foodte.ch

Nokia Bonds Are Junk

stoweboyd — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:02:38 -0400

Nokia’s declining fortunes lead to it’s bonds being rated as junk, after falling to No 2 mobile phone maker, behind Samsung:

S.&P. Downgrades Nokia’s Bonds to Junk - Brian X Chen via NYTimes.com

S.& P.’s announcement came as Samsung dethroned Nokia as the world’s No. 1 maker of mobile phones, which includes traditional cellphones and smartphones. Samsung sold 92 million phones over the last quarter, and Nokia sold 83 million, according to estimates by IHS iSuppli, the research firm. It is the first time since 1998 that Nokia is not the No. 1 phone maker in the world.

In the smartphone category, Nokia slips to third place behind Apple, the leader with 35 million phones shipped, and Samsung, with 32 million devices, according to iSuppli. In that category, Nokia is slipping faster than Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry. The smartphone segment is the only part of the handset market that is showing any growth.

Nokia’s long-term rating was dropped to a noninvestment rating, BB+, from the investment-grade rating BBB–, with a negative outlook, S.& P. said. Its short-term rating dropped to B from A-3, S.& P. said.

Nokia has been struggling to reverse its declining fortunes with its Lumia smartphones, which include Microsoft’s newer operating system, Windows Phone 7. In the United States, AT&T and Nokia have been aggressively promoting the Lumia 900, a $100 smartphone that has been a strong seller on Amazon.com.

Trying to be the world’s leading maker of Windows mobile phones is like being the world’s tallest midget.

Effects of Climate Change Seen for Corn Prices - Stephanie Strom via NYTimes.com

stoweboyd — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:00:28 -0400

Effects of Climate Change Seen for Corn Prices - Stephanie Strom via NYTimes.com:

stoweboyd:

Stephanie Strom via NYTimes.com

Researchers have found that climate change is likely to have far greater influence on the volatility of corn prices over the next three decades than factors that recently have been blamed for price swings — like oil prices, trade policies and government biofuel mandates.

The new study, published on Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that unless farmers develop more heat-tolerant corn varieties or gradually move corn production from the United States into Canada, frequent heat waves will cause sharp price spikes.

More critical than short-term spikes is relatively high growth rates for food stuffs across the board, and especially for building blocks like corn and soy in the industrial food chain.

How Can Paiche Be 'New' And 'Prehistoric' At The Same Time?

stoweboyd — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:21:00 -0400

A ‘new’ freshwater fish is getting a buzz in South Florida, the Paiche, or arapaima, is popping up in hip restaurants and being toured as a sustainable alternative to sea bass and other fish.

Paiche is an air breathing fish, which makes it susceptible to harpooning, because they tend to remain near the water’s surface, where they hunt and emerge often to breathe with a distinctive coughing noise. I am hoping that the claims of sustainable farming are true:

Ina Paive Cordle, Seafood Sensation

A new freshwater fish has landed at select South Florida restaurants, offering diners a rewarding taste sensation and chefs a delectable and sustainable alternative to rival the popular Chilean sea bass.

The Amazone paiche (pronounced pie-ché) gives the health and environmentally conscious a farm-raised option for an endangered wild, prehistoric Peruvian fish, considered one of the largest river fish in the world.
[…]
Artisanfish is the exclusive importer for the Americas of the Amazone brand of paiche. Amazone, which is part of a privately held Peruvian business group, is the only company aqua farming the fish, free of chemicals, hormones or contaminants, and with an aim to restore the species, Burstein said.

[…]

While paiche is just making its debut on plates locally, it is already a hit in France, the biggest market so far for Amazon paiche, he said.

Restoring the species because people have been hunting it to extinction, and it has been protected by International law for 20 years. I worry that the fish becoming the new hot thing will lead to a new wave of overhunting.

de Guia: Should Every Restaurant Have A Farm? No. But, It's Not A Bad Idea.

stoweboyd — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:32:38 -0400

de Guia: Should Every Restaurant Have A Farm? No. But, It's Not A Bad Idea.:

A sensible trend: farm-to-restaurant-table, where the farm is owned by the restaurant:

Liza de Guia via HuffPo

At Egg, the word “comfort” isn’t taken lightly, and diners who want a taste of the South done authentically and simply know to come, and keep coming back here. They’ve got homemade buttermilk biscuits & gravy, heaping servings of the tastiest grits, juicy fried chicken, Carolina kale, pulled pork, hot ham, pimento cheese and, of course, eggs, lots of eggs. Up until three years ago, the restaurant worked closely with local farmers to provide the fresh produce featured on their seasonal menus. Now, they are able to provide almost all the vegetables they need for their dishes from their own 6-acre farm, Goatfell Farm, located 2.5 hours from the restaurant in upstate New York - a personal, passion project that George [Weld, owner/chef] had been thinking about for many years.

I bet we will see hundreds of farm-to-table restaurants in NYC alone, in the next few years.

More Fallout From Irene

stoweboyd — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:35:59 -0400

via Facebook

No CSA distribution this Wednesday - Hurricane destroys New Paltz area farms by Bed-Stuy Farm Share on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 6:41pm

I am writing with some very unfortunate news from Hector Tejada, the farmer at Conuco Farm. While Hurricane Irene made its pass through NYC with little harm, it has and continues to wreak havok on the Hudson Valley. Conuco Farm, your vegetable producer for Bed-Stuy Farm Share’s Wednesday shares, is completely underwater due to flooding of the Wallkill River. It is unclear when the water will recede. We do not know the status of the produce that is underwater, but we hope that once the water goes down there will be some produce that is salvagable. That said, there will definitely be no Farm Share distribution this Wednesday, August 31st, and it is possible that there will not be farm share distribution for several weeks.

[…]

We will have a discussion with our fruit and egg farmers shortly to see if there is another way to bring their products into the city. Up to this point, Conuco Farm has graciously transported your eggs and fruit to the city each week. Considering their current situation, it is not possible to have them spend the gas money and time to transport a small delivery of fruit and eggs to us.

Thank you for your membership to this community supported agriculture (CSA) project. As you know when you signed your membership agreement, CSAs support farms for the full year. We always hope that our investment in these farms will help them have a great, bountiful year; but unfortunately sometimes Mother Nature or global warming or whatever you want to call it has a bigger impact that can be devastating. Thank you for your patience and understanding as CSA members to Conuco Farm. If you have any questions, please email bedstuycsa@gmail.com or call (646) 389-1783. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Lauren Melodia, Core Member

Bed-Stuy Farm Share

People are putting the picture together of the coming Water...

stoweboyd — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:56:00 -0400

People are putting the picture together of the coming Water Wars, but generally stop short of saying the obvious: world climate change has destabilized large parts of the world, principally due to drought and rising heat, and the consequent lack of water. This is the most dangerous trend on Earth, and a large minority of US politicians can’t even admit that climate change is happening.

Damian Carrington, Food is the ultimate security need, new map shows

A new map of food security risk around the world is, in some ways, depressingly familiar. Sub-saharan Africa leaps out as the place where the most people fear for their next meal, while the rich world has more to fear from obesity. But there’s plenty of salutary reminders and fascinating detail, like India’s food problems and the vulnerability of Spain.

And it demonstrates the sickening, symbiotic relationship between lack of food and conflict: where one leads, the other follows.

We must start with the worst, in the horn of Africa. In Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, human failings mean a severe drought has tipped millions into famine. It’s a textbook case of why things go wrong. War begets poverty, leaving food unaffordable. Devastated infrastructure destroys both food production and the ability to truck in emergency food. The collapse of society means the effects of extreme weather such as drought cannot be dealt with. And the fear of violence turns people into refugees, leaving their livelihoods and social networks behind.

