Vertical farming
[1] Some common choices of structures to house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers, underground tunnels, and abandoned mine shafts.
The modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University.
[4] There have been several different means of implementing vertical farming systems into communities such as: Paignton,[5] Israel,[6] Singapore,[7] Chicago,[8] Munich,[9] London,[10] Japan,[4] and Lincolnshire.
[11] The main advantage of utilizing vertical farming technologies is the increased crop yield that comes with a smaller unit area of land requirement.
Lastly, because of its limited land usage, vertical farming is less disruptive to the native plants and animals, leading to further conservation of the local flora and fauna.
[16] Modern usage of the term "vertical farming" usually refers to growing plants in layers, whether in a multistory skyscraper, used warehouse, or shipping container.
Yeang proposes that instead of hermetically sealed mass-produced agriculture, plant life should be cultivated within open air, mixed-use skyscrapers for climate control and consumption.
This version of vertical farming is based upon personal or community use rather than the wholesale production and distribution that aspires to feed an entire city.
By shifting to vertical farms, Despommier believes that farmland will return to its natural state (i.e. forests), which would help reverse the impacts of climate change.
[citation needed] Freight Farms produces the "Greenery" that is a complete farm-to-table system outfitted with vertical hydroponics, LED lighting and intuitive climate controls built within a 12m × 2.4m shipping container.
As of 2018 commercial LEDs were about 28% efficient,[needs update] which keeps the cost of produce high and prevents vertical farms from competing in regions where cheap vegetables are abundant.
Koolhaas wrote that this theorem is 'The Skyscraper as Utopian device for the production of unlimited numbers of virgin sites on a metropolitan location'.
[30] Ken Yeang is perhaps the most widely known architect who has promoted the idea of the 'mixed-use' Bioclimatic Skyscraper which combines living units and food production.
Critics claimed that the additional energy needed for artificial lighting, heating and other operations would outweigh the benefit of the building's close proximity to the areas of consumption.
[37][38] Despommier originally challenged his class to feed the entire population of Manhattan (about 2,000,000 people) using only 5 hectares (13 acres) of rooftop gardens.
[40][41] Mass media attention began with an article written in New York magazine,[citation needed] followed by others,[42][43][44][45] as well as radio and television features.
Food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological pest control could be worth as much as $80–160 billion annually.
[54][55] Furthermore, as the crops would be consumed where they are grown, long-distance transport with its accompanying time delays, should reduce spoilage, infestation and energy needs.
[45] Crops grown in traditional outdoor farming depend on supportive weather, and suffer from undesirable temperatures rain, monsoon, hailstorm, tornadoe, flooding, wildfires and drought.
The issue of adverse weather conditions is especially relevant for arctic and sub-arctic areas like Alaska and northern Canada where traditional farming is largely impossible.
Food insecurity has been a long-standing problem in remote northern communities where fresh produce has to be shipped large distances resulting in high costs and poor nutrition.
However, a recent analysis suggests that transportation is only a minor contributor to the economic and environmental costs of supplying food to urban populations.
[23] During the growing season, the sun shines on a vertical surface at an extreme angle such that much less light is available to crops than when they are planted on flat land.
[37][76] Environmental writer George Monbiot calculated that the cost of providing enough supplementary light to grow the grain for a single loaf would be about $15.
[77] An article in the Economist argued that "even though crops growing in a glass skyscraper will get some natural sunlight during the day, it won't be enough" and "the cost of powering artificial lights will make indoor farming prohibitively expensive".
[79] Jones Food Company in Gloucestershire, England opened a farm in 2024 with 14,500 square metres (156,000 sq ft) of growing space, powered only by renewable electricity.
[83] Some greenhouses burn fossil fuels purely for this purpose, as other CO2 sources, such as those from furnaces, contain pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and ethylene which significantly damage plants.
The most common technologies suggested are:[86] Developers and local governments in multiple cities have expressed interest in establishing a vertical farm: Incheon (South Korea), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Dongtan (China),[88] New York City, Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, Las Vegas,[89] Seattle, Surrey, B.C., Toronto, Paris, Bangalore, Dubai, Shanghai and Beijing.
The produce is used to feed the zoo's animals while the project enables evaluation of the systems and provides an educational resource to advocate for change in unsustainable land use practices that impact upon global biodiversity and ecosystem services,[91] In 2010 the Green Zionist Alliance proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund in Israel) to develop vertical farms in Israel.
AVF focuses on advancing vertical farming technologies, designs, and businesses by hosting international info days, workshops, and summits.
