Our Global Food System
On November 1st, while listening to PRI’s “the World” segment on the local NPR station, I heard two short five minute reports on our food system. Our food system is reliant on a global supply chain that imports and export food from the around the world. These two reports put the spotlight on China.
Extreme Urban Agriculture In Baltimore
John Morgan working at the Hamilton Crop Circle
Detroit is often in the news for urban agriculture initiatives. But did you know Baltimore is doing a formidable job of pushing urban agriculture ventures? Adam and Christian, from our staff, knows many of the urban farmers in Charm City. Last July, WAMU 88.5 did short take on the Hamilton Crop Circle’s head farmer, John Morgan. He runs the rooftop garden on top of Hamilton Tavern in NE Baltimore.
Listen to the clip here. Or read the transcript here. And the next time you come to the farm ask Adam and Christian about their friends in B’more.
Read MoreBack to the Land
I recently read this op-ed piece in the New York Times, written by Susan Gregory Thomas, a Brooklyn (NY) mother of three, about her experience going back to tilling the land. She spends $100 a week for her household food and cleaning. She grows most of her food in her backyard, raises chicken for protein, and makes her own cleaning products. It was not always the case for her.
So what caused the shift for her? Within a span of few years she became a single mother (divorce), the economic downturn made her lose her source of income as a freelance writer, and a desire to eat healthy. I really liked how she frames it.
You can tell yourself anything is too difficult, or you can just do it. And you do not need to reconstruct your worldview or take issue with others….You just need to be hungry.
Take a read yourself, the article is called “Back to the Land, Reluctantly.” To learn more about Susan Gregory Thomas and her experience you can visit her her blog or pick up her new book In Spite of Everything.
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Urban & Suburban Composting
In case you missed it, the Kojo Nnamdi Show recently (August 31) discussed composting initiatives and challenges in Washington, DC metropolitan area. The show, called From Food Scraps to Fertilizer: Urban and Suburan Composting, featured our composting partner in crime Jeremy Brosowsky, founder of Compost Cab, as one of the guest.
Composting our food waste has many benefits. It helps divert waste that can feed our soil the minerals and nutrients required to grow the food that we eat. Another important aspect of composting is that it closes the loop of the wasted created in our daily lives. Did you know that food waste make up approximately 14% of our waste and 97% of it goes to landfills where it is not utilized.
To listen to this show click here, to learn about the benefits and challenges with composting. Next time you are on our farm, seek out our resident compost guru Benny Erez to learn the different ways to compost in small and large scale.
Read MoreMonsato, Alfalfa, and Big-Ag
Three alfalfa hay bales in a row in an alfalfa field.
Two weeks ago I was telling Christian Melendez that the Gates Foundation recently invested $11.9 million for researching Virus-Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA). The article mentioned how this will help companies such as Monsanto and Cargill open new markets for their products. I began to wonder what gives these companies such as edge in pushing their agenda.
Last week Christian shared an article from Mike Ludwig, Why Monsanto Always Wins, which explained why Monsanto is able to gain an edge against their competitors. Ludwig tells the story of how Monsanto collaborated with USDA to deregulate the Roundup Ready Alfalfa seeds. What I took away as the main point is that Monsanto has powerful allies within the executive branch agencies such as USDA and key decision makers within the legislative branch. To help deregulate the Roundup Ready alfalfa seed, Monsanto worked with USDA regulator to draft an initial environmental assessment for their product. From the legislative side, individuals associated with the company donated $11,000 to Chairmen Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma) of the House Committee on Agriculture to press the USDA to fully deregulate the alfalfa.
The two above articles are great starting sources to learn more about organic alfalfa versus GMO alfalfa. Also check out Carey Gillam’s article Super weeds pose growing threat to U.S. Crops to understand some of the side effects of farmers becoming over reliant on herbicides.
Read MoreMarcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization
Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization
In this TED video Marcin Jakubowski introduces his open-sourced farming machinery/equipments. I was blown away by the cost difference between industry standard machinery versus the open-sourced model being developed by Jakubowski. To learn more about him check out his profile on TED’s website here. His company is called Open Source Ecology. You will find various videos of other products he makes. I think this is a cool way to find new and unique solutions to agriculture and building at a small scale in urban or rural places.
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