Why The Amish Inspiration?

A photo of the Amish literally building Mezzacello’s sheds

People ask us why we reference the Amish so much as an inspiration to building Mezzacello Urban Farm. The answer is simple.

The Amish are a Venn Diagram to growing food and creating simple systems of production and achieving meaningful sustainability.

When we started Mezzacello Urban Farm I knew NOTHING about farming, so I studied YouTube and the Amish. I went to them, I interviewed them, and I took copious notes. And I copied their systems in my yard.

Starting With First Principles

From the Amish I learned what a farm needs AND what nature requires. I studied them, I interviewed them and took copious notes.

Then I brought it all back to downtown Columbus, OH and systematically applied technology, automation, robots, and engineered systems to replicate the best bits while maintaining and honoring their commitment to leaving nature better than how I found it.

If you have simple, manual systems already in place, then you just modify those with automation, sensors, robots, mechanical solutions, renewable energy, and most importantly, thoughtful land use.

Rather than just build gardens, I thoughtfully built a farm that optimizes land, space, recycling and sustainability. I found the Amish to be quite genius as a role model for that last bit.

So this is why I say we are Amish-inspired. It is absolutely true. We built Mezzacello Urban Farm to be a love letter to kids, sustainability, and our shared future. And it started by studying the past.