Source 1: “Growing Up: How Vertical Farming Works” by The B1M

In The B1M’s informational video “Growing Up: How Vertical Farming Works”, the benefits and challenges of the technique of vertical farming are discussed. One of the greatest challenges for modern farmers and food producers is being able to provide enough food for everyone in a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective way. This video displays vertical farming as the future of food production through a variety of statistics, facts, and opinions.

The need for food has increased while space to grow it has decreased. And, while many modern techniques enhance production rates, they create environmental challenges like habitat clearing and soil degradation which put the planet’s resources in danger. This, combined with changing climate disrupting seasonal weather patterns, have cleared the way for vertical farming to take over.

Vertical farms have condensed production spaces into much smaller factory-like sites in enclosed environments where factors such as lighting, temperature, soil conditions, and nutrients can be easily controlled. In these structures, food is produced in vertically stacked layers or vertical surfaces that allow for reduced water usage and optimal levels of nutrients. The video presents this technique as not only more efficient, but also more environmentally beneficial as many of these farms are powered by renewable technologies and recycle their resources. They also eliminate the need for harmful pesticides due to lack of birds and insects, which creates a better quality product. And, as stated in the video, “Some [of these farms] are even able to yield 50 to 100 times greater than a traditional crop farm.” 

As discussed throughout the video, cost and availability can be challenging, but this technique can make food more accessible and less expensive, solving many of the issues we are faced with today.

Source 2: The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis

https://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/ucsarep/about/what-is-sustainable-agriculture

This source is a college page describing the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis and the work they do within the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. This page presents the goal of sustainable agriculture to be “meet[ing] society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, which is bolstered by main objectives such as a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equality. These ideals reinforce my ideas that modern farming is about remaining profitable yet ethical in making decisions, while also pushing for a better earth for us and future generations. I wanted to include this source because it describes the education modern and future farmers are receiving. This page not only describes the overall education received, but also gives a list of specific topics in sustainable agriculture such as Addressing Food Insecurity, Controlled Environment Agriculture, Cover Crops, Dairy Waste Management, and more. 

As you scroll past programs and topics, you reach a display that further delves into the Philosophy and Practices of Sustainable Agriculture. It provides information regarding historical context, various natural and farming resources, plant and animal production processes, and the economic, social, and political context of sustainable farming. Each of these topics discuss multiple strategies being taught to future farmers that will be implemented along with the importance of each. 

This page not only presents the importance of sustainable farming and all of its components, but also the importance of the education of food producers. It explains the topics and strategies being taught to our food producers which will eventually be implemented and affect all of us, which I believe is very important

Source 3: The Call of the Land: Meet the Next Generation of Farmers

For this source, I created a collage to highlight its content

This project was a bit overwhelming for me. Once I completely wrote out my summaries and started to adjust to the main ideas it became easier to understand and complete the assignment. While I was daunted at first, I knew what topic I wanted to research and was excited to do so. In the beginning, I struggled with conveying my message, but once I found a fews sources I really liked it came together. I first found the National Geographic source documenting various modern farmers, but I was not sure if I wanted to use it. I then got the idea to research different techniques and affects of modern farming. This is when I discovered my source, which was an informational video, about vertical farming and decided to learn more about it. From here I also researched sustainable farming and came across a descriptive page of the sustainable agriculture program at UC Davis. This was a source I really wanted to use because it not only described various aspects of sustainable farming, but also the ways in which modern farmers are educated. This made me more eager to use my National Geographic source to wrap up the passion and work of modern farmers. In the end, I really enjoyed this project with the topic I chose. I believe that this format really let me dive into research about something I am extremely interested in and present it in a new way to my peers. I chose a variety of sources of different genres such as an informational video, a short documentary, and a college page. I believe that through these sources I was able to present my ideas in a more clear and understandable way.