From jetpacks to teleportation and even cloning, humans have many ideas for the future. A fairly new idea is vertical farming. Vertical farming is a very promising idea, which could take off in the near future; however, the benefits currently do not outweigh the harms. Dickson D. Despommier is a microbiologist, ecologist, and professor of public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia University. In Despommier's book, The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, vertical farming is the idea of ​​growing produce such as vegetables, fruits, and even some animals in a controlled environment (3). In other words, vertical farming is basically farming vertically inside a large building. While some may laugh at the idea of ​​growing indoors, it's not an entirely new concept. Despommier states that "crops like strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs and a wide variety of spices have made their way to supermarkets around the world in ever-increasing quantities over the past fifteen years." (Despommier, 4). However, Despommier's idea of ​​vertical farming stands in stark contrast to the greenhouses that currently exist. Despommier plans to construct buildings at least 30 stories tall capable of producing enough food to comfortably feed 50,000 people (Despommier, Vertical Farming). So why should we consider vertical farming? Three main reasons cited by Despommier are climate change, the very small amount of available agricultural land and falling costs. Despommier believes that vertical farming can significantly contribute to combating climate change, because once vertical farms are established, there will no longer be a need for traditional farms, allowing them to convert back to forests and reduce carbon dioxide. of carbon in the air (Chamberlain). The p...... middle of paper ......r, Dickso. Vertical farming. Coalition for Environmental Information, April 8, 2008. Web. October 30, 2011. .Roach, John. High-rise farms: the future of food?. Np, June 30, 2009. Web. October 30, 2011. .Cox, Stan and David V. Tassel. Why planting farms in skyscrapers won't solve our food problems. Np, May 3, 2010. Web. October 30, 2011. .Country lifestyles. Vertical farming: what are the advantages and disadvantages of a vertical farm? . Np, and Web. October 30, 2011. Kuang, Cliff. Agriculture in the sky. Np, September 4, 2008. Web. October 30. 2011. .