April 22, 2011 | Robert Puro

Tomorrow Seedstock joins the rest of the planet to celebrate Earth Day!

Earth Day shines a spotlight on sustainable agriculture, and Seedstock is thrilled that the industry that we’re so passionate about is getting some sustainable recognition!  From people who are pledging to foster, support, and employ sustainable agriculture methods and technologies to corporations like Chipotle, Coca-Cola and Home Depot that are doing their part – Earth Day is becoming sustainable agriculture’s big day.

Ardent devotion to Mother Earth and a desire to make sure that everyone on this planet can live happier, healthier lives given finite natural resources has resulted in over 120 Million pledges to the Earth Day Network’s ‘A Billion Acts of Green’ campaign.  One farmer has pledged to “facilitate adoption of sustainable agriculture by replacing purchased inputs with farm-derived inputs without yield reduction” while another sustainable agriculture advocate has pledged to “re-localize my region’s food system and create green jobs for the marginalized using sustainable aquaponics and urban agriculture.” Check out the Earth Day Network’s site http://act.earthday.org/ to see what others are pledging and, if you’re so inspired, make a pledge of your own.

Corporations are also getting involved in meaningful ways.  Chipotle Mexican Grill is the lead supporter of The Nature Conservancy’s “Picnic for the Planet” Earth Day initiative which celebrates our planet and the food it provides.  Chipotle, which prides itself on sourcing and serving fresh, flavorful, sustainably grown local foods will host picnics at Universities across the U.S. highlighting its commitment to “Food With Integrity”.  These picnics will reinforce why it is important that we all seek out food like Chipotle’s that is local, seasonal and grown, or raised sustainably.

Coca Cola is also getting into the spirit of Earth Day with support from their Atlanta based neighbor Home Depot.  On Earth Day Coca Cola will kick off their rainwater harvesting initiative with the non-profit Urban Farming™.  A mandate of the Detroit based Urban Farming’s™ is to create an abundance of food for those in need by encouraging the establishment of gardens on unused urban land and space.  With the help of Coca Cola and Home Depot, Urban Farming™ will create a sustainable water supply for its urban gardens by reusing Coca-Cola syrup barrels.  Rainwater harvesting pergolas will be constructed by Home Depot in nine Urban Farming™ gardens around the city of Detroit.  Each wooden pergola will contain a rain barrel (formerly known as Coca Cola syrup barrel), a solar panel, and a pump system.  When rain falls on the roof of the pergola it will be channeled into the rain barrel and stored until it is funneled into the garden’s irrigation system via a solar powered pump.

Seedstock also wants to celebrate Earth Day by hearing more from all of you about what you’re doing to support sustainable agriculture initiatives.  Let us know what you’re thinking by commenting here or on our Facebook page:  http://facebook.com/seedstock.

And finally – a big Earth Day thank you from Seedstock to all of the people who have told us the story of their sustainable agriculture companies and helped us spread the word about sustainable agriculture’s viability.