Vertical farming, the best solution to support an ever growing population or just a scam?
IMHO it has a lot of potential but not being able to grow grains really is something that should be tackled sooner rather than later. But I could see this being used by self sustaining communities to provide lots of food while using very little space. And it's technically more environmentally friendly than just using vast stretches of land to produce the same amount of food.
It got a bit of a bad rep lately because of some venture capital funded start ups trying to dominate the space, but in general the technology has its niche for growing easily perishable vegetables near or inside population centres.
Yes, I think this technology works best to fill a niche in denser cities, just not to provide for the food needs of a whole city. They would also improve the quality of life in the city.
I agree it's all about where we apply the growing methods that makes a difference