Bermuda Business Review 2023-2024 in June 2023.
BY COLIN CAMPBELL
Robust local architecture is noted to resist storms, careful fiscal strategies in banking secures confidence in these institutions, solid and secure framework of laws and governance provides global confidence, whilst capable and adaptable global leadership in the insurance industries − with the intelligence to spot the risks in time to avoid disasters − and the Island’s long-standing commitment and support of democratic institutions that have weathered changes over the past four centuries, continue to serve us well. Since the outbreak of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the world has also been beset with a series of catastrophes including hurricanes, typhoons, raging wildfires, drought and floods, famine, political disruption and the war in Ukraine. It is as if all the previous warnings of the effects of global warming were revealed inside a three-year period. Consensus on the reality of global warming has not been firm over the past 30 years, with many contradictory statements and misdirection’s posited by certain industries. In 2023 there is hardly a person in the world who will not admit, the seasons are different, the weather is not as predictable as it once was and climate change is likely to change our way of life.
Critical institutions in Bermuda can secure and protect the Island from the upcoming roiled seas of global climate change, except for one critical overlooked element. Food security. Food security and sustainability is the Achilles Heel of the entire Bermuda economy and immediately susceptible to a piercing event that could collapse our entire way of life within three weeks.
Food security has been an ever-present issue in Bermuda from the start of the development of the colony in 1612. In Michael Jarvis’s book Isle of Devils, Isle of Saints, by 1640-50 Bermuda, with a small population, was largely food and nutrition self-sufficient, sustainable and exported excess food. In following decades as the colony prospered and the population of Bermuda grew, the ability for Bermuda to feed itself diminished and the Island started on the long road of being dependent on other countries for food supplies. In 1921 Bermuda had more than 3,000 acres of land under cultivation primarily for export crops. Due to the Great Depression with embargoes of farm products into the USA, by 1931 only 2,000 acres were under active local cultivation. Today Bermuda has 500 acres of registered farmland of which +300 acres are actively farmed. In 2022 Bermuda imported 13,566 tons of produce from US ports such as fruits, vegetables, tubers and nuts, worth $76.5 million on store shelves. Bermuda farmers add approximately 5% of the total food supply in Bermuda. For a population of +60,000 persons, the local farming community − despite their best efforts − cannot provide sustainable local food resources, thus the Island depends on the global food chain to supply the population with daily nutrition.
The stark reality of 2023 food security in Bermuda is, on any week, there is approximately two weeks of food supply. Every week we have two ships with supplies arrive to replenish the stores and food distributor warehouses. We are saved from immediate want, one week at a time. If a particular supply ship does not arrive on Island the effect is usually seen immediately with store shelves being empty of products. These disruptions have been rare but do happen from time to time due to issues such as weather delays, or mechanical failure.
A ‘Black Swan’ event that would halt the arrival of both ships in successive weeks, by storm damage, sinkings, mechanical failures, terrorism or even government seizures, would paralyse the economy, as families would naturally seek out what fresh supplies could be had, within the first two weeks. In the instance of continued scarcity without benefit of airlift supplies, in the third week or more without adequate relief, it is conceivable unrest and violence could occur.
Without immediate relief in sight by ship or air within three weeks, global residents would flee to their home countries, tourists would leave, international companies would relocate operations, Government revenues would start to collapse and mass unemployment would ensue. It is likely the Police and Regiment would be called up to protect food stores, warehouses and farmers crops in the fields. Special guard units would also be assembled to protect residents with the means to leave the Island via the airport. Abandoned homes may be looted as the hungry seek sustenance. These dystopian scenes are not uncommon now in Haiti and other countries around the world suffering from the aftermath of catastrophic storm events or extended food shortages.
Food security and sustainability in Bermuda will not happen overnight, however many people are starting to address the issue with a sense of personal urgency. Since COVID-19, many have taken to gardening and providing their own backyard vegetables and produce. The Government of Bermuda is encouraging the revitalisation of the existing 200 acres of untended farmland for future production. The Netherlands, a relatively small county in Europe, is the second largest food exporter in the world by dollar amount. This country’s food development strategies are worthy of study. Using the most efficient and careful technological means possible, the Dutch create an abundance of healthy sustainable food for their people and export to the world.
One of the emerging technologies is the use of vertical farms. Vertical farms are buildings near or in existing urban areas in which crops are grown commercially in multiple layers. Investments in vertical farming worldwide is expected to grow to $9.7 billion by 2026 from $3.1 billion in 2021, according to ResearchandMarkets.com.
Utilising this same Dutch expertise, Bermuda Vertical Technologies (BVT Ltd.) has been planning to develop a modest vertical farm in 2023 in the heart of Hamilton. Utilising a former commercial office building, the location is hurricane tested, will resist occasional windstorms as well as vermin, insects and ‘night farmers’. Using the existing +40,000 square feet of former office floor area, when multiple layers of growing racks are installed, up to four acres of growing area can be developed within the building. Utilising modern LED lights and air-conditioning systems the vertical farm can approximate a near ‘spring like’ environment all year round. With sufficient light, water and nutrients, the plants are grown free of herbicides and pesticides. Managed cultivation should provide daily fresh produce. As the first installation proves successful, additional vertical farm developments would follow addressing differing product lines grown on a year-round basis.
BVT Ltd is not the only local group interested in vertical and hydroponic technologies. A few smaller individual installations have been assembled around the Island. The Bermuda College is now offering courses on hydroponic technologies. Vertical farming is a potent means of adding to Island food security and sustainability. It will not however replace traditional farms and the crops they best produce.
Food insecurity currently is only two weeks away, any day of the week. In the immediate future, Bermuda − like many countries and small island nations − will need to apply vertical farming technologies to assist food security, as the land for traditional farming is just insufficient for the demand and prone to the effects of global warming.
