BIG CITY AND 
YOU'RE NOT A 
FARMER, BUT YOU'D 
LIKE TO BE 
SOMEDAY, YOU'LL 
GET A KICK OUT OF 
THIS.
A CREATIVE NEW 
YORKER GOT THE 
IDEA TO START A 
NON-PROFIT THAT 
TEACHES HOW TO 
RAISE HIGH-MARGIN 
VEGGIES IN THOSE 
CONTAINERS YOU 
SEE ON SHIPS.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, 
IT'S WORKING. 
HERE'S PETER 
TUBBS.
PACKAGE 
VOICE OF TOBIAS 
PEGGS, CEO OF 
SQUARE ROOTS: "So 
there's no doubt, and 
I hope that during the 
course of a year here, 
we would definitely 
inspire a number of 
the people here to 
embark on a lifelong 
journey to be 
farmers."
THE HERE IS THE 
BEDFORD-
STUYVESANT 
NEIGHBORHOOD OF 
BROOKLYN, NEW 
YORK. ON THE EDGE 
OF THE PARKING 
LOT OF A FORMER 
PFIZER 
PHARMACEUTICAL 
PLANT SIT TEN 
SHIPPING 
CONTAINERS. EACH 
HAS BEEN 
CONVERTED FOR 
GROWING 
HYDROPONIC 
VEGETABLES 
UNDER LED 
LIGHTING. TEN 
LABORATORIES FOR 
ASPIRING 
AGRICULTURAL 
ENTREPRENEURS, 
GROWING FOOD 
THAT IS UNIQUE IN 
PRODUCT AND 
LOCATION.
THE BRAINCHILD 
OF TOBIAS PEGGS, 
SQUARE ROOTS IS A 
NON-PROFIT THAT 
AIMS TO BRING 
FRESH PRODUCE TO 
URBAN CONSUMERS 
BY TRAINING 
FARMERS TO BUILD 
BUSINESSES IN 
THEIR 
COMMUNITIES. EACH 
CONTAINER HAS 
THE PRODUCTION 
CAPACITY OF TWO 
ACRES OF LAND 
AND PROMISES A 
BETTER QUALITY 
PRODUCT BY 
MAINTAINING A 
CONSISTENT 
ENVIRONMENT. 
TOBIAS PEGGS, CO-
FOUNDER, CEO OF 
SQUARE ROOTS: 
"...and obviously 
people are 
increasingly moving 
to the city, so we 
have to figure out 
how to farm, in those 
urban areas. Whether 
that is indoors in 
containers, or 
whether that is 
outdoors in more 
urban gardens, or 
greenhouses or 
whatever it is, the 
more food that is 
grown close to the 
city, the more access 
that people have to 
local food, the 
better."
SQUARE ROOTS 
MENTORS SPEND A 
YEAR TEACHING THE 
"HOW TO" OF 
BUSINESS AND 
HYDROPONIC 
AGRICULTURE TO 
CLASSES OF 
RECRUITS WHO 
DREAM OF 
BECOMING URBAN 
FARMERS.  FEW OF 
THE 
ENTREPRENEURS 
ARRIVE WITH AN 
AGRICULTURAL 
BACKGROUND, SO 
THE LEARNING 
CURVE CAN BE 
STEEP. FARMER 
JOSH ALIBER SPENT 
HIS YEAR LEARNING 
TO GROW BASIL 
AND BUILD AN 
AUDIENCE FOR HIS 
CROPS.
JOSH ALIBER, 
FARMER AND 
ENTREPRENEUR: "I 
spent the first 2 to 3 
months walking 
around from 
restaurant to 
restaurant in 
Manhattan meeting 
chefs. Learning about 
what they value, how 
can I improve my 
crops, and becoming 
a better farmer. The 
startup time was 
really hard, but it 
worked. Because the 
product we grow is 
so fresh, and you say 
I harvested this 
today, and they say 
'I've never tasted 
basil like this.' "
FRESHNESS IS 
ONLY ONE OF THE 
SELLING POINTS 
FOR THE SQUARE 
ROOTS FARMER. 
GROWING CROPS 
UNAVAILABLE IN 
THE WHOLESALE 
AND RETAIL SUPPLY 
CHAIN CAN HELP 
CLOSE A SALE. 
JOSH ALIBER: "A lot 
of these chefs have 
been in the culinary 
industry for 30 or 40 
years, and as a brand 
new farmer, because 
I'm growing in a really 
unique environment 
where I can grow 
really unique crops, I 
can bring them things 
that they have never 
tried before. And the 
taste speaks for 
itself, because it is 
growing in the exact 
environment that it 
wants."
