Our Story

We are The Root Machine, a small startup in NYC aiming to use engineering and technology to address a serious global problem on an individual scale. This is the story of how our founder started his journey to create a healthier home, easier access to nutritious food, and a cleaner planet.

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On average, the food in your grocery store has traveled 1500 miles to get there, some even more than that. Transportation is primarily done with fossil fuel-powered trucks, fitted with fossil fuel-powered refrigerant systems. This inefficient method of delivery produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases. It also leads to food waste associated with packaging & handling, shipping, breakdowns in cooling systems, "ugly" produce, misleading expiration dates, rotten foods, or simply throwing away excess produce.

In my early 20’s, like most college kids, I was always trying to save money. So, like many college kids, I went dumpster diving with a friend. The amount of perfectly good food in the dumpster was shocking.

I realized that day that food waste is a serious issue.

In recent years, watching what I ate became important to me, especially as I came to understand that the use of pesticides is not only harmful to humans but also to the local soil and water systems. Pesticides leach into the soil where they cause removal of organic matter and biodiversity loss. This eventually makes the soil less fertile. 

Inefficient use of fertilizers is also predominant in conventional agriculture. Fertilizers, just like pesticides, leach into the soil and are washed into our waterways. These chemicals found in the air, in the ground, and on our food are often linked to cancer and birth defects. It also takes a significant amount of energy to make nitrogen and phosphorus rich fertilizers, and their overuse releases large amounts of greenhouse gases. 

With climate change an increasing issue, water has become more valuable than ever. The shifting global water supply is already burdening many parts of the world, often those areas without the resources to combat it, and it is only going to get worse with a warming climate. Droughts, floods, and extreme weather events are a common sight already. 

 

We need to shift to producing our food without pesticides, use less water, and transport electrons rather than food if we are going to find a solution to these global issues. 

The Root Machine was designed with this philosophy in mind. We use electric power to grow food with a method called hydroponics. In hydroponic systems nutrient-rich water is used instead of soil. Plants are suspended in a growing medium where they can absorb only the water and nutrients they need. This method reduces water consumption by 90% and requires no pesticides or insecticides. This ensures fresh, clean growth everytime. Fertilizer and energy use are also monitored and provided at optimal levels for efficient growth. On average, The Root Machine consumes less power than a flat screen TV of its equivalent size.

Through hydroponics we can each make a small change in the footprint of our daily lives. Developing this product is only the beginning, a small contribution to the modern food revolution.

I hope you will join me on that journey.

Tejas Doshi, Founder