Innovation in the US vs. China
by Miki SaxonFood has become a major focus of innovation around the world.
Researchers, private, academic and public, are looking for better ways to feed a hungry planet.
Not just feed them, but feed them healthy food — sustainable, healthy food.
Local Roots is a startup that grows 65,000 pounds of lettuce a year in three small shipping containers inside their LA warehouse. Energy is the only large suck and the company is exploring green energy options, such as solar.
The startup uses vertical hydroponic farming, a method where plants grow year-round with LEDs rather than natural sunlight. Instead of soil, the seeds lie on trays with nutrient-rich water, stacked from the floor to the ceilings inside the shipping containers. (…) Each 320-square-foot shipping container produces the same amount of plants as four acres of traditional farmland — using 97% less water on average.
I’m a salad freak and that lettuce looks great.
In 1984 I spent 2 weeks traveling around China (yes, the Great Wall and Forbidden City are incredible, but the Terracotta Army was mind-boggling) and the food was out of this world — not at fancy restaurants, but at everyday places.
However, if I ever go back I think I’ll skip the salad.
Image credit: Local Roots
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