The current food system is facing great challenges from decreases in freshwater resources and arable lands, climate change, limited and unequal access to local fresh produce, and certainly not ready to feed the increasing population for upcoming decades. Indoor vertical farming can be a promising solution for strengthening future food system resilience.
Indoor vertical farms use LED lighting and multi-tier hydroponic production systems in completely enclosed facilities where all environmental factors can be optimized for crop production. By maintaining ideal growing conditions, indoor vertical farming can produce the same amounts of crops with 90% less water, ten times less land, less fertilizer and pesticide uses compared to conventional field production. In addition, indoor vertical farms can produce crops all year-round regardless of weather and enable food production facilities to be built close to population centers, potentially eliminating food deserts while increasing access to nutritious fresh produce.
At Emerge 2022, we will demonstrate how we can grow nutritious fresh vegetables using indoor vertical farming!
