Microgreens Guy

Food is life. What we eat is core to our existence. And people are beginning to understand that buying and eating organic not only promotes good health but aids Earth.

If you have visited the Palos Verdes Farmers Market or any other local farmers markets in South Bay, you might have noticed Palos Verdes native Jonathan Ho, entrepreneur and founder of Ho.Listic Operations. Ho’s mission is to create more sustainable, locally sourced food. He succeeds by implementing vertical farming, hydroponics, and microgreens.

Fruits and vegetables lose nutrients the minute they are picked. The 31-year-old farmer is passionate about this fact and wants everyone to understand that this is just one reason we should eat locally sourced-foods. Sustainable foods are grown in a way that limits negative impacts on our environment. By eating locally sourced foods, your food has not been refrigerated or traveled thousands of miles, using fossil fuels that create greenhouse gasses.

Conventional agriculture feeds large populations but causes serious adverse effects on human health and our Earth. Pesticides and herbicides contaminate the air, surface, groundwater, and soil. Ho explains that local urban farms address these issues by reducing transportation and runoff emissions, utilizing land and water efficiently, and significantly decreasing foodborne illnesses – all while producing healthier, better-tasting food.

Jonathan’s first inspiration came in Mr. Smith’s Environmental Science AP class at Peninsula High. “These inspirational seeds remained dormant throughout undergraduate studies at Cal Poly SLO where I majored in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Hydrology and Watershed Management,” he explains. “It wasn’t until I got my masters in Environmental Engineering and did consulting work in a rural region of Thailand, working with local farmers, that I understood how to propagate those developmental seeds into something more.”

The 31-year-old Palos Verdes native, who attended Vista Grande, Ridgecrest, and Peninsula High lives in Koreatown. “My farm is at my residence. I grow food daily, using less land, water, and time,” he says.

Ho recognizes the advantages that his background provides him. “Being born and raised in Southern California is an incredible privilege. The combination of wonderful weather, diverse peoples, and natural landscapes has shaped our fundamental beliefs, but our experiences away from home are the source of our inspiration and passion. Removing the thin veneer of comfortability revealed the struggles of everyday people all over the world. Witnessing rural, agrarian communities that lack reliable access to water and food really put things in perspective,” he explains.

Food and water are two essential, yet finite, resources necessary to sustain human life. “While in the U.S., 133 billion pounds of food and one trillion gallons of water go to waste each year, globally two billion people do not have regular access to safe food, and a billion people live without access to potable, clean water,” Ho says.

With such statistics, making an impact seems mind-boggling but Jonathan Ho is not deterred. He sells his microgreens at PV Farmers Market on Sundays, Redondo Beach Farmers Market on Thursdays, Hermosa Beach Farmers Market on Fridays, and Torrance Farmers Market on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
Ho’s immediate goal is to decrease reliance on corporate farms and the environmental impacts associated with modern agriculture. His long-term goal is to implement these technologies and ideas in developing communities to improve food and water security. Ultimately, it all comes down to making the world a better place one microgreen at a time.

“Our commitment is to the people, Earth, the provider.”