Jim Wilson/The New York Times
This is a photo from the front page of the New York Times this morning. Although I'm having a problem envisioning a $25,000 jellyfish tank, the message of the story is spot on. There are self-made jobs to be had right now if you have some entrepreneurial spirit.
There is no doubt in my mind that there are new jobs involved with fresh food production. I avoid using the terms farmer and gardener because you do not have to be either to help urbanites grow fresh food in the city. This is not about tilling the soil.
There is a need for people to build, supply and install sub-irrigated boxes, beds and buckets. Thanks to our education system there is little public knowledge about how to produce fresh food on pavements, balconies and rooftops without need for tilled earth. This lack opens the door for entrepreneurial creativity and initiative.
This presents an opportunity to turn a disadvantage into an advantage, to turn a negative into a positive, to fill a void.
With little investment, you could start making sub-irrigated planters from the waste stream that includes food-grade buckets, boxes and lumber. The planters are easy to make for anyone with reasonable do-it-yourself skills. You could do a lot with just a power drill.
An urban greenscaping service could deliver and install pre-planted planters to order, much like delivering boxes of fresh produce. The product in this case is a box of vegetable plants (or flowers) rather than a box of vegetables.
As you can envision, this is a service business rather than a sweat labor business. You don’t need shovels and hoes.
The need is there. I have seen it right here in my own neighborhood.
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