Beyond the Backyard: Agriburbia’s Patented Path to Urban Food Security

Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing “Sowing Change” series about urban farming.

Colorado-based Agriburbia is pioneering a model that treats food production as essential infrastructure, believing that agriculture and sustainable real estate development can be synergistic. Its goal is to create and integrate 30 million high-quality, highly successful farmers in urban, suburban and rural environments, improving both human and planetary health.

Co-founder of Agriburbia, Matthew (Quint) Redmond has more than 35 years of professional experience in design, planning, natural resources, agriculture and spatial technologies.

The concept of Agriburbia is the result of decades of professional evolution. The founders transitioned from the geospatial GIS and sustainable development world to focus exclusively on food systems around 2008. An early 600-acre project in Colorado served as proof of concept, Redmond says, proving that large-scale agricultural integration could be entitled and approved by local governments, even if the 2008 financial crisis delayed its construction.

Since then, the company has consulted on over 80 projects ranging from half-acre plots to 5-acre intensive farms. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a major catalyst for this growth, he says, as consumers became increasingly concerned with food transparency and freshness. Today, the company’s expertise has expanded to include health-centric farming, such as testing soil and septic conditions to determine if specific crops, such as potassium-rich goji berries, should be grown to meet the nutritional needs of the local community.

Agriculture as Infrastructure

At the heart of this movement is the concept of “agriculture as infrastructure,” integrating farming directly into the community fabric.

“Agriculture as infrastructure changes it a lot for the farmer, because it’s more about their experience, their expertise ... and then they get paid, because you’re not competing against Mexico or trying to [deal with] other things that are problematic in the sort of traditional supply chain,” Redmond says.

This approach aims to professionalize urban and peri-urban farming, creating high-quality ag jobs that focus on soil health and plant quality rather than just volume and logistics. By removing the uncertainty of the open market, these roles can offer professional salaries for farmers who manage these systems, Redmond says.

Tech-Driven, Networked Production

To solve the profitability issues that often plague small-scale farming, Agriburbia has developed a patented, networked food production system called E.A.T. Systems, which stands for Environmentally Augmented Trellis. The system uses vertically dense trellises equipped with a full sensor suite, including soil moisture and temperature monitors.

• Remote Monitoring: Farmers can manage sections of the trellis via their phones, receiving alerts if a section is too hot or requires attention.
• The “Etsy” for Farming: The platform acts as a marketplace where consumers or restaurants can search for specific crops and find local growers.
• De-Risking the Farm: To ensure financial stability, Agriburbia envisions a contract model where institutions like schools or restaurants reserve specific trellis sections before the crop is even planted.
• Weather Protection: The trellis systems are designed with plastic coverings to protect specialty crops from hail damage, significantly reducing the risk of total crop loss.

“[The produce] is sold while it’s grown, and becomes like a marketplace,” Redmond says.

(Image courtesy of Agriburbia)

Institutional and Residential Integration

The Agriburbia model targets four primary sectors for these food systems:

1. School Districts: Several districts are already exploring how much acreage is required to feed their entire student populations.
2. Hospitals: Facilities are using land for patient therapy and to bring fresh produce directly into the cafeteria.
3. Churches: Many religious institutions own extra acreage that can be transformed into intensive, commercial-grade gardens to serve their congregations.
4. Residential Developments: Integrating orchards, vineyards and trellised food production into open spaces.

In projects like the Lakehouse in Denver, Agriburbia has successfully grown a diverse palette of crops including basil, arugula, kale, okra and several varieties of squash and peppers.

A flagship 350-acre project in Fire Mountain, Texas, recently received approval to include 160 lots where the open space is dedicated to food production. Residents will receive text messages when produce is ready for harvest in their specific section of the neighborhood. This model encourages an intergenerational lifestyle, where retirees and young families alike participate in the harvest, supported by professional management.

Scaling to Rural Landscapes and Water Efficiency

While the “urban” in urban farming is a primary focus, the technology is also finding a home in traditional rural settings. Redmond says farmers in “sugar beet and hay country” are looking at the trellis system to make their pivot corners more profitable.

By using drip irrigation on these corners, farmers can produce high-value specialty crops, potentially generating more value per acre-foot of water than the primary crop under the pivot. This is particularly relevant in regions like Colorado and Kansas, where water rights and conservation are central to the agricultural conversation, he says. As Agriburbia continues to expand, its mission remains clear: to create a resilient, networked food system that benefits the land, the farmer and the community simultaneously.