the complexities of vertical farmingVertical farming companies such as Plenty in San Francisco, Gotham Greens in New York City, and AeroFarms in Newark, are on the rise in the U.S. Vertical farming differs greatly from traditional farming practices because, according to Tammy La Gorce’s article in The New York Times, vertical farming does not require sunlight or soil. Vertical farms offer a technological answer to issues of food security as they bring nutritious, fresh, local produce to the urban communities where the farms are located. Crops that are vertically farmed require much less water than traditional soil-based agriculture. This can mean significantly less strain on natural resources, particularly in areas such as the state of California or the Middle East, where desert climes mean that water is in short supply. At first glance, vertical farming appears to be the way toward the future. However, a July 2018 article by writer Steve Holt for Civil Eats describes the multiple issues facing vertical farming as he asks the question, “Can Vertical Farms Reap Their Harvest? It’s Anyone’s Bet.” Vertical farming does not require sunlight. Instead, plants benefit from LED lights, which require electricity. LED lights, according to Holt, are becoming increasingly more efficient. However, there will likely be a ceiling to this race toward efficiency as LED technology plateaus. Electricity is one of the leading culprits in the high carbon footprint of vertical farming. Vertical farms are located in cities and touted as “locally-produced” and, therefore, more sustainable since the produce need not be shipped across long distances. The carbon emissions that are saved through shorter transport are instead spent on the energy to grow the produce. In the article, “Can Dirt Save the Earth,” Moises Velasquez-Manoff explains how healthy soil has the ability to recycle carbon by sucking it out of the air like “straws sipping.” The process is natural, but it does require soil. Since vertical farms do not use soil, they have no way of recycling their own carbon emissions produced by electricity usage. Start-up costs are significantly higher for vertical versus traditional farms. Traditional farms may begin with a simple hoop house, which has a relatively low start-up cost. However, vertical farming requires an HVAC system and all of the necessary equipment. According to Holt, AeroFarms’ flagship Newark, New Jersey, operation cost $30 million. With these high start-up costs, vertical farming is not accessible to the common person or to community centers. The fact that current investors include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is evidence that vertical farming is a corporate game. Although the cost of vertically farmed produce may decrease over time, it is currently significantly more expensive to purchase than traditionally farmed produce, according to Holt. Until the price tag decreases, vertical farming is unlikely to garner many consumer fans. One positive change that vertical farming brings to the agriculture business is the quality of jobs available. According to Holt, vertical farms will need to hire at least 100,000 employees over the next decade. The metropolitan jobs will have to pay living wages to employees, which would greatly improve conditions for farm laborers. Fieldworkers currently work in terrible conditions for very little pay. These conditions are exemplified in the film, La Cosecha, and also in Tracie McMillan’s article, The American Way of Eating. Like so many workers within the food industry, fieldworkers in the U.S. are not granted the same rights and protections as workers in other sectors. They are not allowed mandatory breaks. They have no minimum wage. They have no paid time off, sick leave, or maternity leave. They are subjected to long workdays spent in hot fields where they are exposed to health-threatening chemicals that, according to Susan Freinkel, are particularly harmful to cognitive development. Jobs in vertical farming not only offer higher pay, but also a safer work environment for laborers.
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