HackMD
🍓 Nouns Berries
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📌 TLDR
We made a 48 second explainer video; watch it on Youtube by clicking the picture above!
Shoutout to Woody for the NounSounds.xyz loops for the soundtrack.
Requesting 250,000 USDC to Make Nouns a Breed and Brand of Berries
City Farmers is the Urban Agriculture Research & Development Initiative
of the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago.
The initiative's purpose is
- to facilitate university research of urban agriculture best practices
- develop and maintain an open source knowledge base
- support the creation of workforce development programs and businesses using the knowledge base
- create partnerships with organizations to amplify our efforts
This proposal began as a FoodNouns Prop.House round in May of 2023.
Similar to Prop 16, where a species of frog was named after Nouns,
we want to develop Nouns as a breed and brand of berries,
and charitably distribute the harvests into food-insecure neighborhoods.
Nouns has the advantage of being able to take non-traditional risks and early bets in developing macroeconomic sectors that can yield exponential social impact and financial outcomes; and we think it creates a great story for everyone involved.
"Each year, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists develop new varieties of fruits, vegetables, and other products that provide consumers with improved convenience, longer shelf life, better nutrition, new flavors, and sometimes even a whole new idea that no one has brought to consumers before." - USDA Innovations
-
The United States Federal Government is pouring over $3.5 billion into transforming America's food system. As part of the Food System Transformation framework,
Urban AG R&D is being prioritized by the USDA. -
Thanks to the Federal government's investments, Chicago's first ever Urban Service Center was opened in 2023 to provide a direct point of contact for urban farmers seeking resources and assistance from the USDA.
-
The Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, a permanently government-funded non-profit and one of 44 members of the National Network of Public Health Institutes,
has chosen our team to lead their initiative, the first of its kind in Chicago.
We do not face the same challenges as other agricultural endeavors
because we do not operate in the same manner nor with the same intent.
We are a non-profit research and development organization
- the sale of berries is not intended to be a significant revenue driver -
As an early player with powerful partnerships and robust momentum,
we are well positioned to ride this wave of change and deliver real impact.
What if every berry in your local grocery store was a Nouns Berry? ⌐🍓-🍓
🧑🌾 Problem Statement & Background
📝 Map of low-income and low-access areas in the U.S.
Source: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Food, a basic building block of life, is not treated as a public good.
As a result, nearly 1/3 of the global population has insecure access to food,
meaning they have limited access to stores that offer a variety of healthy and affordable food.
In Chicago, ~25% of the population is food insecure.
-
In 2011, the City Council amended the zoning ordinance to formalize urban farms
and community gardens as approved land uses, providing clear guidelines
on their size and where they can be located. -
Chicago now has ~890 documented urban agriculture sites within city limits,
including government funded training facilities like the Farm on Ogden,
and has even been called, "America's Urban Farming Capital!" -
As recently as September 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson has suggested
government-owned grocery stores as a solution to the city's food insecurity struggles. -
The Greater Chicago Food Depository - Chicago's Food Bank - distributed over
31 million pounds of fresh produce into Chicago's food insecure neighborhoods
in 2023; *(34% of meals are fresh produce x 76.4 million meals) x 1.194 pounds per meal
For over a decade, Chicago has demonstrated clear product market fit
for urban agriculture with a present need for market innovation.
💡 Why Nouns?
Nouns is an onchain society, and an engine for developing public goods.
Every society needs food production, and food should be a public good.
This initiative is a testament to positive-sum collaboration,
funded by a global DAO; actulized by a local non-profit of high caliber and strong repute,
bringing fresh produce to urban areas by equipping them with knowledge and resources.
Access to fresh, nutritionally rich foods is a key determinent of long term mental health and physical wellness. By reframing agricultural knowledge and food production as a public good, we have the potential to uplift the whole of society and proliferate the meme
through the direct route to people's hearts - their stomachs.
A multi-million dollar endowment is being raised to fund the City Farmers initiative
in perpetuity, regardless of whether this proposal passes or fails.
This proposal provides the opportunity to place the Nouns brand at the core
of a transformative initiative, and potentially become a household fresh grocery brand.
If this initiative is truly successful, this could be your local grocery store:
Our mission to make nutrious food a public good may be ambitious;
the impact that success would have across society makes it an obvious bet.
