Making Farming a Household Function
It’s a compact refrigerator. It’s a dishwasher. No, it’s plantCube, a home appliance for growing food! Made by agrilution, a Germany-based startup, the plantCube is the latest innovation in vertical farming technology. The company seeks to make farming a household function. Using Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) techniques, the plantCube grows food without soil under LED lights. It is mainly a home device for growing healthier, more nutritious, pesticide free vegetables all year round. According to agrilution, this vertical farm system can help reduce food waste, water consumption and our carbon and land footprints.
The plantCube may have the potential to revolutionize the way we grow food. If it became a household item like a refrigerator, it could probably cause a significant loss in agricultural crop sales, particularly in reference to greens. This could lead to a further loss of land that is used for agriculture.
There would also be less of a need for community gardens, which could potentially free up more land for infill development. Community gardens are now under threat in New York City in order to build more affordable housing. If people are able to get a home appliance to grow vegetables, there would be less of a need to grow them in an outdoor garden.
If these personal vertical farm devices are affordably priced or made to be an essential home appliance that landlords have to provide like refrigerators, we could see the elimination of food deserts and a decline in the rates of obesity. Low-income households would have access to high quality fresh green vegetables. This could also help them save money on food.
