Mike Zelkind is the co-founder and CEO of 80 Acres Urban Agriculture. He wanted to start something that would make a difference in our own community, to provide affordable, fresh, local food in “food deserts.” His passion for creating a better food supply solution developed into 80 Acres Farms. He met many farmers along the way and understood the importance of local food in building stronger and healthier communities. 80 Acres is an urban farming company that grows the highest quality fruits and vegetables in an energy efficient, modular environment. These farms use 97% less water and yield 100 times more than traditional farming with ZERO pesticides, while operating year-round. He believes that what we are doing is about the future of food. We are changing the way fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested locally then delivered to grocers the very next day. In his prior role, Mike was President, CEO of Sager Creek Vegetable Company, a Division of Del Monte Foods. Over his career, he held Senior Executive roles within leading Domestic and International companies, large and small, including Fortune 50 Food & Beverage, Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods Companies, as well as major Consulting and Private Equity Firms. 80 Acres is a founding member of the Infinite Acres partnership venture, along with Netherlands-based Priva Holding BV, a leading provider of technology solutions, services and automation systems to horticultural and other industries, and Ocado Group, one of the world’s largest dedicated online grocery retailers, operating its own grocery and general merchandise retail businesses. That partnership is now building large-scale, fully automated indoor farms in the United States, Asia and Europe. Mike has played competitive Chess since the age of 12, competing in several of the most prestigious International Chess Tournaments around the world and achieving a title of FIDE Master at the age of 19. e ranked #1 in his Master of Business Administration class of a top 20 Executive MBA program. In addition, he earned the top Leadership Award: John Robson Scholar and was selected for a very prestigious Community Leadership Program by the Wexner Foundation. He is fluent in Russian and has basic Spanish communication skills.