Proponents argue urban farming can reduce carbon emissions, but are growing crops in a city a baaaaa-d idea to start with? Photo by flickr user twenty_questions
A quick look at some of the things that make Urban Vertical Farming in your city work (or not):
Average distance ingredient in a meal in US is grown away from home: 1500 miles
Amount of energy global industrial food system accounts for in worldwide fossil fuel consumption: 21%
Number of farmer markets in US in 1993: 1755
Number of farmer markets in US in 2002: 3100
Percentage of food sales: 0.3%
Number of times more carbon dioxide released by transport of conventional produce versus regional/local produce: 5-17
Projected population by 2050: 9.5 billion
Additional land required to feed extra 2.7 billion people: Land mass of Brazil
Percentage increase in food production required by 2050: 70
Potential solution: Vertical farming
Numbers of acres of food a 30 story vertical farm can produce: 2400
Number of people a 19 story vertical farm could feed: 50,000
Number of acres of wheat in US: 53 million
Number of times more electricity needed to produce a year’s worth of US wheat via vertical farming: 8x total electricity generated in the US
For corn: 40x total electricity generated
Monetary worth of a farmer’s land per square foot: $1
Skyscraper: $200
Tons of carbon dioxide produced per US household due to food consumption: 8.9
Percentage of total carbon dioxide released due to food delivery: 4.5%
Number of days in jail for planting veggies in your front yard: 90
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