Vertical Farming’s Sky-High Ambitions Cut Short By EU

01-02-2021 | Politico

Startups argue tough rules are blocking innovation in a sector that shares Brussels’ green goals. Anders Riemann's indoor farm in the suburbs of Copenhagen is pesticide-free, chemical fertilizer-free, and promises not to emit any greenhouse gases into the environment. Indeed, his type of vertical farm — with greens stacked 14 levels deep — is often hailed as the future of food production in parts of the world where affordable farmland is scarce.

But under the EU’s strict rules, his company Nordic Harvest won’t be able to label its products as organic, which is precisely the premium market that eco-friendly vertical farmers want to sell into.

Supporters of more sustainable agriculture have high hopes of vertical farms not only because they save space but also because they often incorporate technology to save water and energy.

Vertical farms also work with hydroponic planting, which uses mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil. And it's the soil that's the problem, when it comes to being organic. EU regulation demands soil — which hydroponic production lacks by definition — as a feature of organic farming, meaning Nordic Harvest won't be able to use the term on labels when it begins deliveries of its produce next month.

“It’s ridiculous," said Riemann, the chief executive of Nordic Harvest, which is Europe’s largest vertical farm operation and recently raised 62 million Danish Kroner (€8.3 million) in its first investment round. "The EU regulation [has] slightly blocked our innovation by defining organic as being only produced in soil.”

That could make it harder for Nordic Harvest and a growing number of similar vertical farm startups to signal to shoppers their sustainable philosophy at a time when the EU is aiming to promote such green principles under its Farm to Fork food strategy.

Nordic Harvest plans to grow 1,000 metric tons of spinach, rucola, basil, mint, and coriander each year, powered by 100 percent certified wind energy. Riemann said that growing the same amount of produce using traditional farm practices would entail 467 hectares of land — land which Riemann said could be better put toward removing and storing carbon from the atmosphere.

Moreover, the former investment banker claims that vertical farming's potential is so great that it could cover all of Denmark’s salad and herb needs with just 20 urban farms. 

An EU official said “organic plant production is based on nourishing the plants primarily through the soil ecosystem,” which means “plants should be produced on and in living soil in connection with the subsoil and bedrock. This is a fundamental principle of organic production.”

Consequently, “vertical farming based on hydroponic production does not comply with the rules on organic production,” the official added.

The EU isn't alone in its strict definition of tying organic labels to soil requirements, and the U.S. is one of the few outlier countries where hydroponic production can be considered organic if producers comply with other criteria. Some in the traditional organic industry, which is already struggling to carve out a niche for its own more established and often costlier green practices, argue hydroponics don't capture the spirit of the movement as it's not directly rooted in the ecosystem.

Eric Gall, deputy director of the organic farm trade association IFOAM Organics Europe, said that calling something organic obliges the producer to follow certain rules regarding soil.

“It doesn’t mean vertical farming is not good — it’s probably great — but it can’t be called organic,” Gall said. “It’s not a matter of discrimination but of having clear principles to decide what is and what is not organic.”

Nordic Harvest now plans to use its own labels with phrases like “Where are my pesticides?” But when a nominally organic apple can be flown from New Zealand to Denmark and receive an instantly recognizable eco-label, Riemann says the EU’s organic rules are “cheating the consumer.”

Despite such limitations, Nordic Harvest aims to push ahead with plans for expansion across Scandinavia and to start growing strawberries and blueberries in Denmark by 2024.

Still, new EU public procurement rules that are supposed to bolster demand for organic foods as part of the Farm to Fork strategy may further dent the upstart sector's share in the eco-conscious market.

“It definitely discriminates against vertical farming,” Riemann said. “But nobody thought about it before vertical farming was established.” 

Photo: A robot, used to plant seeds and check the plants while growing, moves past vertical racks at the vertical plant farm 'Nordic Harvest'. Credit: AFP
Source: Politico