I just pledged $100 dollars to the development of a New York City-based “vertical farm.”

If you don’t know about the project, you can check out The Vertical Farm website here, an article on the concept in The New York Times, or this discussion in The Huffington Post on how we can use such a construction project as part of an advanced building block of our future (and national security).

From the campaign: The Vertical Farm is a urban indoor highrise farm that can grow food to feed urban populations in a sustainable way. It’s one of the most innovative solutions to the impending food and environmental crisises we’ll see in the next 50 years.

Benefits include:

• Year-round indoor farming produces 4-6 times more food
• All organic
• Dramatic reduction of fossil fuel use in farming: shipping, tractors, etc.
• Recycles water it uses
• Avoids weather-related crop failures
• New jobs

The best thing about the pledge is that it’s just that – a pledge. I have not yet been charged. I am supporting an idea and only when there is enough support to leverage it into a reality will my money be put to use.

Andrew Mason puts the project into context of The Point’s weekend upgrade:

“Hey there, We launched a major upgrade to The Point this weekend. I’m inviting you a “carrot” campaign — one of our new features. For these campaigns, there are no preset tipping points — people just pile on the money until someone agrees to do something. In this case, we’re trying to get a developer to agree to build a skyscraper farm in Manhattan. Please forward this to New Yorkers you know – I think it’s a really cool idea. You won’t pay a dime unless someone reputable steps up and agrees to build the farm. We’ll probably work something out where you’ll get a return on your investment, either in the form of equity or produce, but it’s too early to promise anything. Help spread the word!”

Please consider supporting the concept, be it by pledge or spreading the word about the campaign, and get behind bringing United States’ food production into the future.

-Filed in Ideas, The Point