Startup Profile: Using Narrative to Take the Food Movement to the Next Level

July 28, 2011 | Melinda Clark

Turn Key Solutions to Grow Food Products that Create a More Dynamic Food System.

That along with a desire to create a successful business that will push the sustainable food movement forward was the aim of Roadside Food Projects founder Nick Wiseman when he and two associates decided to launch the business about six months ago.  Read More

Startup Profile: Pest Busting Ag Entrepreneur Offers Farmers a Natural Solution

July 25, 2011 | Kevin Coss

Agriculture entrepreneur Pam Marrone, the CEO and Founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, says that biopesticides are the best-kept secret in agriculture. And she believes her company, which develops environmentally responsible natural products for plant, weed and pest disease management will play a large role in sustainably supporting the earth’s growing population.

“You can’t continue to feed people and trash the earth at the same time,” she says.

Marrone, who won the Natural Resources Defense Council’s “Growing Green” Business Leader award earlier this year, also likes to remind skeptics of biopesticides that they have a 63-year history of safe use as an organic and biodegradable form of treatment. Read More

Startup Profile: Local Dirt Pairs Food Lovers with Local Farmers

July 12, 2011 | Desa Philadelphia

Local Dirt (localdirt.com) is a site for suitors. However, instead of matching up locals who are looking for love, it matches up anyone who loves to eat local food with the farmers who are willing to feed them. The service is grounded in research that shows that given the choice people would prefer to eat food grown in their own community (even more than they would prefer to eat organic). And it is driven by the desire to help small farmers market their products without having to rely on the kindness of supermarket chains. “Farmers lose about 40% of their crops because they just can’t sell it,” says Heather Hilleren, who came up with the idea for Local Dirt in a social entrepreneurship course that she took while studying for her MBA. “The local foods movement has finally given me hope for the future of farming.” Read More