Podcast appearances and mentions of urban ag

Send us a textIn this episode Dana Freeman, Urban Ag and Local Foods Instructor for Nebraska Extension, joins Nicole Stoner from Nebraska Extension to discuss lawn weeds, bagworms, winter injury, and rose care, among other topics.   

The second annual Urban Ag Conference will be held February 22 at St. Paul College. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's program, your host, Justin Mog, digs in the dirt with Nico Phillips, an organizer with the Shelby Park Community Garden since 2019, a UofL Masters of Urban Planning student, and now, as of July 1st, the new Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator for Louisville Metro Parks! Tune in to learn more about Nico, what drove her interests in urban agriculture and sustainability, and find out how she got involved in the Shelby Park Community Garden, the Charles Booker Campaign, and eventually working for Louisville Metro Government. As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com

Big news: it's goodbye for now from the team of Fields. Melissa and Wythe would like to thank Liam Werner and everyone at Heritage Radio Network for a great run. You'll still be able to enjoy all 4 seasons of Fields on the HRN website and wherever you find fine agriculture podcasts, so tell your friends! Happy planting, from NYC to wherever you live and grow!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

The USDA is seeking nominations for four positions on the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production.

The USDA’s recent creation of urban ag service centers is a recognition that growing food in the city is more than a quirky news story. More Information • Kajsa Beatty Contact • USDA Office of Urban Ag & Innovative Production  • USDA Urban Service Centers • USDA Resources for Urban Farmers • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course You can…  Read More → Source

Both Forward Radio and the Urban Agriculture Coalition are proud sponsors of the 11th annual How-To Festival coming up on Saturday, May 11th, 10am-3pm, at the Main Public Library (301 York St.). This is your chance to learn 50 things in 5 hours! This free, interactive learning extravaganza features more than 50 “how-to” sessions taught by local experts. Learn how to keep bees and raise livestock in the city, grow bananas and mushrooms, make a candle, maintain your bike, harvest rain water, convert your lawn into a “Yarden”, and so much more. Sessions include lessons in home improvement, gardening, crafts, dance, music, business, art, and more! Plus – goats, chickens, rabbits and a miniature horse will be featured in our three garden tents thanks to the Urban Ag Coalition. And Forward Radio will be live broadcasting the entire event and hosting a booth near the north entrance, where you can learn how to broadcast and podcast with community radio! A complete schedule of sessions, including times and locations, is posted at https://www.LFPL.org/how-to.

The USDA is accepting grant applications to support urban agriculture and innovative production, and the 2024 growing season is expected to see a transition from El Niño to La Niña in late summer through early fall.

Melissa and Wythe were honored to join The Farm Report team for this special and important series on the Farm Bill and the politics of food. Please check out the interview, and follow The Farm Report for more critical news and analysis of what's happening across all of agriculture.Despite an increasing number of farmers growing food in cities urban agriculture wasn't acknowledged in the farm bill until 2018. Lisa Held, journalist with Civil Eats and former Farm Report host provides the scoop on how the Farm Bill will impact the future of urban ag.Melissa Metrick and Wythe Marschall, co-hosts of HRN's Fields podcast, give us some perspective on urban land-access challenges and what's happening on the ground in cities across the country. And, our very own co-host Alita Kelly shares some of the urban agriculture projects she's been working on in her community.For more information on the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovation, visit the USDA website.Learn more about the NYU Urban Farm Lab and the Map N.Y.C. projects that Wythe and Melissa mentioned.Visit Civil Eats to catch the latest food system stories. The Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues. Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

Despite an increasing number of farmers growing food in cities urban agriculture wasn't acknowledged in the farm bill until 2018. Lisa Held, journalist with Civil Eats and former Farm Report host provides the scoop on how the Farm Bill will impact the future of urban ag.Melissa Metrick and Wythe Marschall, co-hosts of HRN's Fields podcast, give us some perspective on urban land-access challenges and what's happening on the ground in cities across the country. And, our very own co-host Alita Kelly shares some of the urban agriculture projects she's been working on in her community.Check out Fields here.For more information on the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovation, visit the USDA website.Learn more about the NYU Urban Farm Lab and the Map N.Y.C. projects that Wythe and Melissa mentioned.Visit Civil Eats to catch the latest food system stories. The Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues. The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Farm Beginnings grad Queen Frye just wants to raise food — even if she doesn’t resemble a famous Scottish farmer. More Information • R. Roots Garden • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, and other podcast platforms. Source

On this week's Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, brings you along for an Urban Agriculture and New American Farmers tour of Louisville! On Friday, September 8th, a group of about 50 people boarded buses for one of two tours organized to kick off the inaugural People's Food Summit! Listen in as we visit two projects of Common Earth Gardens (Catholic Charities of Louisville): The Common Table in Parkland and The Incubator Farm our on Millers Lane. Learn more at https://cclou.org/common-earth-gardens/ “Weaving the Food Web: The People's Summit on Food Systems and Urban Agriculture” was organized September 8-9, 2023 by the Food in Neighborhoods community coalition and the Cooperative Extension Program of Kentucky State University. The People's Summit began with tours in the city to raise awareness about local food apartheid and grassroots efforts to increase healthy food access as well as spotlight the work of urban growers. On Saturday, the Summit featured workshop-style events involving popular education and in-depth political strategy discussions. These events addressed topics such as: food apartheid and environmental racism; youth leadership training; how to grow your own food; cooperative economics and Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs); urban and rural land access; New American success stories; and local food policy advocacy. Weaving the Food Web is a transformative act of healing, solidarity, and collective action toward realizing food justice, human rights and dignified livelihoods for all. Exciting food justice initiatives were featured and the input of participants - through dialogue, art and celebration - were gathered during the day. Learn more at http://foodinneighborhoods.org As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com

Agriculture education is breaking down barriers across the state.  Milwaukee's Vincent High School is a perfect example.  Nestled in an urban neighborhood that struggles with hunger, ag educator Tyler Foot is helping empower students not only with food they've grown, but career possibilities they'd never have found without the classes.  Nate Zimdars visits with the instructor.Harvest is underway for some crops in the state.  Potatoes, some corn silage, and grapes!  There's a "sweet spot" that grape growers are looking for when it comes to the chemistry in those grapes at harvest.  Stephanie Hoff visits with Aimee Arrigoni, vineyard manager at Bailey's Run Vineyard in New Glarus.Wisconsin's agriculture heritage runs deep.  Charitee Seebecker introduces us to the Luer family in Dunn County.  The family began farming in 1900 and continues today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Use code VFP100 for $100 off on the Rejuvenate Indoor Garden and 3 pod packs for freeCan you imagine the metropolis of New York City as a thriving urban farm? Qiana Mickie, a passionate advocate for urban agriculture and food justice, joins us to share her experience of growing up in the vibrant city and how it has shaped her commitment to feeding New York's communities. We journey through the city's pulsating neighborhoods, reminiscing about the birth of hip hop, our shared experiences of Catholic schools, and the explorative thrills of the 80s.As we stroll down memory lane, we pivot to a more poignant topic; Qiana's journey as a single mother amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. Her experiences spur a deep conversation about the power of empathy, stepping out of comfort zones, and utilizing privilege to create meaningful impact. We delve into Qiana's work with the Urban Ag Innovation Program and its efforts to connect urban ag growers, bringing fresh perspectives to complex problems like food scarcity, community support, and policy- making. In our final lap, we examine the intersection of food justice and urban agriculture. We delve into the crucial role of hyper-local production and distribution of healthy food, with Qiana shedding light on innovative initiatives like the Harvest Project. As we round up the conversation, Qiana imparts the importance of harnessing the power of social media to expand the reach of her work and the overall urban agriculture movement. Tune in, and let's unravel the tapestry of a city-turned-farm and the people that make it possible.Thanks to Our SponsorsCultivatd – https://cultivatd.com/Indoor AgCon '22 - https://indoor.ag/Use promo code 'VFP' to receive 20% your registrationAgriTechNYCOunceOfHopeKey Takeaways0:02:08 - Growing Up in NYC0:05:39 - Music, Food, and Urban Agriculture0:12:04 - Connecting Communities Through Resources0:19:33 - Building Feasible Solutions for Communities0:26:09 - Urban Agriculture and Equity in NYC0:31:45 - Innovating Hyper-Local Food Production0:37:51 - Food Sovereignty and Climate CrisisTweetable Quotes"With my work, I've been also afforded the opportunity to learn the history, the struggle, and the successes of Urban Ag leaders, land stewards who were in those same neighborhoods that people were saying, don't look, don't stop.""I always kind of felt like New York was a place for everybody, but you definitely had to be open to being open.""I think growing up at that time and being able to have that experience of seeing, music emerge and the mixing of culture, the vibe that people would come with in terms of they brought to the table in terms of food, what they brought to the table in terms of music... it really kind of helped inform what was that unique vibrancy of New York City."Resources MentionedQiana's Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/qianamickieQiana's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nycurbanag/Qiana's Twitter - https://twitter.com/NYCUrbanAgQiana's Email -

