OPTION #1
Summary:
This news article, titled “Vertical Farms Expand as Demand for Year-Round Produce Grows”, talked about many points regarding the exponential growth of vertical farms due to technology. The article talked about the versatility of the system and how no specific climate was required to grow any plants with the vertical farming system. The article also touched on how technology negatively affects vertical farming. These technological obstacles include issues like high energy costs, and the ability to scale a vertical farm system. In terms of high energy costs, vertical farms require lots of energy to power high-voltage lights and watering systems. In terms of scaling, vertical farms have struggled to find larger areas to house farms. This also plays a big role in the expensive costs of the systems.
Reaction:
This article truly altered my understanding and approach to my working thesis. I originally wanted to research the ways that technology benefits systems like the auto-irrigation method and vertical farming. However, the information and statistics provided by the article regarding energy-related struggles have made me rethink my analysis. The vertical farming industry is expected to grow by 9.7 billion worldwide by 2026, which shows the growth of the system. But it also demonstrates that with increased worth comes an increased production requirement. The systems are having struggles finding space to house the systems, and technology could affect that if the method is shrunk down to a smaller scale. This is a possible impact of technology that I could research and talk about in my article.
I really like how you found that topic is more nuanced that it originally seemed. Technology can have both positive and negative impacts, and I think it is really nice how you are going to look at both aspects in your paper. Additionally, I think it could be interesting to see the economic implications of vertical farming and how these changes could affect the US or global economy. Overall, very nice!
I would like to know what vertical farming is, but it is cool to see how one paper can change a thesis so much. I think you make a good point when you say that increases in technological power come with a cost; this can be seen when we have to buy any new phone or console. I wonder if there is any research being done on how to lower the costs of vertical farming, and if so, what has been found so far?
Ben, I really like your topic. I read about vertical farming a while ago and I haven’t seen many developments since. After reading your reaction, I still have a question. You say, “The systems are having struggles finding space to house the systems,” but isn’t the point of vertical farming to decrease the amount of space used? I think you are implying something else, but I wasn’t able to pick it up. Maybe it might be worth clarifying what you mean by that.
I like that as you gather information about your research project, you find areas that do not directly prove your thesis. And instead of turning away from the subject you decided to explore more and find a way to connect it to your thesis. I also found it interesting that the article you read brought about a new perspective about your research.
I like how you chose your research on technology to be about an important topic in the world such as farming. Although this article suggests technology negatively impacts vertical farming, I wonder if new technology can be made to fix this? This question made me interested in the auto-irrigation system you mentioned and if it could possibly be created.
I liked how you included the pros and cons of vertical farming. I also liked how you included how technology has a negative effect on the farming and specific examples. I really liked how evolved and grew with this new information that you received instead of backing down and starting over.