We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Gina Oliver and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Gina, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
My background and upbringing has led me down a pathway that inspired us to create our business, From The Land LLC. I am from the San Bernardino/Inland Empire area. I am a first generation college graduate, first to go into a STEM pathway and career, and first in my family to get a Doctorate Degree. Growing up in a large Mexican-American family in San Bernardino, we would always gather together around food. And though my mother and her siblings grew up in poverty and often were food insecure, they taught me that food is love, food is how you show love, and it’s what connects and brings people together.

Both my parents were correctional officers and their view on school was to pass, try to get good grades, and after high school, learn a trade in order to take care of myself. However, there were signs that I was interested in science when I was younger. I remember an encyclopedia with an illustration of the Milky Way galaxy that had a small dot with an arrow pointing to it and the text “Our Solar System” and I was blown away! This stuck with me. However, those ideas were pretty dormant as I spent about 6 years at community college trying to figure out what I wanted to do while working at Chili’s Bar and Grill. A major turning point during that time was after watching a documentary about concerns that in the future, we (as a society) could run out of fresh water. I was shocked, and for some reason it sparked something in me to look up “how to go into water conservation”. That led me to geology. After taking a class, I was hooked. I loved the material I was learning and it clicked. I felt my world get bigger. This is something that I can do! I ended up getting my Bachelors of Science from Cal State University Long Beach and was thinking about doing a masters program there. But after completing an internship in Boulder, CO one summer, I felt like I could go into a PhD program. My world continued to get bigger as I was accepted to the Geology PhD program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. My graduate research included building specific temperature and pressure equipment for growing microorganisms that live in and around deep-sea underwater volcanoes. It was challenging and I loved my research but it wasn’t what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

The research I was doing in graduate school felt like it was disconnected from the issues that concern me and I care deeply about. Though my mother and her family are great cooks now, growing up they often didn’t have enough food at the end of the month. I was raised knowing that food is love, it connects and unifies people. Yet there are so many that go without it or they have to buy junk food because healthy fresh food is more expensive or harder to find. On top of that, regions in the US and all over the world are dealing with a lack of fresh water, extreme weather, power outages/shortages, food insecurity, and obesity. During my last year in grad school, I wanted to figure out how I could apply my STEM skills to help address these issues and bring good food to the communities who need it. That is how From The Land LLC began. My husband, Richard, and I share a passion for using our skills and creativity to help people and it is a major point that connects us.

Since starting, we have been working on innovations to make fresh food and indoor vertical farming more accessible. Indoor vertical agriculture is advantageous because you can use hydroponics or aquaponics (growing fish and produce in one system). These systems allow for growing much more food in an area of land, like 10 to 100x as much and it can use up to 95% less water than traditional farming. Sounds great! But a major downside is that these indoor systems require a lot of energy to maintain indoor climate control and lighting. This is the major challenge that we are solving. It has taken me while to get here. As a kid or young adult, I never would have imagined going into STEM or even founding an AgTech business, but at each stage of my life in STEM my worldview has expanded and doors have opened to many amazing opportunities, opportunities that allow me to make an impact, help others, and share the love that my family taught me.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a mission driven AgTech startup focused on creating a network of energy efficient indoor vertical micro-farms and a technical support structure to increase equitable access to local healthy foods. We are working on building our two major products, which are two building designs, one for growing protein (insects, fish, rabbits) and the other for produce (fruit and vegetables). What you can grow in 8000 sq ft, you can grow in our 80 sq ft facilities and use 50-95% less water. Our designs blend low-tech building materials and design with high-tech sensors and automation systems for climate control to decrease the energy costs by at least 50-65% compared to other types of indoor vertical agricultural systems. A single one of our facilities could generate at least $10,000 annual profit for around 10 hours a week while maintaining and selling their products locally. We also want to build upon existing networks to offer franchises and/or ongoing technical support. Other businesses have created some fantastic products and services for growing food vertically in their homes and others are offering turnkey indoor vertical farms in shipping containers for small farmers. We are offering products and services to those in the middle, who can’t have a large shipping container in their backyard and want to grow more food to bring in more income. Lastly, as a proof-of-concept we have been growing mealworms (larvae of a darkling beetle) as live protein feed for animals and their manure, which is a fantastic general fertilizer for all plants.

