Safe Food Shouldn’t Be a Luxury — Vertical Farming Is Changing That

Since the mid-20th century, agriculture has seen year-over-year production growth as farms scale up, race to harvest, and compete for a seat at the dinner table.

Foodborne illnesses are also on the rise. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence of some common infections have grown by north of 400 percent today compared to ten years ago.

This isn’t a coincidence. As farms attempt to cut costs and expand rapidly to meet increasing demand, they become more vulnerable to contamination. And while it’s true that widespread contamination can happen at any stage in the agricultural supply chain, exposure during production gives dangerous pathogens all the time they need to incubate and spread as crops move down their supply channels.

So how can the modern farm keep pace with food safety and the rigors of a commercial business? The answer is for farming to return to its roots, by embracing agtech like controlled-environment agriculture and vertical farming systems that drive ROI and profit in a competitive world while prioritizing the safe production of nutrient-dense crops sustainably and at scale.

Food Safety Benefits of CEA and Vertical Farming 

Pathogens aren’t picky about which crops they infect, but leafy greens are often the culprit.

One study found that, every year, more than 2.3 million cases of identifiable foodborne illness in the US can be directly linked to contaminated leafy greens, and 3 out of 4 cases of leafy green foodborne illness involves romaine lettuce.

But did you know that vertical farming towers and systems found in controlled-environment agriculture have been successfully and safely growing leafy greens for decades. How can they lower the risk of contamination?

Soilless by design

Pollution and contamination from fertilizers, animal waste, and unclean water increase the risk of foodborne pathogens, but many indoor farms employ hydroponics and aeroponics for optimal nutritional density, water absorption, growth cycles, and so on.

Closed-loop irrigation

Speaking of hydroponics, new and adapting indoor farming facilities have sought to create all-in-one agricultural systems that include all aspects of controlled-environment agriculture, including lighting, irrigation, and ventilation—a fast, sustainable, and scalable formula for success and safety.

Modern closed-loop irrigation systems achieve just that by delivering enriched water in exact measurements. As the name suggests, closed-loop irrigation techniques limit exposure to traditional contaminants and allow for more accurate monitoring of the water used.

Aisle-less architecture

With their collapsible, aisle-less design, mobile VF grow systems like Montel’s GREENRAK limit the amount of ambient contact each crop receives, thus reducing the risk of contamination.

It is, after all, much easier to preempt, investigate, and mitigate contamination when you’re growing indoors, where you can control the environment and track who made contact with what plant when.

A Safer Way to Get Back to Growing

CEA and VF are assets to any traditional farming operation, and as forward-thinking as these innovations are, they’re really more of a return to form. They help farmers everywhere get back to the business of farming and meet the moment without exposing themselves to increased food safety risks.

Our hope at Montel is that vertical farming opens a broader discussion into the systemic changes we can make to agriculture that keep the world safe, well-fed, healthy, and happy.

Ready to Grow Safer, Smarter, Cleaner?

Whether you’re looking to integrate indoor vertical farming into your facility or launch your own production system, Montel’s high-density solutions — including our GREENRAK™ system — are engineered to reduce contamination risks, minimize waste, and deliver cleaner, safer food from seed to shelf.

Connect with your local  Authorized Montel Distributor for a free consultation, complete with 2D/3D renderings of your mobile vertical farming layout, pricing estimates, and ROI projections.