Modern tools for a modern food system
Author: Sudhanshu Sarronwala, Chief Impact Officer at Infarm
Leaders, experts, and stakeholders from all over the world got together last week for the UN Food Systems Summit. Witnessing so many committed people coming together to address the flaws in our current food systems gave me cause for optimism. It meant the vast majority of the world governments acknowledge that we must work together to tackle one of the most significant threats humanity has ever faced: reliably feeding people.
And the threat is clear and imminent. According to the analysis of the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, "humanity must produce more food in the next four decades than we have in the last 8,000 years of agriculture combined". Let this sink in for a minute while I add that since those words were written in 2012, not a lot has changed.
Considering current farming methods and the resources these methods require from nature, meeting the scientists’ prediction, unfortunately, means that we need an additional planet Earth to feed the seven billion people expected to be living in cities by 2050. Given the odds of finding and colonizing another planet as generous as Earth in the next 30 years, we need to ask ourselves how we can produce enough food within planetary boundaries. How do we do that in a way that doesn't put an additional burden on our already fragile, degraded, and beaten up ecosystem?
Although the respected delegates of the UNFSS discussed crucial issues like biodiversity loss and the need for more inclusive food systems, not enough focus was given to the most critical element, and possibly a genuine solution to the sustainability equation. I am talking, of course, about technology.
Here is where my optimism sadly waned: the UN has the mandate to fix broken systems. To produce more food in the next 30-40 years than we've produced in the last 8,000, we need more than that. Although trying to fix the broken food systems is noble and arguably necessary, perhaps the solution should be focusing on innovating, reinventing, and revolutionizing.
Unfortunately, when we dare see the reality as it really is, it becomes evident that one fundamental revolution will not be sufficient. What the world needs is an entire gamut of food revolutions to take place.
While technology is the broadest common denominator to all of these urgently-needed revolutions, they will all stem from respect and commitment: utmost respect for the land, water, the planet, and mother nature, who cared for us for so long; and commitment to consumers, society, and future generations. To put it lightly, it seems what we need right now is a miracle. The good news is we have plenty of miracle workers out there.
There is no doubt in my heart that vertical farming is part of the set of technological miracles the planet desperately needs. Within the vertical farming industry, Infarm is playing a crucial role in revolutionizing the field. Our R&D team is working tirelessly to improve our climate-resilient systems, tread lightly on the planet and minimize our carbon footprint. In the past three years alone, we’ve improved yield by 240% and reduced costs by 82% while consuming 95% less land and 95% less water than traditional agriculture, in addition to saving three million food kilometres.
Furthermore, our global network of cloud-connected farms and AI capabilities provide us with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of crops, increasing our knowledge in ways that until recently were considered science fiction. The outcomes of this deeper understanding will not be limited to vertical farming. The entire agricultural industry will enjoy the fruits of our research (!).
Infarm’s success in reinventing the food supply chain is an important step in redefining food systems. As part of the next generation of farming, we have no option but to rethink how we breed, plant, grow, harvest, package, transport, distribute, advertise, and consume.
In his Sunday Times piece, titled "How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet", The great Douglas Adams wrote: "everything that's already in the world when you're born is just normal; anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative... anything that gets invented after you're thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it."
More than two decades have passed since I celebrated my 30th birthday. Still, I wholeheartedly believe that this is the time to go against the natural order of things - to provide solutions for civilization. This is the time to boldly redefine what ‘natural’ is, humbly accept reality, and admit that nature was a "good enough mother" for us. But we now need to create ways to move forward to the next stage in our development.
This is a wake-up call to world leaders and decision-makers - investing in new technologies is critical to solving the sustainability equation while preventing further destruction of the only planet we have.
Today, we do not have the luxury of setting small goals anymore. We need to think big, reinvent and create the next generation of farming.