“We shall learn how to create artificial climates by controlling the action of the sun and atmosphere, and how to replenish the soil by restoring the vital forces which are annually withdrawn from it.
With a perfected agriculture, we shall have cheaper food, clothing, lodging; manufacturers be encouraged, labor and raw materials becoming cheaper, commerce will flourish, and we shall have more time for education and travel.”
W.W. Averill, speaker at the New York state agricultural society fair, in 1867
9B by 2050
By 2050, the world's population will reach 9 billion, with the majority of people living in cities. The process of urbanization and desertification is causing a decline in fertile land. We have lost one-third of land that can be used for farming in just 40 years. Additionally, 70% of our freshwater resources are being used for agriculture. The use of pesticides and the impact of climate change are undeniable
It is imperative that we rethink agriculture, now
vertical farming?
Professor Dickinson Despommier in the early 2000s came up with the concept of vertical farming: bringing production from open field to indoor urban spaces by creating vertically stacked layers and a precisely controlled growing environment. Good for the plants, good for the environment, on paper good also for the business
wow!
vertical farms are amazing,
they should be everywhere!
Well, they are not…
…their bottleneck is in the execution
the concept is compelling, but they are simply too expensive to build and run. They end up losing money with their leafy greens confined to ultra-expensive positioning. While a thriving start-up ecosystem has emerged and Silicon Valley-grade investments has been injected into the industry, only a fraction of vertical farming's true potential has been unleashed so far. In reality, many of those wacky start-ups have already failed and investors are scrambling to flee