室内农业面临不确定的未来

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室内农业面临不确定的未来
Indoor food growing operations are seeing both successes and failures in the United States.
在美国，室内食品种植既有成功也有失败。
Some companies in the food industry are investing even as competitors fail.
即使在竞争对手失败的情况下，该食品行业的一些公司仍在投资。
California-based Plenty Unlimited this summer began work on a $300 million indoor plant, while Kroger announced that it will be increasing its availability of vertically farmed produce.
总部位于加利福尼亚州的Plenty Unlimited公司今年夏天开始投资3亿美元用于室内种植，而克罗格公司则宣布其将会增加垂直农产品的供应量。
Meanwhile, two indoor farming companies that got strong backing - New Jersey's AeroFarms and Kentucky's AppHarvest - filed for bankruptcy reorganization.
与此同时，两家得到了强有力支持的室内农业公司——新泽西州的AeroFarms和肯塔基州的AppHarvest——申请破产重组。
And a five-year-old company in Detroit, Planted Detroit, shut its doors this summer.
底特律一家成立五年的公司Planted Detroit在今年夏天关门歇业。
The industry changes do not worry Jacob Portillo, a grower with Eden Green Technology, an indoor farming company.
室内农业公司伊甸园绿色技术公司的种植者雅各布·波蒂略并不担心该行业的变化。
"The fact that other people are failing and other people are succeeding, that's going to happen in any industry you go to, but specifically for us, I think that ... the sustainable competitors ... are going to start winning," he said.
他说：“事实上，有人失败，有人成功，这在任何行业都会发生，但尤其对我们来说，我认为……可持续的竞争对手……将会取得胜利”。
Indoor farming brings growing inside in what experts sometimes call "controlled environment agriculture."
室内农业指的是在室内种植农作物，专家有时称之为“控制环境农业”。
There are different methods.
有不同的方法。
One method called vertical farming involves stacking produce from floor to ceiling, often under artificial lights and with the plants growing in nutrient-enriched water.
一种名为垂直种植的方法指的是将农产品从地板堆叠到天花板，通常是在人造光的照射下，植物生长在营养丰富的水中。
Other growers are trying very large greenhouses, indoor beds of soil in big buildings and using special robots for parts of the farming process.
其他种植者正在尝试超大型温室，在大型建筑物的室内土壤床上种植农作物，并在部分耕作过程中使用特殊的机器人。
Supporters say growing indoors uses less water and land and permits food to be grown closer to consumers, saving on transport.
支持者表示，室内种植使用更少的水和土地，并且可以在离消费者更近的地方种植，从而节省了运输费用。
Indoor growing is also a way to protect crops from increasingly extreme weather caused by climate change.
室内种植也是保护农作物免受气候变化引起的日益极端天气影响的一种方式。
The companies often say their products are free of pesticides, although the foods are usually not marketed as organic.
这些公司经常称他们的产品不含杀虫剂，尽管这些食品通常不是作为有机食品销售的。
But critics question the sustainability of operations that can require a lot of energy for artificial light.
但批评人士质疑该运营模式的可持续性，因为人造光需要大量能源。
And they say paying for that light can make profitability impossible.
他们还表示，花钱买那种灯可能会使盈利变得不可能。
Tom Kimmerer is a plant expert who taught at the University of Kentucky.
汤姆·金默尔是一位植物专家，他曾在肯塔基大学任教。
Kimmerer has followed indoor farming alongside his research into the growth of plants both outdoors and inside.
金默尔在研究室外和室内植物生长情况的同时，也一直在关注室内农业。
He said his first thought on vertical farm companies - especially those that used a lot of artificial light - was, "Boy, this is a dumb idea," mainly due to high energy costs.
他说，他对垂直农业公司——尤其是那些使用大量人造光的公司——的第一个想法是，“天哪，这是个愚蠢的主意”，主要是因为能源成本太高。
The industry has admitted those high costs.
该行业已经承认了这些高昂的成本。
Some companies are seeking to push costs down by using solar power.
一些公司正试图通过使用太阳能来降低成本。
But even the companies that use a lot of artificial light that does not come from renewables say they can be profitable by eventually producing a high volume of produce year-round.
但即使是那些使用大量非可再生能源人造光的公司也表示，他们最终可以通过全年生产大量产品来盈利。
But Kimmerer thinks there are better ways to provide food locally and extend the growing season - outdoors.
但金默尔认为，有更好的为当地提供食物并延长户外植物生长季的方法。
He pointed to Elmwood Stock Farm outside Lexington, Kentucky.
他指着肯塔基州列克星敦郊外的Elmwood Stock Farm。
The farm can grow tomatoes and greens the whole year using tools like high tunnels, also known as hoop houses.
这个农场可以通过使用高隧道（即环状房屋）等工具全年种植西红柿和蔬菜。
These are greenhouse-like structures that protect crops while still being partially open to the outdoors.
这是一种类似温室的建筑物，这种建筑物在保护农作物的同时又能部分向户外开放。
He thinks investment flowing toward new versions of indoor farming would be better spent on solutions for outdoor farmers like special robots, or money support for regenerative practices.
他认为，流向新型室内农业的资金最好花在为户外农民提供解决方案上，比如特殊机器人，或者为再生农业提供资金支持。
Curt Covington of AgAmerica Lending, a private investment company centered on agriculture, is not convinced that indoor farming operations can work - except in special cases.
以农业为中心的私人投资公司AgAmerica Lending的柯特·卡温顿并不相信室内农业可以奏效，除非在特殊情况下。
Given the high cost of indoor operations, Covington said, "It's just hard... to be very profitable."
考虑到室内农业的高昂成本，卡温顿说，“这很难……盈利很多。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。