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Author Archives: Desa Philadelphia
Growing UP – Is Vertical Farming the Way of the Future?
/ April 30, 2012 9:32 pm
Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier admits that when his book The Vertical Farm, Feeding the World in the 21st Century was released, he wasn’t entirely optimistic about the idea catching on immediately. After all, his proposition that cities and towns should develop local, indoor, entirely sustainable, multi-story farms is antithetical to the industrialized, globalized farm practices that became the norm Continue reading
A Perennial Vision to Reduce Fossil Fuel Usage, Save Soil and Feed the World
/ July 22, 2011 5:02 pm
If it were up to The Land Institute, instead of miles upon miles of amber waves of grain the American heartland would look a lot more diverse. The Salina, Kansas research institution promotes agricultural systems that are more in line with the state’s prairies—where different varieties of plants thrive side by side—than with its celebrated monochromatic wheat fields. The Land Continue reading
Fenceless Farming in Detroit and Beyond
/ July 18, 2011 7:13 pm
Urban Farming (urbanfarming.org), the organization that uses abandoned city lots to grow food for the hungry, was conceived when singer Taja Sevelle, a protégé discovered by Prince, moved to Detroit to record an album for Sony Records. She was devastated by the struggles of the city’s poor, already in the throes of the recession. The food banks couldn’t keep food Continue reading
Startup Profile: Local Dirt Pairs Food Lovers with Local Farmers
/ July 12, 2011 7:47 pm
Local Dirt (localdirt.com) is a site for suitors. However, instead of matching up locals who are looking for love, it matches up anyone who loves to eat local food with the farmers who are willing to feed them. The service is grounded in research that shows that given the choice people would prefer to eat food grown in their own Continue reading
Fruit and Vegetable Planner Helps Iowa Farmers Move Beyond Corn
/ July 8, 2011 2:44 am
Farmers in Iowa who are considering adding new crops to their offerings now have an online tool at their disposal to help them estimate market demand. Using an array of government statistics, the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Market Planner estimates the demand for 80 crops in state and in bordering states. The Market Planner, which became available for use last Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture IT, Agriculture Research, Farm IT, Research
A Meaty Resource for Sustainable Processors
/ June 30, 2011 12:35 am
Imagine that you’re a small rancher in a state, let’s say California, where sustainable meat products are in high demand. You’ve got a high-quality, grass-fed product that your neighbors and their friends would snap up in an instant if you could get it to them regularly, at a reasonable price. However, there isn’t a local meat processing plant that’s willing Continue reading
