The Urgency of Transforming Food Systems
The planet is under pressure. The consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss, the collapse of ecosystems, and the depletion of natural resources are clear. Providing food for all, while the world population continues to grow to 10bn by 2050, in a resource-efficient manner is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Current food systems cannot serve the ever-growing demand and ensure reliable access to food.
We believe that vertical farming can make an important contribution to transforming our food systems and to making them future-proof. By decoupling ecosystem destruction from food
production through technological means, we reimagine farming from the ground up and are part of the solution to one of humanity’s toughest challenges, while reducing the negative impact on
the planet.
The global vertical farming market has been steadily growing in recent years, with the market expected to surpass USD 30bn by 2030.
We want to work together with farmers on the transformation of our food systems because we believe that vertical farming technology can significantly enhance current farming practices and help increase production. We see vertical farming as a technology that must augment and expand traditional farming to solve one of the biggest challenges of our time: feeding a rapidly growing population in an increasingly unstable climate without harming the planet.
The Vertical Farming Technology
Positioned at the intersection of agriculture, engineering, and data science, we develop and use state-of-the-art technology to build global networks of vertical farms. In our vertical indoor growing systems, we monitor every stage of the growing process, harvest millions of data points, and thereby build a deep understanding of the plants’ biology and needs. Based on the extensive data we collect, we are able to provide each plant with the growing conditions it needs. The technology ensures real-time monitoring and efficiency for the best possible yield, resource use and quality of products.
Vertical Farming for the Planet
Our goal is to protect the planet for future generations by developing, using and advancing technology that significantly reduces the environmental impact of crop production.
By growing crops vertically and close to urban centres, our food production methods use only a small amount of land and reduce transportation miles, shortening the distance between the farm and the consumer to a fraction of average supply chains. The vertical farming technology also reduces the water use by providing each plant only the amount of water it needs and by treating and recirculating water where possible. Our plants grow under controlled conditions which allows us to provide pesticide-free produce while eliminating dangerous run-off and soil degradation. By producing plants locally and primarily on-demand, we can significantly reduce the amount of food waste from farm to fork and extend the shelf life of produce.
We see the reduction of our carbon footprint as the biggest challenge for our industry. We are already intensively working on reducing our energy consumption by optimizing plant recipes and by adopting the latest advances in LED and green power technology. To reduce our emissions as effectively as possible and in alignment with the Paris Agreement, our industry is committed to setting science-based targets to play our role in ensuring the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.
As we monitor and control all factors critical to producing healthy, nutritious crops, we are able to continuously measure and adapt the impact we have on the environment our farms are
active in.
To further underscore our purpose-driven approach, we strive to be transparent and are committed to aligning with globally accepted impact frameworks, such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), B Corp, and the SDGs.
Vertical Farming for the People
We are committed to benefitting the global population and future generations with our new way of farming by increasing and ensuring the availability of high-quality, fresh, safe, nutritious food. We follow the highest standards of growing practices and strive to continuously improve the yield and quality of our products.
Vertical farming allows harvesting at the time of highest nutritional value and richest flavor, as our plants only have to travel very short distances from the farm to fork. As we grow our crops indoors in closed, controlled environments and monitor all production steps, food safety and cleanliness are improved, significantly reducing the risk of contamination. Regardless of the outdoor climatic conditions, our growing systems can guarantee reliable and constant access to fresh, high-quality produce all year round, thus addressing food security. Our technology also enables us to produce a wide range of crops and adapt to rapidly changing consumer needs and preferences.
Vertical Farming as Critical Part of Future Food Systems
Vertical farming technology is capable of successfully addressing many of the challenges that threaten humanity. Our industry is dedicated to continuously innovating and improving our systems, investing in research and development to grow even smarter and more sustainably, thereby contributing to the creation of future-proof and climate-resilient food systems and helping supply the world’s growing population with fresh produce.
Vertical Farming Identity Statement by 80 Acres, AeroFarms, Bowery, Crop One, CubicFarms, Elevate Farms, Fifth Season, Fischer Farms, Freight Farms, Infarm, Infinite Acres, Jones Food Company, Kalera, La Grangette, Ljusgårda, N.THING, Plenty, Stacked Farm, Urban Crop Solutions, Urban Harvest, Vertical Future, YesHealth Group, ZipGrow
