Dickson Despommier claims that vertical farming could boost crop yields many times over. A single 20-storey vertical farm could theoretically feed 50,000 people, according to Despommier. And if the theory translates into reality as proposed, 160 skyscraper-sized vertical farms could feed the entire population of New York City, while 180 would be needed to feed London, 289 to feed Cairo and 302 to feed Kolkata.
‘Vertical mushroom farms have more advantages than ground-level farms,’ says Hokuto’s Ted Yamanoko. Yamanoko goes on to highlight the relative cost-effectiveness of his organisation’s farming practices, together with reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.
But it isn’t only about increasing food production. Despommier is concerned about the harm which farming has done to the world’s landscape over a relatively short time span, particularly the elimination of hardwood forests.
‘By significantly reducing the amount of land required for food production, vertical farms could help to enrich biodiversity’. And according to Jeremijenko, this can, in turn, help to improve the productivity of conventional farms, as the health of agricultural land is often tied to the health of the surrounding ecosystems.
Questions
1. Vertical farming can have financial benefits.
2. Traditional farming has had a negative effect on the natural world.
3. Vertical farming could dramatically increase world food production.
4. Traditional farms may benefit from wider use of vertical farming.