Vertical Farming is a neat, futuristic approach to producing food within urban environments. I’m not terrified of running out land and of populations booming too much nor am I running scared of global warming or cooling or whichever it is but I still think that the idea is very neat.
I think it could actually be made a cost saver in large cities. The idea is sort of similar to terracing unusable land to make it usable but instead of making land flat, you stack it. I really do think that the answer to a lot of “society’s woes” is that these things will at some point become cheaper than doing them the “old” way. I just see this one as becoming worthwhile sooner than some of the other wacky ideas. So I guess I view this as more of an investment in new technology than just philanthropy to support these projects.
The reality is that shipping and transportation is becoming more and more difficult and massively increases the price of products. I’ve not seen it mentioned, but why not have the first floor be the “fresh produce” grocery store?
#1 by Aunt Karen on October 19, 2007 - 7:54 am
Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out,
so far and wide
Keep Manhattan,
just give me that countryside.
#2 by Dave Feucht on November 5, 2007 - 10:31 am
not only would this be cheaper than shipping produce all over the country/world, it would require less energy, especially less fossil fuel, and therefore would be more sustainable for a long period of time. this of course would also have a political effect (as with cars using alternative fuel sources), because we wouldn’t be nearly so dependent on fossil fuels from other parts of the world. if, as is advertised, they could be operated on renewable energy, it would cut down even more on the pollution caused by conventional power plants, as well as farm machinery and such. also, as mentioned in the wikipedia article, foods could potentially be grown with less need for pesticides, chemicals, genetic modifications, which would be beneficial for everyone. I guess one thing to think of would be, if we start creating these vertical farms, what happens to the people who make their livings as farmers? Do we move them to the city and give them jobs here? Will rural environments largely cease to exist?