For James Valencia, it all started in 2020 with a degree in Environmental Sociology and Communication of Science and Technology. Valencia’s passion is sustainable technology and its implications. Through a course project in Dr. Kevin Galloway’s class, “How to Make (Almost) Anything,” at the Wond’ry Innovation Center, he met and worked with Hassan Sharaff of HydroHouse Farms. Hassan introduced him to David Speegle at Cheekee Greens Farms, where he honed his skills and knowledge for the past year working in their hydroponic greenhouse and mushroom facility. With the biology, science, and food system knowledge under his belt, he then went on to work in the non-profit makerspace Fort Houston, cleaning the woodshop so he could have access to its tools, facility, and members. When he was offered a 100-square-foot space to use, he started growing hydroponically and spreading awareness of urban agriculture.
“There’s a big difference between ordering at McDonald’s, where the ingredients and cooking processes stay behind closed doors, and watching my grandmother grind chiles and spices in her molcajete (passed down from her grandmother) to make salsa for homemade tacos,” he says. “One of those meals supports unsustainable supply-chains (mono-crop, third world country exports, high fructose corn syrup, etc). The other brings people together and facilitates the transmission of generations of culture. From a health perspective, there’s a lot to be said as well.”
With only a small space to work with, he needed to maximize production with a vertical growing system. Microgreens fit the bill as they are high-value, can be grown in rapid cycles, and are extremely nutrient dense (broccoli microgreens are 40x as nutrient dense compared to the adult sized plant and contain incredible health-promoting compounds such as sulforaphane – not to mention they don’t need to be scrubbed clean or steamed). Once his product was up to par, he started building restaurant clients. Today, James offers his micros under the name Radical Shoots at The Nashville Farmers’ Market and East Nashville Farmers’ Market as well.