The Grower & The Economist

Danielle Schwab is the founder of Illuminate Supply Chains and the host of the Illuminate Your Plate podcast. She has a background and global trade and supply changes and now she has built an online space to connect eaters with their food. When the supply chain disruptions started and restaurants shut down, Danielle started making calls. She wanted to help get food from farms to households looking...

This week, Mike Novakowski is our guest expert on TheGate. He is the New York sales representative for Harris Seeds . Mike spends his weeks visiting produce auctions and talking to growers about their season and current events. While the news headlines paint a terrible picture of the state of agriculture. Mike shares stories of sold out hanging baskets, grocery stores buying from local auctions, a...

Guest expert Kevin Jakiela is co-founder of Toronto-based Just Vertical . In this episode, Kyle shares how Just Vertical got started, what makes their product unique, and changes his company has seen since the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year. Kyle and Peter share a passion for pushing the boundaries for what can be grown indoors. Peter is working on growing root crops in greenhouses and Kev...

Demand for high protein foods continues to climb. First, it was Aktin's and South Beach Diets, then gluten-free foods.  Now, COVID-19 has forced meatpacking plants across the United States to close and meat processing was down over 25%. Consumers will likely look for protein-rich alternatives. Peter goes through crops that you can add to your rotation this summer that fill this demand. 

Peter as worked as a researcher and a garden center operator. In both stages of his career crop scheduling has been critical. Understanding how to schedule successive crops to ensure consistent sales is important in remaining profitable. Now as a presenter, Peter takes what he has learned from years of hands-on work and teaches other growers about timing, adjustments, and dumping. By understanding...

Every season growers decide what crops they are going to grow. Now, COVID-19 has closed restaurants and changed how consumers shop for their food. In light of these changes, it might be time for growers to rethink what they are planting. Peter dives into principles of selecting which crops to produce to help each grower decide if they want to have a mono-culture or a many culture farm and how to u...

Brian Coppom, Executive Director of Boulder County Farmers' Markets joins Michelle and Peter to talk about the changes he's seeing because the market cannot meet in it's traditional format.  Brian and his team are coming up with creative solutions to help pair customers with growers and make sure that locals still have access to high-quality fresh foods. 

Get to know the Grower - Peter Konjoian & the Economist - Michelle Klieger. Peter and Michelle have teamed up to bring small and medium-sized greenhouse growers information they need to transition their businesses during the coronavirus crisis of 2020. Peter draws on his experience as a grower, a garden center owner, and a research, while Michelle shares up-to-date economic analysis about the...