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Sometimes, it really does feel like
we need a revolution

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when we think about
the challenges we face today:

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debt crisis, political stalemates,

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energy, the environment,

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the food we're feeding our families.

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But I don't think
we should be discouraged.

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And today I'm going to talk
about the story of BrightFarms.

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But I also want this to be an example -

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an example for us as leaders,
as activists and as citizens,

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an example for how we can think about

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how some of our generation's
greatest problems, greatest challenges

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can be converted into some
of our greatest business opportunities.

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I want to start
by looking back a little bit.

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I want you to raise your hand
if you were working in the food industry

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five years ago.

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Wow! A lot - more than half.

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We're going to need that experience.

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Five years ago, I wasn't.

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Five years ago, I was running a business

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that improved the supply chains
of big retailers and their suppliers.

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I had a singular goal

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which was to maximize the efficiencies
of systems that brought goods to stores.

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And let me tell you, I am programmed
to live, breathe and, yes, eat efficiency.

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I have a license plate
that reads "Efficient."

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(Laughter)

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It's true. I do.

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When I followed my passion
and came into the food industry

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and dug into the produce supply chain,

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I encountered a system
that was at odds with itself.

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Our produce supply chain
is incredibly efficient and inefficient

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all at the same time.

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First, here's how it's efficient.

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It produces huge quantities
of food at low prices.

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And here's how it's inefficient.

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Our fresh produce
holds up to travel great,

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but it can't uphold taste at all.

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In fact, we grow produce for travel
and not for eating.

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The system breeds foodborne illness,
and it's killing our environment.

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Our fresh produce supply chain
is industrialized and centralized

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to the point that it's an enormous
consumer of land, of water, of crude oil

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and natural gas.

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The more I learned,
the more I came to realize

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that for all the good intentions
to feed the world,

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parts of our food supply chain
aren't merely inefficient -

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they're toxic.

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If TED is about inspiration -
well, I was inspired.

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I was inspired to rethink
the produce supply chain.

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I was more than inspired.

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I was compelled to develop
an alternative supply chain:

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one that eliminated these inefficiencies

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and that prioritized farmers,
quality food, our health, the environment

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and still produced large quantities
of food at low prices.

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I want to make a full stop
here for a second.

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I want to ask each one of you
to visualize the best tomato

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you've had in the last year.

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Do you have it?

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I want you to raise your hand
if it came from a supermarket.

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(Laughter)

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I can't believe that there's really zero.

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(Laughter)

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Although I am not surprised that it
would've at least been close to zero.

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People typically visualize
the tomato from farmers' markets -

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probably a lot of that -

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gardens and restaurants.

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Virtually nobody, or perhaps in this case,
literally nobody says supermarkets,

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even when I asked that question
of supermarket executives.

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(Laughter)

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I'm serious.

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The tomato I visualized
was produced by a six-year-old,

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my beautiful daughter Emilia,
in our kitchen garden.

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Emilia and I like to discuss how the most
important ingredient in food is love

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and how you find love in the food
that someone grows or prepares

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for someone they care about personally.

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Emilia's tomato that I'm visualizing
and the tomatoes she grows in the garden

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look a lot like this tomato.

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And the tomato I visualized
was bursting with flavor;

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it was bursting with love.

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And this tomato?

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Sucks!

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(Laughter)

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I'm serious. That tomato was awful.

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(Laughter)

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It was organic. It was expensive.

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We bought it at a fancy supermarket
not far from here.

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So why does it lack taste?

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And nutrition too, by the way -
they run together.

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And what does that tell us about
the supermarket tomatoes and lettuces

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that we're buying
and feeding to our families?

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These tomatoes
are international travelers.

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They bounced here to New York
from Mexico in a 53-foot truck.

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No wonder they suck.

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That's typical, by the way,
for US supermarket tomatoes in the winter.

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Did you know that nearly 100 percent
of supermarket lettuces in the US

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come from just two places?

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Near Salinas, California, in the summer
and Yuma, Arizona, in the winter.

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These lettuces travel 3,000 miles
to reach the local grocery store here.

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It's no surprise that lettuce is prone
to rotting before it's purchased

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or right when people bring it home.

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This causes huge losses for supermarkets,

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and it makes my wife,
who loves fresh baby spinach, unhappy,

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which makes me unhappy.

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(Laughter)

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Produce executives, produce buyers,
they don't want this.

