This company is using vertical farming in Los Angeles to help solve food challenges created by rising population

In The Know by Yahoo

Wendy Coleman started her company, LA Urban Farms, with a mission to empower people to grow their own fruits and vegetables by utilizing vertical farming in cities.

Video Transcript

WENDY COLEMAN: It's predicted that in the year 2050, we'll have 9.8 billion people living on our planet. And 70% of those people are predicted to live in cities. And so we have to have solutions to be able to feed our growing population. And vertical farming is one of those viable solutions.

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My name is Wendy Coleman, and on the founder of LA Urban Farms. Our passion, our mission is really just to inspire and to empower people to grow their own healthy food. And we do that by using these aeroponic vertical gardens, which make it super simple and possible for us all to be 21st century urban farmers.

I had never even heard the term vertical farming before. And my daughter Jessica at the time was at NYU, creating her major all about sustainability. She talked to me about the importance of vertical farming and how it could help to feed our growing population. And so I thought, what if everybody's front yard was an edible front yard instead of being ornamental? That would solve a lot of problems.

There's this very special connection that happens when you plant a seed, and then you nurture it, and you watch it grow into a full mature plant that you can harvest and enjoy. There's a different connection that's created because you understand the journey that it took to get to your plate. The average bite of food in America travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. So any time you can grow your own food, you're having a positive impact not only on your body for eating food that's more nutritious, but also on the health of the planet as well.

We can grow food right in the cities where people live and use 90% less water. With this technology, we can literally bring the farm right to the table. The possibilities for where you can grow your own food are endless.