by Daniel Ray

The biggest environmental issue affecting Fresno, besides air pollution, seems to be water and water for growth. “We’re expecting 1.1 million new residents in the next fifty years and we have no idea how to get that water,” says Chris Acree of the Sierra Club. “We have lost 30,000 acres in farmland in Fresno County this year alone because we can’t get water to them. The more we urbanize, the less water we will be able to get to them.” So what is there to do? According to Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University, the solution is easy: build vertical farms. The idea consists of a tall building, preferably settled in the urban areas of town, with crops being grown hydroponically on each floor.

The Washington Post reports that computers would monitor the lighting and watering, and everything would be cultivated without pesticides. Vertical farms would generate their own energy through wind power and clean burning plant waste, purify urban sewage to use for irrigation, and collect and reuse evaporated waters. But that’s just the beginning. “We could design vertical farms into apartment complexes where you can separate gray water from human waste, where you can then use gray water again (think Water World),” says Dr. Despommier. “We can recycle just about anything, the water, the edible parts of the plants, we could recycle the produce that you don’t sell that day. [Also,] you can actually build the building with the plants you don’t eat.” According to Dr. Despommier, Fresno is going to struggle to get water in the future. “The Colorado River is no longer going to be available for California agriculture. Drastic changes are going to have to happen.” Chris Acree of the Sierra Club agrees: “We’re going to have to seek new sources of water, and that’s where I think vertical farming would play into more effective uses of water.”

With the global population expected to balloon to 3 billion in the next fifty years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 80% of the earth’s population will reside in urban centers. To feed these people, it would require a piece of land the size of Brazil. Unfortunately, we don’t have that space on the planet. That is why vertical farms have gained traction in the last couple of years. According to www.verticalfarm.com, 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more. But even with these new ideas, there are many skeptics, especially local farmers who fear they will soon be out of business. To Despommier, this is nonsense. “If I was a farm worker in California, I would worry about what kind of water I would get next year for my plants. I would be worried about what the weather would be next week. Maybe they would like to work inside where they can control everything. How would they like to work inside a nice, comfortable environment?”

The people behind vertical farming feel this is one of the biggest strengths behind this new idea. Massive floods (like Iowa), protracted droughts, class 4-5 hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops. According to www.verticalfarm.com, there would be no weather-related crop failure due to the controlled environments inside the green buildings. On top of that, says Despommier, are the savings that come with vertical farms. “The cost of pesticides and herbicides for a daily intake compared to vertical farming will double. In doubling the price of those chemicals, you triple the price of food. “ Vertical farming would consist of growing organically, no herbicides or pesticides necessary.

The future of this county depends on our ability to produce crops. So what will we do? Farming the earth can only take us so far. Here in the San Joaquin Valley, we’ve already seen thousands of acres of farmland covered up by cookie-cutter neighborhoods. Undeniably, we need to house our ever-growing population, but we must also feed ourselves. So what will we do? Thankfully, we have options. There are now alternative methods available, and, as the concepts and technologies behind vertical farming become refined and advanced in the years to come, we’ll see that the sky’s the limit for farming in Fresno.

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Daniel Ray was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Now located in Fresno, he is a union organizer for SEIU UHW West. You can contact him by email at dray26@gmail.com.