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| Aeroponic Lettuce (NASA photo) |
If you can farm within the concrete heart of New Jersey, then you can farm just about anywhere.
Such is the philosophy of AeroFarms, a company that just “broke ground on the world’s largest vertical farm, housed in a former steel mill.”
This building is located in Newark, New Jersey, a city not generally known for its eco-friendly initiatives.
Newark, in fact, is more often known as a murder capital of America.
So why this unlikely alliance? Business Insider reports that AeroFarms has already been farming in downtown Newark, in partnership with the Phillips Academy Charter School. This
successful endeavor has led to “a lot of good will and community feedback…”
Newark is just outside of New York City. Despite its one-in-four poverty rate, this struggling metropolis is being hailed as “the next Brooklyn.” So where there's (green) life, there's hope.
Vertical farming involves growing crops with roots in air rather than soil. LEDs substitute for sunlight, and plants are sprayed with nutrients.
Benefits of such farming methods include the following: Healthy
foods can be grown near where they’re eaten, thus avoiding the need to ship. Up
to 30 crop turns per year are possible, as opposed to limited growing seasons. All
this results in “up to 75 times greater productivity per square foot than traditional farming.”
Resources
http://www.businessinsider.com/aerofarms-newark-vertical-farming-opening-2015-7
Copyright July 20, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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