0:00:23.515,0:00:25.857
I'm an urban farmer.

0:00:25.857,0:00:28.605
So I grow food in the city of Montréal,

0:00:28.605,0:00:30.931
on the roofs of buildings,[br]believe it or not.

0:00:30.931,0:00:33.174
And it's something that I'm very,[br]very proud of.

0:00:33.174,0:00:36.226
It's something that puts[br]a smile on my face every morning.

0:00:36.226,0:00:40.009
And a while back,[br]I was talking to my aunt in Lebanon,

0:00:40.009,0:00:42.405
where I'm originally from,[br]I grew up in Lebanon,

0:00:42.405,0:00:45.733
in a small village[br]that's actually self-sustaining.

0:00:45.733,0:00:47.994
It's a village that grows its own food,

0:00:47.994,0:00:49.950
which is hard to find these days.

0:00:49.950,0:00:51.992
So if a butcher didn't cut a cow that day,

0:00:51.992,0:00:54.197
we ate vegetables.

0:00:54.197,0:00:56.256
So there I was talking to my aunt,

0:00:56.256,0:00:58.381
and I was so excited,[br]and I was telling her

0:00:58.381,0:01:01.644
how awesome my work is[br]and how we're building green houses,

0:01:01.644,0:01:04.026
and feeding people[br]right in the heart of the city.

0:01:04.026,0:01:05.510
And she looks at me and says,

0:01:05.510,0:01:08.061
"Sweetie, we've been doing this[br]all of our lives.

0:01:08.061,0:01:10.465
There's nothing new here."

0:01:10.465,0:01:13.833
And that got me thinking,[br]it's absolutely true.

0:01:13.833,0:01:17.306
Nothing about urban agriculture[br]is really revolutionary.

0:01:17.306,0:01:21.541
It's simply a recreation[br]of something that's very, very old.

0:01:21.541,0:01:24.734
So then why am I here talking to you[br]today about urban agriculture?

0:01:24.734,0:01:26.440
Why is it an important topic?

0:01:26.440,0:01:28.936
Well, because we're not eating[br]what my aunt eats.

0:01:28.936,0:01:32.224
We're not eating what I used to eat[br]when I grew up, back in Lebanon.

0:01:32.224,0:01:36.157
What we eat today, because we live[br]in cities, comes from very far away.

0:01:36.157,0:01:41.728
Our food has travelled an average[br]of 1,500 miles to make it to our plate.

0:01:41.728,0:01:45.709
And food travels as good as[br]a 2-year old child on a plane.

0:01:45.709,0:01:47.760
Food travels really, really bad.

0:01:47.760,0:01:51.722
In fact food is packed, re-packed,

0:01:51.722,0:01:55.798
refrigerated, sold,[br]and resold many times over.

0:01:55.798,0:01:58.154
And by the time[br]it makes it to the consumer,

0:01:58.154,0:02:03.604
it's lost its nutrients,[br]it's lost its taste, texture and smells.

0:02:03.604,0:02:06.563
And actually,[br]the really interesting number is --

0:02:06.563,0:02:09.516
we're talking[br]a lot about reducing waste --

0:02:09.516,0:02:11.943
is that when a farmer[br]in an industrial farm

0:02:11.943,0:02:14.277
is looking at a tomato plant,

0:02:14.277,0:02:18.470
half of these tomatoes will never make it[br]to the consumer because of this.

0:02:18.470,0:02:22.017
And the cultivars,[br]and the varieties that are chosen,

0:02:22.017,0:02:24.756
in terms of industrial farming,[br]are cultivars and varieties

0:02:24.756,0:02:28.472
that are chosen for their toughness,[br]and transportability and not their taste.

0:02:28.472,0:02:30.685
There used to be a time[br]where you could choose

0:02:30.685,0:02:33.772
from 500 different tomatoes[br]to grow in a green house,

0:02:33.772,0:02:36.496
and now what we're eating[br]is a collection of only 12,

0:02:36.496,0:02:39.631
roughly 12 cultivars of tomatoes,[br]that are all tough,

0:02:39.631,0:02:43.135
that will yield very well,[br]that are hard as rocks,

0:02:43.135,0:02:45.089
but don't necessarily have[br]the same taste.

