The world's first ''Vertical Farms'' are finally cropping up with fully operational prototypes in South Korea and Japan. In Chicago, Milwaukee, Newark, and Seattle vertical farm plans are in production. Written by one of the leading experts in the field, Dr. Dickson Despommier's The Vertical Farm serves as this growing industry's blueprint.
THE VERTICAL FARM - Feeding the World in the 21st Century by Dr. Dickson Despommier
Imagine a world where every city has its own local food source grown in the safest way possible, where no drop of water or particle of light is wasted, and where a simple elevator ride can transport you to nature's grocery store ā€“ imagine the world of the vertical farm. When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. In The Vertical Farm, he passionately explains the incredible impact of urban agriculture and how it will change the face of this planet for future generations. With this groundbreaking book, ''Despommier has quickly become the central figure in what could be a worldwide revolution''
(Scientific American)Advantages of Vertical Farming:
ā€¢ Grow food 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
ā€¢ Local production in urban centers greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions caused during transport, and prevents spoilage
ā€¢ Protects crops from unpredictable and harmful weather while eliminating the use of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, which leads to dangerous agricultural run off
ā€¢ Self-sustaining vertical farms will reduce dependence on fossil fuels as well as reuse and reduce water consumption (See Chapter 5 for more information)
Now that there are a handful of fully functioning vertical farm prototypes in existence (NuVege in Japan, PlantLab in the Netherlands) compared to just a year ago when there were none, Despommier says that vertical farming has arrived: ''It is no longer just pie in the sky thinking.'' Vertical farms, and the stable environment they provide, can not only help eradicate hunger in famine struck regions such as Somalia, but provide a real alternative to the environmentally destructive Big-Agra business. Like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Masanobu Fukuoka's The One-Straw Revolution, Despommier has written an enlightening and inspiring account of the changes needed to make the farming industry as productive and sustainable as possible. Despommier says he's not courting the locavore, organic, or foodie crowds (although they will surely all be interested); rather: ''I want to feed 6.8 billion people, and vertical farms are the answer.''
Praise for The Vertical Farm:
''A world-changing innovation whose time has come. This visionary book provides a blueprint for securing the world's food supply and at the same time solving one of the greatest environmental crises facing us today.'' - Sting
''Nobody has ever dreamed as big as Dr. Dickson Despommier.'' - New York Magazine
''Despommier's... ingenious idea... could ultimately ease the world's food, water, and energy crises.'' - The Huffington Post
''Inspiring... Vertical farming is no doubt fast emerging as a powerful futuristic concept.'' - Businessworld
Dr. Dickson Despommier spent thirty-eight years as a professor of microbiology and public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia. His work on vertical farms has been featured on such top national media as BBC, French National television, CNN, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show, as well as in full-length articles in The New York Times, Time, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. He recently spoke at the TED Conference, Pop!Tech and the World Science Festival and has been invited by the governments of China, India, Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, Canada, and Korea to work on their environmental problems. He has addressed audiences at leading universities, including Harvard and MIT, and has also been invited to speak at the United Nations. He lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
THE VERTICAL FARM
Feeding the World in the 21st Century
Picador - Trade Paperback
978-0-312-61069-2 - $16.00 - 336 ppTo arrange an interview with Dr. Dickson Despommier, please contact Justin Hargett in Picador's publicity department:
justin.hargett@picadorusa.com / 646-307-5627
