Grateful Greens grows microgreens using creative, low-impact, indoor farming technology in Brattleboro, VT. They’re one of the local producers selling delicious, nutritious mixed greens to school cafeterias in Vermont during the Harvest of the Month this May. We talked to Grateful Greens Farm Manager, Ross Orsucci, to learn more about their model of growing greens, their recommendations for school cafeterias featuring their products, and why participating in Vermont Harvest of the Month is meaningful to them.
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How was Grateful Greens started? What was its inspiration?
Grateful Greens emerged as a collaborative effort between several local farmers, businesses, and entrepreneurs in the Southern VT area with the goal of establishing greener, more sustainable, more locally-focused farming practices in order to prepare for the long-term effects climate instability will have on our food production system. The idea originated in 2017 when our current Farm Manager and facility designer Ross Orsucci began growing, researching, and selling microgreens as a way to produce a superior amount of nutrition as compared to a conventional farm, but without burning fossil fuels, wasting water, depleting natural land resources, or employing harmful pesticides or fertilizers. Grateful Greens was inspired by the beautiful people of Vermont and their unmet need for fresh, nutritionally dense local produce grown organically year-round, and we continue to find inspiration in the unmet nutritional needs of adults and children in schools, institutions, food deserts, and low-income communities across New England.
Can you tell us about your approach to growing greens?
Our philosophy when it comes to farming has two core tenets: keep it simple, and keep it green! Many indoor vertical farms employ complex hydroponic, aquaponic, or aeroponic systems, which often require chemical fertilizer inputs and deprive their crops of the natural beneficial stressors that exist in nature. These stressors, which come in the form of natural environmental conditions as well as from the balance of microorganisms in the soil, lead to increased phytochemical production. The term phytochemicals refers to many bioavailable chemicals that plants produce in order to protect themselves from stress—these include antioxidants that reduce inflammation and help ward off illness and infection—and many other powerfully therapeutic compounds, some of which can even kill cancer cells (like sulforaphane and glucosinolates.) By growing in natural soil and limiting the life cycle of the plant to one week, we are able to eliminate complexity and waste while producing a tastier, more nutrient-dense product.
What recommendations do you have for schools to feature Grateful Greens in their menus?
Microgreens are sixteen times as nutritionally dense on average compared to their mature vegetable counterparts, so a little bit goes a long way, and they are best eaten raw. They take any salad up a notch in flavor and texture, are excellent on sandwiches or in wraps, and make great toppings for pizza, soups, or other dishes as well. If your school offers smoothies, microgreens are an excellent way to supercharge them with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, fiber, and more! Microgreens are guaranteed to improve virtually any dish they are a part of, both in quality and taste!
Why is getting your food into Vermont schools important to you?
Although the United States leads the world in waste at an astonishing 350 million pounds of food wasted every single day, one in six US children are still malnourished or undernourished—about ten million children in total. Childhood is the most formative stage of a person’s life, and access to adequate nutrition is vital to our physical and mental growth as we age into adulthood. Studies show that children with consistent access to nutritious meals can increase academic performance by up to 15%¹¹ (source, source, source, source). Feeding the next generation, building up their connections to their diets and bodies and educating them about where their food comes from, and giving them the resources they need to flourish and grow into competent, productive citizens is imperative to the long-term success of any community.
What excites you about being a part of Vermont Harvest of the Month pre-orders for schools through local distributors like Food Connects Food Hub?
Any opportunity to increase children’s access to nutritious food is cause for celebration, but Vermont Harvest of the Month (as well as Food Connects Food Hub) represent the exact type of organizations we hope to build relationships with throughout our community—locally oriented, down to Earth, collaborative efforts to increase the wellbeing of the people and the world around us. We are very excited to participate in the program and are always looking for more opportunities to reach out and engage with Vermonters.
Anything else you would like us to feature?
Here at Grateful Greens, we strive to maximize our community impact and minimize our resource consumption and waste. We use 99% less water compared to a conventional farm, and we do not require heavy fossil fuel-powered farm equipment. Because microgreens are, on average, about sixteen times as nutritionally dense as mature vegetables, we are able to produce the nutritional equivalent of fifty thousand pounds of conventional vegetable produce every single week, year-round, all while using only 4,600 square feet of operating space located in the old Cotton Mill here in Brattleboro. By utilizing an existing structure rather than constructing a new one, we help reduce our carbon footprint even further. Do you feel something is missing in your diet? Do you have trouble finding fresh, highly nutritious, locally sourced produce during the cold Vermont winters? Are you passionate about taking care of your community and your planet alongside your health and well-being? If you answered yes to any of these questions, our delicious microgreens belong on YOUR plate, and we would be truly grateful if you’d give them a try.
