When Jack Oslan was twelve, his family moved to Southern California. Life was simpler back then. Penny candies cost a penny, his home in Orange County teemed with orange groves, and food, Jack recalls fondly, “tasted great.”
Food today, he laments, “does not taste great anymore.”
What Jack remembers from his youth is what you might experience today at any farmer’s market – quality, heirloom produce, grown locally and harvested fresh. But for the 97% of American households who purchase their fruits and vegetables from the grocery store, they may never know how great food can truly taste.
See Jane Farm wants to change all that. The farming venture, run by Jack and cofounders Nate Storey and Matt Barnard, is betting big on the future of indoor vertical farming. Leveraging new designs in hydroponics and an industry-changing distribution model, See Jane Farm aims to sell locally grown heirloom fruits and vegetables harvested the same day you walk into the grocery store.
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The quality of fresh produce began its downward spiral in the 1950’s. The baby boom generation had taken hold, placing greater demands on the country’s food supply. Local farms, once scattered across the country, were now being displaced by highly productive farmlands found west of the Rockies. In the shift, farming had transformed from a geographically distributed system to a centralized operation.
Despite the migration west, most harvests had to be freighted east where three-quarters of the population lived. Subsequently, produce had to be engineered for the 3,000-mile journey to market. Only the “fittest” crops would survive a massive seed consolidation, leaving the country’s cherished heirloom varietals to perish.
By all accounts, the transformation of agriculture changed the world for the better. Producing food on a massive scale allowed people to leave agrarian life and pursue other endeavors, helping jumpstart a new economy. It’s why a company like See Jane Farm exists today. But in witnessing the agricultural revolution, we would also witness the decline of fresh produce as we used to know it.