Harper expert discusses role of cities in helping boost Europe's food security

The use of urban farming can play a crucial role in improving the security of Europe’s food supply, a Harper Adams University expert has told Food Matters Live.

Dr Laura Vickers, Senior Lecturer in Plant Biology at Harper Adams University, was one of a series of European experts who were spoken to for the website’s recent piece on the role cities can play in supplementing rural harvest.

She told the site: “Whether that’s a garden in a school supplying the canteen or more of a business model, for instance through an underground system, any extra food added into the supply chain is a benefit when we look at the strains it is under at present.”

Dr Vickers explains how the importance of urban agriculture will grow, using the example of the Agrotopia greenhouse in Belgium, which recycles heat and carbon dioxide from a city centre incinerator to grow vegetables – and is based directly above a fruit and vegetable distribution centre.

Read the full article here.