Culturele Woensdag - Catchup Exercise

Out and about

So, for out catch up project the idea was to find a relevant place for a day excursion, visit, and write about it.

I really wanted to do something with vertical farms and sustainable farming methods, especially seeing as agriculture is such an important aspect of the Dutch economy.   Unfortunately there is not much in the area of vertical farming yet, as most examples are still conceptual.  So its hard to find something to visit. I did find the following examples and blogs really interesting.


The Vertical Farm
- An entire blog dedicated to vertical farms!  Really worth a look.

"By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 10⁹hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?"

Vertical Farm Eco-city
- A towering agricultural amusement park designed by Studio Tjep.  It takes the structure of a typical Dutch farm building, and is a self-sustaining amusement park/farm/hotel.  Interesting concept!

Vertical Farm and Green Gateway

- The Chicago Gateway. Urban farming, green roofs and sky bridges.  Food can be produced on site and distributed throughout the city via the sky bridges.

My uncle lives in the 'Achterhoek' and has a farm and a vineyard.  So I've visited a few times but at the moment there isn't much to see with all the snow! So a bit of poor timing.

I think it might be interesting to be able to visit farms with a sustainable practice.  At the vineyard for example, they avoid the use pesticides when possible. Before planting, they had developed special bases for the vines that were resistant to rot and pests etc. 

I think an excursion which involves visiting a farm with sustainable practice, and seeing it in action would be very valuable.