Biggest step up would probably be for vertical farming to go mainstream. It’s not too great for meat industry, but for vegan industry it works more than well.
Another step up will be mass produced lab grown animal proteins/oils/fats (meats) which a healthy human diet requires. On other hand we can still also have a remnant of meat industry be left alive, which is to repurpose animals that have died of natural causes, rather than inhumanely farming animals enmasse.
I still don’t understand the economics of vertical farming. Isn’t that a lot of extra infrastructure to produce the same plants? What area of solar panels do you need to power an acre-equivalent production of vertical crops?
The biggest step up would be changing consumer preferences and maybe different regulation (tighter animal welfare laws, emissions standards and/or removing any subsidies for animal agriculture).
Consider this: You can install a massive local vertical farm directly inside a large city, but you can’t do the same for normal farming. Thus severely reducing the economic/ecological costs of farming, because you can supply locally produced veggies directly into stores, rather than needing to haul them for 50-1000km away.
And stuff like: You can grow plants 24/7 with no breaks as it’s all automated. You can adjust the “climate” just right for whatever plant you’re growing. You’re not using massive plots of land that could for example be used for housing, and leaking fertilizer/pesticides to the soil/rivers/lakes/sea. You’re not wasting a ton of energy by using combustion based machinery, and also not causing more pollution. In general the energy required for vertical farming can be done entirely by solar.
Consider this: the sun already provides all the energy required to grow plants, and healthy soils provide the required nutrients. Plants can already harvest solar energy, that’s kinda their whole thing.
Your model requires synthetic nutrients and synthetic sunlight. Producing and maintaining solar panels and the associated infrastructure is not environmentally benign, particularly if as you suggest in your other comment you would want to install solar arrays on former farmland.
How about instead we grow plants properly, in ecosystemically responsible ways that promote soil health, which is directly connected to our health via our gut microbiome. Growing sterile plants in a controlled environment is not an ecological solution at all, it’s a sterile solution.
Our agricultural system isn’t in need of high-tech solutions. High-tech solutions is exactly what has been fucking agriculture up for the past seventy years.
That makes sense. I guess what I’m hoping for is a breakdown of the exact costs and footprints involves, at least in estimation. Like, less shipping is great, but a solar farm plus a factory-greenhouse is not a small investment, and the solar farm can’t be made vertical, which will cut down on the area savings at least somewhat.
I get why everyone goes for leafy greens, since I’ve experienced sad Canadian winter lettuce. I’ve also heard it’s a bad choice, somehow, and a lot of startups have failed as a result.
Some don’t need the carbs though and that’s not as easy as getting the proper amount and kind of aminoacids when going completely plant based. If you have the time you might find this interesting.. The number of people that have a messed up body when it comes to carbs, is beyond impressive.
I am commenting on the “healthy” aspect. Healthy, sometimes is not just about adequate.
B12s and similar are a bigger issue IIRC. Plants have the exact same proteins all life does, just not necessarily in the right amino acid proportions for humans. If you’re not eating all one staple like a peasant you’re probably not going to get seriously protein deficient, although it’s harder to get enough to build muscle.
I’ve been vegan for years and will tell you it’s incredibly easy to get the amount of protein in. Plus like with an omni diet most packaged foods are fortified for vitamins.
Ultimately, these findings point to new avenues of research that could increase microbiome-informed understanding of human health and hint at potential biomedical applications in which specialized bacteria are used to curtail CVD development.