Melissa and Wythe catch up with their friend and collaborator Jeffrey Landau, Director of Business Development at Agritecture Consulting. Jeffrey is an expert in controlled environment agriculture (CEA, or indoor farming), urban agriculture, and urban agriculture policy. He's spent the last year traveling to farms and gardens across the U.S., working much of that time with different stakeholders in the city of Dallas to craft an urban agriculture plan, and he shares with us some of his reflections on urban agriculture policy around the country. We talk about current trends in urban agriculture, differences between UA sectors in different cities, the importance of land trusts, and what the future may hold, especially as climate disruption intensifies. It's an edifying conversation, as always. For more of Jeffrey's travel writing and work on urban agriculture, subscribe to his Substack feed.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

On this week's show, we bring you a third hour of highlights from Forward Radio's special live broadcast from the 10th Annual How-To Festival at the Main Public Library on Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. In addition to hosting an all-day booth on How to Broadcast with Community Radio, we did a LIVE broadcast from the Festival, dropping in on all kinds of How-To sessions and interviewing participants. From learning how to beat box to dancing Flamenco to painting like Bob Ross – participants learned how to do more than 50 things in five hours, all for free! And thanks to Forward Radio's proud Community Partner, the Louisville Urban Agriculture Coalition, the How-To Fest again featured three gardening tents with classes presented by Urban Ag member groups. The How-To Festival is FREE and takes place throughout the Main Library. Learn more at http;//www.lfpl.org/how-to/

On this week's show, we bring you a second hour of highlights from Forward Radio's special live broadcast from the 10th Annual How-To Festival at the Main Public Library on Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. In addition to hosting an all-day booth on How to Broadcast with Community Radio, we did a LIVE broadcast from the Festival, dropping in on all kinds of How-To sessions and interviewing participants. From learning how to beat box to dancing Flamenco to painting like Bob Ross – participants learned how to do more than 50 things in five hours, all for free! And thanks to Forward Radio's proud Community Partner, the Louisville Urban Agriculture Coalition, the How-To Fest again featured three gardening tents with classes presented by Urban Ag member groups. The How-To Festival is FREE and takes place throughout the Main Library. Learn more at http;//www.lfpl.org/how-to/

Urban agriculture is the act of farming in urban settings with the focus of cultivating food crops for human needs. Agritecture was developed as an advisory service to help farmers all over the world develop climate smart agriculture in urban and controlled environment agriculture. On this week's episode to kick off the summer 2023 series, Deepak and Katie met with Henry Gordon Smith, founder and CEO of Agritecture to learn more about the role of urban agriculture in specialty crop production. Tune into this week's episode to hear more about how Agritecture designs, develops, and implements solutions for sustaining agriculture in Urban settings. Agritecture's Contact Information: E-mail: henry@agritecture.com Twitter: AGRITECTURE (@agritecture) / Twitter LinkedIn: (16) Agritecture: Overview | LinkedIn FarmBits Contact Information: E-Mail: farmbits@unl.edu Twitter: https://twitter.com/UNLFarmBits Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLFarmBits Deepak's Twitter: https://twitter.com/agrideepak093 Deepak's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-ghimire Katie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-bathke-a15082246/ Opinions expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast are solely their own, and do not reflect the views of Nebraska Extension or the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

On today's Access Hour, we bring you highlights from the first hour of Forward Radio's special live broadcast from the 10th Annual How-To Festival at the Main Public Library on Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. In addition to hosting an all-day booth on How to Broadcast with Community Radio, we did a LIVE broadcast from the Festival, dropping in on all kinds of How-To sessions and interviewing participants. From learning how to beat box to dancing Flamenco to painting like Bob Ross – participants learned how to do more than 50 things in five hours, all for free! And thanks to our partnership with Forward Radio's proud Community Parnter, the Louisville Urban Agriculture Coalition, How-To again featured three gardening tents with classes presented by Urban Ag member groups. The How-To Festival is FREE and takes place throughout the Main Library. Learn more at http://www.lfpl.org/how-to/

Forward Radio was thrilled to be a part of the 10th Annual How-To Festival at the Main Public Library Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. In addition to hosting an all-day booth on How to Broadcast with Community Radio, we did a LIVE broadcast from the Festival, dropping in on all kinds of How-To sessions and interviewing participants. From learning how to beat box to dancing Flamenco to painting like Bob Ross – participants learned how to do more than 50 things in five hours, all for free! And thanks to our partnership with Forward Radio's proud Community Parnter, the Louisville Urban Agriculture Coalition, How-To again featured three gardening tents with classes presented by Urban Ag member groups.The How-To Festival is FREE and takes place throughout the Main Library. Learn more at https://www.lfpl.org/how-to/

Urban agriculture is growing in popularity. Here in Wisconsin, it's gotten support from the federal government. Wisconsin Women in Conservation is a statewide project that's funded by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. It's led by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. The project started in 2020 with a focus on helping women farmers across the state in their conservation plan. But it's grown to encompass urban farmers as well. Noemy Serrano is a district coordinator with the project, serving southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee. She says participation has grown from around 1,300 women in 2021 to over 2,000 in 2022.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, fills the studio with friends from the one of Forward Radio's proud Community Partners, the Urban Agriculture Coalition (http://foodinneighborhoods.org/grow). In studio this week are Madeline Marchal, Soil Technician at Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District (http://jeffcd.org/); Von Barnes with Kentuckiana Backyard Farms (https://www.instagram.com/kentuckianabf) who is now a Kentucky State University Urban Ag Extension Agent for Jefferson County; and Amelia Baylon, the Urban Agriculture Sustainability Coordinator for Common Earth Gardens at Catholic Charities of Louisville (https://cclou.org/common-earth-gardens/ or https://www.instagram.com/commonearth/) Get involved in the Coalition's Winter Orchard Brigade to learn about proper fruit tree pruning and to help maintain some of our community orchards! Upcoming dates include: Sunday, 2/05, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Lots of Food (1647 Portland Ave) Friday, 2/10, 2:00pm-5:00pm, Americana Community Center (4801 Southside Dr) Friday, 2/17, 2:00pm-5:00pm, UofL Urban & Public Affairs Garden (426 W Bloom St) Friday, 2/24, 2:00pm-5:00pm, Shawnee People's Garden (536 N 44th St) Saturday, 3/04, 9:00am-12:00pm, Opportunity Corner (636 S 18th St) Learn more and sign-up to volunteer at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f44aeaf2aaafcc25-winter#/ Learn more and get tickets for TEDxBellarmine on February 3rd, where Von will be sharing his story of how he got into agriculture, at https://www.bellarmine.edu/conferences-and-events/tedx/ Find information about the Kentucky Black Farmers Conference in March at https://cfaky.org/2023-kentucky-black-farmer-conference/ To subscribe to Von Barnes' Urban Ag newsletter, contact him at Von.Barnes@kysu.edu As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com

Career Development Events come in all shapes and sizes. In this episode, hear from Luke about the first ever Urban Agriculture CDE. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oBPyK-nkUvowRzM4F3J9m2Xt10a0IJbp?usp=sharing Like Here by the Owl Podcast on Facebook and Instagram. Have a future topic idea or wish to be a guest on the show. Message Here by the Owl Podcast on social media.

This week we highlight July as Smart Irrigation Month. To discuss what this means, Dana speaks with Josh Campbell (Oklahoma County Urban Ag and Natural Resources Educator) and Brad Secraw (Cleveland County Ag Educator) about addressing water use in landscapes and lawns. Listen in for this fun and very applicable conversation. Water Efficient Landscapes for [ Read More ]

Today, we catch up with Justin Reece Edwards about the efforts he's making in his classroom to get urban students involved in agriculture. This #FriYAY episode also includes the usual news updates that you won't want to miss!

