The very nature of agriculture is artificial

Probably, upstream of the regulations on synthetic food, we should reflect on how much agriculture itself is the result of a long and continuous process of artificialization of the territory and its crops.

What is believed to be more "healthy and natural", because it is cultivated by the farmer, is nothing other than a hybrid product, the result of a selection made by seed companies which, over time , have synthesized those seeds that are more resistant and suitable for automated cultivation processes. Agriculture has always been an artificial world.

Holland at the forefront of soilless cultivation

The Netherlands is one of the most cutting-edge countries in the research and application of so-calledsoilless cultivation – aquaponics, aeroponics and hydroponics – or intensive cultivation techniques in special greenhouses, in which the plants have no roots in the soil and the water cycle is closed and continuous.

With broad application: consider that the Netherlands is the main tomato producer in Europe (and without gangmastering).

The vertical greenhouses in Roeselare

The architects vanBergen Kolpa e Meta Architectuurbureau, commissioned by the Flemish Research Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, Inagro and Reo Veiling, have recently Agrotopia, the research center for urban horticulture in Roeselare, was created.

It is the largest double-height steel greenhouse, located on the roof of a concrete structure.The 9,500 square meters for the vertical cultivation of fruit and leafy vegetables are open to the general public through educational tours .

The crops are irrigated using rainwater stored from the roof, the runoff from which is recycled and reused. Instead, excess heat from the district heating network of the neighboring waste incinerator is used for heating.

Agrotopia is in circular symbiosis with the city, exploits the residual urban space and combines architecture and agriculture, providing consumers of agricultural products with a deeper understanding of greenhouse horticulture.

The Vertical Farm in Siena

The sustainable perspective of soilless agriculture is also timidly taking root in Italy. The engineer Matteo Benvenuti founded Vertical Farm Italia in 2015 to design, develop and coordinate self-sufficient public and private vertical garden projects.

Recently, in the historic center of Torrita di Siena, Benvenuti recovered an anti-aircraft tunnel, transforming it into a 50 square meter vegetable garden.

The vertically developed cultivation area occupies only 6 square meters in which 530 leafy vegetables and 24 types of fruit have been planted. The municipal canteen benefits from the harvest, distributing the products even to those in difficulty.

Aside from changing jerry cans or harvesting vegetables, management of growing facilities can be conducted remotely.

The aquaponic farm in Eindhoven

Also directly involving the community is Phood Farm of Eindhoven, a indoor aquaponic farm and business-to-consumer (B2C), whose structure combines with the 15 thousand square meter permaculture farm to satisfy the weekly need for fresh vegetables of 150 families.

Permaculture is a regenerative method in which plants live in a relationship of mutual sustenance and which creates resilient food systems, capable of better addressing environmental challenges.

Phood Farm is a hyperlocal company, inserted in the urban context, with community farmers and social reintegration programs.

Coffee grounds mushrooms in Rotterdam

Soilless cultivation techniques involve research that implements recycling and circular economy processes.

This is the case of Rotterzwam of Rotterdam, a B Corp company awarded with the Vegan Awards 2022, which grows mushrooms from post-consumer coffee grounds, creating a circular economy.

Thecoffee grounds are saved from waste incineration, transformed into a substrate for mushroom growth and finally delivered to farmers who use them as a soil improver.

In eight refrigerated containers, 6-7 thousand kilograms of coffee grounds are converted into 1200-1400 kilos of cardoncelli mushrooms every month.

Mushrooms grown in the kitchen

The New York-based Good Growing brand instead offers to grow mushrooms directly in your own kitchen. Gus is a breathable ceramic planter cultivation device which, due to its ability to maintain humidity and regulate temperature, can facilitate the growth of mushrooms starting from the mycelium.

The proteins are not from intensive farming

The frontiers of synthetic food are pushing ever further both in the production of nutritional components such as proteins not from intensive farming, and because they show food production without the use of soil and in extreme climatic conditions.