If you move away from the Horn of Africa — where we can expect millions to die in the next year from famine — the really scary area is Pakistan/India/China. All three countries have serious food supply problems — in the map above red is most dangerous and green is least — and Pakistan and India are arch-enemies with decades of open conflict.India and China have fought several border wars, as well.

It is almost impossible to imagine a good outcome there, where the rivers from the Himalayas cross Chinese territories, then India, then Pakistan. Three nuclear powers, with histories of conflict, requiring more water as their populations and water needs grow, and no obvious means to get more water locally. (Note: China is buying up arable land in other continents, and importing the food grown there back to China, which is one way to increase water: use water located elsewhere).

The Water Wars are already here, we just haven’t started using the term, yet.

Also note that very few regions are free of this danger. Notably, North America is positioned to become the breadbasket of the world, again. Although we can’t just look at that transactionally, because there is the huge externality of shipping away our water — in the form of foods — to other, drought-ridden countries. We will have to consider the full costs of shipping an apple, or a ton of wheat, to Spain or Turkey.

After Irene, Upstate New York Farmers Suffer in Flood Plain - NYTimes.com

stoweboyd — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:28:02 -0400

After Irene, Upstate New York Farmers Suffer in Flood Plain - NYTimes.com:

The Hudson River valley’s farmers have been hard hit by hurricane Irene, and while the level of damage is not yet fully known the impacts are going to be long-term:

Lisa Foderaro via NY Times

From the Hudson Valley to areas farther north, along the Mohawk River and Schoharie Creek, New York growers, many of whose farms have been in the family for generations, were dealt a devastating blow by the storm, which dumped heavy rain on the region. Some farmers, who were without power and hobbled by disabled equipment, were not even able to assess the full extent of the damage.

State and local officials said the storm destroyed dozens of farms and crippled many others by killing livestock, submerging crops, washing away barns and buckling nearby roads. The onslaught came at the worst possible time, with farmers in the midst of harvesting a year’s worth of labor. In some spots, orange orbs were eerily visible underwater during flyovers by state officials — a vestige of the season’s pumpkin crop.

“Clearly, it’s not good,” said Darrel J. Aubertine, the commissioner of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets. “I’ve been involved in agriculture my entire life, and there have been times when the weather has wreaked havoc on livestock and farms, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything on this scale here in New York.”

Representatives of farmers’ markets in New York City said that shoppers would feel the effects throughout the fall. “There will be farmers they’ve known for years who might not be bringing product,” said Michael Hurwitz, director of the greenmarket program at GrowNYC, a nonprofit group.

I can tell you that my CSA, here in Beacon NY, which is not on a floodplain, was severely battered by the heavy rains.

"Dozens of United States diplomatic cables released in the latest WikiLeaks dump on Wednesday reveal..."

stoweboyd — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:47:34 -0400

“

Dozens of United States diplomatic cables released in the latest WikiLeaks dump on Wednesday reveal new details of the US effort to push foreign governments to approve genetically engineered (GE) crops and promote the worldwide interests of agribusiness giants like Monsanto and DuPont.

The cables further confirm previous Truthout reports on the diplomatic pressure the US has put on Spain and France, two countries with powerful anti-GE crop movements, to speed up their biotech approval process and quell anti-GE sentiment within the European Union (EU).

Several cables describe “biotechnology outreach programs” in countries across the globe, including African, Asian and South American countries where Western biotech agriculture had yet to gain a foothold. In some cables (such as this 2010 cable from Morocco) US diplomats ask the State Department for funds to send US biotech experts and trade industry representatives to target countries for discussions with high-profile politicians and agricultural officials.

Truthout recently reported on front groups supported by the US government, philanthropic foundations and companies like Monsanto that are working to introduce pro-biotechnology policy initiatives and GE crops in developing African countries, and several cables released this week confirm that American diplomats have promoted biotech agriculture to countries like Tunisia, South Africa and Mozambique.

”

- - Mike Ludwig, New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide

The policies of the US government is one of the many reasons that changing the food system is incredibly hard. Here, newly leaked cables show that US officials have been working on behalf of US-based agribusiness to promote genetically engineered foods.

