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Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands.

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[audio logo] Saint Croix, the largest island in the US Virgin Islands, gets its nickname, Twin Cities, from Frederick stead in the west and Christian stead in the Middle East.

They are as different as the 16 miles that separate them allow.

Christian stead is traditionally the seat of development and business, with Frederick stead being the anchor of culture, art, and history, as well as their only cruise ship port.

With a rich indigenous history and having lived under the rule of seven flags, the current being the American, Saint Croix is as unique and diverse as it gets.

The 40,000 plus crucians and transplants on the island for all their diversity are intimately connected.

Not the least of these connections is their almost total dependence on the outside world for food.

And the solution may come from two things that are as distinct as the Twin Cities themselves, farming and startup culture.

[music playing] We start our journey towards food independence on St Croix with Summer, founder and ED of the Good Food Coalition.

The Good Food Coalition is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting farmers through a vibrant local food economy that also ensures healthy local choices for the community.

We met her at the largest baobab tree on the island.

What is the significance of this baobab tree?

250 years of stories.

250 years of triumph.

250 years of struggles.

For me, when I think about the baobab tree, I think about how it came here from Africa, probably in a slave ship, with people who had no idea where they were going.

Probably couldn't even speak to each other because they were mixed with different languages, really scared.

And somehow, I'm standing here, and specifically here on the plaque.

It talks about the women who were burned here.

It says, under this tree, some of the women who join Queen Mary Thomas in the rebellion of 1878 were burned alive.

But they also produced a fire and burnt half of this island down for the concept of liberation, for fairness, for justice.

Young people, 16 and 17-year-olds, fearless and burgeoning with the desire to realize something different than the life that they were given and willing to leap.

And I think about, do I have that boldness?

And I hope that in my lifetime with the work that I do, I bring a different fire to honor their sacrifice for me to be here.

Because if sugar was part of enslaving us as a people, it still enslaves us as a people in our bodies.

Like I am a type 2 diabetic.

I am a 45-year-old woman of color who is a descendant of people who produced sugar.

And somehow, I am still enslaved to sugar and burdened by it.

What do I give the person standing here 175 years or 250 years from now with my little tiny existence that could be 1 inch more liberating?

Wow, I think I got a little bit of a chill.

I had no idea what it means to be an executive director.

I happened my way into this situation that I think is my destiny.

So it started out just as farm to school, and it was like, how do we have young people eating more local, more fresh, and using that to support farm businesses and adding more viability?

It's about procurement, it's about nutrition classes, and it's about school gardens, like using school gardens as a tool, as an education.

I see us as a food system vehicle in the Virgin Islands.

St Croix is it's quite a bit different than Saint Thomas and certainly Saint John, is just even capacity to produce food.

So in total, there's 565 farmers in the Virgin Islands.

You can say about 300 of those farmers exist on the island of Saint Croix.

About 30 of them are full time farmers.

So we import 98% of our food.

Our goal is helping grow more full time farmers and figuring out, what is not just the supply chain, but what is the value chain that gets the farmer more money?

Farmers aren't profiting.

So it's like, we have to build not just good food practices, but good purchasing practices.

What are the constraints that you guys have for this to really be what it is that you think it could be?

First and foremost, I'll just lead with it.

How do we break the systems that have conditioned us to think a certain way about what is food?

This is food.

A baobab tree has one of the highest vitamin C components in any fruit.

But if we don't identify what grows from this tree as food anymore, We have a problem.

Second, it is getting our story combined with our nation story.

The average sized farm in the Virgin Islands is 15 acres.

The average sized farm in the Midwest or in the Southeast is like 150 acres or thousands of acres.

So the land management practices they use will never work here.

But guess what?

The land management practices they use in Guam can.

Hawaii knows how to get food across water.

So instead of pairing us with those people, we need to be paired with each other.

So you are an advocate for all of this.

How do you survive?

What they should tell executive directors is become good at begging.

[laughter] I'm a glorified beggar.

Executive beggar.

I have the honor of stewarding other people's stories, and so there's just a lot of invisibility.

What we're trying to do is link back chains right back down to the humans that grow it so people can see how beautiful and diverse and intelligent passionate about caring for humanity that the person who chooses to be a farmer or food producer is.

[music playing] Next we head to Mr. Burton's farm, a no till organic farm that hasn't used pesticides or machinery for over a decade.

[music playing] How long have you been farming here?

20 years.

20 years, OK. Wow.

The people know you as the farmer?

[laughter] Well, I'll tell you what.

In the area over here, I'm called garden man, farm man.

But over on the other end of town, they call me Mr Burton.

