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Author Archives: Deanna Krinn
Consortium to Create Food Hubs to Strengthen Local Food System in Georgia
/ November 8, 2011 4:18 pm
The Georgia Sustainable Agriculture Consortium has a mission to bring local food back to Georgia, a state that currently relies on imports from the rest of the country for much of the food and produce that its citizens consume. While the state’s largest economic sector is agriculture, a staggering 80 percent of the food that Georgians purchase comes from out Continue reading
Penn State Receives $2.3M Grant to Investigate Impact of Cover Crop Cocktails on Organic Agriculture
/ November 2, 2011 4:00 pm
Researchers at the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences were recently awarded a $2.3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to examine the effects of various “cover crop cocktails,” or cover crop mixtures, on organic agriculture production. Jason Kaye, associate professor of soil biogeochemistry, said the study hopes to determine whether mixing multiple varieties of cover crops or Continue reading
USDA Extends $19 Million in Grants to Support Organic Producers and Processors
/ October 26, 2011 12:43 pm
A growing demand for organic and sustainably produced food has led the USDA to announce nearly two dozen new grants to research and extension programs that will help organic producers and processors more effectively market and grow their products. The 23 grants total $19 million, and are funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through two unique Continue reading
Wisconsin’s Farm Fresh Atlases Help Consumers Chart Path to Local and Organic Food
/ October 19, 2011 7:03 pm
Wisconsin consumers seeking an easy way to find locally and organically grown food have a great resource to point them in the right direction: Wisconsin’s Farm Fresh Atlases. The Farm Fresh Atlases have been around since 2002 and are produced yearly with five different editions for the various regions of Wisconsin. The Atlases are distributed at farmers markets, participating farms Continue reading
Startup Profile: Central NY Aquaponic Farm, a Business and Testing Ground for Future of Agriculture
/ October 18, 2011 9:56 pm
What began as a business plan drawn up for fun has spawned Aqua Vita Farms, central New York’s first aquaponic farm. Aqua Vita Farms was founded by Mark Doherty and seeks to provide wholesale food distributors with safe, high value, aquaponically grown seafood and produce. Retrofitting and construction on the company’s indoor farming facility, a 13,000 square foot building in Continue reading
Report Points to Potential Impact of Mobile Technology on Farmers in Tackling Global Food Gap
/ October 13, 2011 3:32 pm
‘Connected Agriculture,’ the title of a recent report by Vodafone and Accenture seeks to highlight the growing importance of farmers’ access to mobile communication in isolated areas of some of the world’s poorest countries. The report found that making mobile data services such as weather forecasts, commodity market information and mobile banking available to farmers in the developing world could Continue reading
Start Farming Program in Pennsylvania Helps Beginning Farmers Chart Sustainable Path
/ October 11, 2011 7:05 pm
‘Start Farming,’ a program that seeks to develop new farmers, was developed by Penn State Extension in 2009 to address the the rising average age of farmers in Pennsylvania as well as the increasing demand for local and sustainably produced food. The program offers a variety of courses throughout the year to beginning farmers interested in learning organic farming techniques, pasture management, Continue reading
Startup Profile: Indoor Farming Company Seeks to Harness Light and Revitalize Impoverished Urban Areas
/ October 3, 2011 10:02 pm
As the sustainable agriculture movement grows it continues to attract innovators and entrepreneurs from non-farming backgrounds. Steve Domyan, an electrical engineer by trade, is no exception. Domyan is the founder of Norwalk, Connecticut-based MetroCrops, LLC, a company committed to creating a network of urban, indoor, hydroponic farms located in impoverished high-density areas. “I believe personally that innovation occurs when you bring Continue reading
Michigan State Researchers Uncover Carbon Debt in Conversion of CRP Land to Bioenergy Production
/ September 29, 2011 7:09 pm
As fossil fuel supplies deplete and prices rise, demand for biofuel substitutes has increased. This growing demand for the development of renewable energy has even caused some to propose converting Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands to agricultural production to boost availability of such crops as corn and soybean for use as feedstock. However, a recent study conducted by Michigan State Continue reading
Startup Profile: PodPonics Gives Rise to Sustainable Lettuce Enterprise In Used Shipping Containers
/ September 27, 2011 6:24 pm
For Atlanta, GA-based startup, PodPonics, lettuce is everything. More than 12 chefs in the area have gone on record to say PodPonics’ greens are the best they’ve ever tasted, said Dan Backhaus, the company’s sales and marketing strategist. “For them to get excited, you have to have pretty darn good lettuce,” he said. PodPonics’ lettuce, by the way, is grown Continue reading
USDA Reports 17% Increase in Number of Farmers Markets
/ September 23, 2011 5:15 pm
More local farmers were able to get their wares directly to consumers this year, according to a study released in early August from the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2011 National Farmers Market Directory. Since 2010, the number of farmers markets across the country has grown by more than 1,000, allowing the largest number of farmers ever the ability to Continue reading
Aeroponic Garden Lands in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport
/ September 21, 2011 5:16 pm
Airports and fresh produce are traditionally not two things that go hand in hand. Between the fast food joints as far as the eye can see and the carts selling sandwiches and salads from who-knows-where, sustainable or locally grown food is not on the list of dining options in most major travel hubs in the United States. Chicago’s O’Hare International Continue reading
Startup Profile: Urban Micro Farm Concept to Bring Fresh and Sustainable Produce to Floridians
/ September 19, 2011 6:14 pm
The start of something great can oftentimes be the result of a series of unfortunate events. That’s how Fort Lauderdale Vegetables LLC, a company that is focused on the development of a sustainable urban farming system that will create a network of secure healthy food sources and provide local jobs and vocational training in the sustainable agricultural industry, came into Continue reading
Developers Build Organic Farms in Suburbia to Lure Homebuyers
/ September 11, 2011 9:11 pm
For years immaculately manicured golf courses have passed for ‘green settings’ advertised in brochures selling cookie cutter homes in suburban neighborhoods throughout the United States. But now, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Article many developers are now creating neighborhoods centered around a new kind of ‘green setting’ – organic farms, grazing pastures for cattle and grape vineyards.
North Carolina’s Week of Sustainable Agriculture
/ September 10, 2011 12:07 am
Those interested in learning more about sustainable agriculture can get a hands-on experience next week (Sept. 12 – 18) at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems Week of Sustainable Agriculture event in North Carolina. “The idea of Sustainable Agriculture Week is celebrating local agriculture and what is produced on local farms,” said CEFS associate director John O’Sullivan to Technicianonline.com.
Startup Profile: A Sustainable Alternative to the World’s Largest Hog Processing Facility
/ August 29, 2011 11:00 pm
Even in a shaky economy, Farmhand Foods has been a stable source of southern hospitality in North Carolina for small-scale farmers and the customers seeking their pasture-raised, humanely treated and antibiotic and hormone-free livestock products. Built on their three guiding principles of respect, transparency and partnership, the company got its start as a marketer and distributor of sustainably-raised meat products Continue reading
