Many scholars suggest that land use will have a major shift throughout the next 50 years. This shift will be a result of climate change and population growth, among other influential factors. As our population increases, the amount of space that we occupy will increase, and we will need more food to be produced to keep up with our growing demand. A common idea for the future is “Vertical Farms” (Kiger, 2013).
Dickson Despommier is an environmental health professor at Columbia University, and an author who wrote a book which outlines a plan to create vertical farms in unused city areas. These indoor hydroponic farms could be 10 to 20 times as productive as normal farms. Hydroponic farms are farms that don’t require soil, and could be used in a recycling process to be most efficient (Kiger, 2013).
Eliminating the need for soil would help with land use because soil is extremely difficult to care for. Chemicals are commonly needed and used to maintain soil quality, and these chemicals can be harmful to us if not used properly. Soil is significantly affected by the weather, and climate change will continue to affect this process. Animals are attracted to fresh produce and can ruin soil, which must also be taken into consideration (Feenstra).
When looking at maintaining sustainability, every level of the ecosystem should be evaluated. We should look at each farm specifically, each local ecosystem, and the global ecosystem. At each of these levels, the situation needs to be evaluated by farmers, consumers, and researchers.
Sources:
Feenstra, G. (n.d.). What is Sustainable Agriculture? Retrieved October 9, 2016, from http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/about/what-is-sustainable-agriculture
Kiger, P. J. (2013, April 22). Imagining Land Use in 2063 – Urban Land Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2016, from http://urbanland.uli.org/planning-design/imagining-land-use-in-2063/
Peter Simpson. (2013 February). Environmental sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.alltech.com/future-of-farming/environmental-sustainability