Are Vertical Farms The Future Of Agriculture?

Summary

This video explores the future of food through vertical farming. Craig Benzine interviews experts, including Dickson Despommier and Robert Colangelo, about the challenges of traditional agriculture due to climate change, urbanization, and population growth. Vertical farms, using red and blue LED lights and climate control, offer year-round growth, reduced water consumption, and minimized pesticide use. Although vertical farming isn't a complete replacement for traditional farms, it could revolutionize how we grow leafy greens. The video also touches on sustainable food sources like insects, addressing environmental and health benefits.

Takeaways

• 🌿 Vertical farming offers a solution to urbanization, climate change, and population growth, all of which put strain on traditional agriculture.
• 🏙️ Vertical farms allow crops to be grown indoors, stacking plants to maximize space and efficiency, making better use of limited urban spaces.
• 💡 Vertical farming uses LED lights, especially red and blue spectrums, to optimize plant growth while saving energy.
• 🌱 Vertical farms can be more productive than traditional farms, with multiple harvests per year and a controlled environment to avoid crop loss from weather.
• 💧 Water conservation is a major advantage in vertical farming, as water is recirculated, reducing waste and improving efficiency.
• 🦠 Vertical farms can reduce foodborne illnesses by creating a cleaner, controlled environment for crops, especially for leafy greens.
• 💰 Profitability is key to making vertical farms sustainable and scalable, according to farm operators like Robert Colangelo.
• 🍽️ While vertical farms currently focus on leafy greens, there is potential for growing more crops, particularly plant-based protein, in the future.
• 🔬 Vertical farms are seen as part of a larger, more diversified agricultural system that includes traditional farming and greenhouses.
• 🐞 Bugs may also play a role in the future of food, offering a sustainable protein source, though cultural acceptance is still a barrier for many.

Q & A

What prompted Dickson Despommier's idea for the vertical farm?

Despommier's students suggested rooftop gardening in New York City to combat issues related to heat bubbles and food scarcity. Although the initial idea didn't yield significant results, it led to the development of the vertical farm concept.

What are the key factors contributing to the challenges faced by traditional agriculture, according to Dickson Despommier?

Despommier mentions climate change, rapid urbanization, and a growing human population as key factors creating a perfect storm for disaster in traditional agriculture.

How does vertical farming address the limitations of rooftop farming in urban areas?

Vertical farming takes the concept of rooftop gardening indoors, allowing for multiple layers of crops to be grown vertically, which significantly increases the potential yield in limited urban spaces.

What are the advantages of using LED lights in vertical farms?

LED lights, particularly red and blue diodes, provide the optimal spectrum for photosynthesis while using less energy than full-spectrum lighting. These lights burn cooler and are more efficient for plant growth.

How do vertical farms manage pests and reduce the need for pesticides?

Vertical farms are climate-controlled, which helps prevent pests from entering. This eliminates the need for pesticides and allows for year-round harvesting, even in cold climates.

Why is water consumption in vertical farming more efficient than in traditional farming?

Water is recirculated and carefully monitored in vertical farms, ensuring that it always has the right pH and nutrient levels. This system drastically reduces water usage compared to traditional farming, where much of the water runs off and becomes undrinkable.

Why are vertical farms currently focused on leafy greens?

Leafy greens are the most economically viable crops to grow in vertical farms at present. The systems are specifically optimized for growing these types of plants, although future developments could expand to other crops.

What is the potential future of protein production, according to Robert Colangelo?

Colangelo believes the future of protein will come from plant sources, as the growing population will require sustainable ways to produce protein with less environmental impact.

What is a key factor in making vertical farms successful on a global scale?

According to Colangelo, making vertical farms profitable is essential. Once they become financially viable, they can be scaled up and have a significant impact on global food production and sustainability.

How might vertical farming contribute to solving world hunger?

Vertical farming can contribute to solving world hunger by offering a sustainable, resource-efficient way to grow food. By reducing water usage, eliminating pesticides, and providing year-round harvests, it has the potential to produce more food in less space.

