Building the World’s First Vertical Farming City | Jack Griffin | TEDxWilmington

Griffin's talk introduces Philadelphia's vertical farming and its exciting future. Vertical farming produces far more produce, with no pesticides, herbicides, or manure, than traditional farming or organic farming. In fact, Philadelphia's vertical farms are the first vegan-certified in North America. These farms utilize "democratized technology", which is easy to learn, easy to fix, and adaptable. This promises green jobs for high school graduates. At present, they are looking to employ veterans down on their luck and people leaving prison. But this farming development also has the support of the city -- its planned network of 10 farms will include the food deserts in the city, and two buses will be converted into yearlong farmers markets, also serving the food deserts. As Griffin says at the end of his talk -- with a shared vision, we can change the world. A former Wall Street executive, Jack Griffin is the founder or the world’s first vertical farming school and the architect behind the ultra-efficient “Revolution Technology” that powers Metropolis farms. Jack’s technology enables Metropolis Farms to grow the yearly production of an acre from only 36 sq. feet. In addition to being the first indoor vertical farm in Philadelphia, Metropolis Farms is the first vegan-certified farm in the nation. The technology uses 98% less water, 75% less energy, and works without the need for pesticides, herbicides or manure. Through its’ innovative private and public partnerships, Metropolis is transforming Philadelphia into the world’s first vertical farming city, building over ten 100+ acre capacity flash farms in Philadelphia over the next two years. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx