Farm Production is Looking up

These days, everyone is worried about reducing his or her carbon footprint, but the truth is that we are likelier to suffer a depletion of resources before global warming does significant and irreparable harm. Although greenhouse gases are indeed a growing concern, it is more probable that we will run out of water and soil to grow food once the world’s population grows from 6.8 billion to a projected 9 billion by 2050.

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In answer to that problem, environmental and agricultural experts are exploring the concept of vertical farming, growing potted crops in rows on clear vertical panels that rotate on a conveyor belt. As the belt rotates, each crop receives a precise amount of light and nutrients. The technique allows for a crop yield fifteen times greater per acre than on a traditional farm and uses five percent of the water normally consumed by agriculture.

The concept allows for an urbanized version of agriculture, in which crops are grown in stories like city buildings. Dickson Despommier, an environmental health professor at Columbia University, has drawn up plans for a 30 story urban farm with a greenhouse on every floor. The farm would have transparent walls to maximize sunlight and is predicted to produce enough food for 50,000 people. One hundred and sixty such buildings could feed the entire population of New York City.

Right now, construction and energy costs make vertical farming more expensive than traditional methods, but that is likely to change. As green building technology improves and industrial agriculture is revealed to be inherently unsustainable, farmers and food industry officials may very well turn to vertical farming as the 21st century solution to food production.