4 Advantages of Urban Farming vs Traditional Farming

By: Jorge Camacho

It’s been a few years now, since Urban farming (growing food in urban areas), became a worldwide trend. And every year the amount of people trying it keeps growing and growing.
We all know that it looks nice and stylish at homes, futuristic buildings and city roofs. And field experts believe urban farming is the future of food production…

But what is it really that makes it so much better than traditional farming?

1. Production
Urban farming using hydroponics can produce as much as 10 times more food than regular farming per square foot. This is possible in part because of the vertical design that hydroponic systems allow. That makes easier to produce on as many levels as possible by square foot. This means that if you have 2 square feet of free space in your house or apartment you can have a nice looking indoor vertical garden system with lettuce, kale, tomatoes and other herbs and veggies growing in shelves, instead of having a corner full of soil, which can destroy your walls. And the best thing about this type of urban farming using hydroponics systems: you can grow fresh food all year round, without worrying about the weather!

2. Sustainability
Unlike traditional farming and some other methods, urban farming using hydroponics use 90% less water and a lot less space. This makes this type of indoor farming a far more sustainable  food growing method. Also, since it can use no chemical pesticides or herbicides and require less power, this hydroponic techniques for agriculture are helping decrease drought, soil erosion and similar problems associated with regular massive farming productions. Now, that’s the most important fact about sustainability: every time people switch their food production to urban farming, they are helping out conserve the environment.

3. Simplicity
If you haven’t tried it already, urban farming is really easy to do. You don’t need a huge budget or the gardening skills and special knowledge necessary to maintain a whole garden. With the Vios Hydroponic Growing System we have replaced all those necessary skills and effort with technology. No need to use get dirty. Just plant the seeds in the system, fill the tank with water, add the natural growing formula, operate the system through smartphone app and you are good to GO!

4. Decrease “food miles”.
Growing your own food within urban areas not only gives you the freshest produce you can get (talk about farm to table) but it also saves a lot of food miles, thus decreasing contamination due to transportation, packaging and the whole logistics associated with massive food production in rural areas. So not only is more environmentally friendly, but being local and as fresh as it can be, it also encourages people doing urban farming to eat healthier and in season.


Interesting links and sources:

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/urban-farming/#/earth-day-urban-farming-new-york- rooftop_51631_600x450.jpg

http://www.clickandgrow.com/blogs/news/38039556-6- benefits-of- urban-farming-vs- traditional-farming