Produce, Not Corn and Soy, Supplies Our Micronutrients, a Farm Founder Says
Danny Bernstein splits farming into broadacre and specialty crops, and he says fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts are where micronutrients come from.
This Week in Startups · Danny Bernstein left Big Tech to fund farm-bots | E2310Danny Bernstein, founder of Reservoir Farms, an incubator for farm startups in Salinas, California, divides American farming into two buckets.
The first bucket is broadacre, meaning corn and soy. Bernstein describes those as large scale crops backed by federal support and grown in routine, high volume ways in the United States.
The second bucket is specialty crops. That means fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables, plus tree nuts. He calls this high value crop agriculture, and he says it is where micronutrients, the vitamins and minerals people get from food, come from.
The players there include Western Growers, the industry association for produce growers, along with large produce growers and brands such as Driscoll's, Taylor Farms, and Wonderful.
Reservoir Farms, he says, focuses on technology for that second bucket, for produce.
Questions people ask
What are micronutrients?
They are vitamins and minerals that people need in small amounts to stay healthy, such as vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, and potassium. Fruits, vegetables, and nuts are rich sources. Grains and oils supply mainly energy and other nutrients.
What is Western Growers?
It is a trade association that represents growers, packers, and shippers of fresh produce in California, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It works on labor, water, food safety, and other issues for the fruit and vegetable industry.