Running head: The Plant

ReflectionpaperonThePlant
NicholasRoss
InternationalCollegeoftheCaymanIslands
BE/SO425:SeminaronBusinessandSociety

Facilitator:Dr.DavidMarshall

The Plant

UponarrivingtoChicago,Iwasunawareoftheagriculturalpresencewithinthe
state.ThePlantisanagriculturefactorythatgrowsavarietyofnaturalresources,
includingfungus,mushrooms,plants,andtheyalsohostaspeciesoffish,namelyTilapia.
Thebuildingthatisnowthelocationoftheirfacilitywasoriginallyameatproducing
factory.Theyspecializedintheslaughterofagriculturalanimalssuchaspigsandcows;
upontouringthebuildingyoucanseetheremnantsofthepreviousworkthattranspired.
Theceilingwascharredduetothesmokingoftheanimalcarcassbeingburned,the
flamedburntawayatthewoodabove.
ThePlantsmissionistobecomecompletelysustainablebyreusingtheirown
resourcesproducedbythefacility.Theyhavealreadygainedsuccesswiththeutilization
ofvegetablefuel,whichnowfuelsover80%ofthefactory.Theyareheavilyinvolvedin
theproductionofmushrooms.Theprocessofgrowingmushroomsfromyeastand
bacteriacanbealengthyone,typicallytakingbetween16monthsinordertogrowa
couplepoundsofit.Theingredientsusedtogrowmushroomsincludedhusk,whichare
theshellcaseofcoffeebeans.Thebeansarealsoprocessedwithinthefacility,whichis
anotheravenueofthecompanyreusingtheirownwasteproducts.
I learned a great deal on the visit to The Plant, from the entire
process of growing and producing mushrooms, to reusing waste
efficiently to produce fuel. Their plant growing area is a very intricate
process. The biggest learning crave of the visit was the understanding
about aquaponics farms; it is the combination of fish, water and plants.
Usually, aquaponic farms prioritize the facilitation of plants, thus
leaving the fish little move to maneuver around.

The Plant

As stated earlier, The Plants mission is to become self-sustaining

by reusing their natural resources. This is mentioned in the textbook
(Lawrence, A., Weber, J., 2014) Business and Society, it states, Established firms
and innovative entrepreneurs who can figure out, for example, how to
build offices and houses that are more energy-efficient, reuse obsolete
electronics, can both help society (p. 214). This is what the objective
of The Plants facility is about; they want to increase their natural
sustainability by reusing waste products.
The Cayman Islands is still heavily dependent on the use of fossil
fuels, such as coal and gas. However, this energy sources are harmful
to the ecosystem and the world is slowly realizing that this is not an
efficient way to fuel our world. The country is not blind to this fact, and
so the idea of utilizing natural resources has been looked at with
promising intent. Particularly the government has shown interest in the
use of eco-friendly energy sources. Theyve stated, The annual fair
seeks to educate the public about environmentally sustainable
initiatives underway in the Cayman Islands. The country is home to
several local farmers, and their produce is being distributed through
the island in the several local grocery stores that we have available.
In concluding, The Plant has a great setup with the growing and
production of their mushroom, fungus, yeast, and vegetables that will

The Plant

improve the efficiency of Chicagos food productivity. This will allow the
economic to become better at being self-sufficient.

Reference
GoGreenCayman.(n.d.).RetrievedMay21,2016,from
http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/pressroom/archive/201205/greencayman
(Lawrence, A., Weber, J. (2014) Business and Society, Stakeholders, Ethics, Public
Policy, (14th edition). New York, NY.)