You wouldn't expect to find a farm in an industrial park in the middle of New Jersey. Specifically, you wouldn't expect to find a farm down the road from Newark Airport, where it's 100 degrees in the shade and the scenery consists of trucks and parking lots. But I haven't come here to find a bucolic green field, I've come here to learn about the future of farming. Inside a nondescript warehouse, behind locked doors and accessible through a decontamination room, is the headquarters of Bowery Farming. This is 21st century farming, and it looks nothing like the wide open field your grandparents worked in.
But while it might seem clinical, this facility is promising a solution to the biggest threats facing our agriculture industry. In an era of overpopulation, changing climate and ever-tightening water restrictions, this farm delivers certainty. Shelf-ready food grown year-round, regardless of weather, without pesticides, and all the while using 95% less water.