April 8, 2016 | seedstock

1 America’s appetite for organic food triggers natural farming boom [Huffington Post]

Excerpt: American consumers’ demand for chemical-free and locally produced food has caused a surge in the number of organic operations across the county, new figures show.                                

2 Costco gets creative to meet shoppers’ huge appetite for organics [Seattle Times]

Excerpt: To boost its supply of organic foods, Costco is trying something new: It’s working with farmers to help them buy land and equipment as it struggles to keep pace with customer demand.       

3 After being in the red, Detroit goes green [Chicago Tribune]

Excerpt: Picture a green city that’s home to 1,400 urban gardens and a massive forest. A riverfront bike path connects with a transformed railway leading to the country’s largest historic public market district. Restaurants dish up produce grown within city limits, and visitors stumble upon hidden pocket parks.                  

4 Amid urban jungle, Penn has partnered with West Phila. to build community farm [Daily Pennsylvanian]

Excerpt: About a five to 10 minute ride on the 36 trolley from Penn’s campus will get you to a secret garden of Philadelphia, the Community Farm and Food Resource Center at Bartram’s Garden. The center works towards increasing access to fresh, organic, nutritious food for the Southwest and West Philadelphia communities.                

5 How a new strategy will guide Detroit’s Eastern Market into its next 125 years [Knight Foundation]

Excerpt: With Knight Foundation support, Eastern Market has released a new strategy to guide future development of one of America’s largest and most iconic public markets and food districts.                  

6 How our gardens grow! [Dorchester Reporter]

Excerpt: Even as the snow keeps falling, farmers are tending to crops growing all around Boston, toiling behind hedges and white picket fences, on rooftops, and in abandoned fields.                

7 Urban farming comes to Old City [Knox News]

Excerpt: Downtown residents and Old City restaurants soon will be able cook with vegetables grown just blocks away. State economic director and local businessman Randy Boyd has joined with urban farmer Brenna Wright to turn a vacant lot into the Old City Gardens.                

8 Urban farmers see unlimited potential for growth within reclaimed shipping containers [CTV News Calgary]

Excerpt: A Calgarian’s attempt to bring the agriculture industry indoors is drawing the interest of customers, restaurateurs, investors, property owners and educators.              

9 How one tiny Vermont college is taking on big agriculture [Huffington Post]

Excerpt: Sterling College has been teaching sustainable farming for over 40 years.

Nobody knows better than a farmer that big things can grow from tiny seeds. The small state of Vermont has already driven major food producers to adopt GMO labeling nationwide.

10 From the world’s largest rooftop farm, an improbable business book [New Food Economy]

Excerpt: Brooklyn Grange is a name familiar to green-leaning New Yorkers because a little less than six years ago, it got urbanites excited about buying tomatoes at eye level with the skyline.             

11 Los Angeles county to offer tax relief for urban farms [MyNewsLA.com]

Excerpt: The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to offer tax relief to urban farmers, in a bid to get more healthy food into communities often characterized as “food deserts.”          

12 New Seattle urban farm a valuable addition to the neighborhood [Seattle Pi]

Excerpt: When looking over the activities for the Taste of Washington, I thought it might be fun to treat my sister for her birthday to a tour, “Urban Farming: Seattle Tilth Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands,” offered Friday.                      

13 Community food projects help fight food insecurity [National Institute of Food and Agriculture]

Excerpt: Food secure households have access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. At a minimum, this includes readily available, nutritious, and safe foods.                

14 A Massive Aquaponic Lettuce And Fish Farm Will Grow In A Brooklyn Warehouse [Fast Co.exist]

Excerpt: “We build industrial-scale ecosystems.” So says Jason Green, CEO and co-founder of Edenworks, a Brooklyn-based urban farming startup.         

15 How Colorado is turning food waste into electricity [NPR]

Excerpt: At the Heartland Biogas Project, spoiled milk, old pet food and vats of grease combine with helpful bacteria in massive tanks to generate gas. It’s all thanks to anaerobic digestion.

16 ‘Think Different’: 5 Ways to Reimagine Seed Launches, Apple Style [Huffington Post]

Excerpt: Recently, I watched the Apple’s launch event at which CEO Tim Cook and his colleagues introduced the company’s new products to the world.