What´s Vertical Farming

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It is 2050. Alice is walking down the street as one of the privileged with a ration card. Catching a glimpse of the current New York Times newspaper, she notices the front page picture. There are thousands of families starving for a food handout with their hands reaching towards food. The desperation can be seen in their eyes, but with the current world situation there is little Alice can do. She could share her rations, but this would leave her hungry with the rest. This is because the Earth is running out of viable soil with 80 percent of the world’s land already occupied (Mendleson, 2011). In addition, by 2050 the population on Earth is projected to increase by around 3 billion people (Feldman, 2007). This brings up an interesting query of how can enough food be produced to feed everyone? Vertical Farming is a way to feed the extra billions that humans will create in the near future because it can grow bountiful produce with less pollution that traditional farming. Therefore, Vertical Farms should be implemented in at least every state.
Vertical Farming was developed by Dr. Dickson Despommier in his ecology class. The idea came about when he proposed the problem of overpopulation and minimal land available. First they thought of rooftop farming, which in a Canadian study could save around 300 million dollars, but feed less than 3 percent of a Manhattan size population (Dunn, 2011). Then Despommier and his students thought of refurbishing abandoned buildings in the city with two types of gardening processes on every floor; aeroponics and hydroponics (The Vertical Farm: The World Grows Up, 2010). Aeroponic gardening uses a nutrient rich mist, while hydroponics uses nutrient rich water to grow plants in (The Vertical Farm: The Wo...

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...t vertical farm in the US - becomes a Zero Organic Waste facility. PR Newswire US.
Ryan, J. T. (2012). Extreme weather in 2011 stunted Central Pa. crop harvests. Central Penn Business Journal, 28(1), 21.
Smith, S. (2000). Greenhouse Gardener's Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace. Golden, CO:Fulcrum Publishing.
Stevenson, J. C. (2013). Genetic diversity. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science.
Tulloch, J. (2011). Vertical farming takes root. Retrieved from: http://knowledge.allianz.com/environment/food_water/?1529/vertical-farming-takes-root
USDA. (2013). Cash receipts for corn and soybeans account for about half of all crop receipts. Retrieved from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/detail.aspx?chartId=40050&ref=collection&embed=True#.UxjyP_ldWap
The Vertical Farm: The World Grows Up. (2010). Kirkus Reviews, 78(13), 603.

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