Forward Radio was thrilled to live broadcast for the entire duration of the 2022 How-To Festival at the main Louisville Free Public Library! Listen in as we drop-in on all kinds of workshops and talk to a wide variety of local experts and enthusiasts about everything from How to do Stage Combat, to How to Raise a Herd of Urban Goats! These are just some of the more than 50 things you could learn in five hours at the Library's annual How-To Festival -- Saturday, May 14, 10:00 a.m–3:00 p.m. at the Main Library. This year's Festival was a mix of past favorites—how to do Tai Chi, homebrew beer, or grow delicious tomatoes—along with new lessons, such as how to make and decorate tasty dog treats, perform modern dance, and create digital music. Other timely topics include how to plan a cross-country trip in an electric vehicle and how to buy and sell a home in a crazy market. And thanks to our continued partnership with the Louisville Urban Agriculture Coalition, How-To once again featured three gardening tents with classes presented by Urban Ag member groups, including Kentuckiana Beekeepers, Wild Ones, and Master Gardeners. The How-To Festival is FREE and takes place throughout the Main Library and surrounding grounds. https://www.lfpl.org/how-to/

Interview Summary   So I've been an admirer of your work for a number of years now and really perceive of you as a pioneer doing important community-rooted work. So let's start with grounding this conversation for our listeners. Would you share your thoughts on problems with the current food system?   Sure. I think there are multiple problems with the current food system. Beginning with that, we have great inequities within the food system because of the existing inequality in American society, based on economic standing and based on so-called race. And, to some extent, based on geographies - some people have great access to highly nutritious food. Others don't have so many opportunities. So, for example, in the city of Detroit, where I live, we have a few grocery stores; in fact, we actually have about 70 grocery stores. But most of those are independent smaller stores that don't offer the robust selection that we see from national stores. So the problem in Detroit is twofold: 1) that is the lack of stores, and 2) even if the store exists a few miles from you, if you don't have an automobile, you still don't have access. So these are just a couple of examples.   So we have great inequity in the food system that impacts the health of communities. The second major problem with the food system is that workers within the food system are really exploited and not paid fair wages. So we have food that is subsidized in a sense; subsidized by the exploitations of farmworkers and people working in meatpacking plants and what have you. And so, even though most people would, I suspect, think that they're paying a high price for food, the reality is we're not really paying the actual value of food. And we're externalizing some of those costs.   The third problem with the food system is the environmental degradation that it causes. The industrial food system that produces the majority of food in American society is heavily dependent upon pesticides and herbicides, dependent upon huge amounts of water, huge machinery, and the use of diesel fuels. Farms have to be huge farms for them to survive. And so there are all kinds of problems this causes for the environment, both the runoff of the pesticides and the herbicides into the water systems. And the creation of dead zones - problems created by herding cattle and pigs into small areas and trying to process the waste from that. And the system is not sustainable. We simply can't continue to feed the Earth's population using the same kinds of methods that have been used for the last 60 years or so. So those are three of the major problems with the food system. There are many others as well.   When you think about a system so embedded in the American economy and so embedded in the way we've constructed racial barriers and inequities in our country, it's hard to think that you could produce big change in this. And people, when they think big changes might automatically think about big government top-down Washington or state-driven initiatives and things like that. I'm sure there's a role for those things, and I've worked on some things, but there's also tremendous room for local ingenuity. And very often, I know, at least in the public health arena, what starts locally becomes national before long. And that's really where the innovation begins. And that's exactly what you've done. So let's shift now and talk about some of the work that you're doing. I know that you've done crowdfunding campaigns to help black farmers buy land in Detroit and advocated for urban farming, local food, and local growers, particularly during the pandemic. So what are your current efforts?   First of all, I agree with your framing that as we think about how we change the food system - looking at a top-down approach becomes very difficult. There's been a number of efforts to make a Farm Bill that is more just than equitable. But I don't know that we've seen really significant systems-wide changes due to the Farm Bill. But we can do these things on the local level that create examples of the larger change that can come about. And it can help to shift people's consciousness about how they perceive and relate to the food system.   So we've been doing some of that work in the City of Detroit via the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network for the last 15 years or so. I'll start with the effort you just mentioned - the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund. Urban agriculture will not place rural agriculture, but it certainly can supplement it. Urban agriculture grows food closer to where we have population density centers and thus requires less burning of carbon to transport food long distances. When people eat food in closer proximity time-wise to the time it was harvested, they're going to get food that is better for them and has more nutrients. So we don't think that urban farming will replace rural farming. We believe that urban farming is a good supplement, and there are some things that we can grow in urban areas, such as Brassicas, collard greens, kale, tomato, and all kinds of things. But we're not likely to see wheat fields, and we're not likely to see herds of cattle in the city of Detroit.   We've been working with the Detroit Black Farmers Land Fund, which is really an initiative coordinated by three organizations in Detroit: our organization, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, and a group called Keep Growing Detroit. And so, we've come together to jointly administer this fund. So far, we've given away more than $70,000 to about 40 Detroit farmers who have been trying to buy land. Just as in rural areas, obtaining land can often be very difficult for farmers, particularly in a city like Detroit, where we see a tremendous amount of gentrification. Wealthy folks are coming in, buying huge tracts of land, and driving property values up. And so farmers in Detroit often have a hard time owning the land that they're farming on or finding land even that they can purchase to farm on. So the Detroit Black Farmers Land Fund is an effort to assist Detroit's black farmers in obtaining land. This year, it's altered slightly, and grants were also given to building infrastructure. So it's one thing to have an acre of land in a city or two acres or whatever the case may be. But, still, you also need infrastructure on that land, hoop houses, fencing, water, and all kinds of things that allow you to grow food robustly. So that's one of the things that we're very excited about. The second anniversary of the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund is coming up in June of this year. So I'm looking for that continuing to expand. Also, that effort has inspired other folks in other parts of the country. Particularly in Michigan, where we see in the neighboring county, Washtenaw County Black Farmer Land Fund, which, of course, is influenced by the work they saw happening here in Detroit.   The second thing that we do and perhaps that our organization's best known for is that we operate D-Town Farm, a seven-acre farm in a city-owned park in the city of Detroit where we grow more than 40 different fruits, vegetables, and herbs. And probably more important than the amount of food that we produce, we're planting seeds in the consciousness of Detroiters about the role that urban agriculture can play as we rethink what the city of Detroit can be and as we rethink how we improve public health. So at D-Town Farm, we do lots of tours for school groups, university groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, who are being exposed to urban agriculture often for the first time. And they're able to see the techniques that we use and can hear the ideas that drive the work we do at the farm. We do large-scale composting. Soil health is the most important factor in making sure that we have nutrient-dense food. So we do large-scale composting to regenerate the nutrients in the soil at our farm. We also have three hoop houses that we use for season extensions. We also have public events at D-Town Farm, designed to get children and families to come to the farm who might not necessarily be ready to volunteer and put their hands in the soil, but who are interested in being outdoors and learning about the possibilities of urban agriculture. So we have a number of events throughout the year, such as something in April we call the Bio Blip, where students from the University of Michigan who are studying in the School of Natural Resources come out and bring magnifying glasses, microscopes, specimen bags. They lead a group of about 100 children. They identify all the fauna, flora, and fungi at the farm. And it's wonderful, by the way, to see children from the city out at the farm, reconnecting with nature. We have a harvest festival every fall where we have close to 1,000 people who visit the farm. We have workshops, speakers, food demonstrations, tours of the farms, live music, a farmer's market, and all kinds of things that can expose the public to the great potential of urban agriculture.   We also have a youth program called the Food Warriors Youth Development Program that functions at two sites in Detroit. One site is a church, and that site functions on Saturday mornings and is open to any children in the city of Detroit between the ages of seven and 12. The second site is the school site on the east side of Detroit, and that program is only open to students who are enrolled at the school and it functions as an afterschool program. So at both sites, we have raised beds. And we teach the children how to build those raised beds, how to cultivate the food, and how to harvest the food. Then they also learn about food justice concepts. Our organization thinks that our culture is very important. And that African American people have gone through a process caused by our enslavement that has intentionally disconnected us from our traditional culture. We think it's very important that we reconnect children of African descent with traditional African cultural concepts. As well as giving them an understanding of the role that African Americans have played in the development of agriculture.   And then the third major thing that we're doing is the Detroit Food Commons, a new 31,000-square-foot building that we're building on Woodward Avenue, the main street of Detroit. It's about a $20 million project. The Detroit Food Commons will house the Detroit People's Food Co-op, a cooperatively owned grocery store, which we also initiated. Although we initiated and continue to influence it, it's an independent body with its own board. And that board regulates what will happen inside that grocery store. The first floor will be the cooperative grocery store. Still, we'll have four shared youth kitchens on the second floor of the building, about a 3,000-square-foot community meeting space, and office space for the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. So again, we're looking forward to the opening of this in June of 2023, and we think want to be a game-changer in Detroit on several levels. One, it is a cooperatively owned business that pushes back against the gentrification that we're seeing in Detroit, where generally, very wealthy white men lead all of the development that we see happening in Detroit. And then we're supposed to see that as progress because we can walk into these edifices that wealthy white men have created and spend our money there where the community has really no ownership. And there's very little circulation of wealth within our community. The cooperative ownership of the grocery store, on the other hand, does provide for ownership by community members. We currently have 1,437 member-owners of the Detroit People's Food Co-op. That's one reason it's important, the cooperative ownership structure and how that pushes back against the typical style of development that we see happening in Detroit. It will also be a game-changer, though, because of the neighborhood that we're building in, which is called the North End. It has a tremendous lack of access to high-quality food. And so it's going to provide high quality, often locally-grown food for residents of that community and Detroiters in general. There's a vast number of people who live in the suburbs north of Detroit who work in Detroit and leave the city each day, driving down Woodward Avenue. We're also hoping that an audience will shop at the Detroit People's Food Co-op before going back to their homes in the suburbs. The third way it will be a game-changer is to provide a consistent retail outlet on a scale that was previously unavailable for local growers. And so, we are very much conscious of our role in helping to catalyze the urban agriculture movement by providing this consistent retail outlet.   Malik, that's a jaw-dropping array of things you and others in Detroit are doing, and I can't tell you how inspirational it is. Let me bring up one in particular, and it has to do with your focus on youth. Given your background as an elementary school principal, I could see why that would be a focus for you. But you could see how involving youth in this would help address the issue of getting people interested in farming and interested in other parts of the supply chain. As I imagine as the Commons comes online, youth being involved in that might give them ideas for becoming food-related entrepreneurs. The space that you have upstairs could be used for youth to develop ideas and for new businesses and things like that. I could imagine inspiring a whole new generation of people to think about these food-related activities as a viable career path, and I'm just wondering, have you seen signs of that so far?   Since we started 15 years ago, we've seen a tremendous interest on the part of young people in being involved in the food system. We have something in Detroit, for example, called the Detroit Food Academy, which is a nonprofit that trains people for jobs within the food system. They learn a wide array of fields and areas within the food system where there are employment possibilities. We have a number of farms in Detroit that are encouraging children to anticipate those farms. We have some children, in fact, who have created value-added products that they're selling at various fairs and the farmers' markets throughout the city of Detroit. So yeah, we do see an increasing interest. Part of what we're setting out to do is first to help people think about the food system because the average person, people who aren't food activists, don't even use that term, the food system. That's not how they think about food. They're thinking about, "I'm going to the grocery store to buy what I want. I'm going to cook dinner, and I hope I like the way it tastes," and that's the kind of framing the average person has about food. So part of what we're trying to do with both children and adults is getting them to think about this broader system that provides food and all of the kind of steps in it from the seeds to the planting of those seeds, the cultivation of the crops, the processing of crops, the aggregation of crops, the distribution, the retail level, the post-consumer level. We want people to think about all of that and then think about how they begin to develop agency within it so that they don't just see themselves as subjects that this more powerful system is acting upon, but they see themselves as having the agency to actually shape that food system as it impacts their community. And so that's part of what we've been trying to do with the work of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, working in a number of areas both in policy and farming, in retail, trying to get people to really conceptualize what this food system is and that they have the right and the responsibility to help shape how that food system impacts them. So, yeah, we're seeing interest by youth, and we are hoping that the kitchens on the second floor will inspire not just youth entrepreneurs but also adult entrepreneurs. And there are a number of people in Detroit who participate in what we call the shadow economy, people who are making money in ways that are outside of the laws of the society. For example, you have a number of people who are preparing chicken dinners and fish dinners or perhaps soups and cakes and selling them. The kitchens on the second floor of the Detroit Food Commons allow those entrepreneurs to go from being underground shadow economy food entrepreneurs to actually coming into the legitimate legal economy by having a licensed kitchen where they can prepare their foods. So we are definitely looking to stimulate the local food economy both for children and adults.   Let's talk a bit more about that. So in some of your beginning comments, you mentioned low wages as one of the fundamental problems in the food system. Are you hopeful that this series of activities will provide better pay opportunities for people?   I'm hopeful, but I also want to acknowledge that it's a very difficult problem. And even as we look at the Detroit People Food Co-op and how to make that cash flow positively, as we look at the performance and all of the expenses, the wages that we're scheduling to pay employees are certainly not what we would like to pay. And so we're strategizing on how with very thin margins in the grocery industry, we can be fairer and just to the workers who will work in that store, but this is not a unique problem that we have. In fact, I would say that the major dilemma facing the food movement in American society is figuring out how we pay workers within the food system a fair and just wage while, at the same time, we make sure that we have food that is available and affordable to everyone in society, regardless of their race, income, or geography. It's a very difficult nut to crack, and I'm not absolutely positive that it can be done within the current economic system, but it's certainly something that we have to strive for and that we have to strategize on. I don't think there's an easy answer to that, but it's the question that we have to constantly put in front of us. For me, the obvious answer, though, is that we have to marry the struggle for food justice with the struggle to eliminate poverty. The answer to this problem is not cheap food per se. The answer to the problem is paying the true value of food but making sure that everyone has the income which is necessary to buy high-quality food.   Let me ask about the importance of community ownership of these things. So let's just say hypothetically that all the activities that you're talking out were being put in place from Washington or the state of Michigan, let's say, as opposed to a very community-involved effort. What's the symbolism of that, and what difference do you think it makes in the way people think about these things?   Well, I think it makes a huge difference, and again, part of what we're trying to instill in people is a sense of agency. I think it's true to say that in American society in general and in Detroit in particular, people have been locked into a lethargy where they think that people who are more powerful are in charge of structuring their lives, that the educational system is responsible for teaching our children, for example, and that doctors are responsible for maintaining our health. And in many ways, we've ceded responsibility for our own lives to these forces that we perceive as being more powerful and particularly in a place like Detroit, where, over the last 20 years or so, we've had the imposition of what the state of Michigan calls emergency managers. The largest or most well-known in the position of the emergency manager was in Detroit just before the city declared bankruptcy. The governor essentially suspended the powers of all of the elected officials and appointed one individual who was the emergency manager of Detroit. These powers superseded all the powers of the elected officials, so essentially, democracy was put into a coma in the city of Detroit. So I'm saying that in a situation that both intentionally disempowers people and also where people cede responsibility because they perceive these more powerful forces as being more qualified to run the systems that impact our lives, people have given up; in many cases, their agency over defining not just the food system that impacts their lives but defining all of the systems that impact their life. And so we're very concerned about developing a sense of community self-determination that every community first decides what their own goals and aspirations are and then decides how they reach that as opposed to external forces coming in and dictating to communities how they should move and develop, and so that's really at the core of what we're doing. So having these community-based projects that mobilize community members and ignite within them this sense of agency both within the food system, and then we're hoping that also as people see that we can exert control over the food system, they begin to look at other aspects of their lives as well and how we can, as a community, begin to exert control over those things. So having said all that, that's not to say that state and federal governments don't have the responsibility of behaving in a way that facilitates justice, equity, and access to high-quality food for all of their citizens. Still, I certainly don't think that we should put the majority of our efforts into that and that we shouldn't wait until those governmental entities act to make things better. We have the right and the responsibility to act on our own behalf while, at the same time, pressuring and urging the government to act in a responsible way.   That makes perfect sense. And I'd imagine another virtue of the community ownership part of this is that the initial innovation breeds more innovation because more and more people think that they can have the agency that you're talking about, come up with new and creative ideas. So I could imagine this building on itself over the years.   Yes, absolutely. I think that mobilizing people to solve their own problems certainly stems from innovation. The challenge is that often, very creative, innovative people in communities like the community I live in don't have the resources to implement those innovations. So we have to always look at that side of the equation also. How do we better resource communities so that the people who have the lived experience and who are most impacted, and who have this tremendous creativity, have the resources that are necessary to bring these ideas to scale, so they have a larger impact?   Bio: Malik Yakini has been involved in the Black liberation movement throughout his adult life. His resume includes more than 20 years as principal of a K-8 African-centered school in Detroit along with founding the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which works to build self-reliance, food security, and justice in Detroit's Black community. His connection to food work began about 20 years ago, when he began gardening on a small plot of land at his Detroit home to ensure he had access to fresh food. With few full-scale grocery stores in urban neighborhoods and just one national chain located in Detroit, Yakini saw the need to expand this work to community gardens and to teach young people to get their hands dirty. In 1999, he developed a food security curriculum as principal of Nsoroma Institute, an African-centered school that operated in Detroit from 1989 to 2014.  

