US: TELEVISION - Today Show Will Feature Vertical Harvest Co-Founders For International Women’s Day
March 6, 2021
Vertical Harvest employee Michele Dennis deposits sweet mix in Vertical Harvest’s revolving planters in May of 2019. The co-founders of the business, Nona Yehia and Caroline Croft Estay, will be part of a Today Show segment celebrating International Women's Day on March 8.
BRADLY J. BONER/ / NEWS&GUIDE
The Today Show will be celebrating International Women’s Day with a feature on Vertical Harvest’s two female co-founders, Nona Yehia and Caroline Croft Estay, and a few of their employees. The segment will air on March 8 during the third hour of the show, which is 9 a.m. in most time zones.
“We are so proud of our women-led team and hope you will tune into NBC and virtually watch with us!” Vertical Harvest reps said in a press release.
Vertical Harvest, which opened its doors in 2016, is the first vertical hydroponic greenhouse in the United States. It stands three stories high on the side of Jackson’s parking garage, using minimal space to grow produce for the community. In a year, the greenhouse grows as many vegetables as 10 acres of regular farming would produce.
Vertical farming may hold the key to the future of food supply, according to the organization’s website.
“The increasing frequency of natural disasters and the rising global temperature are putting outdoor agricultural productivity at risk,” the organization wrote on its website. “Vertical farming can contribute to reducing hunger in the future by ensuring a stable and constant supply of food that is not weather-dependent.”
Yehia, who grew up with a brother with developmental disabilities, also seeks to employ people with developmental disabilities in the greenhouse. Vertical Harvest strives to help “those who struggle to find meaningful work and upwardly mobile career opportunities” find purposeful work within the greenhouse.
All in all, Vertical Harvest is a testament to Yehia’s dedication to building a better world.
“Vertical Harvest Farms has been an opportunity to explore a new type of civic building, one that can address food, job and now housing insecurity, rooted in community resiliency,” Yehia wrote in a LinkedIn post two weeks ago.
Contact Victoria Lee at 732-5901 or vlee@jhnewsandguide.com.
Tags The Today Show Nbc Harvest Opportunity Greenhouse Agriculture Co-founder Farming Work Today Show