December 22, 2015 | seedstock

 

1 In Greenfield,Mass., state officials to tout new plan to boost local agriculture [Mass Live]

Excerpt: What impact the plan will have on Massachusetts agriculture depends on how it is implemented and whether the state puts any money behind it.              

2 It’s like Uber, but for farmers’ markets [Smithsonian]

Excerpt: Community-supported agriculture is great. But, at times, you can be bombarded with chard, or wonder what the heck to do with garlic scapes. What if you could have a weekly box of locally grown produce, only you get to choose exactly what is in it.   

3 Healthy school lunches to get a boost in New York [Times Union]

Excerpt: Efforts to provide more healthy, locally sourced school meals to New York school children are getting some help from the state. The Democratic governor says the initiative is intended to provide children with high-quality, healthy food while also promoting local agriculture.

4 This Californian urban farm is a glimpse into the future of agriculture [Fast Company]

Excerpt: Jimmy Ng, program director of The Growing Experience, an urban farm in Long Beach, California, is showing me the results of an “aquaponics” system that is helping his crops survive the brutal drought that has persisted here for four years.             

5 4-H programs support youth-focused urban agriculture and workforce preparation [Michigan State University Extension]

Excerpt: The Food Project is an extraordinary model of youth development and workforce preparation. Founded in the metro Boston, Massachusetts, area 25 years ago, the organization’s mission is to “create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system.”              

6 Sustainability more than a buzzword in Colorado [High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal]

Excerpt: Farmers and livestock producers of the future will not only have to consider production and economic factors in their business decisions, but also “sustainability.”                                 

7 116 Orgs you might not have heard about, but should know in 2016 [Food Tank]

Excerpt: This year, Food Tank is featuring 116 organizations you may not have heard about, but should look out for over the new year.               

8 A use for shipping containers that actually makes sense: High-density urban farming [City Lab]

Excerpt: The gray lot under the I-93 overpass in downtown Boston didn’t have much to draw in pedestrians or foodies. It was empty, like so many other urban spaces orphaned by America’s lust for highways.              

9 Aquaponics farm to triple In size, quadruple homeless funding [KPBS]

Excerpt: A Vista farming operation helps homeless San Diegans in North County develop job skills. It’s also a revenue stream to help homeless families in the region.                           

10 Hydroponics brings freshness to Alaska [AgriNews]

Excerpt: Eight boxes of living basil made it to a handful of Anchorage grocery stores in the first week of December, marking the first deliveries of the first large-scale, commercial hydroponic grow operation in Alaska.

11 Grocery chains leave food deserts barren, AP analysis finds [AP]

Excerpt: As part of Michelle Obama’s healthy eating initiative, a group of major food retailers promised in 2011 to open or expand 1,500 grocery or convenience stores in and around neighborhoods with no supermarkets by 2016. By their own count, they’re far short.               

12 World’s largest rooftop farm up and running in Chicago [Fox 32 Chicago]

Excerpt: You may not think about ‘technology’ when you are eating a salad. But if you are munching on lettuce harvested from Gotham Greens in Chicago, you might as well call it a ‘smart-lunch.’                   

13 Building a new norm with climate sensitive nutrition [Huffington Post]

Excerpt: Nutrition is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because almost every country in the world has a nutrition problem. Many rural and urban poor, especially those that live in slums, which are almost 1 billion people, still suffer from undernutrition such a stunting.