Moreover, as an AgTech innovations business, a farming facility network will allow us to rapidly deploy innovations.
We are most proud to have been awarded a Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) Phase I grant from the USDA to build and test our first prototype facility. We have been proud to be a part of an SEED lab with Caravanserai Project, awarded the CA Dream Fund through the CalOSBA, to start an accelerator program with SBDCLaunchPad Octane, and we just got our mealworm frass (manure) on the shelves of our local Crown Ace Hardware in Yucaipa. We have had a lot of help from the Caravanserai Project and CA dream fund programs. They have provided guidance and opportunities that we won’t have had otherwise. It hasn’t been easy, as co-founders, we have all of these ideas we want to pursue and we have a bigger vision of where we want to be with these innovations, but these programs have guided us in focusing our narrative, our target audience we want to reach, and strategies to make the business work financially.
We want people to know that From The Land wants to help provide fresh nutritious food to everyone, especially to those in disadvantaged areas and food deserts. We also want to educate those interested about our technologies and how STEM careers can lead to making impactful change in the world. Our goals are to utilize concepts that are kind of stuck in academia or in the laboratory, and we want to bring those out and apply them to help people now. As founders, we are scientists and engineers but are also farmers- and are proud of it. We work with other farmers to get their help, input, and advice because we don’t want to just make something that we think is great but no one will use.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d start the week with a healthy kickstart down at a particularly great plant-based restaurant called Café Gratitude in San Diego. During the day we would enjoy the harbor tour and a trip to the San Diego Zoo. The entire ecosystem at the zoo is a complete marvel! Tuesday we’d break from the traveling to enjoy the fantastic breakfast and tea at the Chai Pug back in Yucaipa, closer to home, and spend some time on the farm enjoying an easier pace, petting the bunnies and playing with Red the rooster (our Palm-a-Roostian). For dinner we’d go hang out with Bud, Kristin, and Adam at Hops & Spokes and enjoy whichever fantastic food vendor they have that night and a cold brew.

Wednesday we’d be back out to adventure in Claremont, starting out at Some Crust Bakery and then off to Rhino Records and the Folk Music store, some spots I enjoyed from my high school days. After that we’d head over to see Maria Alonso at Huerta del Valle in Ontario for their Wednesday farmers market. On the way back from her community gardens, we’d visit a childhood favorite of my family’s, the Bel-Air Swap Meet in Bloomington. Once we had our fill, it would be good to head back towards home but enjoy the scenic route through the citrus groves in Redlands and Mentone before enjoying some birria tacos at Tipsy Tacos on the boulevard in Yucaipa and then calling it a night.

Thursday would require some preparation as we would work our network to score some invitations to The Magic Castle. For those who have been there, the shows aren’t the only magical thing that they have, once you’ve tasted the food you will be enchanted!

Friday we’d head back out to Los Angeles to the California Science Center to marvel at the inspiring exhibits before heading next door to Long Beach to fill up on Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Mind you, after a good helping of Roscoe’s, one needs to be ready to rest, and so we’d head over to the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood to catch an early show. The Griffith Observatory is just a hop and a skip over and definitely not to miss. To bring us back to earth, we’d wrap up the day by telling the secret passcode to the telephone booth in the back of Roxanne’s to enjoy their super secret speakeasy.

Saturday would be a chance to drive out the I-15 to the desert to see the shimmer of the Ivanpah solar electric facility and then loop back around to enjoy the unique Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park. As we continued our loop, we’d get to see the windmills along the 10 and work our way back home. But! Before we got there, we’d have to swing by George’s German Market and grab some marzipan potatoes and wurst before getting back to the farm.

Sunday starts bright and early, heading over the Green Space Nursery to kick it with Jason Keeney and Chris and Angie from Punk Rock Chicken Ranch to enjoy the close-knit and warmly welcoming community at their Market Mornings. By the time the market is over, and we’ve enjoyed Petunia the pig’s cute little piglets, we are ready to get some rest to start a new week.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people we have to thank, but we would like to dedicate this ShoutOut to our parents. To Michael Oliver and Margo Urquijo and James and Diane Hutchison. Without their ongoing support, we would not be able to pursue this endeavor.

Website: https://fromtheland.us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromthelandllc/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fromtheland/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/FromTheLandLLC/

Other: TikTok: fromthelandllc

Image Credits
These photos were taken by From The Land LLC co-founders, Gina Oliver and Richard Hutchison

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.