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Overcoming The Challenges of Growing Organically In Soilless Farms - Wednesday, September 23, 2020 @ 12 PM EST
Has your soilless farm ever considered that your food waste could be a source of net income? Join us as we show how Re-Nuble can help soilless farms capture and introduce water solution, organic nutrients from your own production waste as a free supplementary and sterile fertilizer source
Are you a soilless farmer or grower that wants to go organic but keeps facing challenges? Join us as we identify ways for you to work with water-soluble organic hydroponic nutrients in a recirculating system in such a way that voids the risk of introducing food safety-related pathogens, labor inefficiencies and additional costs. Based on seven years of research, Re-Nuble's goal is to guide soilless farms towards a cultivation method that is comparable to the yields of conventional, synthetic mineral salts while increasing a farm’s bottom line using food waste as the mechanism.
In this webinar you will learn:
The main challenges soilless farms face when transitioning to organics
How to overcome these challenges
What soilless farms need to be mindful of when transitioning to ensure profitability
We'll see you there!
Register here
On-Site Waste Management:
An Untapped Income Source
Wednesday, 7 October 2020 @ 12 pm EST
Has your soilless farm ever considered that your food waste could be a source of net income? Join us as we show how Re-Nuble can help soilless farms capture and introduce water solution, organic nutrients from your own production waste as a free supplementary and sterile fertilizer source. We then go on to explain the driving science behind our method, Organic Cycling Science, an approach that allows farms to finally use a fully integrated, closed-loop, and self-sustaining fertilizing system capable of reducing input and disposal costs and increasing efficiencies.
In this webinar you will learn:
How to turn a farm's production waste into a free, renewable source of potable water and (optional) nutrients
Opportunities to improve income by reducing the organic hydroponic nutrient cost
Ways to increase a crop's growth and nutritional content
We'll see you there!
Register here
Speaker Profile: Tinia Pina
Founder & CEO, Re-Nuble
Tinia received her B.S. in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech and studied briefly at Columbia University's Earth Institute. She has seven years of experience in the financial services industry and ten years as a professional within the sustainability and waste management industry.
Tinia launched Re-Nuble with a mission to “Redefine Waste” within urban communities. Re-Nuble quickly evolved into a social enterprise dedicated to changing wasteful habits around the world with the sole intention to help our farming production and food systems to become more resilient, decarbonized, and with an abundance of accessible organic produce options.
Tinia's pioneering business model has earned her a Huffington Post Millennial Impact Grant, the American Express Emerging Innovator award, and a MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneur grant, among other honors. Her experiences related to food waste, systems and policy have fueled her passion to increase our communities’ resilience, prosperity, and knowledge to help us live more conscious lives.
Agrihoods and Access To Healthy Food
Enter agrihoods: the community feeling of suburbia mixed with the progressive thinking of the city, sprinkled with the splendor of the country
May 13, 2020
Written by Tinia Pina | Re-Nuble
The question has always been there: city life or country life? However, in the 1850’s, in response to a rising urban population and as a result of improved transportation methods, the suburbs began to sprawl out from large metropolises. Now, roughly 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas. Yet, the demand for closed-loop food processes continues to increase. Urban area citizens still want access to sustainable and healthy food systems.
Defining Closed-loop Systems
By definition, a closed-loop system is one in which the operation is regulated by feedback. To clarify, feedback, in this sense, means that a portion of the output is fed back into the system to act as part of the excitation. The output cannot exist independent of the feedback.
Closed loop food systems produce high-quality, healthy foods using less energy and less water. When locally-sourced, their production and sale contributes positively to local economies and develops pride within the community.
Agrihoods and Access to Healthy Food
Enter agrihoods: the community feeling of suburbia mixed with the progressive thinking of the city sprinkled with the splendor of the country. There are several reasons people are drawn to this style of living. First and foremost is access to locally grown, sustainable food. A close second is the closed-loop process: the inhabitants enjoy the crop and the remains are composted for use as fertilizer. There is an eloquent beauty in the cyclical nature of closed-loop food processes.
In addition to providing sustainable, locally-sourced food, agrihoods provide steady work for farmers who gain access to affordable farmland in exchange for their services. Most farmers rarely enjoy a steady salary; this is not true for those employed by agrihoods. Most earn a salary of $35,000 to $100,000 annually and receive free or reduced housing.
While these little utopias are springing up all over the country, they remain out of reach for many Americans that either cannot afford the amenity of living in a neighborhood with a resident farmer or who simply prefer to live in the bright lights.
However, the opportunity for a closed-loop food process can exist even in the middle of Manhattan, giving urban areas access to healthy food. Soilless systems provide a closed-loop, sustainable method of food production that is as valuable to communities as it is to farmers. Soilless systems can be established indoors or out and can take on any size. Additionally, it requires less water to produce foods in a soilless system than in a traditional, soil-based system because water is continuously circulated; not lost to runoff.
Soilless Systems Provides Healthy Food Access for Urban Areas
Recent studies have shown that indoor, soilless systems require up to 90% less water than traditional farming methods. By keeping the plants at optimum conditions throughout the growth cycle, they are better able to utilize nutrients and produce more fruits and vegetables per gallon of water used.
Consumers reap the benefits of locally-sourced, organically grown produce while farmers enjoy a sustainable production method. These systems remedy some of the challenges presented to those that attempt to bring in healthy, locally-sourced produce to urban areas; such as zoning and infrastructure.
However, what has been missing in most soilless systems is true feedback. The fertilizers and growth nutrients used in most systems are petroleum-derived and chemical-based. They are produced in a lab and have nothing to do with repurposing food waste. They fail to take advantage of the nutrients that exist in food waste.
Access to high-quality, bio-derived agricultural materials is challenging, especially for farmers and hobbyists that utilize alternative growth methods. Re-Nuble was developed to meet this need. Re-Nuble products are 100% bio-based, sourced from vegetative food waste, meaning that everything that goes into making Re-Nuble comes from plants; there are no petroleum-based ingredients. As we continue to carry out our own R&D, we hope to identify even more ways to help soilless farms regulate their operations through feedback, providing urban areas with access to healthy food.
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Tags: agrihoods, healthy food, urban agriculture, urban food