The allure and delusion of vertical plant factories in Canada and the politics of continuity

Vertical plant factories (VPFs) have attracted substantial hype through bold claims about their potential benefits, even as the material, energy, and biophysical requirements of indoor cultivation cast doubt on whether those promises can be realized at scale. This paper builds on the growing critical literature on VPFs, examining the narratives of Canadian developers and their coverage in mainstream media. We begin by setting out a framework for understanding the energy- and material-intensity of VPFs, a key part of which is the need to override the biophysical constraints posed by artificial growing conditions. We then analyze the case for VPFs as set out by leading Canadian developers, organized around three central justifications: reducing environmental damage, increasing resilience, and generating economic benefits. We follow this with an examination of how the Canadian news media has covered the rise of VPFs, which has largely echoed and amplified developer optimism though with some different emphases. Our analysis shows how the prevailing imaginary of VPFs in Canada operates as a politics of continuity, whereby the unsustainability of industrial food systems is acknowledged but redirected into promises of intensifying capital investment and technological innovation. A central part of the allure of this imaginary is the appeal to consumer entitlements about the continuing year-round abundance of fresh produce, which ultimately helps defer the need for transformative shifts in how humans relate to land and food.