Indoor vertical farming has piqued the interest and curiosity of everyone from farmers to venture capitalists to scientists. And the future is looking even brighter for agtech in this burgeoning market. So what’s driving food production indoors?
Reducing carbon emissions in transportation
Transporting fresh produce to supermarkets in a timely manner takes a massive and responsive international logistical network. One-fourth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, and 18 percent of food production emissions come from the supply chain. And food waste is mostly to blame.
The popularity of indoor farming can help reduce these emissions and food waste. Growers can build indoor farming facilities practically anywhere, thus supplying their immediate communities with year-round access to fresh produce that will last longer on the shelf and greatly reduce the pollution created to get it there. And by cutting costs in food transportation, growers can provide fresh produce at lower costs, making foods like leafy greens and tomatoes competitive economically with less nutritious options.
Bigger, more reliable yields to meet rising demand
Without intervention, access to affordable and healthy food will continue to be a global challenge. In 2019, 690 million people around the world went hungry, a figure that is projected to rise in no small part because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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