Greenhouse in the sky: inside Europe's biggest urban farm

         In a Hague building, a modern experiment gave birth to the largest urban farms in Europe. With this we are entering a new age of urban agriculture

         Tomatoes, vegetables and trendy ”microgreens” are growing in a 1200 m² greenhouse on the roof. Below, on the sixth floor, there is a huge fish farm. The farm aims to feed 900 local families, restaurants and a cooking school.

         Mark Durno, who is in charge of the operation, believes that urban commercial farms are a necesity: people want high quality food from a transparent, local source. Urban farms will feed the world in the 21st century. Modern technology has helped urban agriculture have a viable perspective. UrbanFarmers is an example of a business that really brings benefits to cities.

        "With industrialization, this link between agriculture and the city has been eliminated," says Jan Willem van der Schans, a researcher in urban food systems at the Landbouw Economisch Instituut (LEI). Consumers feel alienated from global food chains, want food from a transparent source, and see that quality can be better if it grows near the house."

         Van der Schans, however, wonders if urban farms can find commercial success. "UrbanFarmers must come with products you can not buy in supermarkets, something special that has a higher nutritional value, or I think it will have a difficult time," he says. "They have to choose those vegetables that are of special quality if you harvest them immediately, such as soft tomatoes such as boeuf coeur, which should collapse if you wear them at 10 meters. In New York, the rooftops have come with these varieties."

         "It is sometimes said that children living in town believe that tomatoes are growing in the supermarket or that the fish is born in a freezer," he says. "The municipality hopes the entire building will be a kind of meeting place for education, research and innovation."

More information about this amazing project here 

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