Join us at Best Video on Tuesday May 26th for a screening of the documentary “From Farms to Incubators”.
From Farms to Incubators: Telling the stories of minority women entrepreneurs in agtech in the Salinas Valley and beyond
Agriculture and technology both have a long history in California, but have rarely intersected. Tech is focused on disruption and innovation, while much of Central Valley and Central Coast’s agriculture is still managed with clipboards and pencils. One commonality is that women and minorities have historically been underrepresented in both industries. Now, a new generation of startups led by minority women are seeking to solve agriculture’s problems with tech innovation. "From Farms to Incubators" tells the stories of women entrepreneurs dedicated to agtech, a fast-growing sector within agriculture.
Watch the trailer here.
Their stories are recorded in “From Farms to Incubators.” It is a collection of visual and written portraits by award-winning journalist Amy Wu. Wu found that agriculture and agtech, had been dominated by men. But something was changing. Women were making major inroads in the field, and this was not being widely reported. She wrote a story profiling a woman who founded an agtech company, while working as a reporter at The Salinas Californian newspaper in Salinas, CA., then another and another. Her stories eventually became a series printed in newspapers throughout the U.S. The project evolved into an award-winning documentary and then a virtual reality traveling exhibition, starting at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas in the fall of 2020.
Amy Wu is the founder of From Farms to Incubators, a multimedia storytelling platformthat showcases the stories of Women in Agtech. The From Farms to Incubators project,which began in 2016, has morphed from a documentary film and book into a website that serves as a platform for hosting stories about women in agriculture from around the globe. As the project grew Wu brought on a group of contributing writers, editors, and web designers, all who share a mission and passion to tell the stories of womeninnovators and entrepreneurs in agtech, to contribute to the project. In 2021 the initiative extended to an internship and mentorship program targeted at young women interestedin exploring careers in the growing field of food, farming and innovation.
Amy Wu will be in attendance with books available for purchase.
