UFV in Abbotsford leads cost towards vertical agriculture

Meals and Agriculture Institute researches professionals and cons

UFV Abbotsford Vertical Agriculture | Abbotsford Employees |

IMAGE: Lenore Newman is the director of UFV’s Meals and Agriculture Institute and is an advocate for vertical farming. (UFV picture)

Lenore Newman likes lettuce when it’s crisp and inexperienced and attractive, however good lettuce is tough to seek out.

Many of the lettuce we eat is introduced up from California, and Newman, director of UFV’s Meals and Agriculture Institute (FAI), finds it doesn’t measure up.

“It has a couple of 12-day shelf life – max — to start with and takes about eight days to get right here,” says Newman, who can also be a Canada analysis chair in meals and agriculture innovation.

“There’s important rot when it will get right here, and the manufacturing unit in Richmond culls about 30 per cent earlier than sending it on to grocery shops, and it usually appears to be like pre-eaten as a result of the outer leaves are gone.

“So, they’re paying to carry lifeless weight up and throwing it away, and what’s left is bitter and difficult.”

That’s one purpose why Newman and her workforce are passionate advocates for vertical farming.

They consider B.C. ought to be capable to develop all of the high-quality vegatables and fruits it wants proper right here at residence, and so they’ve been making that case to agriculture trade companions by way of a public engagement course of.

In December, they hosted a spotlight group that introduced individuals eager about vertical farming collectively beneath one roof.

FAI vertical agriculture lead Alesandro Glaros mentioned it is smart to determine methods to develop meals regionally and indoors in managed environments.

“What we’re doing now’s speaking to individuals in regards to the professionals of vertical farming and the issues that exist with this tech and the way we’d overcome the issues.”

Vertical farming makes use of stacked shelfs and hydroponic/aeroponic/aquaponic rising to nurture lots of vegetation in a comparatively small house. Land effectivity is a big profit.

Glaros says vertical farming can also be “tremendous water environment friendly” without having for pesticides, and there’s lots of “pleasure and buzz round it proper now.”

However discovering house is a problem, significantly throughout the Agricultural Land Reserve.

There are questions on how vertical farming would possibly co-exist with industrial and residential land. May builders, for instance, be provided incentives to suit vertical farming right into a proposed condominium growth?

B.C. is enjoying catch-up to different components of Canada the place vertical farming is anxious, and Newman says there’s impatience from some individuals ready for it to take off.

She says there’s no must concern new expertise with vertical farming as a result of individuals perceive greenhouses and year-round rising.

Newman provides that there’s a public well being argument to be made for vertical farming.

“We did work for BC Coastal Well being displaying that within the winter, persons are passing by wholesome meals within the grocery retailer as a result of the produce coming from California isn’t ok,” she says. “They’re lettuce in January and it’s costly and dangerous and so they’re not consuming it.

“That’s an issue as a result of Canadians eat about twice as a lot protein as we want, and we eat too many carbs as a result of they’re low-cost and considerable. However we solely eat a couple of third of the fruit and veggies we should always.”

The excellent news is vertical farming is coming. Slowly, positive, however circumstances are proper for it to flourish. The LED lights which might be so essential to indoor rising have dropped in worth over the past 20 years, and Newman says that was the largest holdup.

Newman likens the method to renovating a home and suggests we’re midway by way of the transform. Vertical farms are being in-built B.C. Inside 5 years she expects we’ll be rising all our lettuce domestically.

“Quebec’s forward of us. Proper now, 50 per cent of their leafy greens are being produced in-province,” she says. “They went from zero to 50 in a short time and I count on we’ll do the identical.”

Discover out extra about UFV’s work in vertical farming by visiting ufv.ca/food-agriculture-institute.

Unique Article: https://www.missioncityrecord.com/neighborhood/ufv-in-abbotsford-leads-charge-toward-vertical-agriculture-7316679