Many of us do not give too much thought about where our food comes from, and this is not a failing on our part. The food industry has done a great job of distancing consumption to production, so our blind eye to it is understandable. Our meat and produce are all grown on some far off farm, sometimes even in other countries. A company called Plenty Inc. is looking to change all of that with vertical farms outside major cities. Vertical Farms Will Increase Food Quality and Lower Costs A company called Plenty Inc is hoping to disrupt the way
Many of us do not give too much thought about where our food comes from, and this is not a failing on our part. The food industry has done a great job of distancing consumption to production, so our blind eye to it is understandable. Our meat and produce are all grown on some far off farm, sometimes even in other countries. A company called Plenty Inc. is looking to change all of that with vertical farms outside major cities.
Vertical Farms Will Increase Food Quality and Lower Costs
A company called Plenty Inc is hoping to disrupt the way that we think about the produce we eat. This San Franciso Bay area company has plans to bring incredibly high quality food to consumers at fractions of the cost associated with higher end food. The way they plan on doing this is really rather intuitive: bring the farm to more populated areas. However, as those of you who live in a city or other population dense area will know, there is just no room for a farm. So where will these farms be?
Plenty will utilize vertical farms to make it feasible to have large growing operations close to their consumers. The farms themselves will be state of the art and be able to produce large amounts of food.
Is This all Really Necessary?
Vertical farms are likely the solution that we will see more of as population sizes increase and consumer tastes demand fresher and cheaper food. Since the farms are so close to consumers, the quality of the actual product at time of eating it will be noticeable. Any readers who are gardeners will be able to confirm that the fruits and vegetables they grow in their backyards are often far tastier than store bought produce. By reducing the time in transit and shortening the gap between harvest and consumption, vertical farms – like Plenty – can make food taste better.
While many would think that this could rack up costs quickly – nightmarish images of some store’s pricing of organic kale are flooding my head even as I write this -, the same reasons that make the food taste better will drive down the costs of the product. Much of these savings will be from the significantly reduced cost of transporting these goods. Transportation costs can be staggeringly high at times, especially with needed refrigeration. While traditional farming and food sourcing benefit from things like subsidies and economies of scale to help keep their prices low, local vertical farms will likely win the price war because of simplified logistics, better products, and quicker grow times.
I would not be surprised if in the future more vertical farms near cities will provide large portions of the world’s produce. The concept just makes too much common – and economic – sense to ignore.