"There's a genetic technology that scientists are eager to apply to food, touting its possibilities for things like mushrooms that don't brown and pigs that are resistant to deadly diseases."
"And food industry groups, still reeling from widespread protests against genetically engineered corn and soybeans (aka GMOs) that have made it difficult to get genetically engineered food to grocery store shelves, are looking to influence public opinion."
"The technology is called Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, or CRISPR. It's a technique that Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal genetics professor at University of California, Davis, says can de-activate a gene. Or, as she puts it: "It's editing. It's like going into a Word document and basically replacing one letter, maybe that instead of 'wind,' you want it to say 'wine,' " she says.
"Skeptics, like Dana Perls with the environmental group Friends of the Earth, say food companies are trying to distance themselves from terms like GMO and genetic engineering that have caused them trouble with consumers."
"First off, real estate in metro areas is cost prohibitive. While transportation and distribution costs would be nominal — and it would certainly meet the most stringent 50 mile radius of “locally grown” — land costs are a first-order sticker shock. Then there’s the construction costs of the automated facility itself — not to mention the garish monstrosity of a design from artist’s renditions I’ve seen. Moreover, year-round production is a demanding mistress. What sort of energy inputs (even with a partially green portfolio) would it take to maintain a facility at 68+ degrees year round, despite seasonal extremes outside?"
"It also seems to perpetuate this “factory farming” model (whatever that is) that we hear nothing but scorn about. Is this corporate behemoth going to throw smaller producers — like my fifth-generation family farm — under the bus on sheer volume?"
"Other questions are more nuanced. Does a vertical farm really shore up this urban disconnect? Perhaps knowing where food comes from. But what about the who, what, and why? We need to resolve a more complete picture and humanize the faces behind agriculture. Does a soulless automated system accomplish this? Although a network of community gardens would produce a fraction of the yield — wouldn’t getting one’s hands dirty do more to cultivate an ethic of empathy? Certainly a less measureable quantity than yield, but still important. Grassroots for sure."
"That’s not to say that vertical farming doesn’t make an effort to intersect with some genuine issues. Food deserts for one. But will this be resolved overnight by simply changing the vendor and transplanting them close to markets?"
"Current health guidelines suggest that too much saturated fat raises cholesterol levels and increases the risk of heart disease. Yet those who follow these guidelines tend to eat more carbs like bread, pasta, and rice. PURE scientists found that high intake levels of carbs had an unfavorable impact on cardiovascular health and higher mortality rates."
"But carbs aren’t just starchy foods. Fruits and vegetables are, too, and when it came to those, more was always considered better. Yet the study found that eating three to four servings per day—as opposed to the daily recommended five servings—had the greatest health benefits."