Lebanon: Greens grow despite the odds at urban farm
“Land is very expensive, lands are very polluted, air is very polluted. Water also somehow, it is polluted. So I thought that this technology could be very handy for Lebanon.”
Associated Press
Jun 29, 2022
Excerpt:
Edwin Arida, operations manager at Beirut Farm:
“Vertical farming for me is definitely the future of nutrition. That doesn’t mean that we’re removing countryside farming, which I’m totally against eliminating this factor. Urban farming is farming in the middle of the city. We’re getting the village in the city. So what we’re doing is, with the same amount of land – so here we have 30 meters squared – we’re able to plant an output equivalent to land of 13,000 meters squared.”
“The reason behind this project is after global warming and corona(virus) – all of those slowed down global food supply. So what we did here is that we got… instead of importing what we are farming currently inside, we are now able to farm everything locally, on hand, on demand. That makes it… the deliveries become with lower carbon emissions. And instead of getting the baby spinach from Spain, you now have it here, 10 minutes away from your house in Beirut.”
“It helps in the growth of plants, also. So we add some classical music and factually, it has been proved that it could relax the plant and let it grow in a more comfortable environment.”
“I really felt that this is something that Lebanon can use. The fact that land resources are scarce. It’s a small country. Land is very expensive, lands are very polluted, air is very polluted. Water also somehow, it is polluted. So I thought that this technology could be very handy for Lebanon.”
