Inside a New Vertical Farm Full of Robots

We visit Plenty's new vertical farm in California to learn all about the benefits of this style of farming, and the technological innovations that make it possible.

[Goo]

i wonder if those plastic containers used to sell the food in could be replaced with something sustainable or biodegradable.

[evlnte]

To really create a system that can sustain humanity, they need to apply this to high starch foods like potatoes and rice. If they can make that work, this could be the key to living on other planets.

[derekwheatley]

This is definitely one future innovation that I believe will greatly benefit humanity

[daishawnhunt]

They had an exhibit at MOSI (Chicago) I saw a few years ago about this, looks as though they're really putting it to work, that's pretty awesome!

[snoopaka]

As long as it can run on renewables, I am all for it. Wish there was one nearby!

[jondoe]

The marketing with "renewables" is eye roll induing. You can now add extra steps and cover fields with solar panels instead of plants, basically defeats the entire point of it. Places where renewables are cheap is also where its simpler to grow things the old fashioned way.

The technology becomes interesting when you can pair it with compact & reliable power sources, like nuclear energy. This allows for year round 24/7 operations that are not dependent on the environment. This could make food that normally has to be imported producible locally no matter the climate region your in. This can also be useful for nations that don't have lots of arable land to become self reliant and generally help with global food security.

I also really like the automation here, its impressive, it would be wonderful to eliminate the grueling, inhuman and underpaid labor that farms currently use.

[crawkn]

Easy pest control is an aspect of indoor farming that I haven't heard mentioned before. Since eliminating pests and pathogens from the environment eliminates undesirable chemicals while preventing crop damage, food is produced organically and chemical free with no yield downside, and less expensively. And by precisely controlling light supply, the energy from the sun isn't wasted on damaging heat and over-saturation.

[Rygom]

That is the future of farming right there.

[thinktoomuchb]

Would be great to see a comprehensive comparison of resources used in vertical vs "standard" farming. Are they using Digital Electricity?

[dee]

👏👏👏we need more of this type of innovation

[gbriank]

Excess business office capacity easily converted to food production. Plus in places around large volumes of fresh water (Great Lakes, NYC) would benefit the most.

[CanadaBananaFarms]

Geothermal is the perfect fit for indoor farming.

[morrgash]

Impressivem this could also be used in space and other planets one day :)

[andrewradford]

Great idea for harsh climates.
Looks like there is more plastic packaging than plant leaf.

[playframe]

"Protect the luminescent IP" God forbid other companies to grow better and cheaper food.

[-_-GT]

I work in IT everyday and all I have to say is wow the application is amazing ! Imagine the Egyptian with access to engineering like this groundbreaking what a time to be alive

[aqueousone]

3:32 and there’s the single-use plastic box, which will be used for four days and last forever.

[critical_always]

... And then they package it in thick plastic trays. Well done Plenty.

[ommanipadmehung]

So great to have something BEYOND organic!

[CarpeDiem-mf]

It’s a great idea for big cities like New York, Tokyo etc, where there is no land for cultivation