When Ed was serving as the Associate Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension for Agriculture, he was tasked with identifying the most cutting edge technologies across a number of agricultural sectors.  After much research, Ed determined that aeroponics, a type of hydroponic technology, was the cutting edge in growing leafy greens.

Ed decided to create a way to make aeroponics work on a large scale. In 2002, with the help of Travis Martin, Ed successfully created an aeroponic prototype system that grew leafy greens. He scaled the prototype into a commercial system, where he grew and sold greens commercially under the name GreatVeggies® for several years.  Ed sold a variety of crops and salad mixes to grocers, restaurants and consumers at farmer’s markets.  The market acceptance was astonishing, with customers praising the fresher taste, longer shelf life and  innovative mixes.  This positive feedback confirmed Ed’s belief in the superiority of growing greens aeroponically and drove him to continue refining his technology.

In 2009, Ed was approached by venture capital firm 21Ventures seeking to invest in Ed’s technology.  With this seed funding, Ed decided that the best way to scale aeroponics was to focus on developing and selling the systems to other farmers and entrepreneurs.  To reflect this new direction, Ed renamed the company  Aero Farm Systems LLC ("AeroFarms") in 2009 with capital from 21Ventures to commercialize his aeroponic technology.

“I feel that it’s is a superior product to what other local produce carriers will carry. The price is right, it’s very comparable. You have a much longer shelf life from it being such a fresh product. Customers absolutely love it. Salad plates come back clean.”

-- Chef Jonathan Derue , Simeons on the Commons, on GreatVeggies greens