Last Thursday evening, nine-year-old entrepreneur Nicolas Come, inventor of the "Nicolas Garden" mobile app, was selected among the three finalists to pitch before investors representing millions of dollars next month at the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance Ag Innovation Showcase.
According to Meg Arnold, the CEO of SARTA, 17 companies applied and six were selected to compete, among them Nicolas Come, who emerged as a finalist last Thursday evening.
“Nicolas is an unusually focused and intelligent young man, who cares deeply about healthy eating and making good choices about food,” she said. “His healthy eating app for children is a cool idea and he has some good and interesting direction for his vision that has business merit. The type of innovation being expressed and the size of the market potential make his new venture something we at SARTA want to support.”
Come has some very simple advice for parents. “Start a garden, no matter how small, even if it is just one pot, so the kids can learn about where food comes from,” he said. In addition, Come encourages parents to involve their kids in selecting menus, doing the grocery shopping and preparing food. “And don’t forget to take your kids to the farmer’s markets.”
The Nicolas’ Garden mobile app allows children to share and comment on favorite healthy recipes, and there are plans for new tools and functions to educate and inspire healthy eating - including growing your own food.
Come’s father, Stephane, explains that this kids healthy eating mobile app was born out of his own son’s experience learning about the value of food and good health, and that creating a garden and growing food has always been a big part of the vision to encourage healthy eating among kids. “We have started to work with Kaiser, South Sacramento facility on a weight management program for children and families,” Come’s dad said. “We want the children to understand that our food supply starts with agriculture, and the more connected they are to this realization, the better informed they can be about food choices.”
Learn more about Nicolas’ Garden app.
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- Strategies for safe use of texting and social media apps
- Nicolas’ Garden
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