[Photo:A vertical farm in west Java, Indonesia. Photograph: Dasril Roszandi\/NurPhoto\/REX\/Shutterstock]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Article posted 8\/21\/22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind an airtight door, inside a warehouse 10 minutes walk from Bristol city center, shelves of vibrant chives sprout enthusiastically towards a sky of multicolored LEDs. The air they are transpiring smells earthy, despite the absence of soil, while a mechanical hum provides a soothing substitute for birdsong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome to the future of farming, where herbs, salads and soft fruits are grown year-round, in vast, indoor plant factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June, the British vertical farming startup the Jones Food Company (JFCo), announced it was building the world\u2019s largest vertical farm on the site of an old forge in Lydney, Gloucestershire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its CEO, James Lloyd-Jones, predicts that within 10 years the UK could be growing all its herbs, salad leaves, soft fruits \u2013 and potentially cut flowers \u2013 this way: \u201cVertical farms will become the norm within the supply chain, and probably take away greenhouse production and imports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seeds of this revolution are being sown \u2013 in vertically stacked layers of sheep\u2019s wool \u2013 at JFCo\u2019s innovation centre in Bristol. Lloyd-Jones said: \u201cVertical farming can grow anything. It just grows lots of things too expensively to be commercially viable, so here is where we are learning how to commercialise it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first of four 69 sq. meter grow rooms are stacks of brilliant green chives. Every environmental parameter in the room is tightly controlled, from the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide content of the room, to the color spectrum, intensity and pattern of the light-dark cycle, and the nutrients the seedlings are exposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farming this way could have numerous advantages. \u201cOne of the big benefits is that we\u2019re growing in a way that doesn\u2019t impact on nature,\u201d said Charlie Guy, cofounder of LettUs Grow, a Bristol-based company that\u2019s developing technology for vertical farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt also means we can focus more of our land on things like tree planting. So, from a biodiversity standpoint, there are massive benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n