Ethan O鈥橞rien never pictured farming in his future.
鈥淚 grew up on a farm and I still remember saying to my friend when I was 12, 鈥榳ho would ever want to be a farmer?鈥欌�� he said with a laugh.
鈥淎nd now here I am being a farmer.鈥�
But the 23-year-old has not taken on the role in the traditional sense.
O鈥橞rien, who grew up in Aldergrove and graduated from D.W. Poppy Secondary in 2011, completed his business degree in entrepreneurship and innovation from Simon Fraser University last week.
And it was while he was doing research for an environmental course and was studying the food system that he came up with the concept for his business, Living Garden Foods.
鈥淚 pretty much found out (the food system) was a house of cards and we don鈥檛 really have a whole lot of sustainability here,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 realized that our current food production practices are outdated, unsustainable and increasingly volatile.
鈥淭he California drought and recent rise in food costs has taught us that we cannot rely on food imports going into the next decade.鈥�
Eighteen months ago, O鈥橞rien began using what he had learned to grow vegetables and herbs to sell at local farmers markets.
He produces his crops in a 20鈥� x 16鈥� greenhouse on his parents鈥� farm.
The greenhouse contains farm walls, a self-contained hydroponic system, which grows plants two to three times faster than soil and uses 90 per cent less water than traditional gardening, explained O鈥橞rien.
The farm walls 鈥� which come in different sizes and range in cost from $500 to $1,000 鈥� are capable of producing up to 40 pounds of vegetables in just under two months.
The walls are low-maintenance, self-watering, 100 per cent soil-less systems that allow food to be grown on any wall surface, whether indoors or out.
If they are outside, they just need access to sunlight while the indoor walls use LED lighting systems.
鈥淏ecause we can use such a small, compact space, it makes year-round food production possible and economical,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
鈥淲ithin a year, the thing pays for itself.鈥�
A few months ago, one of O鈥橞rien鈥檚 SFU classmates, Cole Cedar, joined him as a partner in the business.
They have since expanded by partnering with Ontario鈥檚 Modular Farms to distribute zipgrow and modular farm products 鈥� which were created by U.S. company Bright Agrotech.
Modular Farms licensed the rights to the patent for those products in Canada.
O鈥橞rien said the products are easy to set up with plenty of online Youtube videos and blogs available to walk people through the process.
Living Garden Foods also does consulting and education.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been approached by educators from elementary schools all the way up to universities and colleges,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
鈥淟earning how to grow your own food is an essential skill that every student should be taught.
鈥淚t was lacking in my education growing up and we must change this.鈥�
O鈥橞rien said the demand is there for people to grow their own vegetables, but the space is not.
He cited the fact that there is a wait list for community garden plots and more and more people are living in apartments, condos and townhouses, and don鈥檛 have access to a backyard garden.
鈥淭his is also a great solution for busy individuals and families who don鈥檛 have the time to maintain a garden, because our system primarily looks after itself,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
鈥淲e cut the time requirement down by 75 per cent to under one hour per week.鈥�
O鈥橞rien and Cedar will be at the Veg Expo, a vegetarian and vegan Expo at the Vancouver Convention Centre this Sunday.
To get in touch with O'Brien, email him at Ethan O'Brien ethan@livinggardenfoods.com.
