成人论坛

Written by Erin Santy - Communications Director for PLENTY

The Planet Earth III team started filming the day after Plenty opened its first commercial-scale farm! Set in the heart of Compton, Los Angeles, this was not a usual destination for a wildlife camera crew, and filming in the farm is no small feat.

We run our farms as clean environments, which means every person who enters has to wear head-to-toe PPE (personal protective equipment like jumpsuits, hairnets and safety glasses). Truly the most challenging part of the shoot was sanitising every piece of equipment that came into the farm – they brought a lot of kit and so it took most of the first day for us just to clean the gear.

The Planet Earth crew were among our first visitors inside the farm, and we were excited to show them a whole new way of growing. Our farms look quite different from conventional outdoor farms. We grow produce, like leafy greens, indoors on vertical towers multiple stories high.

Our indoor growing environment makes it possible to bring a high level of control to the amount of nutrients, water and light given to each plant. Being indoors also eliminates the need to spray pesticides on our leafy greens. So, we don’t add agricultural runoff into the environment, and our produce never has to be washed and so stays fresher longer, reducing food waste.

With our farms, we are rewriting the rules of agriculture for the 21st century. For centuries farmers have had to grow whatever can best survive in that area. Increasingly harsh field conditions, from various pests to climate change, are leading to less predictable yields, endangering the global food supply.

Food imports and exports have been dramatically impacted by the pandemic and changing geopolitical situation. Since indoor vertical farms can be built almost anywhere, they have the potential to change the food system and future proof fresh food. For example, countries with hot, dry climates, and limited fresh water, often rely heavily on imported food. This new way of farming could create greater food security and sovereignty for many people around the world.

This new approach is more important than ever because the world’s existing food supply system is unsustainable. A United Nations study states that the equivalent of one soccer field of soil is eroded every 5 seconds, and that 33% of the Earth's soils are already degraded with . And the produce farmers are able to grow? It spends about half of its shelf life in transit, decreasing its quality and increasing food waste.

The Plenty Compton Farm you see in Planet Earth III represents a decade of innovation. It’s capable of growing more than 250 field acres' worth of leafy greens within one city block. It has the potential to save millions of gallons of water in a U.S. state where the reservoirs and wells supplying major agricultural producers are at risk of running dry.

In recent years the pandemic, pests and natural disasters have exposed weaknesses in the complex logistics of food distribution. Bringing food production closer to densely populated areas can help create a stable supply of fresh food and lower food miles. We intentionally located our first farm in the densely populated Los Angeles area, bringing agriculture back to a community that was once the breadbasket of its region.

Our hope is that indoor vertical farming can help create a stronger, more stable food system that delivers greater access to fresh, healthy food to people all around the world… while also freeing up space for nature.