Indoor agriculture is the savior to predicted food
insecurity.
The Problem
Climate change has many scientists concerned about what the
future of our food is going to look like.
Rising global temperatures in some places disrupt natural
systems, leading to more severe droughts, flooding, wildfires, and superstorms.
The projected heating
and cooling
of regions will inevitably upset growing conditions for many staple crops.
In fact, climate change is expected to alter the very base
of traditional farming—soil
composition. Until the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere catalyze microbial production in soil enough to balance out these
composition changes, we could be facing uncertain periods of mass infertility.
A 2017
study projects rising temperatures and increasing extreme weather events
could reduce global production of corn, wheat, rice, and soy by 9 percent in
the 2030s and up to 23 percent in the 2050s. A drop in the production of these
staple crops could skyrocket the prices of a basic loaf of bread, bag of rice,
or can of corn.
We’re facing a future of mass food
insecurity because of the changing outdoor climate, so the logical solution
is to move crop production indoors. Indoor vertical farms and hydroponics have
been making huge waves in the agricultural industry within the past decade.
Indoor Farming Is Making Waves
Abandoned inner-city
buildings are being renovated into massive buildings with stacked shelves
of hydroponic crops spanning the interior. Indoor farms are producing the same
yields that acres of traditional land would.
Green Spirit
Farms and AeroFarms based in the U.S.,
are using up to 95 percent less water and 50 percent less fertilizer than
traditional soil farming. Badia
Farms in the Middle East is successfully combatting rampant food insecurity
in the region, and is using 90 percent less water than conventional farming to
do it.
Image by: Arab News
By 2030, 70
percent of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas.
City populations have always been especially distant from
their food source. The implementation of local indoor vertical farms could
reduce food prices and increase the quality of produce in city markets.
The Potential Fallbacks
What about the cost of these indoor systems? The
questionable organic nature of hydroponics? What about growing traditional
outdoor crops like wheat and corn?
It’s true that the upfront costs for indoor systems can be
substantial, but many farms, such as Green Sense Farms in Indiana, create ties
with investors like Whole Foods. The demand for organic foods is growing
dramatically, so investor support and funding for indoor initiatives is likely
to increase as well.
Some hydroponic places do use conventional methods, rather
than organic ones. However, these nutrients are just pure base elements, such
as nitrogen and phosphorus, in different forms. Both forms are safe and healthful.
Crops like corn and wheat continue to flourish best in the
current outdoor environment, but that environment is expected to change. Advancements
in hydroponic corn and wheat have been fueled by experimentation
and have shown promising success.
Image by: Aquaponics World
Try growing something hydroponically and see the encouraging
results for yourself.
It's amazing how efficient indoor farming can be. I assumed that outdoor, traditional was the only way that farming could be done, but that is surely not the case. I also didn't realize that global warming could lead to cooling in some areas, that blows my mind and probably doesn't help people believe in the legitimacy of global warming. It is truly scary to think about how much this will affect me in my lifetime.
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