Spotlight on 5 Innovative Indoor Farms around the World
Say the word “farm” and most people are likely to picture an endless stretch of golden wheat fields, or perhaps a green square of pasture populated by some grazing cows. But did you know that today, a “farm” is just as likely to be a vast warehouse space lit entirely by LED lights, or a set of rooftop greenhouses in a densely populated urban neighborhood?
Welcome to the innovative world of indoor farming. In response to challenges like a dwindling supply of arable farmland and uncertain environmental conditions due to climate change, next-generation growers all around the world are leveraging cutting-edge technology and unique or underutilized indoor spaces to create a new, 21st-century vision of what a farm is and what it can do. Read on for a look at five pioneering indoor facilities that are helping to redefine the future of farming.
1. The aeroponic garden at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago
An airport is probably the last place you’d expect to see a farm, but this is exactly what you’ll find if you make your way to the mezzanine level of the O’Hare Rotunda Building in Terminal 3. Installed in the airport in 2011, this aeroponic garden is composed of 26 vertical towers that can house more than 1,100 plants. Rather than growing in soil, the plants are suspended in small niches in the towers, and their roots are misted with a special nutrient solution that is regularly cycled through the towers. With this method, no water evaporates or is wasted, thus making the entire process highly efficient; in addition, the O’Hare garden does not use fertilizers or chemicals. And visitors to the airport can do more than just look at the garden: many of the airport’s restaurants use produce grown there.
2. The Granpa Dome, Japan
The Granpa Dome from Japan’s Granpa Co. puts a new spin, quite literally, on factory farming. A Granpa Dome is a light and durable inflated fluororesin dome that is self-contained and hermetically sealed. To cope with Japan’s occasional extreme weather conditions, the dome is designed to withstand wind speeds of 100 miles per hour and support the weight of nearly 18 inches of snow. Located within the dome is a circular-shaped, rotating hydroponic plantation system that measures 20 meters in diameter. Seedlings are placed in a rich nutrient solution at the center of the circle; as the circle slowly rotates, it gradually pushes the plants outward from the center of the circle. By the time the growing plants have reached the perimeter (this takes about 30 days), they are mature and ready for harvesting.
3. The Wigan UTC Vertical Farm, UK
Would you like a little education with your lettuce? Wigan University Technical College, located in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, is home to the UK’s (and, it is believed, the world’s) first educational vertical farm. The two-story, fully-automated facility may not be large — it covers an area of just 16 square meters — but it features both aquaponic and hydroponic growing systems, an innovative vertical conveyor belt system, powerful full-spectrum LED grow lights, and comprehensive temperature and lighting controls. The central aim of this farm is to allow curious, technically-minded students to get up close and personal with the future of farming by studying and conducting hands-on experiments with the latest indoor farming technology. The Wigan UTC Vertical Farm even boasts a fully equipped kitchen so that students can create recipes and dishes based upon the produce they’re growing.
4. Pasona Group Urban Farm, Japan
In densely packed cities like Tokyo, where space of any kind is at an absolute premium, indoor farmers have to make use of whatever growing room they can find. This has led to some extremely inventive setups, like the urban farm that Kono Designs integrated into the offices of the Pasona Group, a recruitment company located in downtown Tokyo. Throughout the nine-story building, employees work alongside growing crops: tomatoes hang from the ceiling above conference tables, lemon trees serve as room dividers, and bean sprouts are grown under benches. The centerpiece of the lobby is a rice paddy.
The crops are equipped with an automatic irrigation system and specialized lighting (including fluorescent and LED lamps), and a smart climate control system allows people to be comfortable during office hours and optimizes conditions for crop growth when the working day is over. All plants are maintained and harvested by Pasona employees, who report that their unique working environment promotes greater productivity, decreases stress, and encourages community building and social interaction.
5. The Land Pavilion at Epcot Center, Florida
Walt Disney World isn’t just about rides and mascots: believe it or not, the greenhouses that are part of the Living with the Land attraction at Epcot are home to some of today’s most innovative indoor farming research. Inside these greenhouses (which you can tour on a gentle log flume ride), Disney researchers and horticulturalists are experimenting with new growing methods, cross-breeding techniques, and other agricultural practices to find new ways of sustainably feeding our growing global population. Some of their recent innovations have included the famous “tomato tree,” an experiment in which growing a tomato plant on a specialized trellis caused it to produce more than 32,000 tomatoes in 16 months.