We are LIVE for the Pledge Drive again this week! Celebrating FIVE YEARS of bringing you Sustainability Now! with our Community Partners from the Urban Agriculture Coalition and Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville (SAL), represented by LeTicia Marshall, Stephen Bartlett, and Amanda Fuller. These groups have been proud supporters of Forward Radio for many years and now we are asking you (and any organizations or local businesses you may be a part of) to step up and support your listening with a contribution to the station during our 5th Anniversary Pledge Drive. Check out the many special thank-you gifts we have available now through our birthday on April 9th at http://forwardradio.org. The Urban Agriculture Coalition (http://foodinneighborhoods.org/grow) looks forward to welcoming you to their booths and workshops at the Louisville Free Public Library's How-To Fest on Saturday, May 14th from 10am-3pm at the Main Library on York Street (https://www.lfpl.org/how-to/). LeTicia Marshall, is a native Kentuckian, a Mom, a UofL alum, and the owner of Bearfruit & Grow (https://www.bearfruitandgrow.com/). She farms vegetable and herb plants and offers coaching services for anyone who wants to grow a vegetable garden in any space. Stephen Bartlett is Director of Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville, (http://salouisville.org), and works locally and globally in solidarity with peasant farmers, migrant farmworkers, indigenous communities, and all those who sustain us by sustaining the land. Amanda Fuller has been an active member of the Urban Agriculture Coalition since its inception. She grows nuts, fruits, and vegetables, and hosts workshops on her urban orchard on Portland Avenue called Lots of Food (http://www.louisvillelotsoffood.com/). As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com

