The Genetic Freedom in the Salad Bowl: Food Variance and the Decrease in Costs of Vertical Farming

#CEA #VERTICALFARMING

02-11-2017

I'm taking a break this week from the conversation about machines to talk about plants. Delicious, crispy, green, flavorful plants. I've lived a few places in my life, and one thing I've come to really appreciate is fresh produce. If you don't live near major agricultural regions, you know the loss of quality that comes from being on the end of a long produce shipping lane (NYC, you know what I'm talking about).

Vertical farming is looking to change that and disrupt the vice hold that horizontal farming has on our world. With our population's caloric needs ever growing and our desire for better quality in our produce, vertical farming is quickly becoming the industry investors are banking on. What will the future dinner table look like when we breed food for flavor rather than survivability? Is there are new food renaissance ahead or another investor pipe dream?

“70% of our water goes to agriculture, 70% of our contaminated water comes from agriculture. If one wants to solve water, one needs to start at agriculture.” ~AeroFarms

I was just at a Dell Technologies event in New York City, IQT day, last week. I was blown away with how the world’s largest vertical farm, AeroFarms, (located in Newark, New Jersey), is using Dell Technologies IoT platform to grow food smarter. When we think of the Internet of Things, our minds often go to devices and high tech…but what about a super practical application of the IoT, like, feeding the world? A few mind-boggling quotes I caught from the AeroFarms presentation on the main stage at the Dell Technologies IQT Day, were so thought-provoking, I went home after the event to really dive into what vertical farming is and what it means to our global future.

We need 50% more food by 2050. ~AeroFarms

It seems the barrier to vertical farming proliferation isn't cost, it's time. Over the past decade or so, vertical farming has gone from being the concept of one man, a professor named Dickson D. Despommier, Ph.D., to a worldwide industry with one company, Plenty, pulling in $200 million dollars in Series B Funding.

What do investors see in the industry that skeptics don't? Well, only seven years ago, both parties might have been much more aligned. Costs of labor, electricity and scale were killing vertical farming startups. There were also hard lessons to be learned about pricing and location. It turns out that all the different forms of vertical farming such as hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics (yes, that's different than hydroponics) all use a lot of electricity to function. Upfront and upkeep costs have also, historically, been another pain point for these companies. Couple that with complex labor equipment and well-being needs, it looked rather bleak for the small vertical farm. And for small vertical farms, it still is a big pill to swallow. To compete with established traditional farming, large scales of operation seem to be the best way to overcome the economic stress of putting these farms of the future together and be sustainable.

Vertical Farming is 130-390x more productive, using 95% less water than conventional farming. ~AeroFarms

But it's starting to happen. Plenty is going strong with plans for more warehouses around the world, along with long time industry champion AeroFarms and several other largescale farming companies. And what they've realized is that the longer they can stay afloat, the more technological innovation will lower their costs. In the past couple of years, breakthroughs in renewable energy and LED technology as well as iteration within the industry itself have greatly lowered the overhead, allowing large scale vertical farming companies like Plenty to figure out what models work for sustained growth (for the companies as well as the plants!).

How Green can the Grass Get When We Breed it for Desirability Rather than Durability?

But enough about the struggles, what about the cool aspects of the vertical farming industry? Well, the best part about vertical farming, at least to me (after it's impending disruption of an established industry) is what the companies can focus on now that survivability isn't going to be an issue much longer. One of the biggest advantages they have over traditional farms is that vertical farms function within completely controlled environments. Workers wear protective gear, rooms are controlled for temperature and composition and plants are fed on strict nutrient schedules. Also, vertical farms can be built anywhere, reducing on transportation time. For traditional horizontal farms, pests, weather, soil variations and long transportation routes have required producers to breed their plants to survive long enough to get from the farm to the dinner table. Since vertical farming plants no longer having to combat with the stressors of nature and an extended supply line, their farmers can focus on breeding for other aspects.

What have we been missing when producing food for function rather than form? Flavor is the obvious characteristic. We like to enjoy eating food. But what else? I could see farms breeding a generation of their plants to deal with vitamin deficiencies within a population. Like specialty varieties of wine and beer, we could see a line of tomatoes or kale with artistic properties added to them, like unique smells, mouthfeel and colors. When there are no baseline concerns for a product, the sky's the limit.

AeroFarms says that their mission is to build vertical farms in cities all over the world so that everyone has access to fresh, safe, food. What else do you think could come from this produce production revolution? Let me know what you think.