THE TASTE DRIVES 
A SOLID PRICE FOR 
PRODUCE. WHILE A 
SALAD MIX STARTS 
AT $10 PER POUND, 
RARE VARIETIES OF 
BASIL COMMAND 
$30 PER POUND AT 
LOCAL 
RESTAURANTS. 
EACH FARMER 
DEVELOPS A 
CUSTOMER MIX OF 
RESTAURANTS AND 
FOOD RETAILERS 
WHO BUY IN BULK, 
AND INDIVIDUALS 
WHO PURCHASE 
SALAD GREENS 
THROUGH A 
SUBSCRIPTION 
MODEL. THE 
GREENS ARE 
HANDPICKED AND 
DELIVERED UP TO 
THREE TIMES A 
WEEK. 
TOBIAS PEGGS: "So 
we feel that the way 
that the product is 
priced is definitely 
mass-market, but 
every single day we 
work to improve the 
technology, make the 
system more 
efficient, that will 
allow us ultimately to 
bring down that price 
and ultimately fulfill 
the mission that the 
company has, which 
is to bring real food 
to everyone." 
THE PHYSICAL 
CONSTRAINTS OF A 
SQUARE ROOTS 
CONTAINER FARM 
LIMIT THE TYPES OF 
CROPS GROWN BY 
EACH FARMER TO 
JUST THE SMALL 
AND VALUABLE. 
SALAD GREENS, 
KALES, SORREL, 
SWISS CHARD, AND 
HERBS ARE BEST 
SUITED TO THE 
VERTICAL TOWERS 
INSIDE THE FARMS. 
CROPS GROW 
QUICKLY UNDER 
THE RED AND BLUE 
LED LIGHTING 
OPTIMIZED FOR 
PLANT GROWTH. A 
FOOTPRINT OF ONLY 
400 SQUARE FEET 
ALLOWS A FARM TO 
SQUEEZE INTO 
TIGHT URBAN 
ENVIRONMENTS AND 
SHORTEN THE 
LITERAL DISTANCE 
FROM FARM-TO-
PLATE. UNDER LED 
LIGHTING SOME 
CROPS GO FROM 
SEED TO HARVEST 
IN AS LITTLE AS 8 
WEEKS. THE 
CONTAINER FARM 
HAS OPERATING 
COSTS OF ROUGHLY 
$1000 PER MONTH, 
BUT REQUIRES 
ONLY 8 GALLONS OF 
WATER PER DAY.  
ONCE A CROP 
ROTATION IS 
DEVELOPED, 
HARVESTING CAN 
HAPPEN EACH 
WEEK, YEAR 
ROUND.
JOSH ALIBER: "So 
what we are able to 
do is to create unique 
environments for 
crops in very urban 
settings. Today we 
are in Bed-Sty. I 
personally grow 
crops that you 
wouldn't be able to 
find in an urban 
environment." 
THE ABILITY TO 
SIMULATE VARIED 
ENVIRONMENTS IS 
ANOTHER 
ADVANTAGE OF 
GROWING CROPS 
INSIDE A 
CONTAINER. IF A 
VARIETY OF BASIL 
PREFERS A 
SPECIFIC 
TEMPERATURE, 
HUMIDITY OR 
ALTITUDE, THE 
ENVIRONMENTAL 
CONTROLS WITHIN A 
SQUARE ROOTS 
FARM CAN BE SET 
TO MIMIC IDEAL 
GROWING 
CONDITIONS. 
WHILE THE ABILITY 
TO GROW A HIGH 
VOLUME OF 
QUALITY PRODUCE 
IN A SMALL AMOUNT 
OF URBAN SPACE 
HAS BEEN 
CONFIRMED, PRICE 
IS THE NEXT 
FRONTIER. FOR 
URBAN CONTAINER 
FARMING TO SCALE-
UP AND BECOME 
AFFORDABLE FOR A 
NEIGHBORHOOD, 
THE COST PER 
POUND WILL HAVE 
TO DECLINE.
JOSH ALIBER: "The 
fact that we are able 
to compete now, tells 
us that as we really 
increase production 
to bring the costs 
down, we are going 
to be able to produce 
food at a much more 
competitive cost that 
is better quality than 
is already existing in 
the marketplace."
UNTIL THEN, THIS 
FARM INCUBATOR 
WILL CONTINUE TO 
EXPERIMENT WITH A 
FOOD SUPPLY 
CHAIN THAT CAN BE 
MEASURED IN 
YARDS RATHER 
THAN MILES. 
TOBIAS PEGGS: "At 
the end of the day I 
think what the 
consumer wants is 
food they can trust, 
and that tastes really 
amazing. And if you 
know your farmer, 
you trust the food. 
Once you taste that 
food, you are won 
over."
MIKE 
FOOD YOU CAN 
TRUST -- IN AN EASY 
TO MANAGE SUPPLY 
CHAIN.
WELL...NEXT WEEK 