0:02:45.089,0:02:47.162
And when you look at industrial farming,

0:02:47.162,0:02:50.417
the process of industrial farming[br]is far from optimal.

0:02:50.417,0:02:53.842
Industrial farms today[br]are massive consumers of land,

0:02:53.842,0:02:56.843
of water, of energy, of resources,

0:02:56.843,0:02:58.755
and what's been really striking for me,

0:02:58.755,0:03:01.078
during my research in hydroponics,

0:03:01.078,0:03:03.499
is that they're very illusive.

0:03:03.499,0:03:07.275
I spent a good amount of time[br]simply trying to find farms,

0:03:07.275,0:03:09.414
I actually couldn't find farms,[br]and I ended up concluding,

0:03:09.414,0:03:11.747
that farms are big black boxes.

0:03:11.747,0:03:13.669
Not only can we not find them,

0:03:13.669,0:03:16.721
it's actually very hard[br]to even go inside of a farm.

0:03:16.721,0:03:21.183
The secret process[br]of growing food, it's illusive.

0:03:21.183,0:03:24.062
Five years ago, I said to myself,

0:03:24.062,0:03:26.332
What if you could change[br]the way we grow food?

0:03:26.332,0:03:28.927
What if you can grow food[br]in a more responsible way?

0:03:28.927,0:03:31.689
And what if you can create[br]a direct link with the consumer,

0:03:31.699,0:03:33.118
go straight to the consumer?

0:03:33.118,0:03:36.681
Bypass the entire network,[br]forget about the distribution network,

0:03:36.681,0:03:39.779
forget about the wholesalers,[br]retailers and truckers,

0:03:39.779,0:03:41.763
and go straight to the consumer?

0:03:41.763,0:03:43.674
And it started off as a bit of a dream.

0:03:43.674,0:03:46.173
I have a lot of dreams and

0:03:46.173,0:03:49.760
very few of them actually become projects,

0:03:49.760,0:03:51.528
but this dream stuck.

0:03:51.528,0:03:54.585
And with a group of engineers,[br]and architects,

0:03:54.585,0:03:57.091
I like to call them superheros,

0:03:57.091,0:03:59.309
5 years ago we started working.

0:03:59.309,0:04:01.802
And we started working on[br]a new form of agriculture,

0:04:01.802,0:04:04.886
what we like to call "Agriculture 2.0".

0:04:04.886,0:04:07.103
So we started off by asking ourselves,

0:04:07.103,0:04:09.305
If we want to grow food,

0:04:09.305,0:04:11.867
how can we grow it[br]in a more responsible way?

0:04:11.867,0:04:14.969
We knew there were a lot of challenges[br]in the food production process,

0:04:14.969,0:04:17.855
and we knew that we had[br]to change the way we grew food.

0:04:17.855,0:04:22.304
So we defined responsible agricultures[br]in four different ways.

0:04:22.304,0:04:24.967
First of all, using no new land.

0:04:24.967,0:04:28.105
I think that the previous presenter[br]did a great job at explaining

0:04:28.105,0:04:30.611
the challenges we have today[br]as we go from 7-billion

0:04:30.611,0:04:33.643
to 9-billion and with less land.

0:04:33.643,0:04:37.192
So the good news,[br]it turns out that rooftop spaces

0:04:37.192,0:04:40.359
are absolutely fantastic for growing food.

0:04:40.359,0:04:43.985
Someone might look at a roof and[br]think of it as the underwear of a building

0:04:43.995,0:04:46.346
it's an ignored space,[br]it's a heat island,

0:04:46.346,0:04:47.847
it needs maintenance,

0:04:47.847,0:04:50.070
they have to be cleaned[br]every now and then

0:04:50.070,0:04:51.768
but no one likes roofs,[br]they're the underwear.

0:04:51.768,0:04:53.605
(Laughter)

0:04:53.605,0:04:56.613
But it turns out that underwear[br]is an incredibly fertile space.

