The Sweet Future of Vertical Farming | Hiroki Koga | TED

Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food. (Recorded at TED2024 on April 16, 2024)

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[AdvantestInc]

The shift from a Budweiser factory to a strawberry vertical farm is a fantastic example of how we can repurpose existing spaces for a sustainable future.

[rdapigleo]

Awesome talk, TED brings the optimistic future again. 🙏

[syedsaqibrazarizvi]

"Absolutely inspiring talk, Hiroki! 🌱 The transformation of a Budweiser factory into a vertical strawberry farm is a brilliant example of innovation in agriculture. It’s amazing to see how vertical farming not only addresses food security but also repurposes existing structures for sustainable practices. I can't wait to see how this approach evolves and impacts our future food systems! 🍓✨"

[doctordelatierra]

As someone who studied regenerative agriculture in university this is a really cool concept from a few perspectives.

One, now more than ever we need hope, and this system provides people hope. It makes you wonder, "Maybe a container of organic strawberries wont cost $10.00 for forever."

This is also a great model we could use to provide clean, healthy food to people in masse while we transition the conventional agriculture system away from pesticides, tilling, and other environmentally degrading practices towards regenerative organic agricultural practices.

That being said, this is not the end solution to the food problem. This model requires tons of things which are equally destructive to the environment. All those wires, lights, robots, solar panels, etc... Where do you think they came from? Someone mined those metals, extracted the oil used for plastic from the Earth, likely polluted large amounts of land making the solar panels. What do you think happens when the robots are replaced? What are the odds every single component is recycled?

On a human level - do you want all of your food grown by robots? There is something really special about knowing who grew your food when you go shopping at a local farmers market or CSA. Robots offer none of that. Just clean, sterile, food units.

Finally - the Earth is our Mother. The Sun is our Father. The Universe has created systems of growing food over the last couple trillion years that are so much more efficient than anything the mind of man could come up with. I know where my future lies - out in the field, growing food with my wife and kids under the sun with our feet firmly planted on the Earth.

I tend to be wary of anyone claiming that the best solution for humanity moving forward is one which is rooted in technology rather than natural systems. Technology is relatively new on the scene. Living as a human being in tune with the natural world has a much longer proven record of sustainability and success.

I believe the best use of technologies such as these is to use them to make healthy food as accessible as possible while buying our conventional farmers enough time to transition to organic regenerative practices, but I hope the sweeter future ultimately comes from strawberries grown in rich, healthy, organic soil. Not factory farms owned by hedge funds.

[Minus-One-san]

The topic, the gestures, the presentation, everything is just so pefect !!!

[toni]

Keep it up. Do it with more and more fruits and vegetables, teach more and more people to do it as well. We no longer want to be poisoned by chemicals. We've had enough of them. Our animals have also had more than enough chemicals to kill us all as well. If you can grow fresh food vertically, there will be more land for animals to eat fresh grass as well. The world will be a much healthier place. Thank you for this talk.

[urbanstrencan]

This is the future, I just started experimenting with vertical farming at home here in Slovenia ❤❤.
Great video

[amodjp]

The world needs more of vertical and roof top gardens to reduce heat and give space in densely populated areas

[mammabear]

Interesting idea. Missed the opportunity to hear from those who sampled them on how they tasted. Also a comparison of the nutritional value and how they addressed the bee problems were not discussed.

[baxterblack]

So....what is the bee recipe? Bummed that part wasn't spoken too since that seemed to be the key to success

[ilaphroaig]

$10 for a few strawberries? Insane. Vertical farming has already long been around here in the Netherlands. It is profitable.

[woody]

I truly hope this is the future of fruit farming. It will also need to work in harmony with the labor force.

[ambersocie]

My strawberries are different. I talk to them 😂❤ I think we need to do some studies on the concentration of sugars, flavor sweetness and poly phenols differences in mass production and smaller strawberry patch plants.

[-AkhilTej-]

🎯💎🏆 Great insightful & fruitful video 🏆💎🎯

लोकः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु
( May all beings lead prosperous life across Globe 🌍 )

[tanhimdhrubo]

I have liked your presentation
I appreciate your decision
Go ahed❤
Love from Bangladesh 🇧🇩

[mel_arquiza]

"Brilliantly and intelligently AI innovation that counts that serve it's true purpose. A better produce outcome for a better world."
❤❤❤👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏

[connie]

Think of all those empty malls - we could even include housing along side vertical farming.

[neilifill]

This is so great! I’m curious… who financed these guys to get started and to do all the experimentation? In 2018, they were barely producing anything. They impressively got better and scaled up. But, that’s the part of the story I wish he had time to share.

[MikeHodgkinson]

Convert the office towers as more people work from home... Automated downtown farmer's markets and deliveries 😋

[lgg]

There is no mention of the nutritional value of the product