[laughter] I wanted to just chip in and talk a little bit about all the cardboard that we're walking on.

Why do I use the cardboards?

OK. Just look at this area here.

What do you see here?

What do you see here?

Banana tree.

Yeah.

So how long does banana trees take before they produce?

One year?

Oh, you can say one year, nine months.

However, because of the use of the cardboards, you can tell, I was able to plant watermelons in here.

Oh.

So I grew a field of watermelons just while I was growing this plant there.

I never had to do any weed control here at all.

Zero, zip.

If you look just next door to another field that was planted the same time that was not given this treatment, you can actually see the difference.

It is even discouraging to go clean over there.

Now, if you look here, you'll see a higher mortality rate.

You will see smaller plants compared.

So come, let's take a little look.

Now, it is ever so dry, go from one extreme of too much water to not enough water.

So apart from keeping the moisture in, kept the grass down, and there were several reasons.

Plus the microbes-- the microorganisms on the ground.

When you lift the cardboards up, you can actually see Earthworm casting.

Summer, how are you collaborating here?

So when I saw the cardboards, I remember thinking, oh, this, is such a good way to cut down on our paper waste.

Recycling.

Yeah.

It's even better than recycling because it biodegrades and it builds soil.

And soil retention is something that we have a problem with.

Soil retention and moisture retention is the answer for like climate.

When I came here, I immediately-- I was like, OK, Mr Burton, I'm going to be harassing you because I wanted to learn.

He's been doing this 20 years.

He's learned a lot-- In this 20 years, but all my life.

My goal is to seek to get him resources to continue to do the type of farming that I think should be an example.

But right now, he's the support to the food because he's teaching.

[music playing] You guys know hugelkultur, right?

No.

Well, hugelkultur is some kind of science.

They are all science.

People have put names for everything, but it's simple-- having wood underneath rock.

Oh, I do know this.

Yeah Yeah, yeah.

Our forefathers used to do that.

That is, all Africa did.

We put it there.

We know that when the wood is underneath there, naturally nourishing the soil becomes possible.

Can even augment it a little further by burning that wood underneath, and it's good for yams.

I'm able to take out excessively big yams, 14 15 pounds of yam.

Recently?

Now, watch your step guys.

Hold on.

Thank you.

The mountain of augmented soil.

If you look at all this, this is augmented right around here too.

This is the wood and the decompose hydrocarbons that's going to build up in the soil.

Wow.

That is it.

That is it right here.

This is so augmented it's a fantasy.

[music playing] I want to make you guys lucky man.

Oh, look.

I'm glad to find my lost watermelon in the field.

What do you guys think?

[laughs] Summer, you hold it and say a prayer.

Say that I get it right.

We're not sure it is ripe.

[laughs] I got you red shoes.

I got you.

A couple over here.

I got you.

I got you too.

And what I have here is a trellis.

This has been standing here since the devil was a little boy.

Yeah man.

[laughter] This has been here since Satan was a little boy.

This is a more productive area.

You can see better coverage here.

This area is not-- look up over your head.

Can you see passion fruits?

I see all of them.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

Smells good, ha?

Yeah.

[music playing] How much acres are you on?

Five acres.

And the variety of things that we didn't see today.

What comes out of your farm?

Everything, anything.

No, no we're all about that.

You're a farmer, a business man, and an educator.

[laughs] Farming is business.

Make no joke about it.

And the more you educated, the more you can understand that you can accomplish.

Whose the captain?

The red shoe man.

I have met your shoes.

I think you're coming first, man.

It's closer to your shoe.

Oh man.

Eat the same-- Number two is always-- Number two.

I'll leave Summer for last.

[laughs] Cheers.

What is it-- Yeah, respect.

[laughs] Cheers.

You guys are so lucky.

I feel lucky.

What I hope to do is use his farm as a learning lab.

And this is a great place to look at no till, sustainable, regenerative, agriculture that's based on economics so farmers have viable businesses.

A lot of people come and try to, well, sell me.

Yeah.

I'm like, I'll promote Julia the Great is this about as if I don't know who I am.

I'm a professional.

They see agriculture as something that people who have run out of their options do.

If you call them and say, oh, I'm farming.

They say, oh, you're in America and you're farming?

No one say, good for you.

You can feed yourself.

You can feed people.

You're doing good.

But there's a stigma associated with farming.

I eat what I grow.

90% of my food comes from my farm.

And even the people on the island, they are not aware of the taste of a local watermelon until they taste it.

I make it my point of view that it takes them to my school so my children can have a taste, oh, this is what fresh watermelon taste like.

Then you have to go down to explain to them, hey, this one just came from my farm.

