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Derek Drake is the founder and CEO of Ditto Foods, a Black-owned hydroponic farming enterprise in Chicago’s south suburbs. He produces organic lettuce, kale, collard greens, herbs, and root vegetables inside his 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck and sells them to wholesalers and local restaurants with farm-to-table menus.
Derek grew up in Ford Heights, Illinois, where he helped his grandmother plow and sow in the family garden, learning the ins and outs of conventional farming. This is where his passion for locally sourced food began.
Derek spent several years traveling throughout Asia after finishing his bachelor’s degree in social work, where he developed a taste for exotic herbs and other freshly grown foods. Derek lost his job after nearly 25 years in the hospitality industry due to the pandemic, and he began to seed a new dream, and Ditto Foods was born.
What distinguishes his company from other urban farms is that he use hydroponics, a farming process that involves growing plants without the usage of soil. Furthermore, the plants are grown vertically in panels, and natural light is provided by special LED red and blue lights.
Hydroponic plant cultivation is typically regarded as more sustainable than traditional farming because it requires 90% less water. Second, hydroponic farming produces more crops and herbs in less time. Third, because the greens are grown locally, its carbon burden is modest.
He routinely broadcasts fresh videos on his TikTok account, which has nearly 70,000 subscribers, explaining how he successfully maintains his farm from the inside of a truck even during the frigid winter months.
