Ten thousand ladybugs were released in a dedication ceremony for Second Chances Farm #1 in Wilmington.
Second Chances is the first hydroponic, indoor vertical farm in the State of Delaware.
Ladybugs provide chemical-free, pesticide-free pest control.
“At Second Chances Farm, we plan to grow pesticide- and herbicide-free produce. Ladybugs are beneficial bugs that help rid an area of crop-damaging and destructive insect pests,” says Ajit Mathew George, founder of Second Chances Farm.
Jon Brilliant, a managing member and CFO of Second Chances Farm, said Second Chances Farm as an example of a for-profit solution to a non-profit problem. Jon gave a TEDx talk on the subject at TEDxWilmington in December 2015.
Second Chances Farm recently received the Reinventing Delaware Award from the Pete Du Pont Freedom Foundation. This award is given annually to a social venture idea that that will create jobs and help make Delaware a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
The 20 residents, all of whom have returned from the prison system, were screened by Peers Mentoring Center, a re-entry program of Peace by Piece, Inc., who was retained by Second Chances Farm to help recruit returnees to work as “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence” for Second Chances Farm #1.
Second Chances Farm was founded in 2017 by Ajit Mathew George based on ideas given at TEDxWilmington in 2016.
The farms aims to fight a recidivism epidemic facing the nation while addressing other issues such as pollution, climate change, unemployment, quality of produce and food deserts.