0:04:56.623,0:04:59.883
In this specific building,[br]that you see behind me here,

0:04:59.883,0:05:05.164
we receive over half a million dollars[br]in free energy every single year.

0:05:05.164,0:05:07.016
Simply from the sun.

0:05:07.016,0:05:08.597
Not to mention that we receive

0:05:08.597,0:05:11.039
half of our heating energy[br]from the building below.

0:05:11.039,0:05:12.823
What's great about being in the city,

0:05:12.823,0:05:14.660
is the carbon dioxide levels are higher,

0:05:14.660,0:05:16.717
something else that plants need.

0:05:16.717,0:05:19.667
So responsible agriculture[br]is starting off by using no land,

0:05:19.667,0:05:23.725
and using water, a scarce resource,[br]in a more responsible way.

0:05:23.725,0:05:26.146
So harvesting rainwater,[br]and more importantly,

0:05:26.146,0:05:28.800
recirculating nutrient rich water,

0:05:28.800,0:05:31.426
and again, I think[br]the previous presenter explained

0:05:31.426,0:05:35.067
the importance[br]and the link between blue algae

0:05:35.067,0:05:37.732
and phosphorous rich water[br]leaching into lakes and rivers.

0:05:37.732,0:05:39.611
So by having a closed loop system,

0:05:39.611,0:05:41.981
not only are we growing[br]in a more responsible way,

0:05:41.981,0:05:44.323
but we're actually saving a lot of money.

0:05:44.323,0:05:47.571
Responsible agriculture means[br]using no synthetic pesticides,

0:05:47.571,0:05:49.262
herbicides, and fungicides.

0:05:49.262,0:05:50.622
And you can actually do this

0:05:50.622,0:05:54.132
because we've been doing it for many years[br]prior to the green revolution.

0:05:54.132,0:05:55.364
It works really well.

0:05:55.364,0:05:58.266
And it's simply by using biocontrols,[br]insects.

0:05:58.266,0:06:01.140
So we have good insects[br]in the green house, like ladybugs,

0:06:01.140,0:06:05.506
that actually attack bad insects,[br]such as aphids or white flies.

0:06:05.506,0:06:08.090
And every now and then,[br]we see them having sex.

0:06:08.090,0:06:09.587
(Laughter)

0:06:09.587,0:06:12.796
They love the conditions[br]in the green house for some reason.

0:06:12.796,0:06:14.137
(Laughter)

0:06:14.137,0:06:17.665
And finally, responsible agriculture[br]means growing good food.

0:06:17.665,0:06:20.341
Selecting cultivars[br]and varieties for their taste,

0:06:20.341,0:06:23.179
for their nutrition,[br]for their smell and texture.

0:06:23.179,0:06:26.030
Heirloom tomatoes, purple basil,

0:06:26.030,0:06:28.391
white cucumbers, wild persian grasses.

0:06:28.391,0:06:30.474
The possibilities are limitless.

0:06:30.474,0:06:32.191
What we can grow in a green house,

0:06:32.191,0:06:34.524
what we can feed you guys,[br]is unbelievable,

0:06:34.524,0:06:36.371
but what we find in the grocery store

0:06:36.371,0:06:39.678
is only the subset[br]that will transport very, very well.

0:06:39.678,0:06:42.996
So after defining responsible agriculture,[br]in September 2010,

0:06:42.996,0:06:44.472
we started working.

0:06:44.472,0:06:46.813
I'm going to walk you through[br]a few slides

0:06:46.813,0:06:49.115
that show you the process of construction.

0:06:49.115,0:06:52.169
What you don't see in here[br]is the 4 years of technology development

0:06:52.169,0:06:54.071
that went prior to construction.

0:06:54.071,0:06:57.579
We had to develop our own patent pending,

0:06:57.579,0:06:59.553
water circulation systems.

0:06:59.553,0:07:02.390
Polycultures growing systems[br]that allow us to grow

0:07:02.390,0:07:04.347
multicrops in the same green house,

0:07:04.347,0:07:07.346
still achieving the same yields[br]as a monoculture grower.

