How Fresh is your food?
Did you know that our food has many environmental impacts – from where it is grown to how far it travels before it reaches you. Eating loca, fresh, seasonal food can reduce emissions by minimizing the distance your food needs to travel.
While being able to walk into any supermarket and buy goods from around the world can be extremely convienet, do we really need to buy these food items which have not only travelled thousands of food miles but are also very expensive. Yes, food miles – it is simply a measure of how far our food has travelled before we buy it. Do you know that our food transport, storage and processing contribute to one- third of global CO2 emissions?
Food travels up to 1,500 miles from farm to your plate generating great amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Whether food is flown in by plane from another state, or even another country or whether it travel thousands of miles by truck - all modes of transport and most forms of storage and production consume fuel which contributes to one- third of global CO2 emissions. Apart from the economic and environmental cost, it also raises the question of nutrition. The nutritional benefits of vegetables and fruits decrease over time, so, eating fresh food within a few days of harvesting is healthier for you.
Why buy fresh produce which is locally grown? It’s healthier for you and better for the local economy and environment as well.
The popularity of locally grown food and sustainable food production, along with government food security regulations has strengthened the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables in many parts of the world.
More and more customers want fresh, local options for produce and other foods. In the face of rising demands, we will have to look for options like urban farming in protected environments for creating a truly sustainable agricultural system with available finite land and water resources.
Fresh produce provides several benefits
- It's often pesticide and preservative free as local produce doesn’t have to be transported over long distances and doesn’t need to have any preservatives and chemicals in order to keep it fresh during transit.
- It's more healthy because it is fresh, tastes better and is relatively chemical-free. It is also a better way to eat food which is grown within its natural season.
- It's easier to trace where it originated from, how was it produced, if its organic, and if it was sustainably grown.
It’s better for the environment because it reduces food miles - the distance food travels from farm to consumer and reduces CO2 emissions.
Urban farming providing fresh produce for the cities
Urban farming could potentially disrupt the food production chain and bring fresh food to urban areas. By being close to markets and stores, fresh and locally grown produce has a smaller carbon footprint in transportation costs. Because it is grown in protected greenhouses, it is can be pesticide-free and requires less water and land to produce and offers year-round production.
Let’s look at innovative ways to grow fresh food through urban farming:
Vertical farming
In vertical farms, plants are grown in vertical layers in a controlled environment, complete with artificial sunlight and sourced nutrients. Vertical farms can help to create a sustainable environment by making better use of vacant urban space, and growing plants twice as fast by using less water and resources. Some grocery stores in Germany and United States have vertical farms displays which allow customers to buy fresh produce directly from the farm because the farm is in the grocery store.
Hydroponics
Hydroponics - the technique of growing plants without soil is also gaining popularity and can play a key role in the sustainability of urban farming. By combining the benefits of precise supply of water and nutrients via drip technology with optimal controlled environment and soilless cultivation, growers can grow high-quality plants.
Greenhouses
Controlled-environment food production in greenhouses can provide year-round supply of fresh fruits and vegetables to customers. In greenhouse cultivation, you can efficiently manage temperature, the air humidity and the light. And by using drip irrigation to irrigate greenhouse crops the plants get the precise volume of water and nutrients directly to the roots for grow high quality yields.
Can urban farming feed cities and save water as well?
Growing food in cities can actually help save water, as well as cut down carbon emissions, and food waste. Faced with water shortages, efficient use of water resources via drip irrigation seems to be the only sustainable way to support urban farming. Because of its efficiency and accuracy, drip irrigation system not only conserves water but also ensures higher quality crops, larger yields and better protection against diseases and pests.
Drip by Drip for sustainable use of water for urban farming
Drip by Drip solution – a joint partnership between Netafim and Bayer - utilizes Netafim’s drip systems to deliver Bayer’s chemical and biological crop protection products. This solution delivers higher yields and more environmentally-friendly products for farmers and consumers. And it is ideal for use in urban farming to grow fresh produce because of efficient use of water, low environmental impact and healthier crops which are relatively pesticide-free.
Can urban farming address food security?
While urban farming can increase the access to fresh produce, when we talk of food security, we usually talk about commodities- Wheat, Maize Rice potatoes- basic food crops. This is not possible with urban farming because these crops are grown on a large area. However, the good news is that we can increase and improve production significantly by using smart irrigation solutions like Drip Irrigation.
Click here to see why we should eat fresh, local produce?
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