Outlines

00:00

🐛 Exploring the Future of Food: From Bugs to Plants

The speaker begins by recounting an unusual experience of eating bugs, remarking that they were surprisingly tasty. The discussion shifts to the broader question of the future of food, with a focus on plants and sustainable agriculture. Dickson Despommier, a professor from Columbia University, is introduced as a key figure who developed the concept of vertical farming. Despommier highlights current challenges facing agriculture due to climate change, urbanization, and population growth.

05:01

🌆 The Origin of Vertical Farming: From Rooftop Gardens to a Revolutionary Idea

Despommier recalls how his students proposed rooftop gardening in New York City as a solution to feed the growing urban population. They explored the possibility of growing rice on Manhattan rooftops but found it could only feed 2% of the population. Instead of abandoning the idea, Despommier and his students thought of moving gardens indoors, which led to the birth of vertical farming in 1999. By 2010, the concept had evolved into a recognized method for sustainable food production.

10:02

🎈 A Visit to a Vertical Farm: Breaking Down the Concept

The speaker visits Green Sense Farms, a commercial vertical farm in Indiana, to learn how vertical farming operates. Using specialized LED lights developed by Philips, the farm creates the optimal light spectrum for plant photosynthesis, saving energy. The farm grows crops in a controlled, pesticide-free environment, allowing year-round production with 26 harvests per tub, compared to only a few in traditional farming. The speaker highlights the advantages of vertical farms, including reduced reliance on chemicals and resilience against adverse weather conditions.

🍃 The Science Behind Vertical Farming: Air, Light, and Water Optimization

At Green Sense Farms, the air is recirculated and purified to benefit both plants and humans, potentially reducing foodborne illnesses. Vertical farms use significantly less water than traditional farming methods, with agriculture normally consuming 70% of the world's water supply. The farm is designed to conserve water by recirculating it with precision control over nutrient levels, pH, and electrical conductivity. Vertical farms are seen as a more economical and sustainable option compared to conventional agriculture.

🌱 Focusing on Leafy Greens: The Profitability of Vertical Farming

While vertical farms can grow a variety of crops, Green Sense Farms specializes in leafy greens due to economic viability. The speaker emphasizes that for vertical farms to solve world hunger, they must first be profitable. The farm's design is optimized for leafy greens, and expanding to other crops would require significant redesign. Profitability is key to scaling vertical farming and making a global impact, and the farm sees plant-based protein as part of the future of food.

🌾 The Future of Food: Multiple Farming Approaches

The speaker explores how farming is becoming diversified, with field farms, greenhouses, and vertical farms each playing different roles. Traditional farms will continue to grow staple crops like soybeans and wheat, while vertical farms are best suited for leafy greens. The future of food production is expected to prioritize sustainability, reduced chemical use, and fresher produce, as consumers become more aware of the importance of healthy eating. The future is promising, with the possibility of growing food with less environmental impact.

🌍 Collaborating for a Better Agricultural Future

The speaker wraps up the discussion by emphasizing the need for global collaboration in agriculture. Vertical farming is viewed as a piece of the future, not a replacement for traditional farming. The speaker invites comments from traditional farmers to gauge their perspective on vertical farming. The upcoming episode will explore urban farming, suggesting that old farming ideas may still have relevance in the modern world.

🍽 Bugs as a Protein Source: Addressing Audience Curiosities

The speaker responds to audience questions about incorporating bugs into their diet. Chapulines (grasshoppers) and other insects can be bought at Mexican grocery stores or raised at home. Bug allergies are linked to shellfish allergies, as both are arthropods, so individuals with shellfish allergies should consult a doctor before consuming insects. Cricket flour is highlighted as an accessible way to include insects in food, being high in protein and gluten-free.

