Brussels – Leading vertical farming companies signed the first Vertical Farming Manifesto and Identity – both clear and bold industry standards. They highlight the impact and contribution the industry intends to make to transform current food systems and help to solve one of humanity’s toughest challenges of providing food for a growing population in a sustainable, circular way.
The Vertical Farming Identity and the Manifesto describe the urgency of transforming current food systems and explain how vertical farming systems can contribute significantly to designing food systems which are resilient and future-proof. Through technological innovation, indoor vertical farming decouples food production from external factors like climate or public health crises. By localising production and controlling the growing environment, vertical farming provides pesticide-free produce, uses significantly less land and water, and requires fewer transportation miles.
Toward the industry’s goal of driving the transformation of food systems, the companies strive to set high standards by aligning with globally accepted impact frameworks, for example, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), B Corp, or the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, the industry is dedicated to continuously investing in research and development to improve vertical farming technology and grow even smarter and more sustainable food systems.
“We believe that everyone deserves access to sustainably grown produce that gives more back to our planet than it takes,” said Katie Seawell, Chief Commercial Officer, Bowery. “We are proud to come together as an industry to build a global food supply chain that is transparent, agile and resilient so that consumers know where and how their food is grown.”
