Mary AG, The Automated Home Grow Box That Takes Guesswork Out of Growing

In many parts of the United States, there is a crisis caused by people having limited access to healthy & affordable food options. This in turn is creating a host of health and social problems. What exactly is a food desert? What causes a food desert? What are the secondary and tertiary problems that are created by a food desert? How can this problem be solved? Who are the leaders helping to address this crisis?

In this interview series, called “Food Deserts: How We Are Helping To Address The Problem of People Having Limited Access to Healthy & Affordable Food Options” we are talking to business leaders and non-profit leaders who can share the initiatives they are leading to address and solve the problem of food deserts.

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Qin of Mary Agrotechnologies (Mary AG).

Mary Agrotechnologies Inc. is in the business of developing affordable, automated, yet aesthetically appealing technologies for communities to grow all kinds of produce regardless of the local climate.

The Company’s signature product, Mary Model Z (“Model Z”), is a grow box, a small enclosed system for growing plants indoors or in small areas.

The Mary Model Z is designed for consumers and features a stylish Wi-Fi-connected growing system that is automated by cloud-based artificial intelligence, with built-in air conditioning, an active filtering system to control odour and mould, immersive multidirectional lighting, pre-made nutrient packs, and a smartphone app that can monitor and control the unit from virtually anywhere.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I always wanted to make a difference in the world. To me, it meant creating startups that have the potential to be socially impactful. However, after making a few attempts in university and right after graduation that failed epically, I realized that I lacked some skills. So I joined other startups, hardware and software, in different industries, to learn what those founders did and how and why they did what they did, to understand better the thought processes behind their decisions and a whole bunch of things that I knew I missed.

The entrepreneurial fire in my heart was re-lit in 2017. I’d always been fascinated by plants and long believed agriculture was vital to our society’s equality and prosperity in this century — a big difference waiting to be made. When a wave of speculations of Canada legalizing cannabis gave me a light bulb moment that cannabis could be a sexy foot in the door to something fundamental to people’s lives — food security.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career? Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

Development of every product needs a “this is it” moment, where even you as the creator of the product — who has seen countless iterations of the product — think, “holy sh*t, this is it.”

For a consumer-facing product, the form factor matters a lot. As huge Apple fans, we naturally wanted to make our product like that. We tried numerous designs, but none of them would have stood out from other players in the space that all tried to “think different.” Who knew everybody wanted to be Apple. Plus, they all looked like 50-year-old Soviet fridges — with big, white parts. Who would want that? Then it hit us. We all spend too much energy on making our products look like Apple, but we almost forgot that Apple always values function over form. They look that way because Apple believes the designs speak best of the easy, elegant lifestyle Apple envisions. Then what does Mary believe?

Mary, or specifically, our first product, the Model Z, exists to help de-stigmatize the act of growing cannabis at home and help people understand the plant so that they can grow with ease. Plants of the same variety differ from one seed to the next and become even more unique as they grow and respond to their environments. Cannabis, like all plants, is a complex life form, but people mostly think of them as something that is only valuable in that it yields crops. That’s why Model Z looks the way it does today — it is a living thing wearing a helmet that can express (through huge RGB lights) their feelings electronically. Like Daft Punk!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

No one can do it alone. So many people were instrumental in Mary’s story, but I’m particularly grateful to my cofounders David and Roger. Mary was just some drawings on a piece of paper that I kept bugging them for advice on for free. They both had a full-time job or school, at least until they came on board to turn Mary into reality. There were moments all of us thought the company was about to go down the next week, that we couldn’t afford just a few more days of staying afloat. But they stayed and kept on, even when our bank accounts had negative signs in them. This unspoken trust and faith are what make Mary where we are today.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Finding someone who’s much better than you are in their field.
2. The belief that your team members can take care of their battlefront without you micromanaging them.
3. Transparency.

Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

When I was a kid, I first read this proverb, “A little fragrance always clings to the hand that gives the roses,” and realized there was such a pretty way to describe being a kind person, and it stuck with me. While growing up, altruism always seemed to be an important part of life, and it even applies to what Mary does now.

Food security is a fundamental challenge the world is facing, and we are trying to find a solution to it. When we succeed while technology advances, it goes without saying that we as individuals will benefit from it immeasurably too. It would be a beautiful sight where every part of the planet can grow whatever, wherever, whenever, as long as there’s electricity. Then we can rise above food self-sufficiency and hunger and focus on other, more essential things in life for everybody.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would love to meet John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry. Because of his incredible leadership and vision that managed to lead BlackBerry out of its downfall and make the company thrive again, my similar background to his. I’d love to know what he experienced as a first-gen coming to North America in his teens for high school, and how he struggled with language and accent, and what he overcame to become a person significant in his profession and a diplomatic bridge of understanding between the West and the East.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about Food Deserts. I know this is intuitive to you, but it will be helpful to expressly articulate this for our readers. Can you please tell us what exactly a food desert is? Does it mean there are places in the US where you can’t buy food?

I define it as an under-served area or region in terms of options for healthy food. Food deserts can exist worldwide, and we experience them here in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which comprises the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York.

Can you help explain a few of the social consequences that arise from food deserts? What are the secondary and tertiary problems that are created by a food desert?

