Vertical Farming

[chefyusef]

Has anyone heard of the Vertical Farming project? It's supposed to be the new form of agriculture that will be used in the future. I have read a fair amount about it and I emailed a professor from Columbia University that is involved but he wouldn't tell me much...any thoughts?

[silwood]

do a search for fairy angel plant factory will be eye opening over 13million dollars spent on this project! Put this in your cities!Worlds largest plant factory located in japan using vetical farming!

[silwood]

Vertical farming way forward for the future but in my mind technology needs to catch up to be successful especially in the development of LED lighting.Plants need to be grown on top of each other so therefore run out of light.Traditional HPS lighting too expensive to run in a viable manner for a commercial venture.Most vertical farms are developed with reseach money and few turn a profit.Vertical farms in cities with a retail salad bar/restaurant at the base are an exciting concept that could work with the right technology which is coming soon

[FoodFuser]

Lots of neat stuff popped up with this search thread:

http://www.google.com/search?client=f...

[MakingSense]

There's some info about it in this article from Mother Jones, an examination of whether some of our firmly held beliefs will have to be readjusted as our world becomes more urbanized.
http://motherjones.com/environment/20...
Some provocative reading.

[mnosyne]

There's a documentary that came out a couple of years ago about farming in Germany, in particular vertical farms. It's pretty amazing stuff.

[syrup09]

In the city of Detroit the abandoned housing rate is so high that some areas are reverting back to empty land. Some people have proposed the idea of developing urban farms their to relieve hunger. I don't think this idea has really taken off though.

[cherrythug]

I have been to Detroit several times over the last couple of years. Urban farms are thriving in Detroit and local activists are doing their part to "bring the country back into the city." Here's an example of an urban farm I visited.

http://www.cskdetroit.org/EWG/

[mnosyne]

The documentary is called "Our Daily Bread". Aside from the factory farming aspect, there are some pretty tough animal scenes, so if you see it, be prepared.

[chefyusef]

any idea what the name of the film is?

[mnosyne]

"Our Daily Bread".

[Charlie Goodman]

Listen to Robert Kennedy Jr. Explain it to us... "I can't think of any technology that addresses more urgent issues than Valcent's vertical farming system", says RFK Jr http://bit.ly/cPb00g

And watch this video of the only real vertical farming system working today.... Reuters Video features Valcent's VertiCrop vertical farming system: http://bit.ly/a9p47W

[gastrotect]

It's an idea to create agricultural centers (or farms) in urban centers. A buddy of mine did one for his architecture thesis project a couple years ago. The idea being that hydroponics and sustainable practices can be applied to a skyscraper structure that is zoned at different heights for different systems. In theory the vertical farm would reduce grocery costs in cities over time because a) sustainable systems would keep utility costs down and b) transportation cost is eliminated (another issue of sustainability). It would also perhaps mean fresher produce where it is otherwise hard to get. Until one is financed and built, it's hard to know just how successful they can really be though. I personally like the idea, but there are lots of questions about them. I think that Columbia University prof did an interview with Stephen Colbert a year or so ago and discussed vertical farms. If you search the Colbert Report website you might be able to find the video of it.