Today we’d like to introduce you to Darius Jones.
Darius, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. My work in urban agriculture began, after spending 2 years in maximum security in the Cook County Jail in 2010 for the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Urban Agriculture Department as a transitional jobs crew member maintaining a small-scale windrow composting operation. I, then began to join multiple courses and received certificates in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Sustainable Urban Horticulture, Environmental Literacy, Sustainable Indoor Aquaculture, and Entrepreneurship in Local Foods. In 2012, I began working as the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Urban Agriculture Department, Windy City Harvest, sales coordinator aggregating the distribution of produce from 12 urban farm sites (6 acres) within the City of Chicago. By the end of 2014, I had managed to assist the organization with an 100% increase in sales year over year while in the role as coordinator. I then began my own venture, Urban Aggies in 2013, contract farming for one of the city’s largest wholesale distribution companies in Midwest Foods. This operation was ran on a small outdoor production farm in Garfield Park before deciding to take over the role as Rooftop Farm Manager for McCormick Place in 2015. There, I expanded the existing garden to the then largest rooftop garden in the Midwest working with an in-house catering team to grow special varieties and coordinating logistics. I am now the Vice President and General Manager for a start up Indoor Vertical Farm called Garfield Produce Company located in East Garfield Park on Chicago’s Westside. Over the years, I have been featured in the New York Times, WBEZ, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stones Magazine, Crain’s Business Chicago, NBC New York, The Chicago Defender, and many more.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, lol. The first struggles I faced in the beginning was the cultural differences I was exposed too, as I began to meet people who lived in middle class, upper middle class and wealthy neighborhoods throughout Chicago. It made me challenge my identity, goals/aspirations and define racism vs. classism, and think deeper about segregation in the city. As I came to terms with these thoughts and began to build my career, I struggled with who I had become. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life though I had this budding career and people/mentors around to support me. There were people who wanted to watch me succeed and others who looked forward to my failure. It was hard to stay focused but eventually I found my path and accepted that this would be a reality for the rest of my life. As of recent, the struggle has been fund-raising for this new venture. Raising capital, giving pitches, perfecting the business plan, and not getting too low during hard times. You never know what the next day will bring, and that’s fine. Life has been much easier for me, as I have accepted my present more often then not and stopped putting an emphasis so much on my past and the future.
Please tell us about Garfield Produce Company.
Garfield Produce Company operates an indoor vertical farm in Garfield Park on Chicago’s west side. We specialize in growing micro greens and specialty greens for sale to restaurants, caterers, retail stores and wholesale companies in and around the City of Chicago. Our Company exist for the simple fact that there are not many job opportunities in the area and we wanted to be apart of changing that. Creating opportunities for those in need and generating wealth for our employees and community. The business is a traditional business with a focus on the bottom line but with more upward mobility for employees than traditional businesses. The plan was designed to be scalable, replicable and duplicable to create as many as we could possibly handle in low income areas around Chicago and the U.S.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from my childhood was visiting a farm called Pollyanna Ranch with the Martin Luther King Boys and Girls Club 2 summers in a row between the ages 8 and 9. The farm land was beautiful, the main house was amazing and I was able to go horseback riding both times. I remember being very impressed with all the trees, greenery and how clean the air smelled, lol.
Contact Info:
- Address: 401 N Trumbull
Unit B - Website: garfieldproduce.com
- Email: darius@garfieldproduce.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garfieldproduce/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GarfieldProduce/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZbhH3t48jaLz4uBPeEryjw
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