The word "plantation" usually evokes bucolic visions of green fields, waves of ears and animals, but the agriculture of the future has more to do with the now familiar environments in which we live: a parking lot, a pizza, a crowded city street.
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It may sound out of tune or unrealistic, but it is exactly one of the directions in which the agriculture of the future is moving: a team of entrepreneurs have started working on real plantations sent inside containers and able to send fresh agricultural products ( literally) to city residents.
More than fresh, to be honest: these are products that continue to grow even during the journey.
By 2050, planet Earth will be home to 9 billion people, 70% of whom will live in large urban agglomerations. This is the conceptual starting point (actual data from a 2015 United Nations study) that Tobias Peggs, at the head of Square Roots Grow, he tapped to get inspiration and develop his startup capable of sending "canned plantations".
"The only possible conclusion is that of producing a rapid growth and finding of real foods, already fresh in the city belt"
The result is possible thanks to hydroponic crops: the nutrients capable of making plants grow are mixed with water and not with the soil, facilitating easier portability. In each of the 10 shipping containers used by the company, the plants grow in vertical towers arranged like shelves in a library. Each container, in fact, is the equivalent of a plantation of almost one hectare.
Think about it for a second: these don't use pesticides. They do not spray substances. They do not use GMOs. Is it or isn't it practically the healthiest and 'cleanest' food you can eat?
Really not bad, no doubt about it, for being "canned" food.