According to research published in the journal Nature Cities and conducted by the University of Michigan, cultivating a vegetable garden or an urban garden may not be a good idea. Let’s find out why.
After growing plants on the Moon, over the years the percentage of people who choose to tend a small vegetable garden in an urban context has increased more and more. In fact, we are talking about estimates ranging from 20% to 30% of the urban population global.
The research team led by Jason Hawes and Benjamin Goldstein painstakingly analyzed it 73 urban gardens from 5 different countries: United States, Germany, France, Poland and United Kingdom. For each individual garden, the level of greenhouse gas emissions produced was measured. The results speak for themselves.
Apparently, urban farming it has carbon emissions that are even 6 times higher (per portion of food) compared to the conventional one.
If on average a portion of food grown in the city is equivalent to 0.42 kilograms of CO2, the same portion grown through traditional agriculture generates “only” 0.07 kilograms. But what could be the main cause?
Probably the biggest problem lies in the materials used to build infrastructure. Furthermore, each urban garden is usually used for a short time, which is why the impact of the initial construction is decidedly disadvantageous when considering carbon emissions.
After seeing why it is harmful to eat salad in space and how in reality there are some exceptions, such as in the case of tomatoes usually grown in greenhousesit is significant to note the environmental impact of these apparently harmless activities.