Zero competition in a market usually means no one has been able to figure out how to make money in it. When it comes to building food businesses in underserved areas, few have really tried. Food banks and other non-profits have been working to alleviate hunger there forever. They serve a need without dealing with the problem that’s causing it. Inner cities need commerce as much as charity, and food is a great business to be in.
The question, “Where does your food come from?” was once an abstract intellectual concern, but the pandemic turned it into a question of survival. Food security became everyone’s issue. Urban farming, once either the provenance of hipsters and youtube celebrities, or a subversive act, suddenly became a focus for both governments and those who felt shut out from it. While there’s a role for government and aid groups in food production, there’s an even bigger role for entrepreneurs willing to think outside the predominant non-profit mindset.
Most of the new crop of urban farms are following the path of existing ones, which are basically social programs that happen to grow food. The reason for being for non-profits is very intertwined with securing grants which makes them allergic to the idea of “business.” But if you frame efforts as social policy, critics need only one failure to dismiss the idea. As a business, you need only one success to be taken seriously.
Professional farmers usually enter the business by selling at established farmers markets and to neighborhood restaurants and specialty grocery stores that cater to middle and upper income demographics. But money can also be made by bringing crops to those who want healthy food, have no way to get to it, and are really strapped for cash. The 3 point business model: professional grade, predictable, affordable.
Finding land, support and funding for urban farms is getting easier. The next step is to channel some of the talent, energy and motivation around urban farming into viable businesses that serve the wants and tastes of the neighborhoods in which they are based. This requires training occupational farmers in a way that gets them up and operational quickly. The new best practice that needs to be taught, along with composting and rain water harvesting, is making money. As urban farms start making money, the less time will be needed to write grants and fundraise, and the more time can be spent growing food and building up the local economy.
The traditional model of farming needs a re-do. It won’t work in cities, and it’s not well-suited to changing economic and cultural realities. It’s not an efficient use of space. It places an unnecessary burden on beginning farmers — excessive land prep and maintenance and steep operating costs. It requires significant capital where money is scarce, and potential workers looking for something productive to do are abundant. What’s needed is a farm model that is less capital intensive and more labor intensive.
Success is a numbers game. The more farming talent that is developed, the more new farm businesses will be created. This is where those without a farming background have an advantage. Without any pre-conceived conception and understanding of farming, they can more quickly master new, appropriately-scaled farming systems coupled with microenterprise development. As commercial urban farms become more commonplace, it will start to again be obvious where real food comes from and why it is better. This will spark spin-off food businesses created by, and for, the people they serve. To realize this potential all it takes a modest amount of resources and money, and a big change in thinking.
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