Do you know that food transportation accounts for 5% of all carbon emissions, with an additional 7% from food packaging?
Apart from improving food security, urban farming is often encouraged for its potential in reducing the negative environmental impacts caused by conventional farming and urbanization.
Reduces Carbon Footprint
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Food is often produced in rural areas due to the low cost of land use. Once harvested, they are transported to the packaging facility, and finally the grocers. The environment suffers from the long journey to food consumption due to the CO2 produced from all the transportation.
With urban farming, food production is localized, subsequently reducing unnecessary food miles and decreasing CO2 released into the atmosphere.
Climate Change Adaptation
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“Urban Heat Island” describes high CO2 emission due to high human activity and warm temperature caused by reflective materials, i.e. steel, glass, mirrors on skyscrapers that reflect solar radiation. Urban farming helps mitigate the heat as planting on vacant rooftops or walls helps “block and redistribute” incoming solar radiation, as well as reducing CO2 levels in the environment.
Urban Waste Recycling
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Some of you are familiar with composting whereby food waste is recycled as plant fertilizers. Such practice brings beneficial environmental impact as it helps manage urban waste.
However, when improperly composted, contaminated fertilizers risk carrying pathogens that cause illness and impact crop germination. Another alternative to waste efficiency is aquaponics whereby waste from fish is converted to nutrients for plants by microbes. Wastewater is then purified by plants and reused by the fish.
To conclude, urban farming decreases carbon footprint due to long miles, ameliorates greenhouse gas emission and waste disposals in the cities.
Want to know how to get started with your own vegetable farm at home through urban farming? Simply reach out to us at francis@urbanfarmtech.net or give us a call at
+6012 666 7474 and look for Francis.
Access data on environmental impacts resulted from the food industry here.