Skyscraper Farming Solution
Sustainable Vertical Farms Could Solve Growing Population Problem
Oct 28, 2007
The population continues to grow and according to the UN by 2050, 80% of people will be living in cities. Unless people come up with some better strategies, there is not going to be enough land to grow food on.
Vertical Farming
One of the solutions being proposed to address the growing population is vertical farming. Some of the many benefits to vertical farming:
- Year round cultivation. One indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres because of the ability to grow food continuously.
- Worry free weather related issues. Drought, floods, and winds would no longer be a concern.
- Organically grown. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers would not need to be used.
- Help restore damaged ecosystems. When over farmed land is allowed to flourish to its previous state, the soil improves and a variety of plants thrive. Animals are then attracted to returning to the land.
- Reduced conflict over water and land. Increased food supplies as well as an abundance of water would reduce conflict globally. Water resources would be conserved by recycling black water.
- Create employment opportunities. Vertical farms would actually require more labor than traditional farming so more jobs are created.
- Improved health of people. Since the air would be cleaner and people would be eating local nutritious produce, their health would improve.
- Reduced fossil fuel use: There would be no need to transport food long distances so emissions from transportation would be reduced. Tractors and plows would no longer be needed.
Various fruits and vegetables are already being successfully grown indoors. Tomatoes are presently the leading crop and 37% of all tomatoes sold in the U.S. are from greenhouses.
In Leamington Ontario, they grow almost 200 acres of greenhouse tomatoes indoors. Canadian vegetable production continues to grow 20% a year because of greenhouses and both the U.S. and Mexico are expanding.
Some of the systems being considered are:
Hydroponics:
Hydroponics cultivates plant life in a continuous flow of water. There is no soil required and the system is self-contained with little water being lost.
Aquaponics:
Aquaponics combines both fish farming and aquaculture with the fish waste nourishing the plants and the plants providing a water filter for the fish.
- This seems like a viable alternative to traditional farming and would help ensure humans be sustainable. A legitimate concern is how this would affect traditional farmers and that is something that needs to continue to be addressed.
Sources: The Vertical Farm Project: Maximally Viable Crop Profile, Jasmine Beria, Bryan Garber, Natalie Neu, Nicholas Sebes, Adrienne Sheetz, Medical Ecology, Dr.Dickson Despommier, April 27, 2006
The Vertical Farm Project website
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