Vegepod Israel, welcome to the family! The Vegepod Israel team consist of siblings Samer, Lama, John and Reem. They discovered Vegepod organically through Instagram and instantly realised how well the Vegepod could do in Israel's climate. We sat down and chatted with Reem about the family's relationship with gardening and how they plan to use the Vegepod as an educational and therapeutic tool for Israel's older and future generations. 

Medium Vegepod in Nazareth 

What made you interested in the Vegepod brand for Israel?

Sisters, Lama and Reem, with their Vegepod in Haifa, Israel 

We grew up with our grandparents and parents farming the land. Because of that, we did not think that one day we too would be interested in agriculture and growing vegetables. We thought growing vegetables and fruits at home was a tiring job and not worth the hassle. 

As we've gotten older we began to see the difference between what was grown at home and what we bought at the supermarket. Finally, we realised that growing vegetables is not just a childhood habit that our parents subsisted on, but it is actually a "meditation" as dad used to explain to us every time he worked in farming even after he finishes his day teaching at school.

Living in the city, however, we were not able to grow our own veggies. Until one evening, my sister Lama and I (Reem) shared how enthusiastic we were when we saw the Vegepod on social media (we both happened to see the Vegepod on Instagram separately).

We immediately showed the Vegepod to our parents and they got excited and said they were happy to try it even though they already have a huge garden.

We researched the product online and looked for stores that sell Vegepod in Israel. However, since we did not find one, and because we were convinced by the positive reviews from around the world, we decided to import the product to Israel. Together with John and Samer (my brothers), we saw great potential for Vegepod in Israel, after all, many young people like us would be happy to grow vegetables on their home terrace, even in high-rise buildings, without having to deal with daily vegetable care and get guaranteed results.

Do you think the #growyourfood movement will 'grow' in Israel?

A small Vegepod in Tel Aviv

Certainly, vegetables grown at home is gaining momentum especially in the last year during COVID. Israel now realises the potential of food accessibility at home and the mental reward that comes from growing vegetables.

In addition, as parents of young kids, it is important that they are exposed to the vegetable growing process and we think this is a good way to develop a healthy lifestyle and make organic vegetables accessible to them.

What are your plans for the Vegepod Israel team in the future?

We see a huge potential in Vegepod for the Israeli conditions and market. We consider Vegepod a product that can leverage the field of home grown vegetables and expand it. It is important for us to make the product accessible to educational institutions as part of the children's learning experience, especially in cities. In addition, we aspire to make the Vegepod accessible to the senior community due to the emotional and therapeutic experience that the Vegepod can provide.

A big thank you to Samer, Lama, John and Reem for taking the time out to answer our interview questions. If you'd like to check out Vegepod Israel's new site, please visit vegepod.co.il.