0:07:07.346,0:07:10.321
We developed water circulation techniques,

0:07:10.321,0:07:12.936
and microclimate management software.

0:07:12.936,0:07:16.512
So our entire green houses[br]are managed by a piece of software.

0:07:16.512,0:07:19.287
But real quick, I'll walk you through[br]a typical construction.

0:07:19.287,0:07:22.533
We take an existing roof,[br]we keep the existing membrane,

0:07:22.533,0:07:25.964
we erect a structure,[br]made out of galvanized steel,

0:07:25.964,0:07:29.974
aluminum, and glass,[br]and this process goes quite fast.

0:07:29.974,0:07:33.068
Believe it or not, we got [br]this structure up in less than 3 weeks,

0:07:33.068,0:07:37.234
and you can see, we used some cranes[br]to bring the material up to the roof,

0:07:37.234,0:07:40.021
and in this case[br]it was a 2-story building.

0:07:40.040,0:07:41.656
And this is a picture --

0:07:41.893,0:07:45.427
It shows a bit the inside[br]of the green house,

0:07:45.427,0:07:47.281
just prior to planting,

0:07:47.281,0:07:49.634
and you can actually see[br]our energy curtains,

0:07:49.634,0:07:51.464
another feature that helps save energy.

0:07:51.464,0:07:53.383
We deploy that during the nighttime,

0:07:53.383,0:07:55.705
and it envelops the green house,[br]the plants.

0:07:55.705,0:07:57.844
And the temperature above[br]our energy curtain

0:07:57.844,0:08:00.879
could be -10ºC,[br]whereas below the energy curtain,

0:08:00.879,0:08:04.494
is a 22º - 23º C climate.

0:08:04.494,0:08:09.960
After the construction process,[br]and on February 28, 2011,

0:08:09.960,0:08:13.268
we planted the first seeds,[br]of the first plants,

0:08:13.268,0:08:16.546
in the world's first[br]commercial rooftop greenhouse.

0:08:16.546,0:08:20.354
(Applause)

0:08:23.574,0:08:25.612
And it's something[br]that we're very proud of,

0:08:25.612,0:08:28.570
I remember the team[br]really celebrated that day,

0:08:28.570,0:08:30.505
and we popped a lot of Champaign bottles,

0:08:30.505,0:08:32.725
and they were not local.[br](Laughter)

0:08:32.725,0:08:35.805
They were the good kind.[br](Laughter)

0:08:35.805,0:08:37.926
And just 2 months[br]after that very first day,

0:08:37.926,0:08:39.737
my niece, Maya, at 8-months old,

0:08:39.737,0:08:42.468
had her first solid food,[br]and it was one of our tomatoes,

0:08:42.468,0:08:45.431
a cherry tomato grown in Montréal,[br]and she loves our tomatoes

0:08:45.431,0:08:47.350
and this is something[br]that brings me the most joy,

0:08:47.350,0:08:50.014
seeing kids going through vegetables[br]like they're candy.

0:08:50.014,0:08:53.860
And today, almost a year later,[br]we feed 2,000 people

0:08:53.860,0:08:56.795
with vegetables that are harvested[br]on the exact same day,

0:08:56.795,0:09:00.158
that have never seen[br]the inside of a fridge.

0:09:00.158,0:09:03.966
Vegetables harvested[br]in the heart of the city, on a rooftop,

0:09:03.966,0:09:06.775
using half the energy[br]to heat the building,

0:09:06.775,0:09:09.334
and a fraction of the water and nutrients.

0:09:09.334,0:09:12.084
And because of the direct link[br]with our consumers,

0:09:12.084,0:09:14.445
we distribute our food to drop points,

0:09:14.445,0:09:18.063
and drop points are universities,[br]coffee shops all over the island.

0:09:18.063,0:09:20.130
But the process is so efficient,

0:09:20.130,0:09:22.958
that we only need[br]15 dollars in fuel per day,

0:09:22.958,0:09:26.016
to feed 2,000 people.

