Urban Farming: feeding 10 billion people by 2050
Urban environments support the development of a smart, diversified food system.
We’re only scratching the surface of the movement to produce and eat local within urban environments. Understanding the range of what is possible is important, as complex problems require multi-faceted solutions. Pairing innovation with adaptability and respect for indigenous and local knowledge holds the key to a resilient future of food.
In the urban farming edition of The Planet Life newsletter, we explored the many shapes and forms of urban farming and the future of food — from early gems of ideas, to high-tech best in class examples. But there are many more initiatives happening around the world that deserve a mention. So think of this as an extra curated list featuring more of our favourite urban farming ideas.
1. Community focussed farms 💙
How cities around the world support urban farming
From subsidising rooftop farms to creating one-stop centres for free supplies — local governments are finding ways to encourage food production in cities, and reaping the benefits.
Six urban farms with a social cause
Cropping up inside warehouses, on top of buildings, and even on the tiniest plots of land, urban farms are creating local jobs, helping tackle food scarcity and build communities.
Peas & Love Urban Farms
A Belgian start-up is helping people in major cities turn their hand to urban farming. For about $40 a month anyone can rent an allotment. All of the farming work is taken care of by the company, and members are alerted by an app when it’s time to harvest the produce. Each 4m square vegetable garden is divided into two halves: one for the sole use of the subscriber and the other to grow crops that will be shared by all members. With 200 active urban farmers at its first location in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels, it’s a new approach to urban farming.
2. Rooftops 🌤️
Johannesburg’s rooftop farmer
Rooftop hydroponics is part of a new “urban agriculture initiative” taking place in the South African city of Johannesburg.
Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farms
Brooklyn Grange farms rooftops build green spaces and promote sustainable living and local ecology through food, education, and events. We believe that social enterprise is a powerful driver of positive change and that businesses should be a nourishing part of their community.
3. Home Growing & Home Delivery 🏠
Tower Garden
Good health starts with good habits, like eating wholesome foods. Tower Garden systems let you easily grow your own fresh, nutrient-rich food without soil. The new Tower Garden HOME is ideal for indoor gardening, while the Tower Garden FLEX is slightly larger and can be used indoors or outdoors. Grow a healthier you year-round.
Mother
Imagine a self-sufficient home that produces healthy food and clean water. Mother provides an extensive and sleek looking microfarm kit to easily harvest food at home. From a selection of microgreen seeds, to your indoor growlight system.
Farm one
Locally grown fresh produce, harvested hours before delivery, shipped in reusable containers on a weekly subscription basis.
4. Office spaces 🏢
Pasona Tokyo
Urban Farm at Pasona Tokyo Headquarters is a nine-story high, 215,000 square foot corporate office building for a Japanese recruitment company, Pasona Group, located in downtown Tokyo. It is a major renovation project consisting of a double skinned green facade, offices, an auditorium, cafeterias, a rooftop garden, and most notably, urban farming facilities integrated within the building.
5. Aquaponics & Hydroponics 🌊
Citiponics
Redefining people’s relationship with food by bringing urban farms to communities, connecting consumers directly to their food source. Nothing is safer than knowing where and how your produce is grown.
Cityfarm
CityFarm Malaysia is an organization whose objective is to inspire more city farmers with the ability to grow locally from anywhere for a more sustainable future of food production.
6. Mushroom farms 🍄
Smallhold
Mushrooms are grown locally and organically inside your grocery store, favourite restaurant, or just around the block. You can’t get fresher than this.
Rotterzwam
The award-winning circular concept for the high-quality reuse of coffee grounds and the production of oyster mushrooms and snacks. Specialist in locally closing cycles and raising awareness about sustainability.
All over the globe, urban environments are adapting to new agricultural methods. What interesting urban farming ideas have you come across? We’d love to hear about innovative ideas from within The Planet Life community. Leave a comment below or get in touch with us.
Check out the full newsletter on Urban Farming here. If you want to hear more from us make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for the latest on environmental impact on www.theplanet.life. You can follow us on Instagram at @the.planet.life, and listen to our Sustainability Talks podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Anchor.
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Thanks for reading!
The Planet Life is a community & learning platform that connects citizens to climate solutions and makes climate action accessible to everyone. We’re on a mission to unlock the world’s knowledge and turn a sustainable society into a reality.
