September 10, 2015 | seedstock

1 Bicyclists share importance of agriculture [Commercial News] 

Excerpt: DANVILLE — The heat and the sun couldn’t slow down a group of bicyclists Tuesday who were pedaling for a cause — teaching children about the importance of agriculture.

2 Urban Agriculture taking root; local organization looks for growth [WZZM]

Excerpt: We’re known as Tree City and Beer City – but Garden City? That’s the vision of Levi Gardner (no kidding), founder and director of Urban Roots, a Grand Rapids non-profit that wants to see the urban agriculture movement take root locally.  

3 Aurora group gets green light to build large urban farm in city [Chicago Tribune]

Excerpt: The city of Aurora is about to get a whole lot greener – and healthier – thanks to a $550,000 grant from the Dunham Fund that’s given the green light to Triple Threat Mentoring for the creation of a large urban farm.

4 Urban farming on the rise in KC metro [KMBZ]

Excerpt: KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Urban farming in the metro area has become a recent trend. Eric Person, manager the farmer’s market at Ivanhoe Community Center, is concerned about “food deserts” in the urban core, and how fresh produce is grown.                

5 Urban farming: Can cities feed themselves? [Ag Professional]

Excerpt: As more farms dot the urban landscape, interest is growing in just how much food can be produced in American cities. Currently, estimates are that 15 percent of all food in the United States is produced in a metropolitan area, said Mike Hogan, educator with Ohio State University Extension in Franklin County.                

6 Urban farm could change the way people eat on San Antonio’s east side [Kens5]

Excerpt: It may not be the first place you think of for a farm but in the heart of the east side an urban farm will hopefully change the way people eat.

7 Trace Your Food Back to the Farm With RealTimeFarms.com [EcoWatch]

Excerpt: RealTimeFarms.com is a nationwide food guide that allows you to trace the food you eat back to the farm.

8 Fighting food insecurity in Detroit [Model D]

Excerpt: Food insecurity is one of the biggest challenges to the healthy development of young children in Detroit, but a number of groups and programs are working to change that.

9 The farm-to-table scene is blowing up, and the Farmers Gastropub sale proves it [News-Leader] 

Excerpt: To hear Bill Griffiths tell it, the odds against this turn of events were astronomical. “We’re in the Midwest,” said the Farmers Gastropub owner. “How many times do you think a very talented young British chef is going to walk through the door and say ‘Hey Bill!’ and buy your restaurant?”

10 Local Food Cycle offers local food for bike riders [Iowa State Daily]

Excerpt: While most students spent their Sunday catching up on sleep and doing homework, 75 people rode their bikes around eastern Story County and ate some food along the way.

11 Pentair partners with Urban Organics to advance aquaponics [Filtration + Separation]

Excerpt: Pentair plc is teaming up with Urban Organics LLC to accelerate the development of large-scale commercial aquaponics.

12 NOP Creates Task Force to Study Hydroponics and Aq [Quality Assurance & Food Safety]

Excerpt: The National Organic Program has appointed 16 members to a task force to explore hydroponic and aquaponic production practices and their alignment with USDA organic regulations.

13 KDA Aquaculture Specialist Named to National Task Force [SurfKY.com]

Excerpt: Angela Caporelli, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s aquaculture marketing specialist, has been appointed to the National Organic Program’s Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force, the U.S. Agricultural Marketing Service has announced.   

14 Startup grows plants in shipping containers [Dispatch.com]

Excerpt: DALLAS — After 40 years growing plants — running nurseries in Thailand and managing landscape projects in Vietnam — Glenn Behrman was ready to retire.

15 Food deserts may play little role in obesity, Rand study says [LA Times]

Excerpt: Conventional wisdom suggests that if you live in an area devoid of fresh, healthy food, you won’t eat well. These so-called food deserts, the logic goes, are a root cause of the obesity epidemic.

16 Colin McCrate takes farming to the streets — and rooftops [Seattle Times]

Excerpt: COLIN MCCRATE co-founded Seattle Urban Farm Company with partner Brad Halm in 2007 and has been a leader in the grow-your-own-food trend ever since. The company now has 14 urban farmers maintaining more than 70 Seattle-area gardens. “My interests aligned…

17 The changing role of women in farming [Michigan Radio]

Excerpt: During the 1970s and 80s, America lost millions of family farms. Agriculture was specializing, and getting bigger —   large dairies and croplands; monocultures of corn and soybeans.