City Salad – An urban farm

An urban farm is being set up in Lyon (France) by INSA Lyon and Bonduelle society. It is to produce salads from 2016. Plants will grow without natural soil, on a nutritive substrate containing all necessary molecules with the adequate artificial light length wave to ensure optimum growth. The salad will be mature in 49 days, and the production is to be around 283 salads per square meter. The big plus is that the lettuce will be sold with the roots with its clump of soil that will ensure that it will be fresher for a longer time. And the distribution area will be only local.

One can wonder if it is not SciFi story. No, it is our coming reality.

Negative minds will comment on industrial production.

I will focus on the positive sides of such project.

Many countries are or will be facing shortage of farmland (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28003435). And currently there are many pollution issues everywhere, due to pesticides and fertilizers.

These urban farms may be a solution for all these issues. 

So these salads will be grown with less pesticide, and, being sold locally, transportation will not pollute that much. 

And for us, customers, they can be kept longer.

I find this project to be a good idea, for our economy, our environment, our food quality…

And if this business model is a successful one, no wonder it will spread rapidly!

To be followed!