A lot of these food deserts overlap with things like lower-income and less access to healthcare. If you were to draw a map of food deserts and areas with a high rate of COVID transmission, there would likely be consistent patterns of overlap throughout the world. In Canada, we can use the example of the region of Ontario called the “Golden Horseshoe.” These are areas that may not have adequate access to social mobility and are typically lower income. Not only does that exasperate income by making the cost of living higher, but it couples that with health-related issues, such as the high risk of diabetes. Food deserts compound the social disparity of lack of income with the accrued cost of health issues.

Where did this crisis come from? Can you briefly explain to our readers what brought us to this place?

In short, the problem has roots in poor planning and social inequity. In addition, there tend to be connections between race and populations affected by food deserts, likely due to redlining in the USA.

When you think of the term “food desert,” it may conjure thoughts of a place that is far away from resources — deserted. Yet, that is not the case in so many regions where food deserts exist in highly concentrated areas, alongside very wealthy and food-rich communities, and often within the boundaries of urban areas. Putting lower-income neighbourhoods in areas surrounded by airports and highways, which, in turn, cut the communities off of wealthy regions with more food options, or making it necessary to have a car, are all things that accelerate the issue of food deserts.

Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact to address this crisis? Can you share some of the initiatives you are leading to help correct this issue?

For various reasons, the underserved cannabis market parallels that of communities with fewer food options. We learned many lessons from that, like prioritizing access for those who rely on cannabis as a medicine.

The lack of autonomy of access is the lesson we took from medicinal cannabis users. It inspired us to create the Mary Model Z, which allows people to grow a single cannabis plant in a contained space. One that also provides all the light and nutrients that the plant needs without the mess, odour and bulk of almost every other system (usually a “grow tent”) currently on the market.

Now, we are working on growing in tight spaces at an industrial scale. Once we have that figured out, we can adapt to any size and location, regardless of the season.

Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?

We do have a customer right now who went from not knowing how to garden, but by growing cannabis in the Mary grow box, he moved on to peppers and tomatoes and then graduated to growing these items in his outdoor garden. The lessons he learned from using our unit and system took him down the path of learning to grow in all sorts of mediums. So ultimately, that’s why we’re here; to encourage and facilitate that sort of learning experience.

In your opinion, what should other business and civic leaders do to further address these problems? Can you please share your “5 Things That Need To Be Done To Address The Problem of People Having Limited Access to Healthy & Affordable Food Options”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

1. Better Planning.

At the expense of communities that tend to have lower incomes, inadequate planning has been a significant factor in creating food deserts. In the communities where food deserts are present, healthy food sources tend to be further away, and the population usually has fewer transportation options. Convenience shopping fills in the gaps and replaces healthy food options.

2. Desegregate Communities.

Separating communities based on income means that the most vulnerable will often go underserved. While it is a long-term solution that doesn’t solve immediate problems, better community planning that mixes residential, retail, and workspace for a range of income levels in one geographic area can help ensure access to healthy food options for everyone.

3. Decentralize

As larger grocery retailers move into a neighborhood, the smaller providers can often compete on price. That means only those who do not have the transportation options are left supporting the independent grocer. It quickly becomes an untenable business model, especially as the prices for retail space increase. In addition, fewer small-scale grocers exacerbate the issues caused by poor planning by placing the healthy food options further away from consumers.

Decentralizing food access means that fresh, healthy options are available on most neighborhood corners.

4. Empower people to grow food.

Growing fresh vegetables might not be a realistic option for the majority of our diets. However, it can help supplement. Unfortunately, lack of space, knowledge and resources for agricultural growth serves as a barrier.

5. Legislation to support local food options.

Some communities have placed limits on the amount of Convenience or Dollar Store type business in an area. These are the businesses that cater to convenience shopping and prioritize price over healthy options. They also tend to serve as a replacement for grocery stores in under-served food deserts areas.

Are there other leaders or organizations who have done good work to address food deserts? Can you tell us what they have done? What specifically impresses you about their work? Perhaps we can reach out to them to include them in this series.

Bren Smith at Thimble Island Ocean Farm is doing cool stuff. Not the same type of farming, but regenerative ocean farming is another area with a tremendous amount of potential and the right approach to sustainability.

If you had the power to influence legislation, are there laws that you would like to see introduced that might help you in your work?

The legalization of cannabis in more countries would help. But, in addition to that, we’d like to see more incentive-based programs for companies like us who would like to see a healthier population in general, whether it’s tax credits for R&D or startup funds or loaning for zero percent.

For the immediate issues, subsidies for local growing and grocers would be a great start. If growing is made more accessible and retailing fresh, healthy foods becomes a more sustainable community business, we can quickly get better options in front of people.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I don’t know if this is a movement, but simply thinking about food as a human right rather than a commodity can cause a fundamentally different approach to how we feed people today. Open markets are excellent and allow for great choice and innovation. However, perhaps they should not be the full story of how to provide nutrition to our communities.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would love to meet John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry. Not only because of his incredible leadership and vision that led BlackBerry out of its downfall and back into growth mode but also because we share similar backgrounds. I’d love to know what he experienced as a first-gen when he came to North America in his teens for high school. I want to know how he struggled with his language and accent and what he overcame to become a significant person in his profession and a diplomatic bridge of understanding between the West and the East.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

We invite your readers to check us out online at Mary.ag where people can learn more about our technology, including the Mary Model Z, and where they can also get in touch with our team to learn more.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.

Thank you as well.