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Greener by miles – academic appears on Countryfile

Published 10 March 2010

Conscientious consumers are aware of the food miles that we clock up when we sit down to eat. But what is the answer particularly if you live in the city?

The university's Andre Viljoen proffered the solution of urban agriculture when he appeared on BBC1's Countryfile on 7 March. Convenience food comes at a price, but as fossil fuels dwindle there will be a direct cost to everyone. Andre’s vision for the future is farming in the city.

"Katrin Bohn and I have developed the concept of the continuous productive urban landscape," explained Andre. "This will see spaces for fruit and vegetable growing in the city, on the ground, on roofs and where possible vertically up the sides of buildings, together forming part of a new essential urban infrastructure."

Urban planning will incorporate high-rise green houses predicted Andre, and buildings will also have hydroponic systems which grow plants stacked in layers. Vertical crops will not only reduce food miles, but will also increase crop yield. It has taken over ten years of design research to convince planners to buy into this idea Andre explained:

"When we started this work it was seen as almost eccentric and on the fringe, but London Assembly recently published a report which is looking at how to encourage urban farming. The subject has moved on in ten years from the absolute fringe to one which is now being taken very seriously."

Andre continued: "What we've never said is that the city can be entirely self-sufficient, but we are saying that urban agriculture can make the city more sustainable."

Countryfile's presenter, James Wong, concluded that in a generation or less we'll be able to say: "I remember when that plot of land used to be a car park instead of an urban farm."

You can watch Countryfile on BBC iPlayer here.