Our 70 year old food system is broken and unsustainable

Our food system has drastically changed over the last 70 years. For over 10,000 years humans have farmed were they lived and enjoyed the benefit of eating vine ripened produce that was full of flavor, vitamins, minerals and other phytonutrients that help us fight diseases and strengthen our immune system. Now the majority of food that comes from our current farming and distribution system offers us vegetables and berries that are empty and only have a fraction of the beneficial nutrients it used to have.

Almost all produce that is grown in the US or imported is harvested about 2 weeks early so it can ripen on the way to market. The problem is most of the nutrients in our vegetables and berries come in the last two weeks on the plant; so our produce starts with substantially less nutrients than we were receiving in the past. Plus UC Davis' one of the top Agricultural colleges in the country did a study and reported that most produce will lose 35% to 75% of vitamin C and most other phytonutrients with in 7 days of harvest. When you combine picking the produce early with the travel time it takes to market, most people are only getting a fraction of the nutrients they used too but are still consuming the same amount calories. Therefore we must eat more to get the same amount of nutrients we received in the past.

According to John Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health, “66% of US adults are over weight or obese”. Our children’s obesity rate is climbing at an alarming rate. How many of our kids, mothers, fathers, brothers or sisters will need to be diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease or some other deadly disease before we realize that our current food system is not working

Our current farming and distribution system not only provides us hollow food but it also waste a tremendous amount of energy, water and other natural resources plus it also creates some of the worst pollution in our country. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 70% of the pollution in our rivers and streams come from farming. Why would we want to continue with a farming and distribution system that is a little over 70 years old which has given us these types of results? Will this cause there to be no food in our country, of course not but the price of food will go up and more families will go hungry and their health will be affected. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said a record 40 million Americans, or 1 in 8, may not be able to eat without government assistance.

John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health completed a study called “How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture”. The conclusion of this study stated “The industrial agriculture system consumes fossil fuel, water, and topsoil at unsustainable rates.”

Home Town Farms has one solution that helps improve all of these problems. Vertical organic urban farming is the solution to our outdated farming and distribution system. Home Town Farms is introducing vertical organic urban farming in greenhouses that will be located in cities and suburbs on unused land, empty lots or even roof tops, growing vegetables and berries vertically to produce six to eight times the yield as conventional agricultural. By using greenhouses and combining organic farming with vertical growing methods, they drastically reduce the need for pesticides and eliminate herbicides; reduce fertilizer use by 80%, and also save 85% of the water. By growing and selling local food in urban and city areas, where it will be consumed without shipping it hundreds or even thousands of miles, they avoid the need for long distance food distribution, reducing fuel use and fuel costs by as much as 90%.

Vertical organic urban farming will also allow every family in America access to nutritious high quality locally grown vine ripened organic vegetables and berries at affordable prices, while helping to improve the environment.

We can talk about change or take action to make it better. The quality of our food supply and the energy we use to grow it is the foundation of our people and country. Food is not just another business or industry; if we do not use our energy resources more efficiently and improve our food distribution system we will repeat history and become another great nation with a tragic end. America is better than that and Home Town Farms is another example of how innovation can keep America great and healthy.