Our Green Patriot Company of the Month
Leadership
A Bold Green Patriot
I just interviewed Stephen Smith Kennedy Jr. for Green Patriot Radio. (His father was political advisor and finance chairman for the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. He also managed the presidential campaigns of Robert and Edward Kennedy.)
I am proud to announce that he and all the great people associated with EMLINK of Boston, Massachusetts, are the deserving recipients of our Green Patriot Company award. I can't think of a more deserving company, venture or group of men and women.
Stephen Smith Kennedy Jr. together with EMLINK--a service disable veteran owned company--is helping to introduce a technology--much needed in this usable water and soil-starved world--in which crops are being grown vertically with so much less water and no need for soil or few other fossil fuel energy inputs. The VertiCrop high density vertical growth system (developed globally by Valcent Products) is a green technology that provides a solution to rapidly increasing food costs caused by transportation/fuel costs spiraling upwards with the cost of oil--and increasingly poor soil and declining water resources. Plus, when the project reaches critical mass, VertiCrop will put people to work here in America and provide for greater food security. And from seeing the scenes of desperation and looting in earthquake struck Haiti and Chile, food security is a critical national security issue.
People listened to nature, to the environment, and they saw something that the world needs.
Kennedy Smith told me that on 7000 square feet, "You can grow the equivalent of ten to sixty acres."
Why shouldn't restaurants across America buy their salad greens from local growers? Why not emphasize our local sustainability? Let’s play small ball.
Why waste money and clog our freeways when we can have local jobs that fight unemployment? We would save so much on fuel and put people to work all across America. We talked about all the pilot projects going on now with the system.
There are pilot demonstration projects going on now with America's mayors throughout the country. Stephen mentioned Denver and Manhattan--and there will be many more. By providing seed money (literally) new jobs can be grown, our freeways made a little less crowded, and our local food security enhanced. The systems work as well on a rooftop as anyplace else, perfect for Manhattan and other urban centers.
Developed over several years by Valcent), the system is designed to grow vegetables and other foods much more efficiently and with greater food value than in agricultural field conditions. The VertiCrop system demonstrates the following characteristics:
- Produces approximately 20 times the normal production volume for field crops
- Requires 5% of the normal water requirements for field crops
- Can be built on non arable lands and close to major city markets
- Can work in a variety of environments: urban, suburban, countryside, desert etc.
- Does not use herbicides or pesticides
- Will have very significant operating and capital cost savings over field agriculture
- Will drastically reduce transportation costs to market resulting in further savings, higher quality and fresher foods on delivery, and less transportation pollution
- Will be easily scalable from small to very large food production situations
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In a rapidly urbanizing world where the majority of people now live in cities, localization requires that food and fuel be produced in an urban context. Vertical growing is a new idea currently emerging in the sustainability discourse which offers great promise for increasing urban production. Healthy pesticide-free foods for our schools and local business. Building local economies. Putting people to work in healthy green technologies that enhances our overall security as a nation—that’s what being a gold green patriot is all about.
Wendy says:
This idea has so much potential to relieve a great deal of hunger and suffering in the world especially in places like Haiti where they make mud cookies to eat to stave off hunger. I hope this marvelous idea catches on quickly!
June 7th, 2010 at 10:03 PM