Farming's Future

When we buy our fruits and veggies, we rarely think of how many resources were poured into our purchased product. So it may come as a surprise to learn that it takes ~17.5 gallons of water per apple and an astonishing ~15,000 gallons for a 2.2lb slab of meat. To top it off, it is estimated that 50% of all food is wasted. With over 1 billion hungry, we clearly need to change something.

Demographics of Undernourished. Image Credit: Oxfam.org

To solve this pleading question, many point out that we need to change government structure, alter food distribution, or donate more to charities. While these may be valid approaches, there is one more strategy that may be more promising: Vertical Farming.

Concept Drawing of Vertical Farm. Image Credit: HowStuffWorks.com 

Vertical Farming is the method of growing food products within a building. As crazy as this may sound, there are many advantages with this technology that may replace the horizontal farms we see lining our highways today.

1. Food Efficiency -- With a vertical farm, you don't grow the whole plant. Instead of the traditional tomato plant, you grow just the tomato. Not only does this save a tremendous amount of space, but also the resources used to grow the fruit.

2. Water Efficiency -- Instead of relying on rain, all foods are fed via aeroponics. This mist generating water feeding reduces water usage by a jaw-dropping 98% compared to normal farming methods.

3. Controlled Environment -- With everything being indoors, there is no need for pesticides to ward off insects. Furthermore, we can enhance the fruits with additional nutritional factors. In fact, the vertical farm built in Singapore is about 5 to 10 times more efficient than regular farms.

4. Right Next Door -- Because the products are grown in a skyscraper that can be placed in the middle of a city, there are virtually no transportation costs, eliminating 3.4% of costs.

5. The Auto Farm -- The indoors create an ideal environment for robot hands. This back-breaking work can be replaced by more efficient, and significantly cheaper automation tools. As a result, costs are driven down.

Vertical farming has the potential to solve the starving billion because it makes food very efficiently. With efficiency comes substantial price drops. Imagine lowering food costs by a factor of 10 or even 100. What if your weekly grocery bill was $10? How about $1? In the coming years, vertical farming has more than just the potential to grow. It will flourish.

© Nicholas Shah and Learning More Than Living, 2013. Please note that the material included this was not written by a licensed medical professional. Therefore, please consult your physician before trying anything suggested in this article. Please note that there was an image used from Oxfam.org. This blog does not claim ownership of that image. Furthermore, there was a second image from Howstuffworks.com. Note that this blog does not claim ownership of that image.  Nicholas Shah does not claim ownership to the ideas put forth here. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas Shah and Learning More Than Living with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thank You.