We are live in the studio at 2pm on March 30th to encourage you to donate whatever you can during Forward Radio's 5th Anniversary Pledge Drive at http://forwardradio.org. Joining station co-founder, Justin Mog, are two members of the Louisville Chorus (http://louisvillechorus.org), Ruth Newman and John Trueblood. We share some of their great music and discuss their concert coming up on Sunday, April 24th at 3pm at Christ Church United Methodist. Also in the studio are our friends from Forward Radio's Community Partner, the Urban Agriculture Coalition (http://foodinneighborhoods.org/grow), Bethany Pratt from Jefferson Co. Cooperative Extension and Madeline Marshal of the Jefferson Co. Soil & Water Conservation District. We talk about starting gardens, testing soils, making rich compost, keeping chickens & goats, and the first treasures of spring: asparagus and strawberries! The Urban Ag Coalition looks forward to welcoming you to their booths and workshops at the Louisville Free Public Library's How-To Fest on Saturday, May 14th from 10am-3pm at the Main Library on York Street (https://www.lfpl.org/how-to/). Original music in this podcast was recorded by the Louisville Chorus. It is used with the artist's permission. The Access Hour airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Wednesday at 2pm and repeats Thursdays at 11am and Fridays at 1pm. Find us at forwardradio.org If you've got something you'd like to share on community radio through the Access Hour, whether it's a recording you made or a show you'd like to do on a particular topic, community, artistic creation, or program that is under-represented in Louisville's media landscape, just go to forwarradio.org, click on Participate and pitch us your idea. The Access Hour is your opportunity to take over the air waves to share your passion.

During this episode, Kurt Fuchs interviews Madison (Madi) Walter, Urban Agriculture Outreach Coordinator with the New Castle Conservation District. Madi tells us all about urban agriculture, challenges urban agriculturalists are facing, and growth with Delaware urban ag initiatives. Madi also shares her involvement in the Delaware Urban Farm and Food Coalition and the future of urban agriculture.Episode Notes: https://www.mafc.com/blog/agvocates-podcast-madi-walterAll Podcast Notes: https://www.mafc.com/podcast

Today, we finish our discussion with guest expert Zachary Grant on his work as a Cook County Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator. We explore the difference between low-capital and high-capital urban agriculture and how to convert the new farmers that take Zachary's classes into long-term producers. We dig into different ownership models, scalability, and aggregation. And we end the conversation with a reflection on how new, urban farmers and traditional farmers are not very different. We start to consider opportunities to bring these two communities together as we all work to increase local and regional food systems. If you would like to see more great content from Zachary, check out his Urban Ag Connect Vlog Series which he curates on the state Local Food System and Small Farm YouTube channel.

Guest expert, Zachary Grant join's The Grower and The Economist for this special two-part, 50th episode special on local food systems and small farms. Peter is always looking to increase the amount of local food communities eat. Zachary makes Peter's day when he shares that with urban agriculture cities like Detroit and Chicago could meet 75% of their produce needs by farming in the vacant lot inventory! As a University of Illinois Extension Educator and with the help of his partner Kathryn Pereira, he is teaching, mostly new farmers, how to farm in the urban setting. Zachary works with Herban Produce (a 2-acre diversified vegetable farm), non-profit urban farms that provide training for workers and process to underserved communities, and well-funded controlled environment agriculture.

How does one commercial urban farm—Heru Urban Farming in St. Louis, Missouri—grow food for a community? Why did its founder and CEO, Tyrean Lewis, start down this path? We interview Tyrean about his familial connection to the land and to giving back to his community, how he pursued urban agriculture full-time during a pandemic, and what he is hopeful for today. We talk about grants, accelerators, and—of course—the many delicious crops growing at Heru. We also talk about food-system disparities and the role that urban agriculture can play in addressing them. Listen to the interview, follow Fields and Tyrean, and stay tuned to Heritage Radio Network.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

Westminster, Colorado began as a small farming community when the first settler arrived in 1870. Today, it is the state's eighth-largest city. Even though it's part of the sprawling, urban metro Denver area, Westminster has held onto its agricultural roots. There's still a working farm about three miles from downtown. So it's not surprising Westminster High School has a robust agriculture program. This episode features the school's Career and Technical Education agriculture pathway and two students who've found success in the urban jungle.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we travel to Jackson, Mississippi, for a discussion of urban agriculture with NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Felicia Bell and Otis Wright, an urban farm manager and consultant. Otis talks about his experience with urban agriculture, as well as the ways he has found that urban agriculture can benefit communities beyond providing nutritious food.Related ATTRA Resources:Urban and Community AgricultureOther Resources:100 Black Men of AmericaTougaloo CollegeContact Felicia Bell via email at feliciab@ncat.org.Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at askanag@ncat.org. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!Southwest Regional Office: Website / FacebookWestern Regional Office: Website / FacebookRocky Mountain West Regional Office: FacebookGulf States Regional Office: Website / FacebookSoutheast Regional Office: Website / FacebookNortheast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

University of Tennessee Knoxville Interim Plant Science Department Head, Dr. Gary Bates says more people are growing gardens than ever before. he explains how his department is helping people learn ow to grow their own food more effectively and efficiently in this episode of Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. The post Urban Ag Growing in Popularity appeared first on Tennessee Farm Bureau.

In this episode, I speak with Organic Master Gardener, social change leader, aspiring rural farmer, a cook, a nurturer, an educator and advocate, Angel Beyde.  We talk about the struggles and incredible resilience of Black farmers, the importance of land ownership for farming with equity, intergenerational trauma experienced by the BIPOC community, and non-racialized folks taking responsibility to work for racial justice.We talk about how our stories from our childhood are a blueprint that shapes many of the passions and visions we have for ourselves in our adult years. We connect on her story that led Angel to become a Black-Mixed race farmer in her forties and the challenges that she is facing in trying to purchase land.We talk about the importance of compassion in Calling In vs Calling Out, of social change through bridge-building, and the courage to overcome and heal from white fragility. We share about the need for willingness to go through discomfort as we're addressing and uprooting racism that is so embedded in our culture that it's most of the time, invisible. I continue to reflect on Angel's quote,"If your biggest fear is to be uncomfortable, but my biggest fear is to be killed by the police, then maybe it's worth it to be uncomfortable to learn how to change society.”Overall, in the end, this is a conversation about what it takes to keep staying the course when all external forces are saying 'no'. It's about the importance of nurturing connection with an open heart. To see the possibility in the impossible. It's about how to stay creative and resilient in the face of adversity.If you're interested in learning more about coaching 1:1 with Ami send me a hello - ami@amidehne.com. If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @amidehne.I want to invite you to help contribute to this podcast by submitting a suggestion for a Disruptor your know who would be a great guest on the Disruptions With Purpose podcast.  All you have to do is go here and submit a suggestion (https://forms.gle/vonkDn8bCmeK2zRL6)Resources:Farming While Black by Leah Penninham - Farming While Black is the first comprehensive “how-to” guide for aspiring African-heritage growers to reclaim their dignity as agriculturists and for all farmers to understand the distinct, technical contributions of African-heritage people to sustainable agricultureDo Better - Do Better is a revolutionary offering that addresses anti-racism from a comprehensive, intersectional and spiritually aligned perspective.EFAO - The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) supports farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community.We Are Each Other's Harvest - In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people's connection to the American land from Emancipation to today.About Angel:Angel Beyde is a Black/mixed-race grower of food and flowers. An Organic Master Gardener, educator and facilitator, Angel has worked in Urban Ag, eco-landscaping and non-profits for many years. She is passionate about regenerative growing practices as key to food sovereignty and community abundance. Angel and her husband Raph are currently looking for rural O

How will Garcia’s ambitious green infrastructure plans promote urban farming in NYC?The Fields team reached out to all of the major candidates for mayor of New York regarding their urban agriculture plans. Kathryn Garcia gave us an hour of her time to discuss her highly relevant background as well as her new green infrastructure plan. Garcia has previously served as Commissioner for the New York City Sanitation Department, incident commander during Hurricane Sandy, Interim Chair and CEO of the New York City Housing Authority, and Food Czar for New York's emergency food program during the COVID-19 emergency response. As mayor, she plans to green every roof in NYC and much more. We discuss food and environmental policy with a special focus on what this means for urban farmers. Give us a listen, plant a seed, and please share Fields with a friend!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

