The Future of Farming: Reaching for the Sky (and down in the basement)
March 05 2008 / by Venessa Posavec
Category: Environment Year: 2010 Rating: 5
When you think of a farm your mind may invoke images of rolling
fields, tractors and perhaps a cow or two. But in the future – not
so! Farms are movin’ from the country and into your nearest
metropolis faster than you might think. 
Due to unpredictable weather patterns that destroy millions of tons of crops each year and a growing human population set to peak at about 9 billion, some future-focused innovators are looking for better ways to keep food on the table. Two neo-farm prototypes currently evolving on separate continents share a common concept: urban farming as the future of sustainable agriculture.
The first project is the brainchild of Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor at Columbia University. He imagines 30-story “vertical farm” skyscrapers in all the biggest cities. Each building would provide food and water to 50,000 people, produce crops year-round, and produce no waste. It would also naturally provide the environmental benefits of reducing pollution, restoring ecosystems, and solving the waste management problem.
Sound too good to be true? It was recently announced that Las
Vegas is set to build the world’s first vertical farm. The project
is estimated to cost $200 million and will feed 72,000. Design
details are being currently being ironed out, but the doors should
open sometime in 2010. 
The other story starts in the underground vault of a bank in the Otemachi business district of Tokyo. No, this isn’t the setting for a Japanese heist movie. The underground facility was converted into a 1,000 square meter organic farm to be used as a training facility for people interested in agricultural jobs. Utilizing LED lighting and computer-controlled temperatures to grow over 100 different produces, it’s a high-tech fantasyland. Granted, it is just a demonstration facility, but it’s a great showcase of ingenuity and possibilities.
With construction projects underway, perhaps it won’t be too long before a massive vertical farm will grace the skyline in your city.
Comment Thread (3 Responses)
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This idea makes a lot of sense for cities. A 1 million population city would need about 20 of these high-rise farms.
I wonder if some clever entrepreneur/marketer could sell farm memberships to city residents, like some organic farms do? It may be one way to raise start-up capital initially. A modular high-rise that could be enlarged might also work.
The natural progression of this approach to farming may take us all the way to an arcology—combining all the goods, services, and recreation of life in one multi-purpose building.
Posted by: AlFin March 05, 2008
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While cruising along the miles of farmland on Maryland’s eastern shore, I was wondering why no one has thought of this concept. Not only would it take up much less space, but it will cut down or eliminate nitrogen and pesticide pollution and can be maintained anywhere. A few of these agricultural skyscrapers in big cities like New York will cut down on the time for transportation and special crops such as bananas or oranges can be grown anywhere these agricultural centers are. This may also create many jobs because these farming units will farmers as well as technicians to keep things such as irrigation running smoothly. This is an excellent idea and I would hope to hear more of this project in the future.
Posted by: MortalLight April 08, 2008
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While the skyscraper farm does sound intriguing, due diligence is lacking for this article. The creator of the design (Dr. Dickson Despommier, Columbia University) knows nothing of any such plans. It takes 5-8 years to build a well-funded and immediately profitable resort casino and they’ve done dozens of those in Vegas. Something like this would not have escaped my notice for the past 3-6 years (or longer).
The people who have the kind of money to build this are primarily concerned with economics. Much of this is completely new technology, meaning budget and schedule are both high-risk items. It simply does not make economic sense for today or the near future, even when diesel costs $4.50-$5.00 per gallon.
Posted by: ecogreen April 13, 2008
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