Rootlink
“Rootlink looked at how nature cycles nutrients and promote cooperation, inspired by soil organisms such as mycelium. Rootlink connects local growth, collection, and processing of food along with a decentralized distribution system.”
Jay Harman of Pax Scientific, Bioneers, October 2018
Organization: Rootlink
Mentor: Biomimicry Institute
Skills: Design Strategy, Business Model Development
July 2016-Present, Oakland
Summary
Rootlink makes delicious nutritious, locally grown, culturally, and seasonally inspired meals accessible at every corner of the city by partnering with local leaders in the food landscape, utilizing a digital app to connect farmers and the local partners, and introducing an intelligent distribution system.
I have founded Rootlink with Hooman Koliji* in May 2017. We were one of the six finalist teams in the Global Biomimicry Challenge to participate in a year accelerator program (Launchpad).
During this one year program, we have received business training, mentorship, and legal support from the Biomimicry Institute. As the project moved forward, it gathered diverse and highly skilled members sharing a similar passion. Rootlink and the Butterfly Movement teamed up in August 2018 to create a local food ecosystem in the Bay Area. We presented our work to the Biomimicry juries in October 2018.
Problem
“We [smaller farms] are all rich on paper, but in real life, we don’t have money. … we can’t sell”
Micheal, Local Farmer, Sonoma
“I really love to have fresh local food, but it’s challenging to have it.”
Mira, Educator, Urban Resident
I was raised in a small town in Iran, where almost every house had a little garden. By trading fresh fruits and vegetables, people were not only benefiting from healthy organic food but also making strong social connections. When I moved to the US, I noticed that a pack of lettuce that I’ve bought in Baltimore was produced in California 3 weeks earlier! In the United States, the estimation for food travel from farm to plate is about 1,500 miles. Rich Pirog in Iowa has shown that this number can be reduced to 44.6 miles by sourcing food locally. We wondered how we might create a local food system.
Process
We have spent time in the farmers market, visited several urban farms, and conducted one-on-one interviews with a group of local farmers and urban residents and found that:
Urban residents do not have reliable and convenient access to locally grown food while many small farm owners are facing hurdles in delivering their product to those who want them.
With Rootlink we looked for creating a connection between different stakeholders in the local food industry through a distribution system that makes healthy nutritious meals easily accessible around the city. This is not just a virtual/digital connection but a real-life collaboration and mutually beneficial relationship.
We envisioned humans as part of the natural world and integrate nature’s design principles to create a sustainable urban ecosystem. Mutually beneficial symbiosis is our core concept. Inspired by the mycorrhizal network, Rootlink was created as a resource delivery system within the urban ecosystem. Through Rootlink web, local farmers and residents engage in symbiotic relationships and support each others’ needs. Customers know the story of their food, who has grown it, how, and where. This transparency creates trust and reliability which is a challenge in the existing food system.
Real Life Prototypes
We have launched prototypes in three events:
- Sept.7th, 2018, the Pop-Up Village in West Oakland, by BART station
- Nov. 2nd, 2018, the Pop-Up Village in West Oakland, by BART station
- Oct. 19th, 2018, the Biomimicry Launchpad Showcase in Berkeley.
Our mission was introducing a new recipe with locally sourced ingredients, telling the story of the salad recipe and ingredients that where they are coming from to get feedback on our concept. The prototype was well received and we have got great feedback. Here are some of the data collected with the survey:
“Healthy meals are more expensive!”
“There are not many places to buy healthy meals around my work.”
“I do not have time to cook.”
“I do not know how to cook different meals.”
Some Key Insights:
- Eating local is not the top priority for most of the people.
- While people are interested in eating healthy, they are facing several barriers like time, taste, and accessibility.
Intervention
We worked on different segments of the food landscape to make healthy meals accessible, convenient, and affordable for people while providing a market for the local farmers, by utilizing a digital app to connect farmers and the local partners, and introducing a smart self-serve kiosk system for distributing salads and meals.
Customers can place order and reserve their meals via an app and pick up their meals at their desired location and at their convenience.
Rootlink Impact Label on products clearly communicates the meal story and the customer’s contribution to saving our planet.
Rootlink targets its products to urban health and environmentally conscious resident with limited time to cook. If you are interested in our Business Plan, contact me!
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