I am not afraid of frankenfoods becuase they are genetically engineered, per se. What I oppose is the creation of foods that are tailored to work in combination with other chemicals, like Monsanto’s RoundUp, or where tailored strains are introduced under patent, so farmers cannot grow and retain seeds. An behind all the monoculturism is the loss of landraces: strains of plants that have adapted to local conditions over millenia, but do not offer the profits that genetically engineered ones do.

An Open Letter To Ken Kleinpeter, Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council

stoweboyd — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:28:26 -0400

I received an email from Judith LaBelle, president of Glynwood Farms:

Dear Stowe,

HOW COULD NEW YORK STATE SUPPORT THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY OF THE MID-HUDSON REGION?

If you have specific suggestions or recommendations, now is the time to put them forward!

Governor Cuomo recently created ten Regional Economic Development Councils to develop plans for the use of nearly $1 billion in state funding, to be allocated in the coming years. The first task of the councils is to develop regional plans by November 14, so time is short.

The councils will also work with the state to eliminate unnecessary barriers to economic growth and prosperity, which may include some regulations and taxes. Priority will be given to proposals that can create jobs in each region.

Glynwood’s Director of Farm and Facilities, Ken Kleinpeter, has been appointed to the Mid-Hudson regional council, which includes these counties: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. He is working with the entire Glynwood staff to develop proposals that reflect and support the vital role that agriculture plays in the region’s economy.

PLEASE SEND YOUR THOUGHTS AND SUGGESTONS BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL (MidHudsonAg@glynwood.org).

For more information on the Regional Economic Councils, go to http://nyworks.ny.gov.

Judith M. LaBelle
President

So I respond, here, with an open letter to Mr. Ken Kleinpeter:

Mr Kleinpeter -

The Hudson River Valley is a food shed of enormous possibility, once the breadbasket of the America colonies, and now a center for the food renaissance in the US. There are several trends that warrant research and development.

The world — and the US — is rapidly becoming more urban: 82% of Americans live in cities and suburbs as of 2008, when the worldwide rate in only 51%. But this number is likely to increase, for a wide range of reasons, most notably the efficiency and lower costs of living in urban areas. New York City, for example, consumes the least electricity per capita in the US, and has the lowest percentage of car ownership.

But urbanization poses a variety of challenges for food production and distribution. We know about the problems of food deserts — regions where no fresh foods are retailed because of economic disincentives for conventional grocery chains — and some recent initiatives (like Michelle Obama’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative) are pointing the direction that we may need to head to counter those problems.

But a greater problem remains: if our current system of food production and distribution is unsustainable, and has contributed to the dietary and nutritional problems that the US faces, what will we be facing with even higher levels of urbanization?

The Hudson River Valley presents a unique opportunity to investigate the juxtaposition of a major metropolitan hub — New York City and the surrounding urban region — with a major food shed. For the country to learn how to feed its population safely, sustainably, and locally, this combination of town and country is arguably the best place to start.

However, the small, disorganized, and largely unsupported local food community of New York State has structural impediments to rising to this challenge: economic, logistic, and regulatory barriers slow the innovation and development needed.

New York’s Regional Economic Councils could be a source of needed innovation and leadership in this movement. As just one example, consider farmer’s markets. There are more farmers’ markets than ever (over 1,000 new markets opened in the last year, nationally), but participating farmers are complaining of increasing costs from transportation, distribution and staffing at multiple markets are cutting into margins. However, communities are benefitted by more markets, shorter travel to closer markets, and longer hours. Likewise, the provisioning of local healthy food to schools, nursing homes, food pantries, and other civic organizations is a social imperative, and con’t be accomplished just by programs like the Healthy Food Financing Initiative.

