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I had an idea for "Vertical farming" years ago. And when I started seeing it in the headlines I thought finally someone has executed the idea of using parking g

I had an idea for "Vertical farming" years ago. And when I started seeing it in the headlines I thought finally someone has executed the idea of using parking garage like structures and mirrors to direct the free sunlight to the different levels to grow food in vertical structures. Maybe the Egyptians did it, maybe not. (https://www.ehow.com/facts_7391989_mirror-egyptian-lighting-technique.html https://www.ehow.com/facts_7391989_mirror-egyptian-lighting-...) But I always wondered why stuff that literally grows on trees isn't cheap and abundant. And then I met a man, on my smoke break on the Johns Hopkins University Campus who said: "If there is something being given away for free, there is a man in line waiting to sell it to you"

George83728 3y ago
> But I always wondered why stuff that literally grows on trees isn't cheap and abundant. American grocery stores sell bananas grown outside on trees for literal pennies each. Dirt cheap tropical fruit, arguably the CIA's finest contribution to American society.. Anyway, mirrors. Mirrors don't multiply light, they only bounce it. 1 square meter of mirror can only bounce a square meter of sunlight. If you have a 5 level parking garage, each level 1000 square meters, then you need 5000 square meters of mirror. What did any of this accomplish, vs simply building a single layer regular old greenhouse? Remember that most surface areas of most countries is not urban so in most cases there's no reason to grow food in urban areas.
HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
> But I always wondered why stuff that literally grows on trees isn't cheap and abundant It is! Around here it's apples. Everyone with a few apple trees has far more fruit than they can eat in the fall and they're begging to give them away. I'm lucky in that most of ours are in horse pasture and the horses just eat them when they fall (cue horses drunk on naturally fermented cider!). I'm told it's a similar situation with lemons in LA: they just rot on the ground. Again, I imagine similar happening in Georgia with peaches. Lather, rinse, repeat for whatever fruit is common anywhere else in the country. Extend this to stores. Local fruit "that literally grows on trees" is usually the cheapest fruit you can find. Other than the bananas at $0.54/lb. The economics of those just blow my mind. Cheaper than potatoes but travelled 5x as far.

George83728 3y ago

> But I always wondered why stuff that literally grows on trees isn't cheap and abundant. American grocery stores sell bananas grown outside on trees for literal pennies each. Dirt cheap tropical fruit, arguably the CIA's finest contribution to American society.. Anyway, mirrors. Mirrors don't multiply light, they only bounce it. 1 square meter of mirror can only bounce a square meter of sunlight. If you have a 5 level parking garage, each level 1000 square meters, then you need 5000 square meters of mirror. What did any of this accomplish, vs simply building a single layer regular old greenhouse? Remember that most surface areas of most countries is not urban so in most cases there's no reason to grow food in urban areas.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago

> But I always wondered why stuff that literally grows on trees isn't cheap and abundant It is! Around here it's apples. Everyone with a few apple trees has far more fruit than they can eat in the fall and they're begging to give them away. I'm lucky in that most of ours are in horse pasture and the horses just eat them when they fall (cue horses drunk on naturally fermented cider!). I'm told it's a similar situation with lemons in LA: they just rot on the ground. Again, I imagine similar happening in Georgia with peaches. Lather, rinse, repeat for whatever fruit is common anywhere else in the country. Extend this to stores. Local fruit "that literally grows on trees" is usually the cheapest fruit you can find. Other than the bananas at $0.54/lb. The economics of those just blow my mind. Cheaper than potatoes but travelled 5x as far.