I saw the future of insalata. And I tasted it too. At the gates of Milan, in Brianza, in Cavenago. Where the concentration of fine dust is not ideal for taking a jog in the park, but not ideal for starting a cultivation of agricultural products. In the middle of the moor there is a kind of spaceship, even if the structure recalls that of the ancient barns. Inside is perhaps the most advanced vegetable factory in the world. It should be called a farm, but it looks more like a factory of the future. It’s called Planet Farms, you visit it with a white coat and a hair net like in the operating room; inside the air is very pure and controlled, not for humans, who are few, but for the plants. From the seeds to the final bagging, everything is almost completely robotic: the trays with the jars travel on conveyor belts, filled with earth and seeds, and taken to cells where LED lights simulate six-hour days (so they have four sunrises a day), and two weeks later, with 90 percent less water usage and no pesticides and fungicides, a perfect salad comes out. As if the air outside was that of an earthly paradise.
Behind this invention, which promises to revolutionize the world of food, is Luca Travaglini, who comes from a family that is a world leader in the construction of drying and maturing systems for cured meats and cheeses. Using these technologies together with Daniele Benatoff they have created a vertical farm model capable of producing perfect, natural food, anywhere in the world. Brought to the shelves of a large supermarket chain, the Planet Farms salad was an immediate success even if it costs a little more than the other. But it is a matter of time. In the factory, from where 40,000 packs of salad per day (several tons) will come out when fully operational, I saw less than ten operators and soon, I was told, some of them will also be replaced by robots.
It could be a turning point: food produced in abundance even in extreme climatic conditions and using very little water (and with the contribution of very few human beings).
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