But the one you eat in the store, it has been picked two months ago, placed under condition.

We don't know where it came from or we don't know which pesticide it was treated with.

You remind me a little bit of a watermelon.

A little bit hard on the outside-- [laughs] --super sweet on the inside.

Soft and sweet on the inside.

No, no, no, no, I'm not like a watermelon.

I don't know, maybe I could be.

Yes.

I'm rough around the edges.

[laughter] So what does all this have to do with technology?

This is the University of the Virgin Islands research and technology park.

The RT park is a private public partnership focused on bringing tech to and supporting tech in the US Virgin Islands.

The RT park has partnered with Summer to create a VI virtual farmer's market, and is currently spearheading a 26 acre mixed use development program with an emphasis in US VI centric agricultural development and sustainability.

The good food coalition is one of their branded partners on the project.

I sat down with executive director Peter Chapman and manager of business intelligence and marketing Sydney Paul to talk about the importance of tech in Saint Croix and across the US VI.

The work that we do is designed to attract businesses and/or help businesses grow and scale so that they can provide livable wage jobs and good quality of life and all that good stuff.

But we also want to attract and help grow those businesses that are equipped to address some of the pressing needs that we have in the territory.

So one example is agriculture and food production.

The call to action for the RT park and our team is to help grow companies that can accelerate food production.

So one example is a company that we're currently working with that has a process for growing toxin free root vegetables.

And they are going to be the anchor tenant in a large mixed use project that we're breaking ground on in a few months.

That project is called Tech Village.

And that reflects the park's disruptive approach to economic development.

Sydney, what is your role at the RT park?

First and foremost, I feel like I'm a storyteller.

I am able to do that through the RT park with the marketing that I do because there's so many amazing startups, locally grown startups, companies who are coming in doing really good work that I'm able to get across to our community that there are opportunities and innovation and technology that we don't necessarily think of because of the industries that we're used to like tourism and oil refining.

We should be moving in a different direction to make our territory more resilient.

What was it, Peter, that early in this process here, you decided that was how things had to be.

I didn't want to take a model from another city, state, country or whatever and just plop it in here, but I do think it's important to learn from what I call leading practices.

One of the things that I tried to draw from those experiences is the value of a diverse talent base.

And diversity doesn't just mean cultural and racial diversity.

It means cross-disciplinary people, tech, finance, real estate development, marketing, creative enterprises, energy, so forth and so on.

Agriculture.

Agriculture.

But we also wanted to build a diverse client base.

Companies that we bring in through what we call our mature companies program, and existing companies.

Companies or entrepreneurs who have some connection to the Virgin Islands.

Because you have to attract new investment, but you also have to invest in the talent that exists in your market.

And that's how you create, at the end of the day, a sustainable economy, a strong and sustainable economy.

[music playing] A great example of the way the RT park facilitates local economic development is their Accelerate VI program.

It's a support program to help local companies grow and scale their business in the US VI.

Meet one of accelerate VI success stories, Boomerang Eats founders and brothers Khalid and Zaid Salim.

We sat down at a local Frederick's stead eatery, Louis and Nachos, to hear about their Saint Croix based food delivery system and app.

Because how you get your food is just as important as where it comes from.

A lot of times, the best solution, they happen locally.

What were you all trying to solve at Boomerang Eats-- It started out with us wanting to order from our favorite restaurant.

So here, you would have to call your favorite restaurant like 9, 10 times to get through sometimes.

And we do just become frustrated.

And sometimes, it's just like, if it doesn't happen on the 11th one, I'm done.

So that's how we got here.

So really, originally started doing online order.

Our humble beginnings, selfish beginnings.

[laughter] Chicken leg and fries from 2 plus 2.

[laughter] Yeah.

No, I'm not interrupting.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Looks great.

It's very fresh.

You ordered great stuff for us.

Thank you, Zaid.

Thank you.

And both of you all have been around.

Both of you all head of military experience.

Both of you all traveled the world and stuff, but you all came back home.

What does the startup scene look like?

We're really the first startup tech company that originated from the Virgin Islands.

Doing anything and being the first is a little bit more difficult.

I was in Hong Kong, he had just left me, and we'd always want to do something together.

What are the problems that we could solve?

And when you have an opportunity, why not us?

So we're like, OK, now do we have this idea, how do we do it?

And we had to find people to do it.

Found a little bit of that network at the RT park, right?

So RT park gave us that foundation.

And contrary to belief, we actually got rejected our first time.

That makes you stronger.

It gave us a chip on our shoulder that we well needed.

And it gave us the next year to just grind to the point where when we resubmitted the following cohort, they went ahead and we were accepting-- we're like, it was like a sigh of relief, but we knew that we were ready.