A regional solution to some of these core issues — like decreasing transportation and distribution costs though farmers’ and market cooperatives, for example — is exactly the guidance and support that the State could provide. I propose that some research into these issues is essential, as more diverse sorts of foods — local meats and fish, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages — start to produced locally, and for longer seasons, farmer’s markets will have even more challenges. But instead of a patchwork of one-off solutions, worked out market by market, a statewide sets of best practices and government supports could be developed, and ultimately set the stage for activities elsewhere across the US.

For more information on the New York State Regional Economic Development Councils, visit here. And send ideas and suggestions along to MidHudsonAg@glynwood.org, as well.

K. Ruby Bloom, co-author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills...

stoweboyd — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:36:51 -0400

K. Ruby Bloom, co-author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living

How They Got There: A Q&A With Rooftop Farmer Annie Novak | The Awl

stoweboyd — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:50:00 -0400

How They Got There: A Q&A With Rooftop Farmer Annie Novak | The Awl:

Q: Are you starting a revolution? Will I look out in ten years over Greenpoint and see rooftop gardens there and there and there?

A: I think what we are hoping to inspire is just the spread of green roofs in general. Whether or not the green roofs produce food is something that is individual to the building owner and the people involved. Certainly, this is a city that needs more green roofs. We have a sewage system where the pipes are physically not large enough to accommodate the amount of septic waste and wastewater we produce. I would like to see more buildings, particularly in a city like New York where there is a lot of capital floating around. This isn’t the best time in the world, but we are known as a place where development is possible. The only thing that I can hope is that this project gets people excited about it, and that it’s seen as such a value to the building that more and more landowners decide that “Okay, I’m going to take away the soil footprint by putting in a building, but I’m going to keep that soil footprint and the capacity to hold storm water by putting a green roof on the top.” This is something that is not difficult. There’s new legislation out that says if your building is 100 feet or higher, you can put a green roof on without an excess of permitting as long as the green roof is four inches thick. It will make it easier for building owners.

Some of the more practical information in this interview — like how much a rooftop farm can earn per square foot — is great, and makes me want more.

Also raises questions about water use and reuse. Perhaps Eagle Street Rooftop Farm needs some design help to reclaim/recycle water?

Not only is the new Riverpark farm one of the largest urban...

stoweboyd — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:01:28 -0400

Not only is the new Riverpark farm one of the largest urban farms in New York, it is the city’s most urban farm, which is to say, it is the only one which functions (and thrives) in the throes of a truly urban environment. Developed through a partnership between the Riverpark restaurant and the Alexandria Center for Life Science, the farm covers 15,000 square feet of a suspended construction site at 430 East 29th Street near the East River.

Riverpark employs two full-time farmers to tend the farm’s 6,000 plants, which include 85 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, growing in movable planters (milk crates). The modular system of planting in milk crates allows the farmers, as well as assistants from the kitchen, to easily move and arrange the produce according to favorable conditions, such as sunlight and wind, and even aesthetic considerations, given that dining tables will soon sit in the midst of the farm to take advantage of the site’s views to the river and the city. The system also makes the entire farm easily portable, which it will have to be when construction work on the Alexandria Center’s west tower resumes. When that happens, the farm will relocate to another part of the center’s grounds.

(via Architizer Blog » Blog Archive » Riverpark, New York’s Most Urban Farm)

I am most fascinated with the the modular planters made from repurposed milk crates, which is a great example of low foodte.ch: small innovations taking advantage of materials or techniques that are new to the world of food production. Here, a specially formulated growing medium, composed of top soil, peat moss, and perlite, is placed in 1 feet square milk crates, and lined with a landscaper’s fabric to keep dirt in and let water drain. This means the farm is portable, since the many crates can be tracked to a new site if needed, or moved around on site to take advantage of conditions.

Every city and town has lots available for this sort of farming, and it need not involve ‘improving’ the land, or tearing up parking lots. All that is needed is a water source, which could be arranged in a variety of ways.

A Glut Of Farmer's Markets?

stoweboyd — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:59:12 -0400

The rise of farmer’s markets seems to leading to contradictory economics. Some farmers says that the increased number of markets forces them to spread out over more markets to get the same sales as before, while new farmers feel forced into creating new markets because they are blocked from existing ones.

