Strawberries in the Sky Are the Future of Food

Vertical farming was once so sexy that it tempted the likes of Natalie Portman, Lewis Hamilton and Justin Timberlake to join venture capital and private equity firms buying into high-tech facilities cultivating crops in stacked layers using soil-free growing techniques. Those investments have turned ugly recently — but there are still reasons for optimism about the future of high-rise food.

The headlines aren’t encouraging: The Jones Food Co., which opened its biggest farm in Gloucestershire last year and had Ocado Group Plc as a major shareholder, went into administration in May. Vertical Future, a London-based equipment supplier, sought protection from creditors in August, owing £7.9 million ($10.5 million) to unsecured lenders.