That's why I'd be in favor of making vertical farming more prevalent- by making farmers physically closer to the coastal cities they serve the rural areas will be starved economically. At this point in time, it's my conviction that retribution for the present tyranny of the minority will best come through technological means rather than warfare or politics.
I think your attitude is pretty shitty, and exactly the sentiment that people in those rural areas point at when supporting people like trump. They're not evil people. They're humans just like you and me and feel overlooked and forgotten. Your attitude proves them right
Did it ever occur to you that maybe I was one of those people living in a rural area at one point, and that's exactly why I have the attitude I have? I moved to one of the coastal cities in large part because I got tired of fighting with people in my hometown who insisted on shooting themselves in the foot with their resistance to change, and I'm not talking about the sort of pie-in-the-sky fantasies of the Y Combinator crowd. I'm talking about simple changes to roads to make traffic flow more bearable and building a new hospital to replace old, antiquated facilities that were literally falling apart.
> They're not evil people.
Don't put words in my mouth- I never said that. They're not necessarily evil, but they're definitely inept, and the only way they'll wise up is if they're forced to by circumstance, which is precisely what I'd like to see. The rural areas of our country are more like crack addicts who need an intervention. How far would you be willing to go to martyr your own life for an addict? At some point they need to hit rock bottom and learn how to sober up.
> Your attitude proves them right
My attitude has no bearing on how these people act or feel- the bulk of them don't care how I feel and have had the same convictions well before either a) the Trump presidency became a possibility and b) I even developed my beliefs on the matter.
Vertical farming is a pipe dream for everything but specialized high-margin produce. There's just not enough space to grow staple crops in coastal cities. Those volume crops will always be grown in large open areas and then hauled in to population centers. And no, improvements in solar cell efficiency or whatever won't change that equation.
I've never heard this being proposed- most vertical farming startups with any true prospects tend to be just outside the cities, but substantially closer than other farms. The chief advantage in vertical farming has nothing to do with actually farming within a city and everything to do with shortening supply lines. Likewise, I've never seen any company propose that they could completely replace conventional farms, but it's worth noting that every crop that can be grown with vertical farms allows another crop to be grown on arable land.
It brings fresher produce. I guess I don’t understand your comment.
Short supply chain: If I harvest in the morning and drop produce off in the afternoon to a restaurant or sell at a farmers market.
Regular supply chain: especially with large corporate farms. Harvested and hydrocooled(in case of greens) within 90 mts. Transported to cooler. Goes to packer and wholesaler. Distributor and broker and then onto shelf space at supermarket. It’s alreadr 3-4 days old. Expensive with fossil fuel based storage. Being transported. Could go into trash as food waste if it isn’t in pristine condition. These are the costs of longer supply chain.
With tomatoes etc that can bruise when ripe, they are picked unripe and then given the ethylene treatment for ripening.its several days old and needs a lot of $$. And energy wasted.
Why would you say short supply chains don’t save anything.
Indoor soilless farming has possibilities. Higher productivity through benign GMOs is possible. Also I like GMOs grown inside controlled indoor environment ..esp transgenic so they don’t go rogue or feral with the natural habitat and wilderness. There are uses for vertical farming. We need that too.
