Behind a Victorian shop front in the Cockney heartland of London 's East End hides an urban agriculture initiative that claims to be the world 's first farm in a shop . The aptly-named FARM : shop sits along a busy main road next to a ragtag bunch of more conventional retail outlets , most of which are in various phases of decay . There are chickens grazing on the rooftop -- seemingly oblivious to the red double decker buses roaring past below . Inside are fish tanks filled with Tilapia ; mushrooms sprouting in the basement ; fruit blooming in a polytunnel greenhouse ; and endless rows of herbs and salad leaves growing from the hydroponic troughs that line the shelves . `` I think places like FARM : shop can reconnect people with their food , '' says engineer and co-founder Paul Smyth . `` We 've had this separation of countryside and city living ... So the connection has been severed between what you eat and how it 's grown . '' While the ethos is community focused , the shop 's interior is more like a laboratory than a local gardening center . White low-energy strip lights facilitate the growth of vegetables in lieu of sun rays , and the cabbage patch looks more like a cluster of giant Petri dishes than an allotment . `` We 've been learning as we go with most of this technology , '' admits Smyth . That said , the shop -- which opened in 2011 -- is already a modest commercial success . Having diversified into a grocery store , cafe , rentable office and events space , it now employs two staff and is turning a profit -- all of which is ploughed back into the business . `` We 've experienced a great amount of goodwill and enthusiasm about the project . People just want to come off the street , learn how to raise a fish ; look after a chicken ; grow some food -- and that means you get a more people-powered agriculture , '' says Smyth . Infographic : The secret life of drinking water . While few would contest the rehabilitative social value of projects like FARM : shop , its founders argue it could be the start of something much more : A radical new approach to ecologically sustainable agriculture . `` If you 're growing food directly where it 's eaten , there 's less refrigeration ... less energy use through transport and distribution , '' claims Smyth . He says FARM : shop could be scaled up and replicated in cities around the world to help reduce the enormous carbon emissions linked to food production . It 's a pressing issue . According to a 2008 Greenpeace report , the food industry is responsible for creating 30 % of the world 's total annual carbon emissions . `` The dominant food production system is based on fossil fuel at every level , '' says Dr Martin Caraher , Professor of Food and Health Policy at London 's City University . `` It needs oil to make the fertilizer ; oil for the farm ; oil for the food processing ; oil for the packaging and oil to transport it to the shops , '' he adds . Among these stages , transport , processing and packaging account for the lion 's share of pollutants . The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ) estimates that between 65 % to 85 % of food-related emissions in the Western hemisphere is created once produce has left the farm . `` This is why these type of projects are much more than feel-good gimmicks , they are absolutely vital as part of a diverse array of sustainable agriculture systems that we must pursue further , '' says Olivier de Schutter , the U.N. 's special rapporteur on the right to food . For De Schutter , the fact that food is often produced thousands of miles away from where most people live represents an irrational system , both from an ecologic and economic perspective . `` Rising fuel prices and the increasing concentration of the population in urban areas is bringing about serious logistical problems for the delivery of food , '' he says . `` Traffic congestion , high refrigeration costs and , after all that , poor quality produce . '' Food destined for the UK alone travels 30 billion kilometers a year -- adding 19 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere -- according to international development agency Practical Action . It 's also easy to overlook the damage inflicted on local ecosystems and economies -- a large portion of which are in the developing world -- as a consequence of current industrial-scale agriculture practices . `` The system is not working , '' says Florence Egal , chairman of the Food for Cities network . `` Big agribusiness disrupts natural resource management with its demand for monoculture crops , synthetic packaging and habitat contamination from factory waste . '' Read related : Farm in the city could be supermarket of the future . Both Egal and de Schutter agree that , even on a vastly escalated scale , initiatives like FARM : shop are unlikely to resolve the food sustainability issue by themselves . `` Right now , no-one is saying you 're going to feed nine billion people like this , '' says Egal . `` But agriculture reform is an incremental process requiring many solutions -- and growing perishable , fresh produce near to where it 's consumed seems like one very sensible step . '' Back in east London , Smyth is optimistic about the future . `` FARM : shop itself is experimental , it will always be our laboratory at the heart of our ideas . But going forward we 'll be looking at bigger sites , scaling up , growing more food and selling more food together -- and if we get those kind of sites we 're really confident we can roll this out and make a real lasting difference . ''
London urban farming project claims to be world 's first ever farm in a shop . All produce , including fish , eggs , vegetables , herbs and salad , grown under one roof . Food analysts say urban farming key cog in sustainable agriculture practices .