🐜 Insects and Allergies: A Word of Caution

Addressing concerns about insect allergies, the speaker explains that people with shellfish allergies might also be allergic to bugs due to their similar biology. They advise those interested in eating bugs to consult a doctor if they are concerned about potential reactions. For most people without shellfish allergies, eating bugs should be safe.

🦗 Fun Bug Facts: Eating Ants and Ideas for Cricket-Based Cereals

The speaker shares a fun anecdote from a viewer who once ate an ant as a child and found it tasted like red berries in cereal. This leads to the humorous suggestion of creating a cricket-based cereal to help normalize eating bugs, potentially as a profitable venture. The speaker encourages more questions and interaction from viewers for future episodes.

Keywords

💡Vertical Farm

A vertical farm is a method of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, often within controlled indoor environments. In the video, Dickson Despommier introduces the concept of vertical farming as a solution to urbanization, climate change, and population growth, making efficient use of space by growing food upward instead of outward, thereby maximizing yield per square foot.

💡Urbanization

Urbanization refers to the growing concentration of people in cities and the expansion of urban areas. In the video, it is mentioned as one of the challenges facing traditional agriculture, prompting the need for innovations like vertical farming to feed the increasing urban populations more efficiently.

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns, often caused by human activities like agriculture and industrialization. The video discusses how climate change severely impacts traditional outdoor agriculture, making vertical farming a potential solution by allowing crops to be grown in controlled environments, unaffected by weather.

💡LED Lights

LED lights, particularly red and blue diodes, are used in vertical farms to promote photosynthesis while consuming less energy. In the video, Robert Colangelo explains that plants photosynthesize best with red and blue light, and using LED technology reduces energy consumption, as it only provides the necessary light spectrum for plant growth.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in agriculture refers to practices that meet current food production needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Vertical farming is presented as a more sustainable option because it uses less water, fewer chemicals, and allows for year-round harvesting, contributing to the broader goal of sustainable food production.

💡Water Consumption

Water consumption refers to the amount of water used in agricultural processes. The video highlights that traditional farming consumes about 70% of the world's water supply, whereas vertical farms use a more efficient system, recycling water and using less of it, making them more sustainable.

💡Foodborne Illness

Foodborne illnesses are diseases caused by contaminated food, often due to harmful microbes. In the video, it is suggested that vertical farming could reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses because the controlled environment minimizes contamination from pests and other pathogens, particularly in leafy greens, which are often linked to outbreaks.

💡Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light into energy. The video explains that in vertical farming, plants primarily use red and blue light for photosynthesis, and this can be optimized with LED technology, which helps to grow plants efficiently in indoor environments.

💡Plant Protein

Plant protein refers to protein sourced from plants rather than animals. The video suggests that as the global population increases, plant protein will become an essential food source. Vertical farms, which focus on growing plants, are seen as key to meeting the future demand for protein.

💡Economical Farming

Economical farming involves making agricultural practices financially viable and resource-efficient. In the video, Colangelo emphasizes the importance of making vertical farms profitable to help solve world hunger, arguing that financial success is key to widespread adoption and global impact.

Highlights

Climate change, urbanization, and population growth are creating a 'perfect storm' for agricultural challenges.

The concept of vertical farming emerged as a solution after rooftop farming in Manhattan failed to provide sufficient food.

Vertical farming allows for multiple layers of crops to be grown indoors, increasing density and yield per square foot.

LED lights with specific red and blue spectrums are used to enhance photosynthesis while saving energy in vertical farms.

Vertical farms can provide 26 harvests per year, compared to 1-3 harvests in traditional outdoor farms.

Being in a climate-controlled environment allows vertical farms to eliminate the need for pesticides and to operate year-round, even in cold climates.

The air in vertical farms is sterilized with ultraviolet radiation and enriched with carbon dioxide to enhance plant growth.

Vertical farms consume significantly less water compared to traditional agriculture, which uses 70% of the world's water supply.

Vertical farms are engineered for specific crops, like leafy greens, which are grown efficiently and profitably indoors.

The future of food production may involve various methods like vertical farming, greenhouses, and traditional field farms, each suited to different crops.

Consumers are becoming more educated about where their food comes from and are seeking healthier, more sustainable options.

Vertical farming offers a potential solution for reducing foodborne illnesses by growing in a sterile, controlled environment.

By focusing on profitability, vertical farms can be a viable solution for addressing global food insecurity.

The future of farming may involve diverse approaches, with vertical farms playing a key role in sustainable and efficient food production.

Insects, as a sustainable protein source, are highlighted as an alternative to traditional agriculture, with potential for widespread adoption.

Transcripts

[MUSIC PLAYING]

All right, so I just ate a bunch of bugs.

Pretty good, huh?

It's not bad.

We looked at meat made from plant protein.

But what about the plants themselves?

That's what I was wondering.

What's their future like?

Yeah, great minds think alike.

[THEME MUSIC]

DICKSON DESPOMMIER: OK, you asked me to predict the future.

So what we're seeing now is a climate change issue

that's severely affecting agriculture outdoors.

We're seeing urbanization like crazy,

and we're seeing an increase in human populations.

You put those three things together,

and you've got another-- I hate to use this cliche,

because everybody's using it now--

but it's a perfect storm for disaster.

CRAIG BENZINE: This is Dickson Despommier, emeritus professor

at Columbia University.

He helped develop and popularize the concept

of the vertical farm.

What's that?

We'll get to that.

But before all that, he taught a class in medical ecology.

So here's an idea that arose in this class.

The idea was the students got tired of hearing

about gloom and doom, which I don't blame them.

And they said, we would like to start thinking more positively.

So they came back and said, you know,

we think rooftop gardening in New York City

might be a good idea.

Let's see if we can feed some people this way

and maybe turn some of this heat bubble around

and that sort of thing.

So I-- that's a great idea.

CRAIG BENZINE: The students started

looking at how much rooftop space Manhattan had available

for farming.

Then they had to figure out what to grow to feed all 2.3 million

of its inhabitants.

The most energetic crop that you can possibly

eat in one bite is rice.

CRAIG BENZINE: Then they calculated

how much rice they could grow on the rooftops of Manhattan.

DICKSON DESPOMMIER: And with the amount of land that they had,

with a single crop per year, they

ended up being able to feed 2%.

In their view, it was a failure.

I said, you had a good idea.

This was the right idea.

It just didn't go far enough.

I said, why don't we take the idea of the rooftop garden

and put it inside the building?

And that was-- everybody's light bulb went on, including mine.

So we didn't have a name for it yet, but this was in 1999.

By 2010, the idea was known as the vertical farm.

OK.

I'm going to make an educated guess

and say that vertical farms are just

like regular farms, except the crops are

grown on candy-colored clouds.

And all the farmers are specially trained hot air

balloon pilots.

Because that's what I'm picturing,

and I want it to be real so bad.

Wow.

I'm wrong, aren't I?

Way off.

Well, what did it look like then?

Well--

ROBERT COLANGELO: Hands inside.

Were going up.

OK.

In a vertical farm, you've always

got to watch out for your head.

Yeah.

Whoa.

I went over to Portage, Indiana to check out

Green Sense Farms-- one of the world's largest

commercial vertical farms-- to gain a higher perspective

and to find out if vertical farming really

is the future of agriculture.

What kind of lights are these?

It looks like Christmas.

ROBERT COLANGELO: These are produced

by Philips, the large electronic company out of the Netherlands.

They're our partner.

And if you look underneath, you can

see that that's made up of a series of red and blue diodes.

What Philips has found is that you

don't need the whole spectrum of light to have photosynthesis.

The plants photosynthesize best with that red and blue light

spectrum.

And because of that, they use a lot less energy.

You're not pumping all that energy in

to produce that whole spectrum.

They burn cool, and they're very efficient.

As you can see, under these LED lights,

our produce looks brownish or discolored.

