Why Farmigo?

I have spent the last 12 years of my life in the software industry helping large companies utilize software to become more efficient, automate redundant jobs and manage their business. You could say that my efforts have been focused on making the big, even bigger. My resume can be summarized as simplifying complex systems by packaging technological advances into friendly experiences. While not quite at the age for a mid life crisis, I have been looking for a significant change and a meaningful mission. Or put simply, an endeavor that would be fulfilling, and contribute to my happiness.

What could be more gratifying than lifting my expertise and experience and moving it to a completely different domain that I find exhilarating, full of color with passionate delightful people, and super important to the way we live our lives? Welcome to the organic food industry in your local neighborhood.

Our food system is at a crisis. The drive for cheaper and faster foods has resulted in costs that are no longer hidden. The average American consumes 300 more calories daily compared to 30 years ago resulting in 75% of the population overweight and a projected 41% obesity rate by 2015. We have the highest diabetes rate in our documented history (1 out of 3 will have type 2 diabetes). Our awareness for the environmental crisis has grown but we continue to burn CO2 flying non-seasonal food across the world and trucking produce grown by mega farms with toxic pesticides across the country. We are no longer living to eat but rather eating to live by wolfing down a 5 minute microwave meal or guzzling down a hamburger in our cars as we exit the drive thru.

Small farms are attempting to provide a solution by growing organic food and distributing it directly to members in their community. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) first started in Europe has taken root in the United States. These small farms are feeding hundreds of thousands of people in their direct communities with healthier foods but have limited capacity and can’t compete on a price level with mega farms that have economies of scale and receive large subsidies from the government. The good news is that we are at a tipping point of food awareness. Advocates such as Michael Pollan and Alice Waters are helping to reach the masses with the message of healthier eating, knowing thy farmer who grows your food, and enjoying the meal rather than just seeing it as a source of nutrients and protein.

Farmigo, my new passion, is a web-based service created for small farms to promote, collaborate, sell and explain their food items online and aims to not only help farms prosper but also to build farming networks and improve communication. We aim to make small farming more sustainable so that many more farms can join the growing trend of farms selling directly to homes thereby becoming more profitable and expanding the number of people eating healthier fresher food. The Internet is a great medium for telling stories about the food we eat and providing transparency to the farmer that works so hard growing what we put in our bodies. Farmigo will be a big success when consumers finish a meal the way you finish a good novel and have the knowledge to say “that farmer Tom grew one of the best tomatoes I have ever eaten which provided the perfect flavor to this spaghetti sauce”.

I get asked how I even began exploring the farming direction. After all it is not a trivial jump to make for a city boy who has spent the majority of his professional life building software for large industrial enterprises. I owe a lot of credit to Michael Eisenberg, a dear friend and colleague. Michael had the foresight to point me in the right direction. Already, Yossi and I have tapped into our very best and built the beginning of something amazing.  For someone like me who always has his sights set on the next bigger and better thing, Famigo has provided an innovation canvas that seems limitless.