Skyscraper Farms Could Feed Millions by 2050

As the years have marched on and technology has progressed, one very important aspect of life has suffered: food quality.  Instead of using space wisely and growing food as locally as possible, we’ve come to rely on factory farms and produce shipped from hundreds – sometimes thousands – of miles away.  But, just because there isn’t space on the ground for traditional farms doesn’t mean urban areas can’t have fresh, local food.  Skyscraper farms have the potential to not only bring food production back to the local level – they could divert a major worldwide food shortage.

Scientist Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, came up with the concept and hopes to see it implemented on a worldwide scale as soon as possible.

From Mail Online:

The revolutionary scientist proposes gleaming 21 storey skyscrapers that could potentially be as productive as 588 acres of land and grow up to 12 million lettuces a year.

He said the farms, projected to cost £45m to build and £2.7m a year to run, would be both environmentally friendly and economically profitable.

Dr Despommier created his concept in 1999 with graduate students during a class on medical ecology.

With the world’s population expected to increase to 3 billion by 2050 and almost 80 per cent of farming land in use, the idea has never been more relevant.

City planners and developers across the world have regarded Despommier’s idea with suspicion, but we can’t see why.  It seems so basic, so obvious, that we can’t believe people haven’t already begun doing it.  What’s the hold up?  We want to see these things built ASAP!

Link [Mail Online]

Low-Tech Vertical Farming in Garbage Bags

The awesomeness of vertical farming just got even less expensive and easier to start and maintain. This weekend at Gothenburg’s Gunnebo ‘castle’ Future Gardens exhibit, giant yellow trash bags with holes poked in them poured forth an abundance of edible goodies including lettuce and corn. The construction debris bags were turned into vertical farms by designer Topher Delaney.

From Treehugger:

The orange and yellow Big Bags used in Gunnebo’s gardens are familiar to any large town or city dweller in Sweden – these polypropelene bags (which are recyclable) fill the streets near construction sites yet are less intrusive and more easily picked up for transport of construction debris to recycling facilities than the trash containers used in other countries.

They also seem to make fabulous planter bags – and lots of curious attendees (including this TreeHugger) at the weekend farmers’ market and exhibit at Gunnebo stood snapping pictures of the bags, eager to try this at home – the bags and organic compost were sold on site. Unlike some higher-tech vertical alternatives, this one was just $15 for the bag! But BYOD…

Benefits to this idea abound… like no weeding, total control over soil quality, and great moisture-retaining abilities. They take up barely any space yet are capable of producing so much food. They may not be the prettiest gardens ever, but way to recycle an old bag and use it in a fab new way. Smart.  Green and smart!

Link [Treehugger]

Vertical Farms are Beautiful and Productive

Imagine walking along a city street, looking up at the tall buildings around you and seeing beautiful hues of green, red, purple and other vibrant colors through glass windowpanes instead of just concrete and steel. Vertical farms wouldn’t just be a super smart way to grow local food in urban environments – they’re pretty, too. And, they’re well on their way to becoming reality.

From ecofriend:

Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Dr. Despommier’s pet project is the “vertical farm,” a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact. The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president.

Stringer’s office is “sketching out what it would take to pilot a vertical farm,” and plans to pitch a feasibility study to the mayor’s office within the next couple of months, he said. While many believe that the potential concept is being given outlandish shape and form which is both unrealistic and not probable, I’m willing for now to go ahead with the concept of all this. After seeing what I have seen take shape in Dubai, improbable structures no longer exist in my vision and I’m willing to believe that very soon I will pick my apple from the 16th floor-West Block!

These artist renderings show some of the incredible ideas being developed. Design is getting greener and smarter!

Link [ecofriend]