High Rise Agriculture

After having studied Kimbrell's '7 Deadly Sins of Agriculture', there are truth, lies, and alternatives to be understood, sifted through, and organized. It is possible to make industrial food cheap, efficient and include the benefits of bio-tech. With the institution of education to the public on the dangers and hazards of industrial agriculture a better approach may be conceived. However, due to the large conglomerates monopolizing the industrial agriculture it is difficult for a small farmer to even make their own cheese legally because the kitchen that is required has strict constituents and is costly. By simply walking through your local supermarket it easy to see how many different food items include the same items (lots of corn syrup). Therefore education and attempts to manipulate biotech would prove futile and the cost of organic, locally grown food is high. Not only is industrial agriculture and GMO products 'killing' our children, but our landscape.

It has already been suggested by nature writers, conservationists and nature lovers everywhere that the best thing for the environment may be for everyone to go live in a selection of high rise, metropolitan areas; by concentrating all the pollution, and land degradation to one are it allows the rest of the natural world to flourish.  So hey! why don't we just move all agriculture there as well?

Actually, attempts at "Urban Farms" have already been attempted. David Ferris from the Sierra Club writes about Ben Flanners, a New York local, who already sells to local markets, high end restaurants, and a third to customers who have subscribed to a local community supported agriculture club. If Flanners can do it and supply an adequate amount of people with food that is more healthy, readily accessible, and grown as naturally as possible, then why can't large scale agricultural projects be moved closer to the urban environment? Perhaps that's where the future of agriculture lies, maybe not, but it is one of the many possible alternatives - both for the land and our health.