The future of farming

When I was five years old, my Dad gave me my first garden. I say garden - it was a patch about 4 meters by 2 meters but it felt like my empire. I still remember growing tomatoes, lettuces and the most delicious raspberries - boy they were good!  If you'd said to me then that our food could be grown indoors, with no soil and under LED lamps, I wouldn't have believed you.

However, with the need to feed mega cities (eg Shanghai 34 million people, Delhi 25 million), water shortage (Cape Town almost ran dry last month) and pests and disease ravaging crops, we need to approach agriculture differently. I've been supporting my client do just this.

Together with an incredible partner, we trialled some of the crops they need. So far the results are sensational - vs conventional farming: 360X the yield, 95% less water, no foreign bodies, no pests, no chemicals, minimal bruising during harvesting and a product so delicious that my childhood empire has got serious competition. 

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It may not seem natural, but this technology isn't going away. Our 8.3 billion population needs feeding. So let's embrace this sort of technology and make sure it has the appropriate place in our world.