You may have seen the coverage in the Daily Mail by Joanna Blythman of the hydroponic cultivation centre recently build in Kent.
“THE FRANKENVEG FACTORY” ?
‘Mummy, What is soil?’
A vast glasshouse complex is under construction in Kent called Thanet Earth which will cover an area of 80 football pitches. It will use high-tech production similar to that in Japan. Peppars & cucumbers will be grown Feb-Oct & tomatoes will be grown 52 weeks a year – but they will never touch the Kent soil. It will use hydroponic cultivation – without soil, & will grow in trays filled with artificial soil substate – fibrelass-like Rockwool & granules of volcanic glass. Clay pebbles are often used & the plant roots will be bathed in carefully controlled nutrient solutions.But take away soil & you discard centuries of knowledge. Good growers take the great care of their soil – they till it, rotate crops or rest it for a season. Expert husbandy like that has always produced the best tasting, most nutritious.
On human health, we’re walking into this with our eyes shut. ALMOST NO RESEARCH has been carried out comparing levels of vitamins & vital micro-nutrients in plants grown in soil versus high-tech methods. There are environmental dangers too. The substrate which hydroponic plants grow on is normally disposed of with each crop, which is likely to produce mountains of almost impossible to recycle waste. There is the huge demand for power that these plant factories require, both for heating & artifical light. If these supposedly super-hygienic, germ-free environments ever have their bio-security systems breached, entire crops could be wiped out by a single disease or pathogenic bacterium.
The fruit & veg I want is a natural diversity of local, seasonal produce, perferrably organic, & at the moment I have no trouble getting it. But will my children be so fortunate? The super-sized plant factories are already here & unless we challenge them they will grow bigger & more numerous each year.
Summary by Ann Wills
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1 response so far ↓
Ann // 8 June, 2009 at 4:03 pm |
Further to the sterile crops: Micro-nutrients are formed when crops grow in good soil and ripen in the sun – so I’m concerned that we may not receive adequate vitamins and minerals from this high-tech food. Research shows that intakes of vitamins such as vitamin D, help prevent cancer and other illnesses, so we could become sicker if these crops are are low in nutrition. Before any more plant factories are built we need to know how nutritious these foods are which are not grown in soil.