GBM Community Garden Groundbreaking in SE Raleigh, NC!
THE GREEN BLUE MARKETPLACE, LLC, AN EMERGING AG AND HEALTH TECH COMPANY ANNOUNCES
THE FIRST INDOOR VERTICAL HYDROPONIC COMMUNITY GARDEN
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PASSAGE HOME
Raleigh, N.C. — Isaac B. Horton IV—local restaurateur, owner of Oak City Fish and Chips and the 2022 NC State Fair Best New Food of the Year winner—and Father, Dr. Isaac B. Horton III founded the Green Blue Marketplace, to address the urgent need for True Food Security. This includes hyper-locally grown food to address nutrient compromised food due to food traveling thousands of miles. In addition, GBM’s Food Desert Terminator program will produce 30,000 lbs. of food where 300 lbs. were previously grown.
The Green Blue Marketplace, headquartered in downtown Raleigh, NC, was founded in 2021 after six years of research in hydroponic and health and wellness research. The GBM’s health and wellness community platform offers Ag and Health Tech including toxic-free, nutrient fresh and nutrient secure food.
GBM and Passage Home Inc., led by CEO Seth Freidman, formed a joint venture to expand its food and healthcare program. Passage Home is the trusted anti-poverty and affordable housing organization for the city of Raleigh and Wake County. One goal of this joint venture is to make healthy, nutrient rich food accessible, affordable, and abundant for all communities in Raleigh.
Corey Branch, Raleigh City Council, the Institute for Sustainable Health, and the Passage Home Board, joins the Green Blue Marketplace and Passage Home, in announcing Raleigh’s first indoor, year-round vertical hydroponic community garden. The Green Blue Community Garden will produce more than 32,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables. This is a vast abundance compared to traditional growing which can only produce under 500 pounds of food annually. This is the beginning of Raleigh becoming a Green Blue City.
The groundbreaking will feature Raleigh’s Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Ms. Megan Anderson, Senior Sustainability Manager of Raleigh, Dr. Phillip Brown, the past president of the North Carolina Medical Association, Dr. Maurice Werness, past president of the American Naturopathic Association, Dr. Jodi Hall, an associate professor of social work at NC State University, Dr. Terrence Leathers, past Director of the Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs in Washington, DC., and past pastor, Rev. Rick Clayton of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh among others. The groundbreaking will take place on December 20th, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at Passage Home, 513 Branch Street Raleigh, NC 27601. Friends and Media are invited to attend.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six in 10 Americans have a chronic disease. Research done by the Horton’s shows that Fresh Food is the Medicine. Key nutrients found in fresh fruits and vegetables are vital to the health and longevity of Americans, but the current way food is grown and distributed undermines the effectiveness of the benefits of those foods. For example, key nutrients in vegetables responsible for brain regeneration leave the plant in three days.
The Green Blue Marketplace provides access to food grown hyper-locally, toxic-free, harvested with peak nutrients, and is transported and stored toxic-free. This gets the most nutrient-dense fresh produce to the community before the nutrient Index is compromised.
Passage Home is Wake County’s anti-poverty with a mission of breaking the cycle of poverty and creating generational self-sufficiency for the individuals and families of Wake County by helping them achieve housing and income security.
In fiscal year 21-22, Passage Home provided services to more than 3,000 low- or moderate income (LMI) individuals. Passage Home provided 5,828 anti-poverty services; delivered fresh food and meals to 1,762 children living in hotels, made $1,304,000 in direct rent payments, made 326 job referrals, provided $50,000 in job training scholarships, and so much more.
Corey Branch is a Raleigh city native, four-term City Councilor, and servant leader to his fellow citizens. As District C Councilor and Mayor Pro-Tem for the fourth year, he works to improve the availability of housing at all income levels, the improvement and modernization of the Raleigh transit system, and the expansion of programs to assist in the development of Raleigh’s youth and young adults.
Isaac B. Horton IV is a Raleigh native who graduated from the UNCG Bryan School of Business and Economics. After diving into the corporate world with a role at Lenovo, he wanted to open his own business. Just a year later, Horton IV bought a food truck and opened Oak City Fish and Chips. Now with two restaurants and several food trucks, he has sold over 400,000 meals. He recently sold his first franchise after being certified by the government. Horton IV is President and serves on the Board of Managers for the Green Blue Marketplace.
Dr. Isaac B. Horton III has 39 years of experience in technology, patents, international business, and finance. He is currently Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Green Blue Marketplace, LLC. He has been CEO of Scientific Production Ventures, LLC, a consulting, and finance group for 21 years. After completing chemistry degrees at UNC Chapel Hill and a Phd in synthetic organic chemistry of natural products at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, he began his career at the DuPont Company as a drug designer. He then held positions in manufacturing, sales and marketing, strategic planning and business development at the Rohm and Haas Company. His first company designed, manufactured, and installed more than $20 million in Light Pumps in 1996. He has traveled to more than 35 countries, 48 states and owned companies in Japan, Australia, Belgium, and Malaysia.