We had proven to ourselves that we were ready.

When we were rejected in the stores away, they worked with us.

But they filled in those gaps say, hey, this is what you need to do.

A lot of people don't think about the fact that entrepreneurship, it is a process of learning, failing, and then learning more.

Was that process for you guys discouraging?

I definitely felt out of place in our earlier meetings, but reflection, I think, through the whole process is key.

Because you're going to make mistakes.

And it's just knowing that we have to have our view your cognizant of, you have to evolve.

Then little by little, you will evolve.

[music playing] Going into business, as brothers, were super tight.

As partners, we had to learn how to be partners.

Because we fight like brothers.

Yeah, there you go.

We also have a glue.

Our mother who is in this world is a great mediator.

Like all right, guys, you love each other.

We love each other.

Doesn't change.

Doesn't change.

Was any of that-- did it come from your parents at all?

Different parents.

I'm about to say, he's 10 years older than me.

Oh, no, that's obvious.

Yeah.

[laughter] The parents he got, he might tell a different story.

Right, yeah.

So two different parents.

Reason I brought it up is because I grew with my grandmother and my mom worked a lot.

My dad worked a lot.

You always saw that work ethic.

And not like, you just had to do it.

We weren't rich, so they had to work.

So I had a lot more room to make mistakes.

Well, that's what we'll go from the last child's perspective.

Mom used to own the bookstore and her sister, and my brother and I, we started our business together.

So you all have been all over the world?

Yeah.

So why stay?

Because when I got off the military too, I went to live with him.

And mom called me one day, you should come back home.

People come from around the world every day to move here, why shouldn't you too?

I've been gone for 24 years and just traveling.

I was in the military first, traveling teacher, and I've always wanted-- like Shangri-La, I always wanted to come back home and just couldn't find a way.

And our conversations really sparked where I wanted to be home.

When you asked that, I say just look at that sunset right here.

Know everybody.

One of my classmates are here eating lunch and say, hey, what's going on?

You see everybody, the love is there always.

One of the best advices I always had is you make your mama proud.

Yes.

Yeah, definitely.

And it helps to guys-- we're eighth generation Virgin Islands.

Yeah.

It's also the fact that you guys have access.

Everybody seems to have access.

I think the access is something that's pretty much underrated here because we have a lot of talent here.

A lot of people that do a lot of things.

And once you're in that network, you're like, oh, you do this?

And the ability to ask someone a quick question.

We'll be like, so what's your expertise on this?

That will take us a long way because that's something in the States, we have to go search out.

Sure, people can complain.

It's easy to complain than saying, hey, I have a dream.

Let me try to search out.

You said, you can rub elbows with all kinds of people.

You just got to have that drive to say, I want to do this and see where is that perfect place?

That small town really helps out as far as accomplishing your dreams.

You just have to drive to it And.

You have to have that drive.

Well, thanks again for everything.

This is awesome.

Thank you, guys.

Best of luck on the Boomerang Eats.

Very much.

Cheers.

Can you do that all right?

Can you do it now?

[interposing voices] Thank you.

[music playing] The future St Croix holds many challenges.

But the closer the solutions start to home, the closer they are to success from the get go.

We can't wait to see what's next as the old world of farming meets the cutting edge of tech.

The partnerships, forged across cultures and disciplines, are the key to a healthier, more independent, and sustainable St Croix for crucians, tourists, and transplants alike.

[music playing] There's so much more to explore, and we want you to join us on The Good Road.

For more in-depth content, meet us on the internet at TheGoodRoad.TV.

Hear more great stories, connect organizations, and make sure you download our podcast philanthropology.

Funding for The Good Road has been provided by-- What makes a good road?

Blazing a trail, making a difference.

Being unafraid to take the path of most resistance.

Toyota has a beyond zero vision for a carbon neutral future that lets you find your own good road with Toyota's electrified lineup, including battery electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles.

Designed to get you where you want to go from work, to school, or wherever your adventures take you.

Toyota is all about paving good roads.

Proud sponsor of The Good Road.

Toyota, let's go places.

[audio logo] Here in Nashville, we're a mixture of genres, a hybrid of styles.

Settling for nothing, hungry for everything.

All drawn together to stand out.

You are welcome.

Always, Asheville.

Music is the great unifier with power to change the world.

Musicians create that positive change music each and every day.

In Your Ear studios, diverse musicians creating diverse music that unifies.

Bank of America.

What would you like the power to do?

Philanthropy Journal, stories about bold people changing the world.

The Buccaneer Beach and Golf Resort.

Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands.

[music playing]