The launch of Littlest Big Farms, a vertical farming technology created by From The Land LLC, was held on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Yucaipa. Dr. Gina Oliver, her husband and co-founder Richard Hutchison celebrated the launch by inviting attendees to tour a 10 foot by 12-foot adobe structure, and enjoy a lunch provided by From Mary's Kitchen, who served delicious agua frescas and tacos to the guests.
Oliver and Hutchison said they envision communities creating a more sustainable food system by building a network of indoor micro-farms, their Littlest Big Farms, which will produce food while using less land, water and energy than is needed with traditional farming methods.
Guest speakers at the event included Chris Earl from the California Office of Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), Carina Cabrera, the Inland Empire regional deputy director from the Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michael Curry on behalf of Assemblymember Greg Wallis, Martin Klockner, Director at UC Riverside's Entrepreneurial Proof of Concept and Innovation Center (EPIC), Mihai Pătru, CEO of Caravanserai Project, and Isabelle Bart, entrepreneur in residence at UCR/ SBDC (Small Business Development Center).
"We couldn't have gotten this far without the grant funding that we've received through all different types of initiatives," Oliver said. She thanked Earl for the assistance from SOBA that helped them get a California Dream Fund grant.
"Today we want to celebrate success; the success of the new prototype for sustainable agriculture here in Yucaipa," Curry said and presented Oliver and Hutchison with a certificate of recognition from the Office of Assemblymember Wallis.
"We are scientists, engineers…for myself it's big a really big learning curve on the business side," Oliver said. "We were recently awarded the Catalyst Fund through Thrive Inland SoCal with our partners, Huerta del Valle, and we're building three of our Littlest Big Farms, one in Ontario and then two in Jurupa Valley." Cabrera spoke on behalf of Newsom's office about the new California Jobs First Initiative and uplifting businesses that are focused on sustainability, and said, "I'm really excited that you all got $250,000 to launch your work, so that's amazing."
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