Eating local here in New York City usually involves a trip to the farmers market at Union Square, where produce has to be transported from nearby farms located several miles outside city limits. But Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, wants us to ask ourselves what it could mean if local farms literally became part of the New York City skyline. His “vertical farm” project was conceptualized in 1999, and has captured the attention of architects around the world for its unique design, but also for its promise to help alleviate weather-related food shortages and fluctuating food prices. Here’s Despommier being interviewed on The Colbert Report:

Despommier estimates that it will cost 20 to 30 million dollars to make the first prototype of his vertical farm, and suggests that one 30-foot tower could feed as many as 50,000 people. Doubters question whether or not farm produce would be able to outbid an investment bank for commercial space in a high-rise in lower Manhattan, but Despommier argues that the benefits of urban vertical farming are undeniable. Since more and more people are moving to urban areas, growing food in places where most people live saves on transportation costs and related CO2 emissions. It would alleviate weather-related crop failures and stabilize food prices, it would all be grown organically, and it would add energy back to the grid via methane generation.

Here’s more from the NY Times. You can also also takepart by checking out the Vertical Farms website.

Related:

• Food, Fuel and Farming: The Sky’s the Limit
• Living Skyscrapers
• NY Times: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest