Vertical Farming

Farming is not something we often think about as it becomes increasingly easy and cheap to get food in developed countries. How, as there is less space to farm and the climate becomes more unpredictable for farming around the globe, we may have to reimagine the way we farm. What I am going to be talking about today is vertical farming, a way you can farm more efficiently with less environmental impacts. The three main topics I will cover are: what is vertical farming, what are the benefits of vertical farming, and what could be the effects of vertical farming.

Vertical farming is a way of farming that can be implemented in cities by creating sustainable environments for plants indoors. These mini farms indoors can be stacked on top of each other with LED lights to provide the needed lighting for farming. The reason why it is called vertical farming is because the farms can be stacked vertically. While vertical farming is a rather new industry, it has big potential as more cities become more urbanized and there is less land to farm.

There are many benefits to vertical farming. One of them is that it requires less space which is increasingly valuable in today's world because of more urbanization. This has and will continue to lead to less space to farm and more need for ways to farm in smaller space. Another benefit is cost reduction. Usually farms aren’t very close to the market places where the produce is being sold. This means a lot of cost in shipping and making sure the food doesn’t go bad while being transported. The vertical farms can be put in the buildings where consumers of the produce live and work, completely eliminating the cost for transportation. There are also environmental benefits, for example, you don’t need to use pesticides to kill off bugs since there are no bugs indoors. And lastly, you are able to farm any vegetables since you can control the environment to ensure the survival and growth of these vegetables.

What are some potential impacts of vertical farming? Vertical farming is very good for the environment for a few reasons. Vertical farming requires much smaller space, which means, we don’t have to convert forests and other natural habitats to farmland.More adoption of vertical farms means that more existing farmland can be open for buildings and cities. Another compelling reason to go into vertical farming is high crop yield, because an estimated 20%-40% of crops are either destroyed or eaten by pests. Another effect is healthier and more nutritious vegetables, since pesticides are no longer needed and no nutritious value is lost during shipping.

Vertical farming seems to be a great way that we can reimagine the way we farm. By 2050 there will be an estimated number of nine billion people. To keep this extremely large population alive and fed while also clothed and sheltered means that we may have to have a different take on farming. Luckily we are making vertical farming a more and more viable way to help feed our extremely large population that is only getting larger. Thank you for reading!