Vertical Farms for Urban Food Production

Urbanites don't think much about where their food comes from until there's a problem. But that could change if agriculture to meet the needs of the increasingly urban population becomes an urban business. The "Vertical Farm" concept could be the innovation that makes that transition in location, location, location!

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

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