Just when you think we're in serious trouble, American ingenuity arrives to save the day, and maybe feed the planet while we're at it.....
Vertical farming! What are you, crazy? No, not really. Amid mounting worries over food supply, Columbia University Health Scientist Dickson Despommier and his high-rise farming concepts are gaining serious traction. Is this the beginning of a new era of sustainability?
We sure hope so. (You can access a vertical farm rendering here.)
The project has received the nod from officials in New York, Oregon and Toronto, thereby equipping a Utopian pie-in-the-sky project with blueprints, a mortgage and a sick vegetable garden.
Scott Stringer, New York borough president, is enthusiastic, pressing the city to consider building a pilot farm, a project that Dr. Despommier estimates will cost about $20 million. “We could get the funding” says Stringer.
The Urban planning department of Toronto is also on board in redefining the term “community garden.” Robert Freedom, director of that city’s urban planning department believes “It certainly makes sense to encourage people to find foods closer to home.” Here’s more from the project’s architect on his vision for cities of the future.
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