The potential role of vertical agriculture in sustainable and resilient community food systems

Vertical agriculture could play a strong role in sustainable food systems, as it can be used to produce year-round supplies of nutritious foods with low environmental footprints. Vertical farming could be a valuable strategy for developing urban agriculture and local food systems, thereby contributing to sustainable community development and resilience. This research explores this potential by (1) experimenting with growing conditions for a vertical farm (e.g., lighting, nutrient inputs) to determine how to increase yield and nutrition while reducing costs and carbon footprint, and (2) using a map-based online tool to map different vertical agriculture scenarios in a BC city (e.g., distributed small farms, centralized large farms) to examine the social, economic, and environmental outcomes of the scenarios (e.g., local food access, supply chains, GHG emissions, economic viability, etc.). The research involves a collaboration between the University of the Fraser Valley, QuantoTech Solutions (vertical farming specialists), and iOpen Technologies (GIS tools specialists).

Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Newell;Lenore Newman;Lenore Newman;Robert Newell;Stefania Pizzirani

Student:

Partner:

QuantoTech;i-Open Technologies

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of the Fraser Valley

Program: