Vertical farming isn't easy, with startup and energy costs among the factors leading some high-profile vertical farming companies to collapse or scale back over recent years. But the pressures of climate change and water scarcity continue to keep interest in the field alive, alongside the rising consumer demand for freshly harvested, pesticide-free produce that's grown locally.
Indoor vertical farms make sense for a lot of reasons. Farming in-demand produce like leafy greens and berries indoors all year round reduces the need to transport food over long distances. The controlled environment of vertical farms also allows for more food production on less land with fewer fertilizers and no need for pesticides or herbicides.
But among the tradeoffs, vertical farms use a lot of energy, and as energy grows more expensive in the U.S. and elsewhere, that's a major challenge when it comes to matching the price of produce farmed on land, even if it's shipped from out of town.
The cost challenge contributed to a number of once highly-publicized vertical farming companies filing for bankruptcy, downsizing or shutting down over recent years — including AeroFarms, Bowery Farming, Plenty and AppHarvest.
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