MEET LUCÍA SALAS, BRINGING VERTICAL FARMING WHEREVER YOU NEED FRESH FOOD

Lucía Salas is a passionate professional working on solutions for the challenges of our era. In the search for a meaningful career, she co-founded Raiz Vertical Farms with the vision to grow and reconnect with the food we eat while following the principles of circularity and sustainability. Raiz Vertical Farms was selected by Techstars Sustainabily Paris as one of the most innovative startups to join their acceleration program in 2024.

What was your first job and what is your actual job?

First job: Marketing and sales consultant.

Actual job: Chief Marketing Officer and Business Development Lead at Raiz.

Do you believe entrepreneurs are born with innate qualities or made through experiences and learning?

👶🏻 Born

🏋️‍♀️ Made

In the classic debate, which came first for you: the egg or the chicken?

🍳 Egg

🐔 Chicken

In the realm of technology, which do you think will have the greatest impact on the food system in the next 10 years? 

At risk of being biased, I’m going to say in the real of technology, vertical farming is going to have the greatest impact. Population in urban areas is growing exponentially which means we will need to produce much more food in the years to come. In contrast to this, soil erosion and climate change are making it increasingly difficult to grow food. Vertical farming has many advantages that would enable us to do that locally and reliably while saving water, space and fertilizers. Moreover, vertical farming combined with controlled environment is highly resilient to storms or droughts, weeds and pests. If properly deployed, vertical farming has many chances to positively impact the food system in the years to come.

Which skill do you believe will be more useful in the future of work?

Management skills. I believe with the AI revolution critical and analytical thinking skills and decision making are going to be the most relevant. Computers will do the a big part of our simple rudimentary tasks and we will have to manage artificial intelligence to work the best way possible.

Describe the most surprising culinary experience you’ve ever had

Tasting Jambú. Jambú is an edible medicinal plant that naturally grows in the Amazonian rain forest and I tried for the first time in 2022 when we grew it at Raiz. It’s a natural analgesic and when eating the leaves and flowers it makes your tongue and mouth all numb. It was for me and still is such a surprising experience to taste Jambú!

Name a professional you think we should interview

Henry Gordon Smith from Agritecture.