(15 Aug 2016) LEAD IN:
Vertical farming is taking off in the United States with stacks of leafy greens being grown indoors in urban areas.
In New Jersey, one company is transforming an old steel mill into a vertical farming plot that it claims will be the world’s biggest.
But not everyone is convinced about the environmental benefits.
STORY-LINE:
Inspecting the latest crop of leafy greens which are sprouting inside an old factory in Newark, New Jersey.
But these plants have never seen the sun, let alone been outside.
They’re grown in specially constructed stacks – there are seven growing layers with individual lighting and watering systems.
David Rosenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms explains the the thinking behind vertical farming.
“We want to help alleviate food deserts which is a real problem in the United States and around the world. So here, there are areas of Newark that are underprivileged, there isn’t enough economic development. There aren’t enough supermarkets. We put this farm in one of those areas and we also invite the community to come to our facility and buy directly from us, alleviating a food desert, also selling locally to supermarkets and restaurants so they have access to fresh food.”
AeroFarms says the plants use less water than regular farms with zero pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
“We’ve been able to move production to a place that is less water stressed and remember we grow using 95 percent less water,” says Rosenberg.
Seeds are sprinkled on a special growing mat and then stacked into place in favourable growing conditions. Seeds usually start growing within 12 to 48 hours.
“What we do is we trick it,” says Rosenberg, “we get it thinking that, if plants could think, all right this is a good environment, it’s time to grow now.”
AeroFarms is one of several companies creating new ways to grow food all year round. It already has eight indoor farms up and running and is planning to open a ninth in the next month in an old steel mill.
“The ninth one is going to be the largest vertical farm in the world. Vertical farming we define as layer upon layer of growth so here at this facility we have seven layers of growing at the other facility we are going to have twelve,” says Rosenberg.
The twelve growing layers will be spread across 3.5 acres, producing two million pounds of food per year.
When harvested, the plants and vegetables are sold at local grocery stores and other supermarkets.
Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at AeroFarms, Marc Oshima says they are able to tailor the greens to a specific market.
“People are actually enjoying the leafy greens. Our high bar is ‘no dressing is needed.’ What are we doing? We are celebrating, we are focusing on specific flavour profiles. So we can make this Romaine taste sweeter, our Arugula will test more peppery. Our mustard greens can be a little bit spicier,” he says.
But critics say the artificial lighting in vertical farms takes up a significant amount of energy.
“Instead of using free sunlight as we’ve always done to produce food, vertical farms are using light that has to be generated by a power plant somewhere, by electricity from a power plant somewhere, which is an unnecessary use of fuel and generation of carbon emissions,” says Stan Cox, Research Coordinator at The Land Institute, a non-profit group that advocates sustainable agriculture.
But with the world’s population growing, especially in urban areas, indoor farming may need to take root to meet that demand.
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