Entrepreneurship Students Grow Green

High fuel costs, “green” consciousness, food scares that have FDA officials scrambling through supply chains – all fodder for 50 Mile Farms, one of this year’s business plans vetted by the UA's top-ranked program at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. The concept is simple: rather than sending mass-farmed produce through layers of trucking and storage, grow it small, urban, hydroponic farms. To date, hydroponics has meant expensive human labor. But the 50 Mile Farms students patented a technology for automating much of the work, bringing production on par with traditional agriculture so that produce can be grown for nutrition and flavor rather than hardiness for 2000-mile road trips. Throw in the reduced carbon footprint and you have a winning concept that already has local markets hungry for more.