“What’s it like, farming on a roof next to a jail in Brooklyn during a pandemic? How have urban farms responded to the pandemic?” Melissa and Wythe catch up with their friend Maya Kutz, greenhouse manager at the Brooklyn Grange’s newest rooftop farm in Sunset Park. Maya is an experienced grower and food justice activist. We talk about both her work growing greens—how she became a manager of a greenhouse on a roof in NYC—and her work to provide food aid to people during the pandemic. Maya walks us through different types of controlled environment agriculture (CEA), or indoor growing, including hydroponics. We talk about how she came to work for the Grange, and why she’s involved in aid work. Give us a listen, plant a seed, and subscribe to Fields! Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

Today we welcome back our very first podcast guest, Mr. Thomas Jackson. Toledo, Ohio's urban farmer, discussing wood chip beds...yield amounts from the 2020 Harvest, honey drinks and what is really in pop tarts.PLUS our new in show segment: MIKE'S MAIL, question of the day asked & answered!!!ORIGINAL EPISODE LINK:https://pdcn.co/e/www.buzzsprout.com/887557/2945737-urban-farming-organic-beds.mp3?blob_id=12116911&download=trueThis just in... the 2020 Harvest Results for MIGHTY ORGANICS: TOTAL GROSS POUNDAGE:    32,157.41 LBS...WATERMELON POUNDAGE:     7,882.65 LBSCOLLARDS POUNDAGE:           12,395.9 LBSDONATIONS OF COLLARDS:     3,233.7 LBShttps://www.facebook.com/MightyOrganics/https://www.facebook.com/JACKSON-INDUSTRIES-CORPORATION-164485147088856________________If you'd like to ask us an "on-air" question or just leave a show comment, do it the old fashioned way, leave a voice mail at: (567) 318-2325 Or email us at: YourMidwestGarden@bex.net________________Like to check out our Facebook Page? Please "LIKE" it, follow along and even post, not only your garden pictures, but message us with questions. Plant, bug IDs, etc. Mike loves to help out!https://www.facebook.com/Your-Midwest-Garden-Podcast-104823994541594________________If you happen to be in the Toledo or Perrysburg, Ohio area, please stop in at our sponsor's garden centers or visit them online at:https://www.blackdiamondgrows.comBlack Diamond Garden Centers Welcome to Black Diamond Nursery & Lawn Service. We been a local business in Toledo for 50 years!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/yourmidwestgarden)

The world’s population could reach 10 billion people in the next 30 years. How we feed them has led to a lot of exciting developments in high-tech, indoor growing. Chris Higgins is co-owner of Hort Americas and founder of Urban Ag News which provides innovative and educational content to those interested in starting non-traditional businesses in urban agriculture, city and vertical farms.   

In Edible-Alpha® podcast #78, Tera is joined by Mark and Judy Thomas, co-founders of Garfield Produce Co., an indoor vertical farm and wholesale food operation in Chicago. The “failed retirees” started this for-profit business/social enterprise in 2014 to provide job opportunities for people with employment barriers. Following successful careers—Mark as a newspaper production leader, Judy as a corporate lawyer—the Thomases volunteered at a food bank and shelter in East Garfield Park, one of Chicago's roughest areas. Through their service, they learned that many in this neighborhood struggled to find jobs nearby, especially men who'd been incarcerated. Mark had been wanting to start a business, so they decided to launch an urban hydroponic farm right in this neighborhood, hoping it could open doors for people recently out of prison and ready to build a better life. Given their social mission, the Thomases could've gone the nonprofit route. Instead, they tapped into their business and accounting acumen and made Garfield Produce a for-profit venture. As Mark explained, this ensured a focus on revenue, expenses, bottom line and careful growth and would allow them to share equity with employees if the business proved successful. Tera commended their approach, noting that many urban agriculture entrepreneurs, while well intended, grapple with the business side and don't end up making it. After constructing a food-safe climate-controlled grow room with the help of grants, Mark and Judy determined that microgreens made the most sense to grow. As specialty products, microgreens command a much higher price than commodity produce and appeal to high-end chefs looking for consistent, top-quality supplies. The Thomases' business plan, including their focus on the foodservice channel, worked wonderfully. Garfield Produce amassed a large clientele while providing great job opportunities locally. By the beginning of 2020, the company was finally in the black. Then came COVID-19. When Illinois's governor ordered all restaurants to close in March, Garfield Produce's sales sank 95% overnight. Fortunately, the company received government grants and loans and was selected for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program, all of which kept the business alive through the fall. Now, as the pandemic persists and restaurants remain closed or at limited capacity, the company is building up its e-commerce and retail channels to reach more consumers and exploring growing baby greens to appeal to a wider audience. Through it all, Garfield Produce has maintained what Mark called “the best, most self-directed work team I've ever had.” That's high praise, seeing as Mark once oversaw some 7,000 employees. The Thomases have proven that, beyond just giving ex-cons a chance, working closely with them to develop their job skills and practicing open-book management increases employee engagement and teamwork. Mark and Judy are excellent examples of how leading with empathy and emphasizing self-empowerment can transform lives while also benefiting the bottom line.

In Edible-Alpha® podcast #78, Tera is joined by Mark and Judy Thomas, co-founders of Garfield Produce Co., an indoor vertical farm and wholesale food operation in Chicago. The “failed retirees” started this for-profit business/social enterprise in 2014 to provide job opportunities for people with employment barriers. Following successful careers—Mark as a newspaper production leader, Judy as a corporate lawyer—the Thomases volunteered at a food bank and shelter in East Garfield Park, one of Chicago’s roughest areas. Through their service, they learned that many in this neighborhood struggled to find jobs nearby, especially men who’d been incarcerated. Mark had been wanting to start a business, so they decided to launch an urban hydroponic farm right in this neighborhood, hoping it could open doors for people recently out of prison and ready to build a better life. Given their social mission, the Thomases could’ve gone the nonprofit route. Instead, they tapped into their business and accounting acumen and made Garfield Produce a for-profit venture. As Mark explained, this ensured a focus on revenue, expenses, bottom line and careful growth and would allow them to share equity with employees if the business proved successful. Tera commended their approach, noting that many urban agriculture entrepreneurs, while well intended, grapple with the business side and don’t end up making it. After constructing a food-safe climate-controlled grow room with the help of grants, Mark and Judy determined that microgreens made the most sense to grow. As specialty products, microgreens command a much higher price than commodity produce and appeal to high-end chefs looking for consistent, top-quality supplies. The Thomases’ business plan, including their focus on the foodservice channel, worked wonderfully. Garfield Produce amassed a large clientele while providing great job opportunities locally. By the beginning of 2020, the company was finally in the black. Then came COVID-19. When Illinois’s governor ordered all restaurants to close in March, Garfield Produce’s sales sank 95% overnight. Fortunately, the company received government grants and loans and was selected for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program, all of which kept the business alive through the fall. Now, as the pandemic persists and restaurants remain closed or at limited capacity, the company is building up its e-commerce and retail channels to reach more consumers and exploring growing baby greens to appeal to a wider audience. Through it all, Garfield Produce has maintained what Mark called “the best, most self-directed work team I’ve ever had.” That’s high praise, seeing as Mark once oversaw some 7,000 employees. The Thomases have proven that, beyond just giving ex-cons a chance, working closely with them to develop their job skills and practicing open-book management increases employee engagement and teamwork. Mark and Judy are excellent examples of how leading with empathy and emphasizing self-empowerment can transform lives while also benefiting the bottom line.

DONATE HERE Watch the video The youth of Gary, Indiana have traditionally lacked access to food security, extracurricular opportunity, and employment for too long. For that reason, the Gary Food Council is establishing a 3-year program to train and employ more than 100 youth in best urban farming practices in partnership with major local growers and assistance from our local Purdue extension office. After our certified Junior Urban Farmers complete their internships, we will then employ those 100 trained and certified youth as Urban Farming Educators. In this capacity, they will deliver urban farming and nutrition education to more than 1,500 students in the city while expanding access to locally grown food in the city for their peers and fellow residents.