But it isn't.

It's really quite vibrant and green.

When you bring it out into the ambient white light,

you can see how fresh and green.

Most people don't eat fresh lettuce

because it comes from California and takes three to five days

to get to the store.

This is our whole lettuce tower.

And the way we plant this is we plant it specifically

to a custom order.

So a customer will come in, place an order,

tell us when they want these to be harvested.

And then every week after the first growth cycle,

this crop comes ripe.

So if you look up in here, you'll

see plants at different stages of development.

CRAIG BENZINE: What's the advantage

of using a vertical farm as opposed to just a regular farm?

Well the obvious is a horizontal farm only

gets one level.

Here, you can see, we can grow up.

So we get much more density per square foot

than you do in a field farm.

Second, we can harvest daily here.

We get about 26 harvests per tub,

where a field farm will only get you maybe one, two, or three.

Also a field farm, you could lose your whole crop

if you have drought or you have inclement weather.

CRAIG BENZINE: Being in a climate-controlled environment

gives vertical farms the advantage

of being safe from pests, eliminating

the need for pesticides.

And unlike traditional farms, vertical farms

can also be harvested year round-- even in cold climates.

ROBERT COLANGELO: You could always

use that cold air to help in your cooling of your room.

The cold climates keep the bugs out,

and it also helps in your savings of your energy costs.

It's sort of the opposite of traditional farming.

You want the cold.

You want the winter, as opposed to the summer.

The cold's our friend.

When nobody else is growing, that's

when we're at peak capacity.

We're all about climate control, creating

that perfect atmosphere and climate

in this grow room-- 365 days a year.

This air rotation unit's a big part of that.

The ambient air flows through these filters, up these fans.

And then it gets treated with temperature and humidity

controls so that it's always the perfect temperature

and humidity here.

CRAIG BENZINE: The air is also sterilized

with ultraviolet radiation to remove harmful microbes

and then enriched with a little extra carbon dioxide

to speed up the plant growth process.

It blows out the top, and then it just

circulates throughout the room.

CRAIG BENZINE: Recirculating and purifying the air

is good for the plants, but it's also good for humans.

According to the CDC, over half of all foodborne illnesses

come from plants.

And more illnesses were associated with leafy greens

than any other commodity.

Vertical farms could potentially reduce

the amount of foodborne illnesses and save lives.

Another advantage of vertical farms is water consumption.

Agriculture consumes around 70% of the world's water supply.

70.

And then what happens to it after you farm?

It runs off.

And can you drink that water?

You better not.

Ecology is a very economical way of behaving.

OK?

If you look at the way a hardwood forest

recycles its nutrients.

If you look at the way it handles

water, and micronutrients, and minerals, and things

of this sort-- the economy is remarkable when you review it.

So wow, why don't we do that?

Because we don't know how to do that.

Many of these things don't exist.

We have to fabricate them ourselves.

We've designed these systems to conserve water.

Water is pumped in.

And then it gravity drains, and then it's recirculated.

And it's calibrated so it always has

the right pH, electric conductivity,

and the right percentage of nutrients.

Most other farming operations don't do that.

So just on the logic of our process,

this is much more economical.

And it's much more sustainable.

You could pretty much grow anything

in a indoor vertical farm.

But there's only a few things you can grow commercially

and economically viably today.

But you also have to understand this farm is

specially engineered.

It's like a Ferrari race car.

It is designed specifically to optimize

the growth of leafy greens.

If we go off into another direction,

we would have to redesign our entire farm.

So with time, we'll be able to grow more produce.

But as of right now, we're focused on plants.

I think the future is plant protein.

Because as the population grows, you're

going to have to be able to grow that protein.

What have you discovered that you didn't know before,

when you started doing this?

Well, the best way for us to solve world hunger

is to make a profitable farm.

And that's what I've learned a long time ago

in the environmental business.

People have many great ideas, but it's

hard to turn it into reality.

The world speaks in finance.

