In a streetscape largely unchanged since it was built in the 1800s, Hobart’s Battery Point is probably the last place you would expect to find a farm growing the equivalent of two acres of production.
Tucked away in Peter Handy’s backyard is a controlled environment unit that houses vertical pastures, the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Mr Handy is changing the definition of what it means to be a farmer.
“I know it’s really funny, because when people say to me, ‘Where’s your farm?’, I’ll say ‘it’s in Battery Point’ and they look perplexed, and they’re like, ‘No there’s no farms at Battery Point’,” he said.
Not just a backyard project, Mr Handy is running a business.
“It’s here because I need to be as close to my clients and my customers, the chefs and restaurants of Hobart,” he said.
“I aim to use the least amount of food miles as possible and make this super-efficient and lean business.”
Two acres of production in a 40-foot space
Using LED lights and hydroponic nutrients, the farm grows lettuces, leafy greens, Asian greens, herbs, root vegetables and flowering plants.
Using 95 per cent less water than traditional farming, the farm ticks the box environmentally.
“I mean, this is definitely not the answer to food sustainability in the world. But it’s definitely a part of it,” Mr Handy said.
Changing the nature of the world
Science writer Julian Cribb believes a world food crisis is imminent, due to a combination of loss of water, loss of topsoil, climate change and overuse of poisons.
“We’re going to need to change the nature of the way we produce food and change the human diet at the same time,” he said.
Mr Cribb said new urban farming methods would see most of the world’s great cities feeding themselves.
“If you go to Dubai, you’ll find that Emirates has built a 50-storey urban farm that looks like a car park; they call these things sky farms. It’s basically just a layer of hydroponic production, growing fresh fruit and vegetables for airline meals.
“I mean, Dubai is not a famous farming country, but it’s becoming a major producer of food.”
Making a business out of your backyard
Like many others, Robyn Ayles’ urban farm is tucked away in her backyard in Toowoomba.
Growing specialty mushrooms for restaurants and local farmers’ markets, Ms Ayles has found farming in a shipping container not just more efficient but also easy to establish.
“Because they are so portable it’s an instant fix and they’re insulated,” she said.
Ms Ayles said urban farming was not just selling a product to market, but selling the story of a small-scale local farm that uses renewable energy and has low food miles.
“We sell to a lot of restaurants here in Toowoomba, and they advertise the fact that they purchase locally, so food miles are important to them and [so is sourcing] from micro farms, rather than the big ones.
Traditional farming not going anywhere
Julian Cribb said Australia was still quite a way off from adopting urban farming.
“It’s only just going to sink in; that we might not be able to farm in a hot world” he said.
But Mr Cribb believes that poses a rather unique opportunity for Australian farmers to sell their expertise to cities, teaching people to grow food in urban environments.
“I think the urban farmers, a lot of them are corporate, and they’ve got no idea,” he said.
“They need people with the skills to grow crops, and livestock, and meat and all sorts of things. There’s a huge job opportunity for people with good agricultural skill levels in city production.”
