Image from: United Future
“You’re looking at an animation of what vertical farming would look like in a modern sky scraper. So, you’d have on floor that had office space, one floor that had living space, one floor that had kind of like gardens in it. And what they say is great about vertical farming is you won’t use pesticides because you don’t have to worry about anything getting to it..." (Good Morning America)
We’re looking at perspectives on this proposed future for farming from CNN, Discovery Channel, The Colbert Report, RyanAvent.com and PopSci.com.
Over the last decade Columbia University Professor Dickson Despommier has had plenty of media coverage for his breakthrough ideas on vertical farming.
Here’s Despommier describing the idea on CNN.
“If we could grow our food inside tall buildings, we’d save a lot of space outdoors that we could replant trees in for instance and restore some of the ecosystems damaged by farmers. We could also supply a healthier food supply for people living in urban centers.”
FOX14 in Texas talks to the President and CEO of Valcent, a company investing in vertical farming with rotating racks of crops.
“If I were growing this for head lettuce, we use one-twentieth the amount of water in this system than we would in conventional agriculture applications where we’re growing it out in the field. We can produce about 35,000 heads of lettuce every 35 to 40 days.”
Jamblemag.com adds that Valcent is also “researching the use of vertically grown algae, which could provide an easy to grow, and high-yield source of bio-fuel in the future.”
But while Despommier and Valcent emphasize the upside to vertical farming, critics say the idea is not realistic.
Freelance economics writer for the Guardian and The Economist, Ryan Avent discusses one major con of vertical farming - the cost.
“That means this ‘urban farmland’ would cost between $13 million and $43 million per acre. I don’t know
exactly how productive this super-duper advanced hydroponics system would be, but I doubt it’s 4,000-14,000 times as productive as $3,000/acre farmland in Indiana. That locally-grown broccoli had better taste really, really good.”
Discovery Channel interviewed New Yorkers, asking, “Would you buy vertically farmed food?” There response - no.
“Growing things in a skyscraper is just totally unnatural. And I just can’t imagine anyone being interested in trying it or doing it or having it succeed or buying the produce from the people.”
In a 2003 article written by Despommier’s students they understood public acceptance of the revolutionary system might be difficult to gain. They also braced for backlash from animal activists, as the system would mean animals would be living in a confined space.
But a slideshow on PopSci.com suggests if meat were to come from these vertical farms - it would come chicken, pig or cow stem cells.
“To approximate the texture of meat, they will ‘exercise’ the muscle with electrical pulses. The fatty texture of a porterhouse is too complex to replicate, but sausage and chicken nuggets should be routine in a decade.”
Steven Colbert and Despommier discuss what new urban farming could do to American’s heartland.
“What’s this going to do to the family farmer? What’s it going to do to our tradition? I mean we’re an agrarian society at our heart.” “That’s gone away.” “But we can still pretend we’re that way.” “ That’s true.” “This will even keep us from pretending we’re that way.” “In fact, we’ve just passed a farm bill for $300 billion dollars that still pretends that’s the way we farm, but that’s not the way we farm now. Farming is failing throughout the whole world.”
Can vertical farming invigorate agriculture in the future?
