Opinion Piece

The Elephant in the Grow Room: Unveiling the Realities of Vertical Farming

Critics often emerge as passionate individuals driven by a genuine desire to see improvements in their field. One such individual, Thomas Williams, brings us a thought-provoking presentation entitled ‘The Elephant in the Growroom.’ While criticism can be irksome, Williams’ critical perspective stems from his passion for vertical farming and a

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Lab-Grown Fruits

Eliminating Light Requirements in Modern Agriculture Currently, one of the greatest barriers faced by vertical farmers is the huge electricity demand, to which the artificial lighting requirements are a major contributing factor.  Innovators are working hard to solve this problem and exploring possible solutions that implement scientific and technical knowledge

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Farming to Save the Environment

Traditional farming systems and vertical farming technology share a dependency on agribusiness and the goal of working towards rapid technological advancements to maximize the efficiency and the yield of the growing process. To provide food sustainably, we must consider all factors of sustainability collectively. This includes environmental, social and economic

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Research and Indoor Farming University Network

When the pioneering vertical farms were established around the world, comparatively basic first-generation technology used created relatively inefficient systems compared with today. Although these operations only enabled the most basic functions to occur, they demonstrated how feasible it was to grow plants in vertical structures and thus, for the first

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Shorter Supply Chains Through Urban Indoor Farming

There are many reasons why a government or international organization may advocate the introduction of urban indoor farming. This week we look at some of the main motivations for bringing agriculture closer to the consumer. While urban indoor agriculture may have seemed a far-fetched dream in the past, developments in

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Indoor Farming Is the Future

By 2050, there will be 10 billion people on the planet, the majority of whom in cities. Gertjan and Lianne Meeuws behind Eindhoven firm, Seven Steps To Heaven, believe indoor farming is the future. “Our traditional food system is incapable of feeding everyone responsibly.” All of Eindhoven can identify Gertjan

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Rebuilding the Agricultural Economy Post-COVID

The coronavirus pandemic has side-lined climate-change as an issue for many governments. The immediate threat posed by COVID-19 has in many ways placed issues of environmentalism on the backburner in terms of policymaking. It is important to remember, however, that even in the midst of this unprecedented crisis, climate change

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Water Scarcity Threatens Global Food Production

Water scarcity is increasingly becoming a problem not only for developing countries but also for the advanced economies. The continuation of ‘business-as-usual’ practices in agriculture has only exacerbated this problem and increased pressure on global resources. In light of the water scarcity crisis, we look this week at some of

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Our Fresh-Produce Supply Chain After Covid-19: How Vertical Farming Can Play a Key Role

With the corona-virus pandemic unexpectedly and fully exposing the vulnerabilities of our current fresh-produce supply chains, re-engineering them toward resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability has just become an urgent imperative. This article, written by AVF Vice Chair Joel Cuello, is published in the July/August 2020 issue of RESOURCE, the periodical magazine

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