0:09:26.016,0:09:30.996
(Applause)

0:09:32.746,0:09:35.187
And what's been actually[br]a huge surprise to us,

0:09:35.187,0:09:40.151
is seeing how this little farm in Montréal[br]was able to connect the community.

0:09:40.151,0:09:43.134
Early on, when we started construction,[br]people would stop by,

0:09:43.134,0:09:45.385
and would ask us if they could visit.

0:09:45.385,0:09:48.418
We had requests from universities,[br]from schools,

0:09:48.418,0:09:52.120
from synagogues, from churches[br]all wanting to visit a farm.

0:09:52.120,0:09:55.060
And it was really great to see how --

0:09:55.060,0:09:57.730
To date we've had[br]over 10,000 visitors to the greenhouse.

0:09:57.730,0:10:00.531
10,000 people that now understand[br]where food comes from.

0:10:00.531,0:10:02.982
10,000 people that have met a farmer.

0:10:02.982,0:10:05.381
Kids that have seen[br]how a tomato plant grows,

0:10:05.381,0:10:07.376
how a cucumber should taste like,

0:10:07.376,0:10:10.040
and that's something[br]that's been a big surprise to us,

0:10:10.050,0:10:11.581
but it's been a very --

0:10:11.581,0:10:13.561
I'm ecstatic to see that.

0:10:13.561,0:10:16.851
And another great moment for me[br]is walking into one of our drop points,

0:10:16.851,0:10:19.283
between the hours of 3 and 6 pm,

0:10:19.283,0:10:23.455
and seeing 30 - 40 customers[br]rushing to grab their vegetable baskets,

0:10:23.455,0:10:26.608
but taking the time to exchange recipes,

0:10:26.608,0:10:31.118
phone numbers,[br]veggies and to truly connect.

0:10:31.118,0:10:33.857
So I'm going to leave you[br]with a few images.

0:10:33.857,0:10:36.810
I think everybody likes images.

0:10:36.810,0:10:41.057
Believe it or not, the first[br]is actually a picture of the land

0:10:41.057,0:10:45.554
that used to exist where we have built[br]our greenhouse, 40-years ago.

0:10:45.554,0:10:49.396
So 40-years ago, prior to the construction[br]of the industrial building,

0:10:49.396,0:10:53.959
there used to be a farm, and a farmer[br]used to work here, feeding people.

0:10:53.959,0:10:58.210
For 37 years, that spot[br]was replaced by an industrial building,

0:10:58.210,0:11:02.441
that contributed to heat islands,[br]and displaced the farmer.

0:11:02.441,0:11:05.581
The good news is, this spot is once again,

0:11:05.581,0:11:08.101
a fertile plot of land.

0:11:08.101,0:11:10.931
Employing many,[br]and feeding many, many more,

0:11:10.931,0:11:13.913
and helping make our world a better place.

0:11:13.913,0:11:16.370
So imagine cities

0:11:16.370,0:11:20.387
that feed their own inhabitants.

0:11:20.387,0:11:23.496
Imagine communities[br]that are connected by farms.

0:11:23.496,0:11:27.716
Imagine knowing your farmer,[br]and knowing your food.

0:11:27.716,0:11:33.520
When we celebrated[br]our first anniversary at Lufa,

0:11:33.520,0:11:34.780
(Chuckling)

0:11:34.780,0:11:36.981
what we choose to celebrate,

0:11:36.981,0:11:39.882
was not the beginning of the construction,

0:11:39.882,0:11:42.023
it wasn't the end of the construction,

0:11:42.023,0:11:45.172
it was the day we had[br]the first seeds planted.

0:11:45.172,0:11:47.399
Because I remember very well that day,

0:11:47.399,0:11:49.866
our carbon dioxide levels[br]started dropping,

0:11:49.866,0:11:52.235
and our humidity levels started rising,

0:11:52.235,0:11:54.604
just as the plants made it[br]into the greenhouse.

0:11:54.604,0:11:58.044
That was the first beat,[br]the first sign of life.

0:11:58.044,0:12:00.034
Now imagine cities full of life.

0:12:00.034,0:12:01.098
(French) Thank you.

0:12:01.098,0:12:02.926
(Applause)