The Farmery reinvents small farming to better compete in an industrial farm economy by providing an environmentally sustainable growing and food retailing system that encourages the growth and success of small, environmentally sustainable farms.
Traditional agriculture is difficult to acheive profitability, distances customers from their food and hurts the environment.
Destructive industrial farming practices, the constant battle for small farmers to find their place in their food system and an ever widening gap between consumers and the sources of their food demand a new food system, a food system that allows consumers to make educated decisions about their food and the story behind it.
The Farmery's solution to the problems in traditional agriculture is to keep costs down while increasing the value of the crop. The Farmery does this by bringing the farm to the customer.
The Retail Unit: The bottom container of the Farmery is the retail outlet for the crops grown at the Farmery and for other local farmers to supplement products that the Farmery does not produce. Some of the growing sacks will be taken into the Farmery shop below where customers will have an opportunity to harvest the herbs and greens, thereby giving the consumers a closer relationship to their food.
The initial target market for the Farmery will be food enthusiasts, otherwise known as "foodies", and independent restaurants. A recent report by Simmons research estimates that 14% of the American population now fits into this growing category "foodie". The Farmery will also sell to the abundant independent restaurants in metropolitan areas, each Farmery location will only need a small percentage of the local foodie population to thrive.