Grateful Greens emerged as a collaborative effort between several local farmers, businesses, and entrepreneurs in the Southern VT area with the goal of establishing greener, more sustainable, more locally-focused farming practices in order to prepare for the long-term effects climate instability will have on our food production system. The idea originated in 2017 when our current Farm Manager and facility designer Ross Orsucci began growing, researching, and selling microgreens as a way to produce a superior amount of nutrition as compared to a conventional farm, but without burning fossil fuels, wasting water, depleting natural land resources, or employing harmful pesticides or fertilizers. Grateful Greens was inspired by the beautiful people of Vermont and their unmet need for fresh, nutritionally dense local produce grown organically year-round, and we continue to find inspiration in the unmet nutritional needs of adults and children in schools, institutions, food deserts, and low-income communities across New England.
Can you tell us about your approach to growing greens?
Our philosophy when it comes to farming has two core tenets: keep it simple, and keep it green! Many indoor vertical farms employ complex hydroponic, aquaponic, or aeroponic systems, which often require chemical fertilizer inputs and deprive their crops of the natural beneficial stressors that exist in nature. These stressors, which come in the form of natural environmental conditions as well as from the balance of microorganisms in the soil, lead to increased phytochemical production. The term phytochemicals refers to many bioavailable chemicals that plants produce in order to protect themselves from stress—these include antioxidants that reduce inflammation and help ward off illness and infection—and many other powerfully therapeutic compounds, some of which can even kill cancer cells (like sulforaphane and glucosinolates.) By growing in natural soil and limiting the life cycle of the plant to one week, we are able to eliminate complexity and waste while producing a tastier, more nutrient-dense product.
What recommendations do you have for schools to feature Grateful Greens in their menus?
Microgreens are sixteen times as nutritionally dense on average compared to their mature vegetable counterparts, so a little bit goes a long way, and they are best eaten raw. They take any salad up a notch in flavor and texture, are excellent on sandwiches or in wraps, and make great toppings for pizza, soups, or other dishes as well. If your school offers smoothies, microgreens are an excellent way to supercharge them with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, fiber, and more! Microgreens are guaranteed to improve virtually any dish they are a part of, both in quality and taste!
Why is getting your food into Vermont schools important to you?
Although the United States leads the world in waste at an astonishing 350 million pounds of food wasted every single day, one in six US children are still malnourished or undernourished—about ten million children in total. Childhood is the most formative stage of a person’s life, and access to adequate nutrition is vital to our physical and mental growth as we age into adulthood. Studies show that children with consistent access to nutritious meals can increase academic performance by up to 15%¹¹ (source, source, source, source). Feeding the next generation, building up their connections to their diets and bodies and educating them about where their food comes from, and giving them the resources they need to flourish and grow into competent, productive citizens is imperative to the long-term success of any community.
What excites you about being a part of Vermont Harvest of the Month pre-orders for schools through local distributors like Food Connects Food Hub?
Any opportunity to increase children’s access to nutritious food is cause for celebration, but Vermont Harvest of the Month (as well as Food Connects Food Hub) represent the exact type of organizations we hope to build relationships with throughout our community—locally oriented, down to Earth, collaborative efforts to increase the wellbeing of the people and the world around us. We are very excited to participate in the program and are always looking for more opportunities to reach out and engage with Vermonters.
Anything else you would like us to feature?
Here at Grateful Greens, we strive to maximize our community impact and minimize our resource consumption and waste. We use 99% less water compared to a conventional farm, and we do not require heavy fossil fuel-powered farm equipment. Because microgreens are, on average, about sixteen times as nutritionally dense as mature vegetables, we are able to produce the nutritional equivalent of fifty thousand pounds of conventional vegetable produce every single week, year-round, all while using only 4,600 square feet of operating space located in the old Cotton Mill here in Brattleboro. By utilizing an existing structure rather than constructing a new one, we help reduce our carbon footprint even further. Do you feel something is missing in your diet? Do you have trouble finding fresh, highly nutritious, locally sourced produce during the cold Vermont winters? Are you passionate about taking care of your community and your planet alongside your health and well-being? If you answered yes to any of these questions, our delicious microgreens belong on YOUR plate, and we would be truly grateful if you’d give them a try.
