Caleb Harper, a pioneering explorer at the website Emerging Explorer, showcases lettuce cultivated at the MIT Media Lab, where he manages a climate-regulated "digital farm" that utilizes aeroponics, a monitoring network, and LED illumination.

================================================================

In the rapidly urbanising world, the need for sustainable food production solutions is more pressing than ever. One such innovative approach is urban farming, a concept gaining traction as a potential solution to feed future generations and create clean-tech jobs. This article is part of the Urban Expeditions series, an initiative made possible by a grant from United Technologies to the website Society.

At the heart of this movement is Caleb Harper, a MIT Media Lab researcher and Emerging Explorer, who runs the Open Agriculture Initiative. Harper, who grew up in a ranching family in Texas, now champions urban farming as a means to revolutionise food production.

The Open Agriculture Initiative is developing digital farming through a system called "the food computer." This high-tech urban farm can take various forms, from multitiered, digitally integrated vertical farms to smaller units suitable for homes and community gardens. The ultimate goal is to enable farmers to build their own food computers, even for larger-scale units in restaurants, cafeterias, and industrial production.

The food computer uses aeroponic technology, sensors, and optimal light wavelengths to recreate specific climates for growing plants. This allows for the production of a diverse range of crops, even in urban environments where space is limited.

While detractors argue that urban farming's production potential is insignificant, studies suggest otherwise. Urban farms could account for at least 30 to 40 percent of an individual's diet, providing access to fresher, more nutritious food and potentially reducing spoilage and waste.

Moreover, urban agriculture has a cumulative social benefit. It weaves communities together and builds a foundation for food education. By bringing agriculture into cities, we can foster a greater understanding and appreciation for where our food comes from.

The theme for this year's World Food Day is "Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too." Urban farming aligns with this sentiment, as it offers a means to adapt to climate change and create a new lexicon of food values for the future.

In the United States, various nonprofit organisations, community-based agroecology movements, and small-scale farming initiatives are engaged in developing and promoting urban agriculture. These efforts often involve grassroots political movements advocating food sovereignty and agroecology, supported by digital tools tailored to community farming and funding programs such as grants by USDA and foundations like Conagra Brands Foundation.

The food computer project is open source, with instructional videos and schematics available online. Caleb Harper can be followed on Twitter for updates on the project and his work in urban agriculture.

As the global population continues to urbanise, with the UN estimating that by 2050, 6.5 billion people will be living in cities, nearly double the current population, the need for innovative, sustainable food production solutions like urban farming becomes increasingly urgent. With its potential to feed future generations, create clean-tech jobs, and strengthen communities, urban farming is a promising approach worth exploring further.

Caleb Harper, a pioneering explorer at the website Emerging Explorer, showcases lettuce cultivated at the MIT Media Lab, where he manages a climate-regulated "digital farm" that utilizes aeroponics, a monitoring network, and LED illumination.