Next-Gen Leaders In Urban Farming - Josh Aliber
Next-Gen Leaders In Urban Farming - Josh Aliber
Josh joined Square Roots in 2016 as one of ten farmers in the inaugural season of our Urban Farming and Entrepreneurship Program. He’s now part of the R&D team, helping to design our future farming technology. We asked him to share a bit about his journey to become a next-gen leader in urban farming.
Josh Aliber with his thai basil during season one of the Square Roots farming program.
SR: How did you get started in urban farming?
JA: My first time growing a plant was a gardening course in college. I signed up hoping to satisfy some credits not expecting the joy I’d receive from growing food. I had a 5’ x 5’ plot that I decided to fill with broad-leaf mustard. Every week, I returned to my dorm with a bundle of mustards to share with my roommates. They always accepted my greens but never knew what to do with them!
I finished school with a degree in entrepreneurship and spent some time afterwards at a clean-tech startup in Boston before embarking on a multi-month long journey in Central and South America. My travels opened my eyes to the opportunities of sustainable food systems and the perils of processed foods. I remember traveling to Nicaragua, where I was shocked by the rate of obesity. There, it occurred to me that processed foods were cheaper and more readily available than fresh, local food. The longer I traveled, the more I started to observe and analyze the food of different cultures and people.
I returned home to the United States prematurely after injuring myself hiking. During my next six months in recovery, I decided I was going to start my own business when I returned to full health. I started listening to podcasts, because I was not able to read or a use a computer. That’s when I found “Urban Agriculture” — a podcast about vertical farming. I became fascinated and obsessed with the idea of vertical farming — excited by its intersection of technology, social impact, and economics. I spent the following six months studying, networking, and preparing to apply to graduate school to learn controlled environmental agriculture, thinking it’d enable me to start my own farm. This is when I found Square Roots.
“I became fascinated and obsessed with the idea of vertical farming — excited by its intersection of technology, social impact, and economics.”
SR: Tell us about your experience in season one of the Square Roots program.
JA: Rewarding, challenging, and enlightening.
I joined Square Roots with minimal experience in agriculture — hoping to finish the program and start my own farm. I spent the next twelve months effectively learning how to grow and build a small business selling herbs to retail stores and restaurants in New York City. I learned to operate an indoor farm and practice the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. My greatest experiences were in the lessons I learned through failure.
SR: Now that you’ve joined the Square Roots team post-program, what are you up to?
Josh Aliber transplanting basil seedlings in our R&D farm.
JA: I currently work on the R&D team as a farmer. I joined Square Roots at the end of season one to become one of the first members of our R&D team tasked to build new technology, specifically optimizing for healthy plant growth. Today, I work alongside our engineers to beta-test all the hardware and software they build. I build processes to grow food better.
SR: How do you relate to the concept of next-gen leadership in urban farming?
JA: I identify with our next generation of farmers, because I believe that young people have a responsibility to reduce our society’s carbon footprint. I am optimistic that as technology in indoor farming improves, it’s a method through which we can grow food with minimal resources and allow our land to restore itself and heal.
SR: What excites you about future of urban farming?
JA: Circular economies. In regenerative soil farming, inputs are a function of outputs: no resources are wasted. I’m excited by the opportunities of indoor farming to follow a similar approach to build circular systems, to build farms using recycled materials, and to use renewables and waste for power.
SR: What favorite plant are you currently growing?
JA: Stevia! Many people don’t know that stevia is a plant! It’s super sweet and tastes better than the artificial sugar we put in our coffee. I love growing plants that WOW people. I’m excited to see stevia used in a cocktail at a bar. It’s going to be a bestseller!
You can follow along with Josh Aliber on Instagram @joshaliber.
Agriculture Real Food Urban Agriculture Technology Urban Farming