There is much to learn about the food we consume these days, as more and more people become aware of the importance of sustainability in the context of climate change, and also to understand how our food choices impact the environment.
Sustainable farming is a method of agriculture that safeguards our future agriculture, the environment, and our economies. It’s more about resource planning for the future as well as for the present.
Microgreens and sustainability
Growing microgreens is an amazing and innovative way to help the planet while nourishing the human body. Why? Because microgreens require far fewer resources compared to traditional agriculture and contain more micronutrients, making them an opportunity to alleviate the stress on our overstretched farmlands and introduce much more nutritious foods.
While a significant amount of traditional crops are lost, 100% of microgreens are sellable, thus producing less waste per crop. From this perspective, microgreens have a significant advantage as they grow about eight times faster than adult plants and can be cultivated in a hyperlocal manner, eliminating the need for transportation(the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted food supply chains, affecting imports and exports).
NO HERBICIDES, PESTICIDES, OR FERTILIZERS NEEDED!
You only need clean water, light, and air!
Are microgreens sustainable? The answer is YES!
They reduce water consumption by 200 times and require 94% less time compared to a standard plant, representing a massive saving both for the environment and the farmer.
Moreover, most agriculture uses fertilizers that cause huge problems that have repercussions on our water supply, the environment, and on organisms like fish. This is because over-fertilization of things like nitrogen or phosphorus allows excess fertilizer to leak into ground water and the surrounding environment.
Too much fertilizer leads to acidic soils, too much algae (eutrophication), pollution of groundwater, and increased global warming. Luckily, because microgreens are in an early phase of a plant’s life cycle and grow easily on many types of substrates, there is never a need for fertilizers for them!
Therefore, we bring you 9 sustainable advantages of growing microgreens:
- Reduce water
- No pesticides are needed
- No herbicides are needed
- Less light needed – meaning less energy
- No soil needed
- Less physical space needed
- Production time is approximately 2 weeks.
- The cultivation is year-round, as microgreens are grown indoors.
