This indoor urban farm lives in an industrial warehouse and provides the greens and veggies for numerous local hot spots around Miami from a very limited vertical grow space. Owned and operated by 28-year-old Alejandro Lozano, one of only 8% of farmers under the age of 35 in the U.S.,
Superior Superfoods aims to develop a hyper-local food economy, taking the agriculture historically subsidized by government and placing it back into the hands of the people. Flipping traditional agriculture on its head, Superior Superfoods is somewhat of a Miami Robinhood, selling to high-end restaurants and redistributing the wealth to its local community, the redlined and underserved Allapattah, an area classified as a “food desert” due to its limited access to nutritious, affordable food. The ultimate goal? To reconnect the community with the food they’re buying, resolve the disassociation between individuals and the food they consume, and participate in the local economy.
“Although our price points may be marginally higher, it’s actually more expensive to buy food from grocery stores in the long run. When you do, you forgo the shelf life of your food by giving it to the supply chain. Purchasing locally-grown food results in an extended shelf life. It’s important to remember that we vote with our dollars, and I vote to support the local economy over big agriculture.”
The farm, a new start-up launched in 2020, already provides food to restaurants such as
Thatch Miami, All Day, and
Love Life Café, using only a fraction of their grow space, a detail they hope will demonstrate how little space is actually needed to sustain the local food economy. In the coming months, they hope to offer a Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) box, discounted for their Allapattah neighbors.
With a vision for a carbon neutral business, sustainable packaging, fungicide and pesticide free organic farming, Lozano is quietly working behind the scenes, giving farming enthusiasts a little inspiration and re-educating the community on food production, consumption, and how vertical farming can help combat climate change.