Sustainable Ag News and Information
Urban Farming Startup Sees Opportunity in Aeroponic Tower to Increase Local Food Production in New Orleans
December 16, 2013 | Marianne PetersFresh produce in New Orleans usually arrives from places like California or Florida. One company wants to change that.
Vertifarms began providing aeroponic farms for New Orleans food businesses in 2011, when company co-founders Doug Jacobs and Kevin Morgan-Rothschild began partnering with Florida-based FutureGrowing to bring aeroponic tower systems to restaurants, markets, grocery stores, and non-profit organizations that want to grow their own local crops.
Food Leaders to Gather Dec. 15 at ‘EatingLA Food Fair and Forum’ to Create Plan for Local Food System in L.A.
December 9, 2013 | seedstockNews Release — LOS ANGELES, December 9, 2013 — Prominent food leaders from across the Los Angeles region will gather on December 15 at the inaugural EatingLA Food Fair and Forum to create a plan for a local food system. The spectrum of panelists includes urban gardeners, permaculturists, gleaners, foragers, restauranteurs, chefs, food truck advocates, urban planners and food policy experts. The event will also include a family-friendly holiday artisanal food market with cooking demonstrations and a film screening. The EatingLA Food Fair and Forum will take place on Sunday, December 15, from 12-5PM at the EarthWE Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, and is a collaboration between Homemade1616, EarthWE, Project Butterfly, and Rhyzotek. Read More
Speakers at Seedstock’s “Grow Riverside” Conference to Examine Opportunities for Urban and Local Ag
December 3, 2013 | Robert PuroHow can cities leverage unused agricultural land to increase the supply of locally available and create new jobs and farmers? What small scale urban agriculture solutions are bearing fruit? Is it possible to create an economically viable farming business on one or two acres of land? How can the USDA help? What are innovators in the sustainable urban agriculture space doing? What policy needs to be put into place to facilitate an active agricultural economy in a city and on its fringes?
These and other questions will be the focus of Seedstock’s upcoming Grow Riverside: Citrus and Beyond! conference, which is set to take place on March 19 – 20 at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, CA. The event will feature urban agriculture innovators, key policy makers, nutrition experts, and investors, who will partake in a two-day, outcomes-based conference to examine solutions to help cities, Riverside in this particular case, to galvanize their citizens, growers, advocates, government officials and other major stakeholders around the economic opportunities that can result from employing sustainable urban agriculture. Read More
Seedstock “Grow Riverside” Conference to Examine Economic, Community Benefits of Local Urban Agriculture
November 21, 2013 | seedstockNews Release: Riverside, CA – November 21, 2013 – Grow Riverside: Citrus and Beyond!, slated for Wednesday and Thursday, March 19-20, 2014, will reconnect the City of Riverside to its agricultural roots as well as provide a template for other cities interested in identifying the economic and community advantages of local sustainable farming.
The objectives of the conference, to be held at the Riverside Convention Center, will define opportunities for food production within Riverside’s environs, explore solutions to sustainably increase local food in an economically viable manner, and develop practical next steps to leverage the area’s rich agricultural assets.
“One of society’s burgeoning challenges is the need to establish local, sustainable food sources,” said Seedstock co-founder and Grow Riverside event organizer, Robert Puro. “The conference seeks to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable agriculture by uniting citizens, growers, advocates, government officials, and other major stakeholders to forge new partnerships and, ultimately, develop creative solutions to building and expanding local urban agriculture.” Read More
New ‘Virtual Grange’ Connects Young Farmers in a Digital World
November 14, 2013 | Marianne PetersThough you might find some millennials paying their dues in entry-level office jobs, increasing numbers of “agri-preneurs” in their twenties and thirties are opting for a more independent, agrarian lifestyle by establishing small, sustainably managed farms.
In many cases, these new farmers are the first in their families to choose farming as an occupation. Starting a farm is no guarantee that it will prosper, and many enterprises fail. Without a strong family background in farming or a community to rely on, young farmers’ chances of success are diminished.