The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century - Hardcover

Despommier, Dr. Dickson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312611390 ISBN 13: 9780312611392

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2010

Synopsis

A Library Journal Best Book of 2010

â A world-changing innovation whose time has come. The visionary book provides a blueprint for securing the worldâ s food supply and at the same time solving one of the gravest environmental crises facing us today.â --Sting

Imagine a world where every city has its own local food source grown in the safest way possible, where no drop of water or particle of light is wasted, and where a simple elevator ride can transport you to natureâ s grocery store â imagine the world of the vertical farm. When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. In The Vertical Farm, he passionately explains the incredible impact of urban agriculture and how it will change the face of this planet for future generations. With this groundbreaking book, â Despommier has quickly become the central figure in what could be a worldwide revolution.â (Scientific American).

About this title

Review:

Product Description
When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. Despommier's stroke of genius, The Vertical Farm, has excited scientists, architects, and politicians around the globe. These farms, grown inside skyscrapers, would provide solutions to many of the serious problems we currently face, including: allowing year-round crop production; providing food to areas currently lacking arable land; immunity to weather-related crop failure; re-use of water collected by de-humidification of the indoor environment; new employment opportunities; no use of pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides; drastically reduced dependence on fossil fuels; no crop loss due to shipping or storage; no agricultural runoff; and, many more. Vertical farming can be located on abandoned city properties, creating new urban revenue streams. They will employ lots of skilled and unskilled labor. They can be run on wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy. They can be used to grow plants for pharmaceutical purposes or for converting gray water back into drinking water. In the tradition of the bestselling The World Without Us, this is a totally original landmark work destined to become a classic. With stunning illustrations and clear and entertaining writing, this book will appeal to anyone concerned about America's future.

A Look Inside Vertical Farm
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Pyramid Farm by Eric Ellingsen and Dickson Despommier	Urban Farm, Urban Epicenter by Jung Min Nam
The Dragonfly Tower by Vincent Callebaut	Harvest Green by Romses Architects

About the Author:

DR. DICKSON DESPOMMIER spent thirty eight years as a professor of microbiology and public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia, where he has won the Best Teacher award six times, and received the national 2003 American Medical Student Association Golden Apple Award for teaching. His work on vertical farms has been featured on such top national media as BBC, French National television, CNN, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show, as well as in full-length articles in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. He recently spoke at the TED Conference, Pop!Tech and the World Science Festival and has been invited by the governments of China, India, Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, Canada, and Korea to work on environmental problems. He has been invited to speak at numerous national and international professional annual meetings as a keynote speaker, and at universities, including Harvard and MIT. He is one of the visionaries featured at the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology. Despommier lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0312611390
• ISBN 13: 9780312611392
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320