Everybody understands that language.

So for us to make this a profitable farm,

we can really change the world.

So that's what is really interesting to me.

For this playlist we're doing, it's about future of food.

And we want to know, what is the future of food?

Is this the future-- vertical farms?

I think it's part of the future.

I think you're starting to find farming is stratifying,

much like the automobile.

20 years ago, cars just ran off gas.

Now look.

You have hydrogen. You have plug-in electrics.

You have hybrids, diesel, high-mile-per-gallon gas.

Field farms are great for commodity crops like soybean,

and corn, and wheat.

Greenhouses are fantastic for growing tomatoes, peppers,

cumbers.

And we think the future for leafy greens

is indoor vertical farms.

I think people will grow more sustainably.

They'll learn how to conserve water.

They'll learn how to use a lot less chemicals

in growing their produce.

And they're going to learn how to package it

so it's much fresher.

The consumer is getting much more educated

on where their food comes from and the importance of eating

healthy.

That is very fresh.

That is really good.

ROBERT COLANGELO: So the future is really bright,

and it's going to change very rapidly.

At the end of the day, we all live on the same Earth.

We have to work together.

It's not us against them.

It's all of us working together to try to figure out

how to grow food better, more nutritious

with less impact on the environment.

CRAIG BENZINE: So what do you guys think?

Is vertical farming the future of agriculture?

Just a piece of it?

Or a complete waste of time and energy?

Also if there are any traditional horizontal farmers

out there, we're particularly interested in your opinion

on this vertical farming thing.

Do you think it's just a fad?

Let us know in the comments.

Next week we talk to urban farming pioneer Ken Dunn.

Turns out the future of food might be a return to old ideas.

See you next week.

Bye.

I didn't know we were going to wave.

Last week, we asked if you would consider including bugs

as a regular part of your diet.

Here's what you had to say.

Charlie Ringstrom and a number of you

wanted to know where to buy insects.

Well, chapulines, which were in the delicious tacos

that we ate, can be found at Mexican grocery stores.

And crickets, wax worms and mealworms

are often sold as pet food or bait

and can be found at pet stores.

You can also raise crickets yourself.

The trick though for maximum deliciousness

is gut loading-- also my major in college.

There's helpful links to all of this

in the doobly doo of our insects video.

Dan Brown pointed out that bugs will

need to be more thoroughly processed before people

are willing to eat them as more than a novelty.

Fortunately, there's already a solution-- cricket flour,

which is available online and possibly some grocery stores.

Cricket flour is basically milled-up, dry-roasted crickets

which can be used in a variety of foods like cookies

or pancakes or whatever.

It's high in protein, gluten free.

And you can pretend it's not made of crickets.

Yum.

ssarryo and giovanifm1984 say they'll just

stick to getting their protein from veggies, beans,

and cereals-- thank you very much.

No one's telling you you have to eat bugs.

However, from an environmentally sustainable perspective,

bugs are a very efficient source of protein-- even better

than a lot of plants.

Crickets actually grow faster and require a lot less land

and water than soybeans.

And nuts require a ton of water.

And I'm allergic to nuts-- food for thought.

waitingfor2008 asked how common bug allergies are.

Insects, including mealworms and wax worms,

are arthopods-- just like crabs and lobsters.

So if you have an allergy to shellfish,

there's a good chance you have an allergy to bugs as well.

So if you're concerned about having a negative reaction,

you should consult a doctor or do some research

before chowing down on some bugs.

But if you don't have an allergy to shellfish,

you're probably OK.

Lover of berniesanders writes that when they were a kid,

they saw an ant, and they just ate it for some reason.

And then later realized that it tasted just

like the red berries in Special K cereal.

You just gave me an idea.

General Mills, are you listening?

Cricket Puffs-- it could help kids

get over the cultural aversion to bugs.

And it could make us a lot of money.

Thanks for the great questions.

Keep them coming.

See you next week.

[THEME MUSIC]