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They've actually got families of their own
that they're feeding with produce,

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and they're good people.

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But they're not just good people -
they're business people.

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They want to bring you quality produce,

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but they need to buy large quantities
of produce at low prices.

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And right now, there's only
one option for that,

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which is our industrialized
and centralized food system.

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Incrementalism isn't going to do it.

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Moving food faster or better
through this system

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isn't going to solve these problems.

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It's time for a revolution
in the produce supply chain.

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Can you imagine a revolutionary new system
that had fewer miles, fewer trucks,

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fewer tasteless tomatoes,

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that had less foodborne illness,
less crude oil and less rotting lettuces?

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Can you imagine
a revolutionary supply chain

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where we went back to our roots

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and grew and sold produce
in the same community

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by a farmer who, like Emilia,
grew for taste instead of for travel?

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And maybe even with a little bit of love.

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You think that'll be better?

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Do you think that'll be better?

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(Audience) Yes.

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We think so at BrightFarms too.

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And you know who else does?

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Produce buyers
at supermarkets, they do too.

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In fact, nearly 20 percent
of the top 50 US supermarkets

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are already working with BrightFarms

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to try to make this revolutionary
new system a reality.

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The industry is reacting
with huge enthusiasm.

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Produce buyers sincerely want to bring 
great food at great prices

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to their customers.

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They just need a better option.

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So, how is BrightFarms going to do this?
What are we doing?

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How are we going to bring
large quantities of food at low prices

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that's better quality
and better for the environment?

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It sounds hard, but the answer
is surprisingly simple.

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We're building greenhouse farms,

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but it's how we're building them
and where we're building that matters.

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We're building them at supermarkets,

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on their roofs,
at their distribution centers

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and always in their communities.

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BrightFarms provides a turnkey solution.

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We finance it, we build it, we manage it
for our supermarket clients

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in a way that cuts time, distance
and costs from the produce supply chain.

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We're building hydroponic,
recirculating greenhouses

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and recruiting farmers across the country
to bring better produce to everybody.

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Here's how the deal works.

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We put up the money,
we build the facility,

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we find, we nurture, we support,
we train the local farmer.

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The supermarket is required
to put up zero investment.

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They merely commit to buying
produce that's better.

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That's not enough, by the way.

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Zero investment
and better produce on their own

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doesn't satisfy their requirements.

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There's another factor,
which is the price.

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If we can't meet or beat
current market pricing,

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this is going to remain
a fringe initiative.

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And I'm not interested in the fringe.

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I am interested in making a difference.

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But we can meet or beat existing prices.

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We do it by having a shorter
and simpler supply chain.

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More than half the cost
of this lettuce isn't the lettuce -

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it's the long and complex supply chain
that gets it to your local grocery store.

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We simply operate without that long
and complex supply chain,

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so we have lower operating costs
than the traditional industry.

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We can sell at low enough prices
to meet or beat current market prices.

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This is a case where less is truly more.

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So, is our business model working?

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It is.

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We actually just recently announced


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the industry's first
long-term produce agreement.

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It's with a great supermarket
called McCaffrey's.

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We're building them a greenhouse
at their store in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

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And I want all of you to go there
and check it out.

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Jim McCaffrey, like many
supermarket executives,

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cares deeply about his customers.

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He's not just a great businessman.

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He's a visionary as well.

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And he had a vision to commit
to a revolutionary new system

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that's bringing better tomatoes
and consistent, fantastic lettuces

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to his store shelves
on the day that they're picked.

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And by the way, we care
about McCaffrey's customers

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as much as Jim does.

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We're not going to be anonymous,
3,000 miles away.

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Our farmer won't be 3,000 miles away.

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He'll be three blocks away from the store.

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He'll be living,

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sending his kids to school,
creating jobs and growing produce

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in the same community
as McCaffrey's customers

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and shopping in the same produce aisles
right there with them.

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When we started - earlier, I said
that TED Talks were about inspiration.

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I've been inspired by many of you here
today, and I thank you for it.

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And I hope I've had the chance
to inspire some of you as well,

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inspire you to not be discouraged
by the problems you're facing

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with the supply chains
in which you feel like you're stuck,

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but instead, to think
about these challenges

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as opportunities to start
your own revolutions.

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And in our case,

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a revolutionary opportunity
to bring our society produce

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that's safer, healthier, tastier,
better for the environment

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and bursting with the most important
ingredient of all: love.

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(Applause)