A、Workers must obey the growing order of plants. B、Plants are grown in sands. C、Workers can control the plants’ growing speed. D

As experts warn of a coming food crisis, the vertical farming industry aims to create plants that offer more nutritional value and require fewer resources. In vertical farms, plants are grown indoors. Workers control the climate and closely monitor each plant’s growth. Vertical farm supporters say the methods are good for the environment, and good for the world’s growing population. Experts say the size of the vertical farming market is expected to quadruple over the next five years to nearly $4 billion.
    Because of the technology it has created, AeroFarms has become one of the top indoor-farming companies. One of its vertical farms is in a large building near a busy road in Newark, New Jersey. It grows more than 250 kinds of greens and herbs. Farmers wear gloves, coats and coverings on their head. Their shoes must be cleaned. AeroFarms grows crops at the same rate throughout the year. The methods it uses lower soil erosion. They also reduce the amount of pesticides and water needed to grow the crops. The company says carbon emissions are heavily reduced and in some cases eliminated. David Rosenberg is the co-founder and chief executive officer of AeroFarms. “We could do this whether it is in the Sahara or a city like Newark,” he said. Alina Zolotareva is a dietitian and nutritionist at AeroFarms. She says she wants people to eat more leafy greens like kale, one of the most nutritionally dense foods. She says if her company is to successfully encourage this kind of healthy eating, it must grow crops that taste good. “Americans especially don’t eat enough vegetables, and so for me the most exciting part is all of the different flavours that we have here. It makes eating your vegetables so much more exciting and so much more fun. ”
    Rosenberg said AeroFarms is helping the world deal with a growing food shortage. He said people must change their focus from the number of calories they consume to the nutrition levels of the foods they eat. Recent World Bank studies predict that an estimated global population of 9 billion in 2020 will require at least 50 percent more food. Experts say the crisis will be worsened by climate change, which they believe will reduce crop yields by more than 25 percent during that time. They say the food crisis will have a larger effect on the world’s poorest citizens than on those who live in developed countries.
    Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
    23. What does the speaker say about vertical farms?
    24. What can we learn about AeroFarms?
    25. What should people focus on in terms of food according to Rosenberg?