About Know the Grow
Know the Grow was founded by well-known entrepreneur, Shannon Illingworth. Shannon has spent years developing technological solutions to everyday problems, to help make life better.
With the birth of his daughter, Shannon was faced with a challenge unlike anything he had ever encountered. His beautiful little girl contracted spinal meningitis, which required her parents to go to great lengths to protect and improve her health. One requirement was that with a weakened immune system, her body couldn't risk any food contamination. A food-borne pathogen that may make a healthy person slightly "sick to their stomach" could be deadly for Shannon's daughter. Accordingly, she was fed only organic food.
And that's when the big surprise occurred. Shannon and his wife, Bree, discovered something that most people don't realize: organic food is still full of chemicals. Yes, organic is usually better than regular farm-grown food, which can not only be full of pesticides, herbicides and chemicals, but is also prone to pathogenic contamination from cow or horse manure, run-off from nearby farms, and a host of other sources. But organic food is not really "clean" food. The list of allowable chemicals and contaminants in organic food is a mile long.
With this startling discovery, Shannon decided to apply his background in technology into creating a solution to help improve our world's food system.
He developed one of the first indoor cultivation systems housed inside a repurposed shipping container. These "grow pods" allow people to grow food in an ultra-clean environment, without any pesticides, herbicides, harmful chemicals or risk of pathogen contamination from nearby farms or city runoff. By applying new technology to the old-world agriculture industry, Shannon and his team created a perfect environment for growing food that is "better than organic."
After many prototypes, they got the technology dialed in, and now these portable indoor farms allow people, communities, non-profits, and businesses to grow their own ultra-clean food, virtually anywhere, all year round.
Today, Shannon's mission is to spread the word about the dangers of conventional food - even organic - and help people understand that it is vitally important to know where and how your food is grown. He hopes that through education and awareness, consumers can become more discerning about their food choices, reject foods that can actually damage health, and ultimately take back control of the quality of food they serve to their families.