Skyscraper Farm -
A Potentially New Way
to Farm

Good news in a time of global warming! Columbia University professor Dr. Dickson Despommier envisions a potentially new way to farm that converts skyscrapers into crop farms! This could curb global warming and allow traditional farms to be returned to natural forests.

Dickson Despommier had the idea of putting a farm in a skyscraper about eight years ago. He asked his students to come up with ideas on urban sustainability, and design a building that could feed New York City. The envisioned 30-story “vertical farm” runs off of solar power, wind power, and inedible plant waste. Irrigation comes from the sewage. He believes that the use of a green building system could also help clean the urban environment. He estimates that more than 100 different kinds of fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, blueberries and even miniature banana plants, could be grown in the indoor farm and could provide enough food and water for 50,000 people year round. Despommier believes that the only way to stabilize climate and weather patterns is to change the way we grow crops, and allow forests to re-grow where crops are cultivated. He believes that the indoor farms would allow all the Earth’s farmland to return to forest.

In addition to increasing forest acreage to curb global warming, there is another reason to develop vertical farming: exploding population growth. By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will reside in urban centers. According to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people in that time. More land will be needed to grow enough food to feed them if traditional farming practices continue.

Now, 60% of our population lives in cities. We humans are protected against the elements, yet we subject our plants to the rigors of the outdoors and hope for a good weather year. Due to the rapidly changing climate, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of crops. Don’t our harvestable plants deserve the same level of “comfort” and protection that we now enjoy? Maybe it’s time to start growing our food inside of environmentally controlled, urban buildings.

The concept of indoor farming has been in vogue for some time, and greenhouse-based agriculture already produces tomatoes, herbs, and other crops for market. Now the urgent need to accommodate another 3 billion people makes a grand approach to indoor farming especially attractive. The vertical farm must be efficient, cheap to construct, and safe to operate. Despommier is convinced the first vertical farm will exist within fifteen years. If successfully implemented, the new high-rise agriculture will supply enough food to feed all of humankind, and allow large tracts of land to revert back to their natural states. Finally, it will create an environment that encourages sustainable urban life and promotes a state of good health for all those who choose to live in a city.

Websites:
http://www.verticalfarm.com/essay.php
http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/

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