November 28, 2011 | Robert Puro

San Diego, CA, November 28, 2011 – Despite the fragile state of the economy, a burgeoning crop of agricultural entrepreneurs is beginning to sprout in San Diego, CA, poised to develop sustainable and profitable solutions to meet the food and energy demands of a world population forecast to peak at 9 billion by 2050. From high tech indoor urban farms that utilize the latest vertical farming technology to grow food cleanly, efficiently and without chemicals to renewable energy technology that generates electricity from agricultural waste, these entrepreneurs are at the forefront of a sustainable agriculture industry that is set to experience explosive growth.

On Wednesday, November 30, to explore this flight to innovation in agriculture, Seedstock, in association with the Rady Entrepreneur Club, an affiliate organization of the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego is set to host a panel discussion sponsored by Whole Foods Market that will feature six of San Diego’s most innovative entrepreneurs discussing their approaches to building new companies in the lucrative and fast growing sustainable agriculture marketplace.

“We think that the next Google or Apple is going to come out of the sustainable agriculture sector,” said Jason Reed, founder and CEO of Seedstock. “The public has a quaint, almost nostalgic view of farmers, but these guys are rock stars – these guys are the next Steve Jobs. What these entrepreneurs are doing is going to improve the world in fundamental and profound ways.”

This event will be the first in a series of many that will take place around the country where Seedstock will bring entrepreneurs, students, investors and other professionals together to discuss and explore solutions to the challenges faced by modern agriculture.

“We are launching our series in San Diego because of the incredible array of impressive startups here and because California, Southern California in particular, has always been a leader in innovation,” said Robert Puro, Managing Partner of Seedstock.

The event will be held at the Rady School of Management on UC San Diego’s La Jolla Campus. Food and beverages will be provided by sponsor, Whole Foods Market, La Jolla. While the event is focused on inspiring future business leaders, it is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Location: Rady School of Management’s Otterson Hall, Multipurpose Room 2 (MPR2) on UC San Diego’s La Jolla campus. Complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided by event sponsor Whole Foods Market, La Jolla will be served.

To register for the event, please click on the following event registration link: http://seedstockradyevent.eventbrite.com/

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Featured sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs participating in the panel include:

Dan Gibbs: CEO and Co-founder of Home Town Farms, a leading company in the emerging field of vertical organic urban farming, providing an integrated food growing system to grow and sell fresh, nutritious food in urban areas.

Thomas Del Monte: President and General Counsel of Interra Energy, a development-stage company engaged in the design, manufacture, sales, marketing and deployment of a biochar and power production system called the Interra Energy Forge. This system is a 2nd generation carbonization and energy hybrid technology that converts yard waste and other clean biomass wastes into agricultural biochar and clean energy.

Seth Burns: CEO and CFO of Biogas & Electric, a for profit company that develops intellectual property to significantly improve the anaerobic digestion process, thereby increasing the economic viability, sustainability, and social impact of agricultural industries.

Colin Archipley: CEO of Archi’s Acres and the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) program. Archi’s Acres is a small-scale organic farm in Southern California established in 2007 by decorated Marine Sergeant Colin Archipley and his wife Karen. At Archi’s Acres the couple has created the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) program to offer combat veterans meaningful opportunities in the high-growth industry of sustainable farming.

Ralph Crevoshay: CEO of VermiVision, a company whose mission is based on fulfilling the potential of vermicompost (VC) as the essential input for success in sustainable agriculture. The company is dedicated to enhancing farmers’ access to VC through scaled-up production, promotion of innovative technologies, and training a new generation of worm farmers.

Don Nishiguchi: Regional local produce buyer for Whole Foods Market for the Southern Pacific region.

Jeff Robbins: Co-founder of San Diego-based Revolution Landscape, a company that designs, builds and maintains sustainable “edible landscapes” for area residents and businesses.