This never seems to matter to anyone but me. How much does a pound of whatever you are growing cost????????????????????????????????????

Nothing matters if the end result is that the vegetables aren\'t cheap. I have friends who tell me that $6.50 a dozen organic eggs are worth it. I don\'t care about that!!! I am talking about making food cheaper so that everyone all over the world gets a fair share.

I\'m going to think this is another case of \"Boutique Green\", not for everyone, for the \"High Life\" instead.

Sorry for the rant.

froginapot,, I agree with you they could and should have included an idea at least as to the average cost per whatever one chooses to grow but, I have a good idea that LCD lights are very cheap to keep lit and for instance growing tomatoes, potatos, lettuce and/or broccoli I can grow enough to save at least enough to pay the cost of a grow medium and electricity bills. Besides then I know what has gone into what I am growing and am getting it a lot fresher than any store can. And with the indoor gardening giving me continuing grow seasons I\'m one happy farmer. The only real expense is the down stroke. LCD\'s ain\'t cheap but, you can recover the costs in savings very fast.

AeroFarms system allows leafy greens and herbs at a higher cost for those who can afford.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India

It\'s like everything, the more people take it up the cheaper it will become. Anyone remember how much a TV used to cost. Anyway no pesticides is a fantastic outcome and is the only way mankind will have a future.

Even if the produce is more expensive the pesticide free thing should make it sell well to those who can afford it and this would free up a little land (and a fair bit of water) and slightly increase the availability of these agricultural necessities for the poor and middle class.
This would be true even if the economy of scale thing does NOT bring the cost down to where the poor can afford aeroponically grown produce. Hopefully it would eventually do that too.

Also the amount of pesticides pouring into the watersheds would be reduced which would benefit the poor as well as the rest of us.

Um - Plants grow in the sun, breathe in CO2, and Exhale O2.

So lets stick them inside, and burn coal to produce electricicty, and wire it to bulbs for the plants to grow with. Yay - now instead of something that consumes CO2, we\'ve got something that *emits* 10 *times* more CO2 than it would have otherwise consumed.

(ten times; assumes coal power plant, typical transmission line losses, and extremely efficient lighting)

Did anyone else get a giggle at their deflection on that topic? They pretended that \"inefficient\" referred to the life expectancy of the bulbs, and ignored that actual meaning of the criticism.

20-33% return on investment is likely better than a traditional farm, so the cost should be reasonable. Hello? Anybody here read that?
If you use *more* carbon burning LEDs (currently over 100Lumens/Watt versus incandescant 20L/W), but grow faster (see article), then the extra energy *may* be offset by extra production. But I think most initial installations will use added sunlight through skylights since I think this depends on sealed chambers to keep the pests out.
When the cost of water goes up due to increasing scarcity, pesticide pollution finally becomes intolerable (should be already), and space is at a premium, then this type of technology will be not only beneficial, but preferred and required. Even the specific frequency LEDs (powered by solar!) will show their benefit in added growth efficiency.
I\'m not saying this is the answer for today, but the very near future, most likely.

Einstein said: \"Every great idea is met with violent opposition from meager minds\"

20-33% ROI? Sign me up. It is important that these technologies are developed as our impact on the land grows ever larger. IF renewable energy sources can keep up of course ;)

Sorry AeroFarms, but the Japanese were first in using LED lighting And using solar panels to power their indoor farms.

Look up-

SANYO to Provide Solar Panels and Lithium-ion Batteries
for Mitsubishi Chemical\'s \"40Ft container Vegetable Factory\"

And

Mitsubishi chemical Corp develops veggie growing shipping containers

For more information.

Mitsubishi Chemical sold a self contained shipping container farm to Qatar back in April 2010, so the concept of self contained vegetable factory is not hypothetical, it is reality.