Rickey Smith

About Rickey Smith

Rickey Smith is founder and principal of Urban Green, a social entrepreneurship dedicated to restoring, developing and promoting “green space” within the communities it serves. Urban Green was designed upon Rickey’s philosophy of Circular Synergy, which seeks to establish a CLEAR path connecting the inter-disciplines of Cuisine, Land-use, Environment, and Architecture into Regenerative cycles of self-reliant communities. As a youth, Rickey worked the land upon his family’s property in rural Wartrace, Tennessee. He received his Bachelor in business from University of Tennessee, Knoxville; a MFA in Visual Anthropology/Cinema from University of Southern California. Amassing knowledge of our current industrial food system, Rickey started his own thriving business September 2001, creating two culinary product lines, The Sweet Spot and Urban Green Cuisine. The Sweet Spot has been featured nationally on The Food Network and Martha Stewart Magazine. Inspired by the challenge to evolve food production in the United States, and seeking to create a deeper, more significant experience than just the mere exchange of goods for money, Rickey is committed to the development of functional, small-scale operations using closed-loop, urban-farming systems within the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Recognized as a leader and change agent who passionately believes in the Urban Green adage “Waste not. Want not.” He is currently a guest lecturer at USC, UCLA, local charter schools, The Good Food Festival & Conference and a presenter at Ted x Pasadena. Rickey is also recognized for his community service work with diverse organizations such as Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles Robotics Team and Mother’s Club in Pasadena. Specialties: branding, strategic planning, urban farming, ethnographic research, trending, branding, film & video production, urban agriculture, permaculture

Experience

1. Founder & Principal

   Urban Green

   Aug 2001 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   Urban Green LLC is a Los Angeles based company committed to evolving food systems by connecting the inter-related disciplines of cuisine, land use, environment, architecture and renewable energy sources into long-term solutions to improve the agricultural sustainability in the urban environment. We are dedicated to the restoration and development of “green space” in the communities we serve by empowering the diverse people and stakeholders who inhabit our urban environment.

Education

• University of Southern California

  Master of Fine Arts - MFA