September 27, 2024

Grow where you eat: a recent concept linked to urban development, sustainable agriculture, limiting transportation CO2 emissions and restaurant attractivity. But what does it really mean and what will it look like in the next few years? 

Enter Sweden, a country well known for its contemporary culture and way of living. Swedish company Swegreen is able to grow leafy crops indoors, in the heart of supermarkets, giving customers access to fresh produce every day. It uses 99% less water than growing crops in a field, is unsprayed – no pesticides – and retains more nutrients. Controlled farming also means the crops can be in season year-round. 

Their first farm opened in Maxi ICA Stormarknad, a supermarket in Linköping, Sweden. They have since expanded to 16 locations, including two in Germany. Traditionally, produce is cultivated in a different country, sent to a packaging facility, shipped to your country and delivered to a warehouse, before arriving at your grocery store. Swegreen minimizes this transportation and carbon emissions by utilizing technology like an AI-supported digital control system and LED lights that require less energy. However, it is important to note that this system should not completely replace the existing positive independent local farms, as these small farms treat the land well, focus on quality and sustainability and also do not travel long distances. It would be best if we promoted sustainable, local agriculture and also added more Swegreen indoor vertical farms to our grocery stores. 

As more people move to cities annually – 68% of the world population is projected to live in cities in 2050, according to the United Nations – rooftop farming will assist our growing populations by increasing access to fresh food. New York City is one of the biggest cities in the world, and I love seeing how the skyline is becoming more green as restaurants begin to grow their produce on top of the buildings. Moreover, rooftop farms help to keep the city cool (preventing urban heat island effect) and allow city restaurants to become farm-to-table, making them more respected and appealing to customers. 

Finally, a couple of years ago, I went to New York. On the trip, I visited the aquaponics farm Oko Farms in Brooklyn. Like Swegreen, vertical farms and restaurant rooftop farms, aquaponics farms allow greater access to sustainable, fresh food and food security. What I find most interesting is that two different solutions to the Grow Where We Eat mission take polar opposite paths. While Swegreen focuses more on high-tech, Oko Farms focuses on low-tech, natural symbiosis methods. Natural symbiosis is the mutually beneficial relationship between two organisms. The two organisms in the case of aquaponics farms are fish and the crops, with fish waste fertilizing the plants and the plants cleaning the water for the fish. Aquaponics is also impressive because it uses hydroponics, which means it cultivates plants in water instead of soil. 

Urban farming is becoming more and more prevalent; author Randy Shore titled his book about growing a family vegetable garden, “Grow What You Eat, Eat What You Grow.” In the coming years, we will have to be more resourceful and creative in order to provide a great amount of food to urban citizens and increase accessibility to healthy crops while reducing our impact on the climate. These three solutions are slightly different, yet all answer this need. I hope to see more of them in Los Angeles soon.