Over the next 40 years, the UN predicts a world population boom, which will lead to a shortage of agricultural land. Great Stuff Hydroponics believes that we can overcome this problem and help reduce the environmental impact of our cities by constructing vertical hydroponic farm buildings in city centers.
Food supply in the West is not a problem, where agricultural land is available and complex distribution systems are already in place. However, the UN predicts that by the year 2050 there will be 3 billion more people on this planet, of whom approximately 80% will live in urban centers. This poses a problem, particularly in developed societies where farmers are an endangered breed and food often has to be transported great distances before it ends up on people’s tables.
Currently, some cities are greener than others; Singapore, Hanoi and Havana have been cited as food-producing cities. While not yet self-sufficient, other cities still have a ways to go. New York, for example, has to import nearly every morsel of food eaten there, and trucking all that food into the city every day hurts the environment and is an incredibly inefficient use of resources in a sophisticated society. .
The answer, according to environmentalists, scientists and hydroponics enthusiasts, is to stop all these wasteful practices by building hydroponic farms, vertically, in the heart of our cities. This would allow the land around our cities to return to a pristine forest or grassland ecosystem, helping in the fight against global warming and climate change. After all, we have become an urban species with all the methods of producing reliable hydroponic crops every year at our fingertips. We don’t need to depend on squatting on vast tracts of land for agriculture, polluting our atmosphere with delivery truck exhaust, and leaving our crops to the elements like our ancestors did. Excessive agriculture is a contributing factor to desertification, reduces soil quality and unnecessarily damages native flora and fauna.
There is already considerable popular support for city planners and city councils who make environmentally friendly decisions, dedicate themselves to keeping our countryside green, and focus on making our cities cleaner and more pleasant places to live.
Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of microbiology at Columbia University, originally came up with the idea for the Vertical Farm Project, as a solution to future pressure on land and resources and as a way to reduce the carbon footprint of our cities. . Since the beginning of the project, a series of environmentally friendly ‘vertical farms’ have been designed for New York, Toronto and Paris.
Toronto scientist Gordon Graff designed a conceptual building known as SkyFarm to be located in the center of the city’s theater district. Its 58-story tower design could provide enough food in the city center for some 35,000 people, every day. It would comprise different crops, vegetables and fruits, all grown hydroponically, using water instead of soil. During hydroponic growth, plants are supplied with nutrients dissolved in water in a strictly controlled environment.
The environmental benefits of producing food in greenhouse-type vertical farms in the center of the city would be manifold. Not only are emissions from delivery vehicles reduced by growing food where it will be consumed, but there is also no need for plowing, digging, or seasonal droughts. Crops are protected from the elements and runoff or “dirty water” is eliminated as the water can be recycled within the building’s hydroponic system.
Plus, because hydroponically grown plants are in a controlled environment, with no soil, there are also no soil-borne diseases or pests to worry about; the city’s food could be produced without the need for pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Hydroponics requires only one-twentieth of the water used to irrigate a farm growing the same number of plants, but the yields are higher. Because there is a continuous flow of nutrients to the plant, the plant can focus its energy on producing fruit rather than roots. Hydroponic lights and a CO2-rich atmosphere inside the building could also increase food production by stimulating photosynthesis and lengthening the daylight hours available to plants.
Gordon’s idea for SkyFarm would be a fully self-sustaining building, powered by solar panels. He also says that the inedible parts of the plants could be composted, producing methane; This biofuel is a renewable energy source that could be fed into the local electricity grid. SkyFarm could even become a scientific research facility or ecotourism attraction, creating jobs and drawing attention to the city as a whole.
The spirit and goals of the Vertical Farm Project have been enthusiastically received around the world. New York Sun Works runs an environmentally friendly Science Barge to demonstrate to city dwellers that food can be successfully grown hydroponically within the city. School groups and apartment communities have been particularly drawn to the project, which illustrates how using 14,000 acres of sunny city rooftop space to grow plants hydroponically could feed 20 million people across the city of New York and its environs.
The most exciting aspect of these concept buildings is that they are feasible with the technology we already have available. Not only that, but city dwellers who are tired of paying a premium to buy food that has been brought to the city from afar don’t even need to have a rooftop or garden. Great Stuff Hydroponics can supply beginner hydroponic kits along with all the materials and equipment required by established growers, for use inside people’s homes. With the right lighting and nutrients, any variety of plant can be grown in water, hydroponically, absolutely anywhere, regardless of season or climate.
For more information on the vertical farm project, visit http://www.verticalfarm.com. To start growing your own hydroponic fruits and vegetables at home, buy hydroponic kits or equipment, and take advantage of special offers online, check out the Great Stuff Hydroponics website, http://www.hydroponics-hydroponics.com