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[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1clRcxZS52s[/embed]
Expo Milano 2015, Milan’s recently opened World’s Fair, showcases the future of sustainable agriculture with a fully functioning 9,250 square-foot vertical farm. In 1991, Dickson Despommier, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Public Health at Columbia University and the host of this video, ingeniously identified vertical farming as a solution for food and space shortages in urban areas. Vertical farming proves more environmentally conscious and spatially viable than traditional farming techniques, cementing its functionality as the population exceeds nine billion in 2050. Further confirming the essentialness of modernizing agriculture, the United Nations predicts a mandatory 70% increase of food production in the next 35 years to accommodate a growing population.
Vertical farms thrive with environmentally friendly techniques. Vertical farms consume less water, decrease transportation costs, and eliminate the usage of harmful chemicals. According to Vertical Farm Systems, a privately owned company that develops and deploys controlled environment systems, vertical farms consume 90% less water than open-field farms. Vertical farms nearly eliminate agricultural runoff by recycling black water. Additionally, because vertical farms strategically exist near consumers, farms avoid transportation costs. With no need to transport produce, fuel conservation inevitably results. Finally, vertical farms prosper without herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers. Vertical farming proves remarkably sustainable because it decreases fuel usage, avoids chemicals, and relies on drastically less water than open-field farming.
In additional to consuming fewer resources, vertical farms use drastically less space than open-field farms. Vertical farms benefit urban areas that lack access to affordable, fresh foods. Nearly 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, exhibiting the importance of redefining how and where agriculture occurs. According to Despommier’s book, Vertical Farm, one indoor acre of crop production harvests the same quantity of produce as at least four to six outdoor acres. Certain crops, such as strawberries, yield remarkably higher outputs in indoor farms than in outdoor farms, with one indoor acre of strawberry growth yielding the same volume as 30 outdoor acres. Vertical farms use less space while producing more crops, consuming less water, and not using chemicals.
Vertical farming enables highly populated, urban areas to provide fresh, local foods to their residents. Vertical farming yields mass amounts of crops, functions in minimal space, and consumes nominal resources. Despommier’s 24-year-old idea continues garnering attention and support, especially at Expo Milano 2015, where vertical farming heightens discussion on sustainable agriculture in a global arena
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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Dickson Despommier: Vertical Farming
June 10, 2015
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1clRcxZS52s[/embed]
Expo Milano 2015, Milan’s recently opened World’s Fair, showcases the future of sustainable agriculture with a fully functioning 9,250 square-foot vertical farm. In 1991, Dickson Despommier, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Public Health at Columbia University and the host of this video, ingeniously identified vertical farming as a solution for food and space shortages in urban areas. Vertical farming proves more environmentally conscious and spatially viable than traditional farming techniques, cementing its functionality as the population exceeds nine billion in 2050. Further confirming the essentialness of modernizing agriculture, the United Nations predicts a mandatory 70% increase of food production in the next 35 years to accommodate a growing population.
Vertical farms thrive with environmentally friendly techniques. Vertical farms consume less water, decrease transportation costs, and eliminate the usage of harmful chemicals. According to Vertical Farm Systems, a privately owned company that develops and deploys controlled environment systems, vertical farms consume 90% less water than open-field farms. Vertical farms nearly eliminate agricultural runoff by recycling black water. Additionally, because vertical farms strategically exist near consumers, farms avoid transportation costs. With no need to transport produce, fuel conservation inevitably results. Finally, vertical farms prosper without herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers. Vertical farming proves remarkably sustainable because it decreases fuel usage, avoids chemicals, and relies on drastically less water than open-field farming.
In additional to consuming fewer resources, vertical farms use drastically less space than open-field farms. Vertical farms benefit urban areas that lack access to affordable, fresh foods. Nearly 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, exhibiting the importance of redefining how and where agriculture occurs. According to Despommier’s book, Vertical Farm, one indoor acre of crop production harvests the same quantity of produce as at least four to six outdoor acres. Certain crops, such as strawberries, yield remarkably higher outputs in indoor farms than in outdoor farms, with one indoor acre of strawberry growth yielding the same volume as 30 outdoor acres. Vertical farms use less space while producing more crops, consuming less water, and not using chemicals.
Vertical farming enables highly populated, urban areas to provide fresh, local foods to their residents. Vertical farming yields mass amounts of crops, functions in minimal space, and consumes nominal resources. Despommier’s 24-year-old idea continues garnering attention and support, especially at Expo Milano 2015, where vertical farming heightens discussion on sustainable agriculture in a global arena
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
