Farm’s operations firsthand. A retired Alabama State police officer and a man of faith, Lee was particularly interested in our innovative approach to ending recidivism by providing employment, mentorship and entrepreneurial opportunity to previously incarcerated individuals. He knows the value of giving second chances to people and has seen firsthand how returning citizens are ostracized by society once they’re released from prison. He’s also witnessed many success stories of how good people can rebuild their lives if given the opportunity, trust, and respect.
Lee learned a lot of hard lessons about the importance of respect in his rookie years as a cop. He admits to having been a strictly “by the book” cop, stone-faced and uncompromising, until one day when someone literally knocked some perspective into him.
“I was so gung ho about enforcing the law that I had complaints on me,” says Lee. “I never lied. I've never done anything that would be considered unethical treatment of anybody. I just didn't have the capacity to see past the written law.”
All that changed the day Lee went to arrest a black man named Bruce Lee, (a.k.a. “Big Guy,”) who had just been released from prison and was visiting his family.
“We had felony warrants on him mostly drug-related. He had done nothing but work out during his last stretch behind bars, so he was what we called, ‘jail-house built.’ Massive. I was 150 pounds soaking wet, and my partner, Terry, was even smaller. Terry wanted us to wait for backup. But I said, ‘No! If we let him out of our sight, he might get away.’ That’s how I thought.
“I walked right up to him and said, ‘Hey, we got a warrant for you.’ He leaned into me and whispered, ‘Look man, please don’t do this in front of my family. Let me finish, and I’ll gladly let you put me in the car.’”
Lee wasn’t hearing any of it. The third time he told Big Guy he was taking him to jail, he grabbed his arm. The next few minutes, he says, are a blur.
“I remember it in slow motion,” Lee says. “His arm was like a tree trunk. I felt as though I had grabbed the back end of a car as it was taking off, and I knew I was about to get really hurt. To say he mopped the floor with Terry and me is an injustice. All I had left afterward was my gun belt, half my shirt, and half my pants. I was a bleeding mess.”
Lee managed to pull out his gun and he pointed it at Big Guy’s two friends, both of whom were even bigger, and demanded they put the cuffs on him, which they did.
“When we got to the jail, Big Guy wasn’t even winded,” Lee says. “He just calmly says to me, ‘If you had done things differently, I guarantee this wouldn’t have happened.’”
Big Guy was, at one time, a prominent gang leader. His world was violent, but regardless, he knew how to lead people and get them to do what he wanted. He knew how to run a successful if illegal, business.
“I can tell you what your problem is” he said. ‘You need to treat people with respect. Don’t raise your voice. Be polite. There will be people who don't do what you say regardless. It don't matter. There's those people, you just got to do what you gotta do with those people. But if you would’ve just taken the time… if you’d just stood there and let me finish talking to my mom who I haven’t seen for years and is bad off we wouldn’t have had a problem.”
The Harrison Family
This made Lee’s heart leap. He realized he hadn’t been respecting people’s dignity or humanity, and he also didn’t know that the man’s mother was suffering. “And I said, okay, I'll take your advice. And I did, and my complaints went down to zero. I rarely had to fight anyone anymore. Everything changed for me at that point. In 1999, I was Officer of the Year for the State of Alabama.”
At that moment, Lee shed his “no emotion, strictly business” police persona and let his real, compassionate self shine through. He could often be found shooting hoops on the basketball courts in crime-ridden neighborhoods as a trusted friend and role model. Partnering with Second Chances Farm to create a presence in Alabama to help former inmates reenter society will be a dream come true.
Ten years ago, when job-related injuries forced him into retirement, Lee’s brother came across research from NASA about aeroponic and hydroponic farming. Lee was intrigued about growing crops without pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
“My father had cancer and was having issues with his medication, so we were looking for healthy foods that we could grow. We didn’t trust the purity of so-called ‘organic’ foods we had learned that even if soil-based crops are grown without harmful chemicals, they are still vulnerable to the risk of chemical run-off from the non-organic fields.”
The Harrisons started small with an aeroponic system and later moved to hydroponic methods. “We grew for other people who had cancer, too. “ We decided to expand because we were doing a lot of good and really enjoying it. After years of having to prove ourselves to the USDA, we were able to be certified as Organic. Since research has shown the positive effects of wheat and barley grass juice on muscle growth, we have been growing that for cancer patients, too.”
It hasn’t been an easy ride. In Alabama, agriculture is hard-wired into the culture. It’s the primary way of life.
“I don't know how many times we've been told we wouldn’t make it. ‘It won't work.’ ‘There's no way to do it.’ ‘It won't happen.’ ‘You can't do that.’ ‘How can you grow a plant without dirt?’ ‘You're an idiot.’ And yet, today, indoor vertical farming has become a multi-million dollar industry garnering millions of investment dollars. People are starting to accept that they are dependent on huge amounts of produce that comes into our state from California and Arizona and that we are much better off protecting our people by growing our own produce locally, 365 days a year.”
Lee believes that the mentality and the mission of Second Chances Farm and Gardens on Air interlock flawlessly. We are honored to have met Lee Harrison, a truly honorable, compassionate, and inspiring man.
Lee has invited Ajit Mathew George, founder of Second Chances Farm to visit Lee’s existing 20,000 sq. ft. facility in Alabama between March 30 and April 2 to see how it might be integrated into “Second Chances Farm Rainbow City, Alabama.”
Stay tuned for more details!
