This salad brought to you by … a vegetable factory?

Japan almost specializes in reminding us that a sci-fi future is actually happening right now

Japan almost— see: underwear vending machines, cuddle cafes. Up next: robot farms.

While farming robots already exist, an automatized tractor isn’t exactly running the whole show. But Spread, a new “vegetable factory” planned near Kyoto, will be the world’s first farmer-free farm. Instead of humans planting, growing, and harvesting produce, this farm will be staffed entirely by … robots.

Fast Company reports:

“There are several reasons vegetable factories will be needed in the future in order to create a sustainable society,” says Kiyoka Morita from Spread. Like other indoor farms, Spread’s new factory uses far less water than traditional agriculture; the factory’s new technology also allows them to recycle 98 percent of that water. Because the factory is sealed, there’s no need for pesticides or herbicides. The ultra-efficient lighting system can run on renewable energy. Japan imports about 60 percent of its food each year, but the factory can supply it locally.

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In addition to the environmental benefits (that’s a helluva lot of saved water), eliminating humans could also mean eliminating contamination from all those hands fingering your produce, which would mean a decreased danger of getting sick from your salad mix.

Sounds great! Unless, of course, you are a farmworker.