Food in the City

Vancouver seeks to been one of the greenest and sustainable cities in the world. To help reach their goal, they held the FormShift Vancouver Competition, and Harvest Tower won an Honorable Mention.

Inhabitat.com reports that this new complex, a tower, green roofs, and grazing area, "... consists of interlocking tubes that grow various fruits and vegetables, house chickens and contain an aquaponic fish farm." Hydroponic garden

While this is more ambitious than Los Angeles's edible green roof, it is in the same league as Dubai's Food City. Vancouver also boasts Canada's largest green roof.

Other agricultural products include, "... a livestock grazing plain, as well as a bird habitat and boutique sheep and goat dairy facility." There will also be a restaurant, and grocery store.

Sustainability is also important in this project, through the use of wind turbines, photovalic glazing, and methane captured from composting. I think composting is a euphemism for manure. Water will be provided by a large rain cistern on the roof. Water Barrels and Storage The green roofs will also provide filtration, mitigate storm water runoff and reduce air pollution.

While vertical farming is being studied elsewhere by "...Dr. Dickson Despommier, an environmental health scientist at Columbia University, his work reveals that for every one acre of indoor farming, four to six acres of outdoor land can be saved." While farming in the city keeps the food local and reduces transport pollution, the once-farmed land can be returned to natural habitats.