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Author Archives: Noelle Swan
Cape Cod Community-Supported Fishery Offers New Line to Sustainable Fishermen with Eye Toward Profit
/ May 14, 2012 5:50 pm
Seafood has long been a great source of pride for New Englanders and is as well known around the country as the region’s r-less accent. President Obama had clam “chowda” shipped from Boston for his inaugural celebration in 2009, and lobstermen in Maine have been shipping lobsters all over the U.S. for years. Unfortunately, in many parts of the region, Continue reading
Pilot Urban Agricultural Zoning Program Serves as Model for Integration of Farming into City Life
/ May 10, 2012 6:11 pm
Aside from a little referenced law dating back to the 19th century allowing public grazing for sheep and cattle on Boston Common, Boston zoning laws make no mention of agriculture. In absence of zoning permissions, most agricultural activities are in effect forbidden. “That’s not to say that the city is out there policing people with vegetable gardens,” says Tad Read, Continue reading
Web Dev Company Seeks to Arm Small Farmers with Suite of Sustainability Enhancing Tools
/ May 8, 2012 5:54 pm
Simon Huntley likes to say he puts a face on food, an electronic face that is. Huntley’s Pittsburg, PA-based company, Small Farm Central does just that by providing website development, hosting, ecommerce and CSA-management solutions for direct to market farmers. The company represents the marriage of his childhood spent on a farm and his college education in information technology. For Continue reading
Returning to Roots, Young Couple Invigorates Family Farm with Focus on Sustainability
/ May 7, 2012 6:35 pm
When Josh met Sally at the University of Minnesota, both had a somewhat romantic idea of family life on a farm. Josh was born on a dairy farm, but by the time he was eight-years-old, his family had given up farming and sold off much of the 160-acre homestead, holding on to just 40-acres. His memories of farming were fuzzy glimpses Continue reading
Study Highlights Fungal Threats to Global Food Security
/ April 27, 2012 6:16 pm
Every year, fungal and fungal-like infections targeting the world’s major crops of rice, corn, wheat, potatoes, and soybeans destroy enough food to feed 600 million mouths per year, says Sarah Gurr, professor of plant pathology at Oxford University. And that figure solely represents low levels of infection. Epidemic infections could drastically compromise the global food system. This news comes at Continue reading
Shift from Quarters to Semesters Opens Door to Expand Sustainable Ag Programs at Ohio State
/ April 23, 2012 3:34 pm
Contributing over $90 billion to the state’s economy, agriculture is big business in Ohio—in fact, it’s the largest industry in the state. While urban sprawl has enveloped agricultural lands throughout much of the nation, the major cities of Ohio, Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus all remain ringed with farmland. “If there ever was a state where local food systems should flourish, Ohio Continue reading
Five Major Challenges Facing North American Agriculture
/ April 18, 2012 9:12 pm
Over the next 40 years, world population is expected to swell to 9 billion people. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that in that time global food production will need to increase by 70 percent in order to prevent massive famine. Simultaneously, producers must learn to cope with changes in climate, intensification of floods and droughts, depletion of Continue reading
Harvard Study Shows Link Between Common Pesticide and Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder
/ April 10, 2012 5:39 pm
Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health have linked imidicloprid, a common agricultural pesticide to honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious phenomenon resulting in devastation of entire hive colonies. The dramatic decline in honeybees because of this phenomenon has worried scientists, farmers, and beekeepers alike, as honeybees play a vital role in pollination and fruit production in both natural and Continue reading
New Mexico’s Permaculture Institute Sees Undisturbed Ecosystems as Models for Sustainable Ag Systems
/ March 26, 2012 4:10 pm
Scott Pittman has spent over 27 years traveling the world and teaching permaculture, a holistic approach to sustainable living that sees agricultural and societal structures as integrated components of the natural ecosystem. The word permaculture is a contraction of “permanent agriculture” and “permanent culture”. Pittman’s Permaculture Institute defines permaculture as ‘an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human Continue reading
Chicago Org. Aims to Transform Industrial Blight into Sustainable Urban Farm and Food Business Incubator
/ March 15, 2012 9:00 pm
Chicago builder, John Edel has embarked upon a seemingly impossible mission: to convert a 93,500 sq. ft. pork processing plant into The Plant, a sustainable closed-loop food business incubator housing aquaponic farming systems, hydroponics, vertical farms, rooftop gardens, private kitchens, two breweries, a bakery, a catering company, and a five-station shared kitchen. Oh yeah, and he plans to power the Continue reading
Company Aims to Profit From Restoration of Globe’s Devastated Grasslands, One Ranch at a Time
/ March 5, 2012 7:04 pm
Jim Howell thinks cattle get a bad rap. They have been charged with decimating grasslands, polluting the atmosphere with emissions, and competing with humans for food crops. That does not have to be the case, says the CEO of Grasslands, L.L.C., the for-profit arm of the Savory Institute that purchases ranches and grasslands in hopes of restoring them through holistic Continue reading
Amidst Hotbed of Organic Ag, UMass Amherst Provides Students Foundation for Success in Sustainable Food & Farming
/ March 2, 2012 8:46 pm
Even though it is hardly the breadbasket of America, New England has become a hotspot for sustainable agriculture. “We don’t talk about organic farming here, we just assume that the farm’s organic,” says professor John Gerber, chuckling slightly. “The culture is shifting and students are responding to it.” Gerber’s sustainable food and farming students have been the driving force behind Continue reading
Out of Ostrich Boom Comes Advanced Livestock Monitoring Technology to Improve Feed Efficiency and Reduce Waste
/ February 17, 2012 8:52 pm
Alison Sunstrum already had her own business when she first met the three engineers behind Alberta, Canada-based GrowSafe Systems. They had hit a wall in their research and could not see their way to a commercial product. She offered solutions as a consultant. They ignored all of them, but still Sunstrum says that she was so impressed by what they were Continue reading
University of Florida Researcher Stumbles Upon New “Green” Pesticide with Potential to Protect State’s Citrus
/ February 9, 2012 7:27 pm
What if agricultural pests could be managed by an essential nutrient, found in all proteins, that poses no environmental threat, naturally biodegrades, and potentially could be beneficial to plants? Physiology and genomics professor, Bruce Stevens from the University of Florida thinks he just may have stumbled onto the future of green pesticides. It turns out when applied to the leaves Continue reading
Atlanta’s Bioponica Seeks to Close Loop on Hydroponic and Aquaponic Farming
/ February 2, 2012 10:28 pm
The term sustainable farming has been creeping steadily into the vernacular, popping up in business plans, on food blogs, and at local farmers’ markets around the country. David Epstein, D.O. and Kenneth Lovell, P.E. of Bioponica™ hope to usher new farmers into the world of sustainable agriculture through their unique design and method of soilless, closed-loop, farming.
Denver’s Waste Farmers Bring Soil to Life
/ January 27, 2012 1:02 am
For John-Paul Maxfield, enriching the soil isn’t just a business. “If we’re going to feed 9 billion people by 2050, we’re going to have go find new methods. Soil has been neglected throughout industrial agriculture. Anytime we harvest, we take something away and our agricultural model has been that we don’t need to put it back. We’ve got to go Continue reading
