You walk onto your front porch. A praying mantis perches on a porch rail or table. It appears something like an odd-looking animated baby string bean, propped up with green toothpicks. As you move, it turns its triangular head toward you. You shift first one way, then another, and the gaze from its large compound eyes follows you with ease. You become slightly alarmed....
In recent years, there has been a growing disconnect between children and their food. Most kids have never set foot on a farm or in an orchard, only ever seeing food go from the grocery store to their house to their plate. Thousands of children have never before witnessed the food they eat actually growing in the ground. What better way to introduce this concept,...
According to a class draft, the two-year course, called “Living with the Land”, will combine “traditional building, cooking and craft skills with aspects of ecology, sustainability and community.” The three modules will be “shelter, food and craft.” “By stripping things back to these basic necessities, we aim to equip students with the skills and understanding...
Lawmakers may give cities throughout Minnesota the authority to ban some widely used pesticides as native bumblebee and pollinator populations continue to collapse. A measure introduced last week by state Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, would essentially give cities their first chance in more than 30 years to have some form of local control over what pesticides...
WASHINGTON – The landmark Food Quality Protection Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to protect children’s health by applying an extra margin of safety to legal limits for pesticides in food. But an investigation by EWG, published this week in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, found that the EPA has failed to add the mandated children’s health...
Hemp attracts bees in droves, a new study finds. Researchers tested several strains and found bees – both wild and domestic – love them all, especially the taller varieties. It’s an unusual finding considering cannabis doesn’t possess the sweet nectar or bright colors typical of flowers that attract pollinators. The researchers speculate it’s something...
Joining the effort to reforest the planet, Jane Goodall commits to planting 5 million trees by the end of the year. Jane Goodall, known for saving the chimpanzees, is now on a similar mission to save our forests. The famed primatologists’ Roots & Shoots program connects young people across 60 counties in an effort to reforest the planet. The organization...
Hundreds of Philadelphians grow their own food on city land. African and Southeast Asian immigrants cultivate African eggplant and Thai roselle in South Philadelphia. Mexican immigrants and Puerto Ricans grow jalapeños and gandules in Kensington. In neighborhoods across the city, some 418 edible gardens bloom across 500 parcels. But these spaces face an uncertain...
It’s the dream of millions of people: To live off the land and to never need to make a trip to the grocery store. But for nearly everyone with that dream, it’s just that — a dream. Our current global, industrial food system is just too convenient and easy to resist. Our modern lives are too busy and monetized to go that far back to the land. I’ve been exploring...
Prozac may not be the only way to get rid of your serious blues. Soil microbes have been found to have similar effects on the brain and are without side effects and chemical dependency potential. Learn how to harness the natural antidepressant in soil and make yourself happier and healthier. Natural remedies have been around for untold centuries. These natural remedies...
CINCINNATI — Domonique Peebles grew up in Louisville, Kentucky growing food in his backyard, taking what he and his family couldn’t eat themselves and giving to his neighbors and family friends. “We would always grow more than we could actually eat,” he said. “I asked my dad one time, ‘Why do we do this?’ and he said, you know,...
When Socrates, Plato, and the gang hung out at the farmers market in downtown Athens, they argued a lot about the essence of beauty, truth, and justice. They had no idea of the problems they would create for urban agriculture 2500 years later. Ancient Greece, a major tributary to western culture, was obsessed with absolute and universal Truth — that’s Truth with...
Paula Sieber can see long into the future and well beyond the dingy white cabins that hug the trees at the Heroes Center Veterans Support Camp. She sees an urban farm that grows up to 100,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables and eggs a year for veterans, community customers and people who can’t afford or can’t find the finest produce. She sees a place where...
Urban farming comes in many forms, and now one of those, vertical farming, is helping feed students at Texas A&M University. The project is part of an experiential learning initiative, which is a required part of the curriculum for undergraduates in the Texas A&M’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. The department offers internships and study abroad...
CHEVIOT, Ohio (WKRC) – An unconventional farm is helping it’s westside community in a unique way. o2 Urban Farms uses aquaponics to grow fresh lettuce. It’s produce with a purpose. The farm employs adults with developmental disabilities to assist in germinating, transplanting and harvesting the produce at its Cheviot facility. “It’s a wonderful opportunity,”...
Our children live in a fast-paced society, and their life has become much easier than the one we were used to. I know countless applications that can do their tasks and assignments instead of them, and they can type just a few words on their computers and find everything they need, without having to jog their memory or use their knowledge. Yet, many fear that in...
Opal’s Farm is a 5-acre patch of land along the Trinity River, in the shadow of downtown Fort Worth. It’s part of the United Riverside neighborhood, which is located in a food desert. “You look across the river and there’s downtown, but everything kinda stops at the river,” farm manager Greg Joel said. “The money stops at the river.” The...
As the demand for sustainable and locally sourced produce in urban areas increases, so does the chance to be a part of the solution. Urban farming, a new development in real estate, brings an opportunity for investors to profit by transforming commercial real estate into urban gardens. The growing demand for urban farms Environmentally aware consumers are becoming...
