CRUX ESSAY CONTEST WINNER 2019 - 2020
clear cutting forests and industrial - scale tilling “ release massive amounts of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere ” and also “ eliminate one of the best ways the earth naturally captures
and stores carbon — sequestering it in plants and soil ” ( Marcario and Bronner ). Most of the
Amazon ’ s destruction has been due to agriculture , and forests all over the world are still
being cleared for crop production purposes . Scientists from the University of Wisconsin -
Madison compiled maps from satellite images revealing that “ 40 % of the Earth ’ s land is
now given over to agriculture ” and crop production occupies “ an area roughly the size of
South America ” ( Owen ). Despite the already extensive spread of farming on our planet ,
farmers are still clearing more land to cultivate to serve the world ’ s continually - rising
population . We ’ re annually losing 18 . 7 million acres of forests – that ’ s equivalent to 27
soccer fields every minute ! (“ Forest Habitat ”)
The basic issue of deforestation is clear : farmers need more land . But feeding the earth
should not come at the expense of our carbon - regulating forests or any of the earth ’ s
valuable ecosystems . How can we preserve the precious ecosystems on the earth when we
continually need more space for farming ? We need to grow up instead of out . This is what
vertical farming does because it is essentially multiple levels of plants grown above each
other . The sky is literally the limit ! With vertical farming , we can put an end to land
degradation and at the same time address the need of our growing population . Vertical
farms have an enormous potential to produce much more than conventional field farms .
Depending on how many levels are installed , farmers can increase their crop yields over
the same acreage by five , ten , or fifteen times ! Since vertical farms are indoors , all the
lighting is controlled . Thus , farmers can give their crops more hours to perform
photosynthesis so they can grow much faster . With longer light exposure , more crops can
be produced in less time . Vertical farming would give farmers the growing space and crop
yields that they need to feed the world without destroying any more of the earth ’ s natural
ecosystems or habitats .
Some may argue that farmers will have to pay a financially high cost to switch from
conventional farming to vertical farming . The upfront cost of building vertical farms ,
including the installation of lighting , filtration , and solar - powered electrical systems , would
be very expensive . This is undoubtedly true . The implementation of vertical farming will be
an extensive project which carries a high financial price tag . However , following the initial
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