A dozen years ago I proposed turning a blighted 8th story building we owned at 140 S Saginaw Pontiac (former IRS tower) into a vertical garden center. I was laughed at. It was a crazy idea, back then. In 2016, The Expo in Milan featured a half dozen such vertical growing ideas on large scale.
From the number of displays at Expo 2020 (22), you'd think vertical gardening was common place today. I don't believe it really is. But it will be. I learned at conference on food (from world experts) that our current world population is around 8 Billion mouths to feed. By 2050, it will be over 10 billion. We produce enough food today to feed 10 billion people, but we waste about 1/3 of our food supply because of logistics.
If we could grow more local (and hyper local) this waste number could fall. On top of this leafy greens provide the most vitamin nutrients in our diet, but is also wasted at a rate of 60% -- so almost double the overall waste rate. On top of this, the longer it takes from cutting to table - these food stuffs loose nutrients hourly.
So, again growing where you eat is key to feeding more people, better food, with less energy, waste and effort.
Enter... vertical gardens!
Hanging gardens of Babylon, anyone? The past becomes the future... believe it!
