[DesuMaiden]

Read this article.

http://www.alternet.org/story/146686/wh ... d_problems

It is a pretty interesting article. It proves why vertical farming will not be able to replace traditional agricultural methods. First of all, vertical farming will rely heavily on electricity-generated lighting rather than sunlight. But to provide that much electricity-generated lighting will require us to dramatically scale up our electricity production by many times. It is unfeasible to increase our electricity production multiple times just to provide the lighting necessary for large-scale vertical farms. We don't have enough energy to dramatically increase our electricity production to support large-scale vertical farms. There are plenty of other issues with vertical farming, which the article discusses.

I think this article is worth reading, because it shows why the myth that technology will always solve humanity's problems. Vertical farming is the new hype that many cornucopians use to justify their belief of infinite population growth being possible on a finite planet. This article shows why large scale vertical farming is not feasible, and will not avert a population crash/die off in a post peak oil world.

[GHung]

Vertical farming, permaculture, aquaculture,, whatever the solution du jour is, none will "solve" our (as yet fully manifested) "agricultural crisis". While I expect an all-of-the-above strategy will be necessary, the realization that a lot of folks will be producing a lot of what they eat, either themselves or through supporting local agriculture, will be largely forced. This simply isn't on most folks' radar, any more than debilitating oil shortages are. They can still go to the store, load up on food, fill their tank on the way home, and eat their lettuce from California; their sweet onions from Chile. Having to provide the basics, locally, for ourselves, simply isn't concievable for most; likely impossible for the majority. They expect that they'll continue to be able to buy their food from someone else, from somewhere else, and have no clue as to the scale of this looming predicament, or as to the high energy, highly interconnected, highly optimised, fragile nature of their food systems..

[JuanP]

I have a window garden in my apartment, and it works great! I also use vertical gardening to grow food outdoors using the Square Foot Gardening system. I have found that in a small scale vertical gardens are a successful part of my adaptation. If you have a window facing the sun in your room, you should try window gardening, Desu!

[DesuMaiden]

It's a fun hobby JuanP and it makes you feel good but it is not a solution to our agriculture crises. Your window garden is capable of growing only an infinitesimal amount of good, no more than a few hundred calories over an entire one-two month growing season. You would use that up in a few hours of living. If every apartment dweller had such a set up it would make no difference.

However you efforts are to be applauded and if you ever get land, real land, your experience will be invaluable. Here's a challenge: grow an entire crop without any additional outside inputs. Use only the food waste that comes out of your own kitchen. This will teach you about composting (here's a hint:worms). If we could all manage to do this than we'd all become a Master Gardeners. . . in search of land.

I never said vertical farming is totally useless. I was pointing out how vertical farming will NOT resolve the agricultural crisis. You can't grow enough food with vertical farming to off set the decline of oil production because of the inherit limitations of vertical farming.

[ennui2]

Someone should notify Graeme so he stops posting about this topic again and again.