Akilah Martin, Ph.D., is first and foremost in partnership with soil and water. Akilah earned her BS degree in Soil Science from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University and her Doctorate from Purdue University in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Her professional interests include enhancing relationships of individuals and communities to natural resources. Her teaching and scholarly/research interests are centered in soil and water quality in urban communities. Current projects involve food sovereignty, Chicago Grows Food, Advocates for Urban Ag, life expectancy and health inequalities, installing rain gardens to create a "sponge town", and building container gardens for "growing your own groceries." Akilah is abundantly living life through two core values: Freedom and Joy. To that end, she is a certified coach specializing in building vibrant relationships. Her website is www.amrootbuilders.com Find her on Instagram at amrootbuilders. In our conversation Akilah discusses:How growing up with a science teacher mother and studying science in her youth, then plant science in college, took her to soil science, a PhD at Purdue, a successful academic career, and now a full-time focus on community development with an emphasis on soil and urban agriculture.How the concept of ‘freedom’ guides her life, her coaching, and her community development work.The overwhelm she can feel as someone trying to address suffering in her community, and the damage to people’s bodies that she witnesses in communities experiencing layers of environmental contamination. How empowering messages can build more momentum than suffering-based messages.Why being synergistic in her contributions keeps her from feeling pulled in too many directions, and what kind of self-care practices sustain her.How her urban agriculture advocacy is supporting urban water access, food access, nutrition, and Chicago Grows Food, which has been offering Grow Kits to residents as part of their Grow Your Groceries Campaign. Assessing and addressing contaminated soil from industrial urban uses.How people can break away from food insecurity and into food sovereignty. “People are getting more interested in that because they see how their food really impacts their health. And honestly it impacts your mental health at the top—what your brain is able to do.”To hear more from Akilah, find another interview on Humans & Nature at https://www.humansandnature.org/recovering-indigeneity-a-conversation-about-food-health-and-wellbeing

As the coronavirus touches nearly every aspect of life in nearly every part of the world, how we raise food continues to innovate.     Our longtime correspondent Chris Higgins of Urban Ag news joins us to talk about the latest developments in indoor farming.  

How Gen Z is doing a 360 turning back to farming like grandpa/great grandpa... What is truly a weed... bees are a buzzing and worms are NOT native to the Midwest!Who says all this and more?A guy that pets bees of course!_________________________________During this COVID 19 time, we talked to Dr. Todd Crail via the phone and not in person as we usually do.If you would like to participate in the next Mike's Mail episode, please email your gardening question to:YourMidwestGarden@bex.netOr better yet, get your 15 seconds of fame and record your question on your phone (using the voice memo app) and send that to us! Then hear yourself on the podcast!If you happen to be in the Toledo or Perrysburg, Ohio area, please stop in at our sponsor's garden centers, Black Diamond, or visit them online at:https://www.blackdiamondgrows.comAnd remember, "Ask Someone who Knows"!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/yourmidwestgarden)

As the coronavirus touches nearly every aspect of life in nearly every part of the world, how we raise food is coming into question. Our longtime correspondent Chris Higgins of Urban Ag news joins us to talk about indoor farming when facing a pandemic. 

On this week’s edition of Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, gets his hands dirty with two great guests from Forward Radio’s community partner, the Urban Agriculture Coalition. In the studio this week to get you excited about planning and starting your garden this year are Bethany Pratt, Agent for Horticulture Education with Jefferson County Cooperative Extension, and Lilias Pettit-Scott, Urban Agriculture Conservationist with the Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District. Learn more about the Urban Ag Coalition at http://foodinneighborhoods.org/grow Check out Jefferson County Cooperative Extension at http://jefferson.ca.uky.edu or https://www.facebook.com/JeffersonCoExtension/ And find all the resources available from the Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District at http://jeffcd.org They will all be on hand at the Main Public Library’s How-To Fest on Saturday, May 9th from 10am-3pm. Find more info about that as the date nears at http://lfpl.org As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! airs on FORward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is used by permission from the fantastic Louisville band, Appalatin. Explore their inspiring music at http://www.appalatin.com

On this week’s edition of Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, sharpens his spade with Katie Harvey, Workplace Wellness CSA Program Coordinator, from the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK). We're excited that OAK is bringing its annual conference to Louisville this year with a focus on: Healthy Soils, Healthy Farms: Reshaping Kentucky with Organics Friday, March 6th - Saturday, March 7th 2020 Louisville Marriott East, 1903 Embassy Square Blvd (at 1-64 & Hurstbourne Pkwy) This energized gathering is a must-attend for farmers, agriculture professionals, home gardeners and those passionate about building more resilient food systems in Kentucky. Conference sessions provide useful tools, techniques, research and knowledge you can put to use on the farm and fantastic opportunities for networking! The conference covers an array of organic production topics, regenerative agriculture, livestock management, marketing, homesteading and food systems change making. Join us and hear from experienced farmers and national speakers covering a range of topics in sessions, short courses, and keynotes. Full conference registration includes 4 locally-sourced and organic meals! Continuing Education Units (CEUs) available for Certified Crop Advisers and KDA Certified Pesticide Applicators. The conference features an Urban Ag and Local Food Systems track; Homesteading track; and Talks with a focus on climate change. Register for the 2020 OAK Conference at https://www.oak-ky.org/2020-conference Learn more at http://oak-ky.org or http://kyfarmshare.org As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! airs on FORward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is used by permission from the fantastic Louisville band, Appalatin. Explore their inspiring music at http://www.appalatin.com

On this episode of Solutions News, host Rinaldo Brutoco and producer Kristy Jansen talk agroforestry with expert Dave Sansone, an agroforestry and permaculture researcher and consultant on the Island of Hawaii. Sansone practices a climate-friendly, “no-till, no work” farming strategies in Hawaii that allows for the best outcome with the least effort. The episode spotlighted Hawaii in the conversation of agroforestry and "bio-tilling". Specifically, the three discussed the use of regenerative agriculture to grow food, feed, and fiber. Farmers are discovering that a systemic focus on soil health will award them better outcomes with less inputs. This is because regenerative agriculture aims to boost microbial activity, carbon retention, and water infiltration in the soil so plants can more efficiently obtain what they need. The best way to achieve this? Do less, not more. The soil is an integral part of the entire ecosystem, and it is a complex system in itself. Agroforestry is defined as sustainable agriculture which grows trees alongside other crops and animals to benefit all parties, including people and the greater environment. According to the U.S. Forest Service, strategic agroforestry can increase crop yields by 56 percent. Agroforestry is a type of regenerative agriculture that increases the productivity of the land by restoring organic materials to the soil, thus resulting in the previously mentioned benefits such as carbon retention. This unique solution provides more than a quick fix to a complex and pressing issue. Agroforestry produces a diverse crop yield, a healthy ecosystem, and a resilient habitat that can more easily adapt to a changing planet. To learn more about agroforestry and other topics from last week’s episode of Solutions News, please visit www.solutionsnews.org/dave-sansone.

Creating resilience in an urban community. In This Podcast: It was after spending some time out of the country that Francey Slater woke to the poor American relationship with food.  This motivated her towards food justice and making a difference in her community.  With a belief that healthy food is a right for everyone, she co-founded a non-profit that is creating community and school gardens, and building a stronger, resilient community as a result.  Don't miss an episode! Click here to sign up for podcast updatesor visit www.urbanfarm.org/podcast Francey is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mill City Grows in Lowell, MA. Her experience creating garden-based educational programming spans two decades, several continents, and youth through adult learners.  Mill City Grows is an organization that fosters food justice by improving physical health, economic independence and environmental sustainability in Lowell through increased access to land, locally-grown food and education. Prior to founding Mill City Grows, she was the Education Director for CitySprouts, worked as a member of the Urban Nutrition Initiative in Philadelphia, PA, helped to restore agricultural efforts in a village school in Bangalore, India; and provided education for farmers, gardeners, and youth in Hocotepec, Mexico.  Go to www.urbanfarm.org/millcitygrows for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests. 469: Francey Slater on Urban Ag and Food Justice.

 The answer to climate change could lie in the trees. Recent research at Switzerland’s Crowther Lab tells us how many trees would need to be planted to ultimately capture two-thirds of human-made carbon emissions. We’re joined by Professor Thomas Crowther from Crowther Lab in Zurich, Switzerland.  As we continue to find better ways to make the most out of our resources, one way we can do more with less is by moving our farms indoors. With an update on the latest in urban ag news, we’re joined by Chris Higgins of Hort Americas who recently attended the Green Tech convention in Amsterdam. 

