What combination of food production innovations will allow us to feed a growing global population sustainably in the future?
Objective: To grow food where people live, and to grow it sustainably.
To Lufa Farms, this means growing food on no new land; capturing rainwater; recirculating 100% of irrigation water and nutrients; reducing energy use; composting green waste; using biological controls instead of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and delivering produce to customers on the same day it’s harvested. This also means developing the expertise and technology to make this type of agriculture efficient, data-driven, and scalable. In doing so, they’re trying to demonstrate that large urban and peri-urban rooftop farms are a commercially viable way to feed cities. A commercial business, Lufa Farms is advised by farmers, marketers, and university researchers.
Lufa Farms also supports and promotes local food systems. They source from partner farms and food makers who share the values of providing fresh, local, responsible, and artisanal products to urban populations. The urban greenhouses, local partnerships, e-commerce platform, and fulfillment methodology together constitute an integrative solution for sustainably feeding cities worldwide. Lufa Farms was started in Montreal in 2010 and operates two greenhouses that harvest a total of 190 metric tons of produce each year, feeding 3000 people. They hope to expand to other cities. See http://lufa.com/en/ for more information.
