Not everyone is convinced, however. Critics point out that rooftop farms can never match the scale of traditional agriculture and worry about structural demands on buildings not designed to bear the weight of soil and water. Building codes in many cities have yet to catch up with the trend.
Despite these concerns, the momentum appears unstoppable. As climate change disrupts traditional growing regions and urban populations continue to swell, the argument for growing food closer to where people live becomes harder to dismiss. The future of farming, it seems, may be above our heads.