Scotland: Urban agriculture can boost rural food production
Urban agriculture might never replace food production from rural areas, but it can provide a useful additional source of locally grown produce alongside a substantial range of positive economic, environmental and societal benefits.
By Stephen Fox
The Scotsman
Jan 2, 2022
Excerpt:
80 per cent of the population of Scotland live in cities and towns, but virtually all our food supplies come from rural areas or are imported. In particular, we rely heavily on imports for fresh fruit and vegetables.
Embracing urban agriculture and developing a strategy and vision on how it could be taken forward in Scotland is now urgently needed to meet the coming challenges to food security.
North America and Southeast Asia (Singapore and Japan) are ahead of Europe in innovations and uptake of high-tech urban agriculture. The drive has come from the latest innovations in growing techniques e.g. hydroponics and LED lighting as a source of energy for efficient light for growing indoors.
However, there are some interesting recent major European projects. Agropolis Paris spans 14,000 m2 making it the largest urban farm in Europe producing around 1,000kg of fruit and vegetables daily, using entirely organic methods. Roeselare in Belgium has just opened a fully closed rooftop greenhouse built on top of a food market hall.
One innovative Scottish company is already embracing these changes in food security. East Lothian based Agron-Pod uses hydroponic technology and expert LED lighting to grow high value, nutritionally rich microgreens, leafy greens, herbs, veggies, fruits, edible flowers and medicinal plants, inside a modular indoor farm system or utilising existing infrastructure. The Pods are custom-designed to the farmer’s specifications, utilising the latest in horticultural technology to assure the highest yield. They are vandal-proof and equally suited to use on derelict or abandoned land in urban areas or in remote and island locations.
