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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Mark Brown. Photographs by Gary Calton

Subterranean salad: underground farmers seek solution to food crisis in disused UK mines

Researchers in safety gear harvest leafy plants grown inside the Boulby Underground Laboratory mine tunnel
The underground farm at Boulby. Researchers believe using mines to grow crops could reduce the high energy costs of conventional vertical farming. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian

It has the vibe of a Bond villain’s underground lair but the workers in hi-vis and helmets aren’t weighing and packing hard drugs or parts for a death laser. It’s pak choi and lettuce.

More than 1,000 metres down, researchers in North Yorkshire have created the world’s deepest underground farm and are running trials for a project that could transform UK food production.

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