Urban (city) Ponics (works).
Chicago has long been known as the city that works. UrbanPonics redefines what works for the city with a new model of agriculture designed specifically to confront the challenges and engage the benefits of twenty-first-century urban America. Utilizing local talent, new growing technologies, and a progressive entrepreneurial approach, UrbanPonics produces wholesome, fresh foods year round, right in the neighborhoods that need them.
Our hydroponic sites are strategically located in economically underdeveloped communities, often on under-utilized land. These locations are put back into service and into the tax base, enhancing the economic viability of the area. Through partnerships with community organizations, we provide job training and employment to traditionally hard-to-employ members of the community. By producing fresh, wholesome produce year round, right where it's needed, we can help address the issue of food deserts that present such an obstacle to healthy lifestyles in many low-income, urban communities.
At UrbanPonics, we realize that ideas such as "fresh, hydroponic produce must be expensive," "farmers don't live in inner-city Chicago," and "ecologically sustainable agriculture isn't profitable" are as outdated as the notion that "lettuce has to grow in the ground." We're developing a new model for urban agriculture that defies that outdated thinking, and takes issues of sustainability, social responsibility, and profitability seriously. We are growing fresh food in the city. And it works.