

Grown in Detroit, but not in the ground: The next evolution of urban agriculture - rmason
http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/indoorurbanagriculture052014.aspx

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rmason
I think that there are more experiments in urban agriculture being run in
Detroit than anywhere else in the world.

[http://www.michigandaily.com/news/urban-farmings-growing-
pop...](http://www.michigandaily.com/news/urban-farmings-growing-popularity-
draws-university-students)

Shrimp anyone? [http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/22324-u-m-
student-...](http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/22324-u-m-student-
growing-seafood-in-vacant-detroit-house)

~~~
ChuckMcM
It is a really interesting outcome of the property value inversion there.
Historically the margins on farming have been so low that you need massive
scale to even come close to achieving profitability, and the capital cost of
land generally rules out anything close to a major city.

But when land is available very inexpensively, the savings in transportation
can be a bigger factor.

~~~
rmason
Add in the fact that Detroit has been a food desert. Lots of young engineers
moving downtown and not a single supermarket in the city until the past year.

There are thousands of empty buildings and enough raw land to fuel dozens of
farms as soon as the blighted houses are torn down. What has held up farming
efforts is Michigan's right to farm law which never anticipated the rise of
urban farms when it was written.

[http://www.michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1599_1605---,00.h...](http://www.michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1599_1605---,00.html)

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cagenut
this is happening in newark too:
[http://aerofarms.com/](http://aerofarms.com/)

my basic understanding is that a few decades of marijuana grow ops funded most
of the r&d, but the breakthroughs (mostly cost) in LED lighting of the last ~5
years have made it commercially viable at dollars an ounce (to weed's
tens/hundreds).

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percept
"'We will need 0.6 gallons of water to grow one head of lettuce in this
process,' says Adams. 'In California and Arizona, where most lettuce in the
U.S. comes from, it takes 365 gallons of water to grow a single head.'"

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scoj
Very interesting, especially the water usage.

However, I'm curious to know what the electrical cost is. I know LEDs have to
help with efficiency, but is it still enough?

