3 ms·

Couldn’t indoor farming also accomplish this?

gwbas1c 7y ago
Growing under artificial lighting is extremely challenging. A lot of study goes into selecting the right kind of lights with a spectrum that closely matches natural light. (An ordinary light bulb won't cut it.) Once the proper lights are found, energy consumption and cooling are so significant that it's not really economical to grow food indoors. If you want to understand this more, I suggest looking up how to grow pot indoors. (It's really interesting to read, even if you never plan on doing it.) A significant amount of pot is grown indoors because it's easier to keep hidden than growing outdoors. (And, the stores that cater to indoor vegetable gardens really just cater to people growing pot in their closet or basement.) (BTW, people growing lots of pot indoors are easy to find due to electricity consumption and strange heat signatures from their homes. Some people get caught after large blizzards because the snow on their roof melts unusually fast.)
- mattkrause 7y ago
  No idea about pot specifically, but it's not totally impossible for vegetables. Canada is a net exporter of tomatoes, many of which are grown in massive greenhouses in the middle of nowhere (e.g., https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/16/473526920/how-canada-became-a-greenhouse-superpower https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/16/473526920/ho...) As the article says, it costs a bit more to grow, but the yield and quality make up for it.
  - chris1993 7y ago
    In Australia a major tomato producer built their new greenhouse facility in the high-altitude (1km) New England region because it's cheaper to heat the greenhouses in the cold winter months than to cool them in the hot summer months in low-altitude high-temperature areas. It might be with global warming the economics of Canadian tomatoes get even better.
    - cmrdporcupine 7y ago
      The regions of Canada where we grow tomatoes are not particularly cold. The greenhouse heartland here is in the southernmost part of Canada near Lake Erie and sits at the same lattitude (42) as northern California / southern Oregon, or central Italy. Yes, it's cold in the winter because it's a continental climate, but the summers tend to be very hot and humid (mid 30C not uncommon and perceptually higher due to the high humidity.) Obviously not in Australia's heat ranges, but warmer than you'd find in most of Europe. Many of these greenhouses are switching to growing cannabis now, with legalization.

Growing under artificial lighting is extremely challenging. A lot of study goes into selecting the right kind of lights with a spectrum that closely matches natural light. (An ordinary light bulb won't cut it.) Once the proper lights are found, energy consumption and cooling are so significant that it's not really economical to grow food indoors. If you want to understand this more, I suggest looking up how to grow pot indoors. (It's really interesting to read, even if you never plan on doing it.) A significant amount of pot is grown indoors because it's easier to keep hidden than growing outdoors. (And, the stores that cater to indoor vegetable gardens really just cater to people growing pot in their closet or basement.) (BTW, people growing lots of pot indoors are easy to find due to electricity consumption and strange heat signatures from their homes. Some people get caught after large blizzards because the snow on their roof melts unusually fast.)

mattkrause 7y ago
No idea about pot specifically, but it's not totally impossible for vegetables. Canada is a net exporter of tomatoes, many of which are grown in massive greenhouses in the middle of nowhere (e.g., https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/16/473526920/how-canada-became-a-greenhouse-superpower https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/16/473526920/ho...) As the article says, it costs a bit more to grow, but the yield and quality make up for it.
- chris1993 7y ago
  In Australia a major tomato producer built their new greenhouse facility in the high-altitude (1km) New England region because it's cheaper to heat the greenhouses in the cold winter months than to cool them in the hot summer months in low-altitude high-temperature areas. It might be with global warming the economics of Canadian tomatoes get even better.
  - cmrdporcupine 7y ago
    The regions of Canada where we grow tomatoes are not particularly cold. The greenhouse heartland here is in the southernmost part of Canada near Lake Erie and sits at the same lattitude (42) as northern California / southern Oregon, or central Italy. Yes, it's cold in the winter because it's a continental climate, but the summers tend to be very hot and humid (mid 30C not uncommon and perceptually higher due to the high humidity.) Obviously not in Australia's heat ranges, but warmer than you'd find in most of Europe. Many of these greenhouses are switching to growing cannabis now, with legalization.