Members from UGA's Center for Urban Agriculture discuss all things Urban Ag and Extension

In the first episode of season 3, Julie Suarez, Associate Dean of Governmental and Community Relations in the College of Agriculture and Life Science at Cornell University, joins Extension Out Loud once again to discuss the provisions of the newly passed 2018 farm bill. Julie breaks down how the longest government shutdown in the books has impacted farmers, Cornell University’s role in the growing hemp industry, the farm bill’s emphasis on urban agriculture, innovative production, research, and more! See S1E1 for the first interview with Julie about the farm bill. Please, take our survey and let us know what you think about Extension Out Loud. All data is gathered is anonymous and will help us shape upcoming episodes. Survey: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eWm0KiYFdAF1afP Episode transcript (pdf): https://cornell.box.com/s/pgzw4ftuc9gkmvz08im02t6x6mfow55g Links: Grow NYC: https://www.grownyc.org/ Cornell Small Farms Program – the Labor Ready Farmer project: https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/ Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York Team – Urban agriculture: https://harvestny.cce.cornell.edu/topic.php?id=7 Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2 Credits: Title and End Music by Ryan Andersen - Bike Ride With You from the album Swimming. freemusicarchive.org/music/Ryan_Andersen/Swimming/ licensed under CC BY-NC 4,0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

In this episode, Charlotte and Russell meet with Mary Miller and Helen Schnoes from the Douglas County Food Policy Council.  They have worked tirelessly to create agricultural regulations in Lawrence Kansas that both encourage and protect urban farming, including keeping bees.    Thinking about starting your own apiary but don’t know where to begin? Find out how easy it is to become a backyard beekeeper at our Basics of Beekeeping workshop with Brushy Mountain Bee Farm! Friday, Sept. 14, at Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Pa., in conjunction with the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR. Learn more and reserve your spot today. https://www.motherearthnews.com/store/Offer/MMEPCIZ2

In this episode of MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends Russel Mullin of Heirloom Gardener and I sat down with Helen Schnoes and Mary Miller of the Douglas County Food Policy Council to discuss how to work inside your city limits to gain agricultural rights for your community.  Find our Guests Books in the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Store Your Farm in the City Heirloom Gardener Here is a collection of related articles you may enjoy: How to Start an Urban Farm Zoning and City Code Considerations for Urban Homesteaders National Resources:  Iowa State "Urban Zoning Guide" American Planning Association - Policy Briefs Regional Resources:  North Eastern Kansas Beekeepers Association Local Extension Services Food Policy Network Community Food Assessment Public Health Law Center "Policy Brief"  Find our Guests Books in the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Store Your Farm in the City   Check out the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Bookstore for more resources that may pique your interests! To see more podcasts, visit our Mother Earth News and Friends page! Check out the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR page for an opportunity to see our podcast guest live!  The Mother Earth News and Friends podcast is a production of Ogden Publications.

What is the best way to get more people eating healthy food? We've seen a lot of work in this area, since the advent of the slow food movement, with community gardens popping up in urban settings everywhere. But what makes someone value locally grown and sourced goods? And how do we take healthy & local foods from being regarded as the exception to being treated as the norm? This and more with Fresh City Farms' CEO & Founder Ran Goel.

Amazing no-till results, proof-of-concept urban agriculture, and learning “tracks” available for a curated conference experience Hey, how’s it going today? I am Jason Velázquez, and we have arrived here at Episode #11. It’s good having you here at the table of Plenty. What’s the date today? Well for me it’s Sunday, December 18, 2016. For you it could be anytime after that, right? This is a podcast—you can listen whenever you like. I can’t make you do anything. And you know what’s great about this podcast?… The post Plenty #11: No-till and Urban Ag at NOFA/Mass Winter Conference appeared first on The Greylock Glass.

Amazing no-till results, proof-of-concept urban agriculture, and learning “tracks” available for a curated conference experience Hey, how's it going today? I am Jason Velázquez, and we have arrived here at Episode #11. It's good having you here at the table of Plenty. What's the date today? Well for me it's Sunday, December 18, 2016. For you it could be anytime after that, right? This is a podcast—you can listen whenever you like. I can't make you do anything. And you know what's great about this podcast?… The post Plenty #11: No-till and Urban Ag at NOFA/Mass Winter Conference appeared first on The Greylock Glass.

While you may not be going hungry this holiday season, countless others are. We explored this serious issue with Second Harvest Food Bank and Solutions for Urban Agriculture, and learned about their partnership to end hunger in Orange County. Do you know how many families in Orange County go hungry each night? The surprising answer is why we need the great work of these two organizations as they address needs in our communities.

Want to start an urban garden? Or grow your garden-sized enterprise into a feeding others, providing livelihood for yourself urban FARM? There's a brand new "toolkit" in town for you. Melissa Vatterott, Food & Farms Coordinator for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment returns to Earthworms to present the topics covered in this guide. Urban Ag issues include ordinances (the City Chicken Limit), water access (can you tap into a neighboring property's hose bib, or do you need to install a costly water line?), and zoning for types of structures (tool sheds, high tunnels) and location-specific land usage. Opportunities, on the other hand, are great - and growing - in the St. Louis region! We have lots of vacant land, the climate for three-season food production, good soil, and abundant water, even in times of drought. We have partnerships like these toolkit supporters in the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition: Gateway Greening and Lincoln University Cooperative Extension. And we have leaders like Melissa Vatterott, cultivating data along with berries, greens and carrots, to ensure the viability and fund-ability of our growing Urban Farming culture. Dig into the new Guide to Urban Agriculture and Urban Farming in St. Louis - and help yourself, your neighborhood and your local farmers grow capacity to feed our region! Music: Magic 9, performed live by the Infamous Stringdusters, at KDHX in June, 2011. Related Earthworms Conversations: Melissa Vatterott on the St. Louis Regional Foodshed Study - December 29, 2015. LaVista Farmer Crystal Stevens (Earthworms' farmer!) - July 29, 2015 Farming on a Downtown Roof: Urban Harvest STL - June 30, 2015 Pawpaw, America's Forgotten Fruit - September 30, 2015 Project Garlic: Crop-Sourcing the Super-Bulb - October 13, 2015

What could be more ‘local’ than buying produce that was grown at your supermarket? On this week’s episode of Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer is talking with Paul Lightfoot, CEO of BrightFarms. BrightFarms designs and builds greenhouses that use hydroponics to grow produce such as tomatoes and leafy greens at supermarket retail locations. Because there is a lack local food to fill the demand, Paul is taking a large-scale approach to create a system to provide healthy, local food at a reasonable price. Hear about how terms like ‘locavore’ have entered the mainstream lexicon, as well as the importance of creating an avenue for local food in poorer communities. Hear about BrightFarms recent business deal with A&P, and how Paul hopes it will provide healthier food for a larger section of the population. To learn more about BrightFarms, tune into this week’s Straight, No Chaser! This episode has been brought to you by White Oak Pastures. “If you put a tomato on a truck starting in Mexico and it bounces all the way to Chicago, that’s about the worst thing you can do to a tomato.” “In most supermarkets across the country, ‘local’ is a hugely successful strategy in the marketing departments, but isn’t getting any traction in the produce department.” — Paul Lightfoot on Straight, No Chaser

What could be more ‘local’ than buying produce that was grown at your supermarket? On this week’s episode of Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer is talking with Paul Lightfoot, CEO of BrightFarms. BrightFarms designs and builds greenhouses that use hydroponics to grow produce such as tomatoes and leafy greens at supermarket retail locations. Because there is a lack local food to fill the demand, Paul is taking a large-scale approach to create a system to provide healthy, local food at a reasonable price. Hear about how terms like ‘locavore’ have entered the mainstream lexicon, as well as the importance of creating an avenue for local food in poorer communities. Hear about BrightFarms recent business deal with A&P, and how Paul hopes it will provide healthier food for a larger section of the population. To learn more about BrightFarms, tune into this week’s Straight, No Chaser! This episode has been brought to you by White Oak Pastures. “If you put a tomato on a truck starting in Mexico and it bounces all the way to Chicago, that’s about the worst thing you can do to a tomato.” “In most supermarkets across the country, ‘local’ is a hugely successful strategy in the marketing departments, but isn’t getting any traction in the produce department.” — Paul Lightfoot on Straight, No Chaser

Dr Dave Epstein is a practicing physician, entrepreneur, organic gardener and the manager of Bioponica™. He grew up in Dallas, Texas and attended the University of Texas and the University California Berkeley between 1978-1982.  Graduated with a Degree in Psychology and minor in Art, Dr Dave earned his medicine degree at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) and completed an Internship in Flint Michigan in 1986. Through research, design and innovation, Bioponica™ challenges the conventional wisdom of hydroponics and aquaponics with an optimized design and a more sustainable process.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer is joined by one of the founders of The Brooklyn Grange, a one-acre rooftop farm in Long Island City. Tune in to hear how the farm was started and how vertical and rooftop farming can play a huge role in the future of agriculture in urban areas. Find out what the guys at The Brooklyn Grange are up to right now, and make sure to vote for them in the BBC’s World Challenge. Vote here!This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer is joined by one of the founders of The Brooklyn Grange, a one-acre rooftop farm in Long Island City. Tune in to hear how the farm was started and how vertical and rooftop farming can play a huge role in the future of agriculture in urban areas. Find out what the guys at The Brooklyn Grange are up to right now, and make sure to vote for them in the BBC’s World Challenge. Vote here!This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.