Why I create pop-up farms in my city | Roman Gaus | TEDxZurich

Urban agriculture has been real for decades, starting with the industrialization of Western Europe in the 20th century. Urban agriculture has been also well practiced in poor economies such as Cuba, where it serves as an important way of self-reliance. Today, with conventional agriculture "Big Ag" being at a cross-road in terms of its ecological impact on the environment and the increased food demand of a population growing to 9bn people by 2050, urban agriculture may very well be one key of a solution for the 21st century. As Roman explains, urban agriculture offers the solution to grow potentially enough food in the city to feed its entire population. What's more, it also creates healthier, wealthier and happier cities, offering consumers with fresh & quality food choices and access to better quality of life.

Roman Gaus, Founder of UrbanFarmers
Roman Gaus (32)- from corporate career to social entrepreneur & urban farmer. Roman's story is both fascinating and inspiring. When Roman returned from the States to Switzerland, he left a short but steep career with companies such as Procter & Gamble, Novartis and Franke Group. Yet, he brought with him an emerging concept about inner-city farming, which he had seen take a grass roots approach in US cities. Back in Switzerland, Roman was surprised by the proven, Swiss-engineered technology know-how of Aquaponic; a combination of fish and vegetable farming, ideally suited to grow locally grown & organic food without soil in the city -- the idea behind UrbanFarmers was born. Determined to drive economic, social and ecological impact, Roman is now founder & CEO of UrbanFarmers AG, a pioneering Spin-off from the University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Wädenswil that aims to bring sustainable urban agricultural practices into cities of the 21st century.

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[TEDx]

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[ladyofthemasque]

If you back the walls closes to the poles (north in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern hemisphere) with thermal mass, insulation, reflective materials, heat-retaining water cisterns, etc, you can significantly decrease the fuel required to heat these greenhouses.

[therri]

Finding about this only now. Dreaming about this in the past 5 years

[interestingyoutubechannel]

IT'S NOT CLOSED LOOP! You still need to grow, process and transport all the feed for the fish. You can reduce your need of external resources by also growing algae to supplement fish feed, but even then it's not closed loop. They need to stop using that word so carelessly.

[jimjimson]

It is also worth mentioning the urban-heat-island effect in the context of urban farming. Cities are hotter than countryside summer because plant evapourate water to keep themselves cool *gross oversimplification* The main problem with mixing plants and buildings is damp and maintenence (gardening) but I think more could be done to change this. Could we automate urban farming to reduce labour cost for example ?

[nivlagtj]

I've seen info where the fish food is from duckweed, that easily grows in small pools in the same structures. Go to 2:05 in the video 'Farming in Da Hood' on Urban Farming Guys.

[grantcivyt]

If it's true this is a closed-loop system, that's very cool.

I take issue with the eating local movement, though. If it were more efficient, growing local would be cheaper. When I compare prices, that isn't the case. It may well be that it's more efficient when you consider environmental effects, but there are countless poor who don't have the luxury of worrying about their carbon footprint.

I'm also curious about the part where people who used to park in the garage can now take a bus. Harsh.

[roidroid]

The main theoretical limitations afaik are the amount of sunlight available per square meter (approx 2190 kWh/m2/year), the inefficiencies of photosynthesis (typically 3%-6% max in ideal lab conditions), and the caloric requirements to feed a human (3000 kcal).

The production estimate numbers he cites seem way too high.
At a liberal 3% photosynthesis efficiency, you'd need at least 19.4 square meters of sunlight to harvest enough calories to feed 1 person (Basically a 4.4m square, minimum).

[PhredZed]

My question would be, can you grow a diverse selection of fish, IE: can you raise shrimp, oysters, eel, or other fresh water shell fish?

[eMuleDownload]

Great Ted talk on urban farming, thanks!

[raynerchristopher]

I agree with that idea and someday i will have my own urban garden .

[stinkbomb]

Where do fish used in an aquaponic system come from? Farms would be my first guess, but can someone shed some light?

[melovescoffee]

That's great, more nutrient depleted food. I firmly believe plants need the full nutrient spectrum from the soil and the soil life to thrive and give us adequate nutrition. I can't help but think this is just another reductionist solution, just like the green revolution was. Why not just grow plants on composted food waste directly from the city and didn't we want to get rid of the horrible confined feeding operations? Why are fish suddenly different? I don't want to eat a fish that has never seen something else but floating poop particulates and blank walls. Horrendous, just like factory pigs and chickens.

[ray_]

I wonder why they don't do rooftop farming it will help economicly and will provide fresh and nutritious food

[esca]

Oh, and another thing, vegetables are not NEARLY as inefficient as the means necessary for transporting and preserving meat. No comparison.

[Yahshuahamashiach.]

This was one the most powerful 8:31 of My life.

[walrusnose]

Great idea.
Where does the fish food come from?
This is the moment the idealism breaks down.
Can such a biosphere also circuitously produce the fish food by use of human wastes, both consumer rubbish and bodily wastes?
I think I will look into improving this system beyond the mere facade of sustainability and empty righteousness it currently wears.

[saleemisgod]

Why does a 50% larger population require 100% more food?

[alpenjon]

Still - some form of fertilizer must be used. And I'm not sure how sustainable its production and transportation is...

[JacobVahrSvenningsen]

Because we have to account for the 1 billion that today go to bed hungry, without having eaten. People will begin to live longer- There is a lot of waste from transitioning from rural living where the production usually happens, here is more waste under transport, and when people enter the middle class income group, they will begin to eat more meat. 1 kg of animal protein takes 4 kg of vegetable protein (dry weight) eggs. Beef it lots more, all the way up 18 kg of feed per one kilo produced. :)