A New Kind of High Rise

Singapore is experiencing the growth of a new kind of high-rise. Twenty miles outside the busiest part of Singapore, farmer Jack Ng is building high rises that exclusively houses plants— edible plants. And his tenants pay good rent; Jack Ng is part of a vanguard of food revolutionaries that are harkening in a new era of local food production in developing countries.

In Singapore, land is at a premium and often the human need for space is paramount to arable land. As a result, only 7% of fresh produce consumed in Singapore is grown locally. Most of the difference is imported from neighboring China. Ng believes he can invert this statistic on a budget and in good time. By using vertical farming techniques Ng purports that local production can grow by 50% in a year.

Ng’s farm, Sky Greens, is a series of 10-foot A-frame towers with rotating platforms of young greens. At the bottom of their rotation each platform passes through a small pool of nutrient rich water. The water is continually filtered and recycled. Each A-frame is run by water pump that uses less energy than one 60-watt light bulb. Energy and water efficiency is incredibly important in a country that imports 90% of its food.

Via NPR: Courtesy of MNDSingapore. http://n.pr/TheerF

Ng sources all of his greens to a supermarket in Singapore. While his produce is nearly 40% more expensive than competing produce from China, the trade-off in reduction of food miles more than makes up the cost, at least environmentally.

Here in the United States, we are making very slow headway on truly revolutionizing our food system and our access to organic food. Countries like Singapore are doing a lot the legwork. Its ingenuity is driven by necessity. We see innovation in parts of the world that are the most vulnerable to famine. The U.S. in stark contrast can be ponderous and heavy-footed. Ng is revolutionizing the urban foodscape.

Vertical farming has seen much iteration. We can date the idea of vertical farming back to the 1950’s. Still a relatively nascent farming technique, it may have already burned off its buzzworthy credit, but the idea still electrifies and inspires. As vertical farming matures as a movement, the designs become more inspired and efficient.

Find the full video at cityfarmer.info