1) The main idea was, a man wants to build a "vertical farm"(a farm in a building) in the city so stores don't have to have get their food from far away. Also there are factors that can change the quality of the products and make land less fertile such as: weather, climate, and incests. In addition to that, it would take less work to create high quality products, because you don't have to worry about losing your livestock, or to cultivate your land. plus it would be easier to domesticate livestock since there aren't any determinants of death such as: disease, predators, etc.
2) Even though a vertical farm can produce better quality products, i don't think it's a solution to our energy crisis. In fact it's the exact opposite, it'll consume more energy. to codify an irrigation system through a 30 story skyscraper would use a lot of metal and water. Even the primitive stages of the building of uses a lot of minerals and energy, to build a 30 story building would use so many materials and energy which we could use elsewhere.
3) I'm a little in the Grey area in this whole thing. I don't really like the idea, it's not that it couldn't be built, we aren't nomadic people but it's the idea that it would use a lot of energy and would leave a lot of poor farmers sedentary. plus scientists would soon alter mother nature and crops and ruin life cycles, which some believe would angry Deities. I just hope those people know what their doing and find a way in which won't consume energy, but help us and the world.