Vertical farming needs to stand up and be counted
Vertical farming – growing food plants like microgreens indoors on a large scale, using some kind of hi-tech vertical system – is gaining momentum as an alternative production method.
But are consumers drawn to it, or even aware of it?
University of Guelph agricultural economics and business researchers studying consumer perspectives on vertical farming think its popularity would increase if people only knew what it was.
Their belief is based on a provincially sponsored study they conducted in the spring with more than 1,800 Ontarians. The results are surfacing now.
The researchers know that since vertical farming’s arrival on the scene a decade or so ago, most popular posts and articles about it weren’t about how consumers, the end users, felt about it. Instead, journalists and others highlighted vertical farming’s promise of being able to effectively and efficiently grow food where it’s in short supply – that is, in highly urban settings, such as in vacant or purpose- built buildings.
Proponents say vertical farming can help supply food deserts (neighbourhoods lacking decent grocery stores) with accessible, much-needed vegetables.
Further, the emerging technology behind growing plants indoors, in self-contained, sanitary facilities other than greenhouses, sounds hopeful and fascinating. As the Guelph researchers explain, light, temperature, water, humidity, carbon dioxide level in the air, as well as nutrients, are monitored and controlled in vertical production.
Under those conditions, fruits and vegetables can be grown and harvested year-round, no matter the outdoor weather conditions.
In media terms, it’s a classic “gee-whiz” story.
So what’s not to like? Well, back to consumers. Some critics wonder if vertical production, typically carried out behind closed doors to maintain control (versus a rural, open field), reeks too much of technology. Some even wonder if it sounds like science fiction.
Others rail against the suggestion that vertical production is safer than open air cultivation. They say this casts a poor and undeserving light on conventionally produced food.
But for some reason, consumers are seldom asked how they feel about it.
Today, vertical farming products are readily available in many grocery stores, under brand names like GoodLeaf, grown in an industrial park off Guelph’s Hanlon Parkway. And that availability is a surprise to most of the people surveyed by the Guelph researchers.
The problem is that vertically farmed products aren’t typically labelled as having been grown with this technology. So many people – 65 per cent in the Guelph survey – said they weren’t sure they’d ever consumed a vertically farmed product. But of those who knew they did, Prof. Andreas Boecker, research team co- advisor, said they liked the freshness and taste.
As well, he says survey participants overwhelmingly liked descriptions they were given explaining vertical farming production.
“This could mean that the vertical farming industry can simply describe how it produces its produce, and generate positive attitudes among consumers,” he says. “Many vertically farmed products are not clearly labelled as such, making it difficult for consumers to identify them if they are interested. But they can ask their grocers whether they carry vertically farmed produce.”
Without labelling, and other than conducting their own research, that’s about the only way people will find out if they’re supporting this new food production approach.
Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist from Guelph. He regularly visits family in Creemore.
