Droughts, heavy rainfall, storms and bug infestation are a few of the things that affect agriculture around the world today. Given that the weather is as uncertain as the future, it’s crucial that we have a more sustainable system in place to conserve our crops and provide food to our communities. A professor at Columbia University may have found the solution: vertical farming. Instead of producing crops in large, vulnerable fields out in the middle of nowhere, the farms are brought into the city in ‘urban greenhouses’. As the article explains:

“Farming indoors could reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides, which pollute the environment in agricultural runoff. Preserving or reclaiming more natural ecosystems like forests could help slow climate change. And the more food we produce indoors, the less susceptible we are to environmental crises that disrupt crops and send prices skyrocketing, like the drought that devastated this year’s U.S. corn crop.”

As with any crazy idea, there are many sides to this concept, some positive and some negative so take a look at this article and see what your position is on the matter.

Picture from: EBS Consultants