⌐🍓-🍓 Nouns Berries
Research shows that berries not only make you feel good emotionally,
they can improve cognitive function, lower blood pressure, and increase antioxidant capacity.
Meet our hero, Berry.
Once upon a time in a bustling city, a Noun named Berry, the "City Farmer,"
had a dream to bring farming and fresh produce to their community.
They started a small farm, teaching others to grow their own food. As more people joined, the city's food landscape changed, with improved health and local markets filled with fresh produce.
Berry's impact shows the power of one Noun's vision and determination combined with the strength of a community. The legend of Berry the City Farmer lives on, inspiring future generations to continue their work.
Aeroponics has an expansive body of international research supporting its efficacy
-and as you will see towards the end, we've partnered with one of the top companies globally specializing in this technique.
Government market incentives in the United States have not encouraged the use of these
"novel" techniques, in favor of giga farms and synthetic fertilizers.
That's changing, and Nouns could be part of leading the way. ⌐◨-◨
⌐📸-📸 Proliferation & Network Value for Nouns
We have a 3-prong distribution strategy to share the story of Nouns Berries.
1: Digital Content Channels
-
Nouns Prop House
- Packaging Art Contests
- Nouns Berries' packaging is simple cardboard boxes with a couple of stickers on them. We imagine running Prop House rounds to feature art, notable proposals, and other Nounish "ads" alongside the Nouns Berries branding.
- Rounds to animate Berry and story tell
- Knowledge Base
- What would a censorship-resistant onchain knowledge base look like?
Nounish developers may be uniquely qualified to pursue this endeavor.
- What would a censorship-resistant onchain knowledge base look like?
- Packaging Art Contests
-
LinkedIn, 𝕏 & Youtube
- We are publishing a monthly newsletter and other content on LinkedIn. Nouns does not have a LinkedIn presence, leaving a wealth of untapped potential on the table.
- Our work intersects with professionals across sectors. As our profile builds, academics, scientists, non-profit professionals, government officials, corporate responsibility & impact professionals, and other professionals will be exposed to Nouns.
- By creating a strong content funnel, we can draw people into the Nouns community through the power of food, research, and charitable impact.
2: IRL Partnerships
- Press & Media
- "Public Health Institute Launches Urban Agriculture Initiative with Funding from Crypto Organization Nouns" Imagine reading articles like that in the Chicago Tribune, or NFT Now. No promises, but we're working our connections.
- Local Government
- The City of Chicago owns over 30,000 vacant plots of land. We're in talks with City Councilpeople about acquiring or using land. There is strong precedent for non-profits being given use of City Owned Land for free or very cheap.
- We're in regular contact with the USDA's Chicago office staff about our work and upcoming grant opportunities.
- During his recent trip to Washington with Coinbase, wylin connected with a number of Congresspeople, including our local representative Danny Davis, who has been instrumental to securing Federal funding for Urban Ag projects in Chicago.
- Universities
- Illinois State University recently received a multi-million dollar USDA grant to launch a dozen urban agriculture courses, from the practice of growing to business fundamentals for small farmers.
- We're in talks with the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Their Institute of Design recently launched a Food Systems Action Lab "to develop tools and frameworks that can catalyze the transformative work of food-system practitioners and advocates" in addition to their already existing, FDA funded Institute of Food Safety and Health.
- Food Banks/ Community Orgs
- Restaurants
- We have connections to leadership at restaurant groups like Lettuce Entertain You,
a Chicago-based restaurant group with over 120 resaturants across the nation.
- We have connections to leadership at restaurant groups like Lettuce Entertain You,
3: Influencer
CryptoNovo is a Chicago native who previously worked for Vayner3,
where he facilitated the execution of Prop #33, the Nouns x Budweiser Super Bowl Ad.
We're already hitting the ground talking to our IRL network of policy makers, academic professionals, restaurateurs, & finance professionals.
⌛️ 0-18 Month Deliverables
The mightiest of trees began as a seed, and the same is true of Nouns Berries.
In the first 18 months, we will:
- establish an aeroponics demonstration facility,
- harvest ~2 tons of strawberries, and
- coordinate a food drive to distribute the berries.
Along the way, we will formalize partnerships, leverage media opportunities,
and create our own opportunities to elevate the proliferation of Nouns Berries.
