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Pictured above, Jordan Bentley from Agrii
UCF Alum Takes on Local Produce Access and Florida’s Farming Future
The citrus industry is a dying practice in the state of Florida, according to Jordan Bentley, founder of Agrii.io and a University of Central Florida alumni, who created a web-based app to connect consumers to farm-ready products
“This is a story that is taking place with other crops around the country,” said Bentley, a senior environmental specialist. “We need to diversify our crops, decentralize farming, and localize the food economy for a more resilient tomorrow. I realized this need and left my job at Orange County to build a Software as a Service (SaaS) that will make a local food economy viable.”
Bentley, who has gone through the Build and Pre-seed Accelerator programs at Starter Studio in Orlando, grew up in Hardee County, Florida on a commercial mono-crop citrus farm. He witnessed the devastation caused by canker and greening in Florida’s citrus industry and realized that this approach to agriculture was unsustainable. “A single crop for miles is destined for disease and poor soil quality,” Jordan said.
Reality of Store-Bought Produce
When people buy produce at the store, many are unaware that what they’re buying has traveled an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches their plate. This leads to higher carbon emissions, increased costs, and more food waste. Bently also states that this leads to less nutritional value and less flavor due to the produce being harvested prematurely to ensure it doesn’t go bad before it arrives at the store.
Buying directly from the farm means “Your produce is as fresh as possible and gets to vine ripen, so it retains 30% more nutritional value and flavor than store-bought [produce],” Jordan said.
Agrii (Pronounced Agree)is in partnership with Florida Organic Growers, an entity licensed to certify organic farms in Florida. If a vendor is organic, it’ll be marked with Florida Organic Growers “Backyard Market” in the app.
Agrii is currently seeking funding to go nation-wide with the campaign starting February 21.
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