In Our Fall 2018 Issue

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Goodness Grows Inside

As I approached the pod farm located at Dockery’s restaurant on Daniel Island, I noticed this inscription on the shipping container pod farm, Tiger Corner Farms, and it occurred to me: this is my big “why,” my “one thing”—what I envision each time we to publish an issue. There is so much goodness growing.

The goodness of chefs, farmers, restaurateurs, food advocates and others who continue to do the work needed to make our food system sustainable, our food culture healthier. This doesn’t come without challenges, though, and in this issue, we share ways these people are stepping outside the norm.

This issue is about Innovation: Creating new solutions to the challenges of creating and sustaining a healthy food system—access to fresh food, the cost and limited amount of farmland, the effect of weather and wildlife on field crops. And with the challenges of the local, sustainable food culture increasing, so, too, has the creativity of those who have made it their life’s work to feed us.

It is the visionaries and adventurers, the innovators, who are willing to take calculated risks to create something that serves others in a more meaningful and sustainable way.

In this issue our feature, Out of Thin Air, shares how Amplified Ag. came to fruition: built by Tiger Corner Farms, grown by Vertical Roots and powered by Boxcar Central. We learn how technology and innovation, in this case—aeroponic growing systems in shipping containers—can change the way we farm.

I hope you enjoy the goodness we are growing inside.

P.S. Did you know loofah, or luffa, is NOT a sponge? It’s actually a gourd – don’t miss our story about this innovative crop on page 24. 

Jacquelyn McHugh, Editor in Chief