The growing system seen above is almost exactly what is being purchased.
This equipment has a 10+ year lifespan to grow several dozen harvests of Berries.
📊 Budget Breakdown
Per the TLDR, our ask is 250,000 USDC to our financial manager's
Endaoment smart contract address at 0xCAAfF3b2D946d944016464123547ef38824cA330.
$130k upfront to establish the operation,
the other $120k streamed at $10k/ month for 12 months
100% of the funds will be held and disbursed
from the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago's bank account as USD fiat.
Grow Operations (CapEx) - 108,000 USD
- 50 Grow Towers - 12,000 USD
- Watering Automation Controller - 5,000 USD
- Seed Starting Station - 5,000 USD
- Water Tanks - 1,000 USD
- Plumbing Materials: 10,000 USD
- Media Tech - 10,000 USD
- Seeds, growing medium, nutrients - 10,000 USD
- Plumbing Contractor 5,000 USD
- Transportation: 5,000 USD
- Warehouse Rental + Utilities - 45,000 USD
Freya Cultivation R&D Support and Water Nozzles - 20,000 USD
Fiscal Services via PHIMC @ 10% - 25,000 USD
Marketing & Biz Dev - 50,000 USD
Project Admin & Compliance - 47,000 USD
🏛️ Leadership
🌐 https://thecityfarmers.org/about/
Our team has deep experience from our previous successes and failures,
and have formed partnerships to elevate our abilities.
Ian Wylie Hedrick
Project Director
-aka wylin💎. in a previous position, wylin was personally responsible for the physical conditions and maintenance of 2% of the urban agriculture sites in the City of Chicago.
He construced hydroponic and irrigation systems, and assisted in the growth and distribution of over 5,000 pounds of free, fresh produce to students and adults in Chicago's food insecure neighborhoods, and has lived in those same neighborhoods himself for over 7 years.
(https://wylin.heavens.pictures/urban-ag)
PHIMC
Fiscal Sponsor
PHIMC is a 30 year old non-profit that was incubated
in the City of Chicago's Department of Health for 12 years.
All activities conducted by City Farmers including, without limitation, programs, external communications, fundraising, processing of contributions, bookkeeping, negotiation of contracts and disbursement of funds (including grants) are the responsibility of PHIMC.
Freya Cultivation Systems
Aeroponics Consultant
A leading Controlled Environment Agriculture technology developer headquarted in Lithuania. Freya has developed a robust body of IP around aeroponic technology and irrigation recipes.
They are assisting the Nouns Berries team with the design and development of the growing system, including dedicated support with our team as their research partner.
Richard Nelson
Scientific Advisor
Richard Nelson has 30 years’ experience with R&D as the inventor of SolaRoof technology.
He coordinated several million dollars of research grants and investments
beginning in the 1980s through the early 2000s to develop greenhouse technologies,
and developed 6 United States Patents in the field.
Bob Soljacich
Marketing & Business Development
Bob and his firm akceler8 bring decades of experience consulting Fortune 1000 companies in finance, marketing, and management; focused on the Alt/ Renewable Energy, Ag Tech, Bio Tech and CPG sectors.
He previously consulted on the launch, growth, and stabilization of a for-profit organic greenhouse in Jamaica.
Steve Denenberg
Board Member, Advisor
Former Co-Founder & COO of FarmedHere, a venture-backed 90,000 sq ft indoor farm.
Steve raised over $25 million in 2012 to build what was, at the time,
the largest indoor farm in America. wylin dragged him out of his retirement from urban ag.
Nouns is an expermient, and so was FarmedHere; their farm closed in 2017.
The lessons learned from that business shaped the formation of City Farmers' plans;
the beauty of experienced mentors is getting to leapfrog their previous mistakes.
Nick Tanev
Compliance Officer
Former SEC Reporting Consultant at Workvia & former Regulatory Examiner at the CBOE.
Nick has deep experience navigating the US financial regulatory system, business compliance, and raising capital.
If you are a U.S. based individual or business who would like to make a charitable donation, you may use card or ACH at https://thecityfarmers.org/donate.
Crypto donations can be made via Endaoment.
If you would like to make a large donation by wire tansfer, Charitable Lead Trust, or an Endowment, please contact us directly.
📝 Dive into our website to explore the world we're building. ⌐◨-◨