Katie Zezima, As Farmers’ Markets Boom, Some See a Glut in the Making

Farmers in pockets of the country say the number of farmers’ markets has outstripped demand, a consequence of a clamor for markets that are closer to customers and communities that want multiple markets.

Some farmers say small new markets have lured away loyal customers and cut into profits. Other farmers say they must add markets to their weekly rotation to earn the same money they did a few years ago, reducing their time in the field and adding employee hours.

“It’s a small pie — it’s too hard to cut it,” said Mr. Spineti, who owns Twin Oak Farms in nearby Agawam. Mr. Spineti, who was selling vegetables and small fig trees, his farm’s specialty, at the Wednesday market here, said his profits were down by a third to a half over the last few years.

Nationwide, the number of farmers’ markets has jumped to 7,175 as of Aug. 5; of those, 1,043 were established this year, according to the federal Agriculture Department. In 2005, there were 4,093 markets across the country.

The fact must be that demand is growing less quickly than the number of markets, which will have a direct impact on the profits of farmers.

However, the farmers and markets are too disorganized to come up with solutions to increase demand or decrease expenses. Instead of an ‘every-farner-for-himself’, farmers will increasingly form cooperatives that will decrease expenses through shared (lower cost) transportation, and increased demand by marketing and coalitions with restaurants and conventional grocery stores. But it will take a few more boom-bust fluctuations to wise everyone up.

School Districts Rediscover Value of From-Scratch Meals - NYTimes.com

stoweboyd — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:35:37 -0400

School Districts Rediscover Value of From-Scratch Meals - NYTimes.com:

Kirk Johnson via NY Times

Colorado, which has been the least obese state in the nation since federal health measurements of American girth began, is a leader in the back-to-scratch [cooking for schools] movement. Of the 100 or so districts nationally that have worked with Cook for America, a group that trains school cooks in healthier lunch-ways and ran Greeley’s boot camp, more than half are in Colorado, including schools in the largest districts in Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder.

Nutrition experts say that many school systems around the nation, however much they might want to improve the food they serve, have been profoundly distracted by years of budget cuts and constriction. Many face structural problems, too. Some newer schools have tiny kitchens designed for only reheating premade meals, while some older schools have outdated electrical wiring that cannot handle modern equipment. Many districts, and their lawyers, have also grown fearful of handling and cooking raw meat, as food-borne illnesses like E. coli have made headlines.

“A lot of schools are looking to prepare more items from scratch, and starting to prepare more, but there are tremendous hurdles,” said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit membership organization of school nutrition professionals.

Greeley’s schools will be cooking from scratch about 75 percent of the time on the opening day, with a goal of reaching 100 percent by this time next year, when ovens and dough mixers for whole wheat pizza crust will be up and running. But already, the number of ingredients in an average meal — not to mention the ones that sound like they came from chemistry class — is plummeting.

Consider the bean burrito: last year, in arriving from the factory wrapped in cellophane, each one had more than 35 ingredients, including things like potassium citrate and zinc oxide. This year: 12, including real cheddar cheese. Italian salad dressing went from 19 ingredients to 9, with sodium reduced by almost three-fourths and sugar — the fourth ingredient in the factory blend — eliminated entirely.

This is an enormously progressive trend, one that can’t have enormous impacts on regional food systems.

Seafood Watch vs. Yelp: Future of Social Food

stoweboyd — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:55:04 -0400

Our panel proposal for SxSWi.

Event Interactive 2012

Format Dual

Organizer Rachel Weidinger – TechSoup Global

Speakers - Stowe Boyd ‐ Stowe Boyd & The Messengers

Description

The world’s food is hanging in the balance—the latest food tech only hints at what’s coming. This duo will explore the development of new social tools that will become the backbone of an alternative, regional, and disruptive food system. The companies that control the global food market do not want to provide consumers with the data to make informed decisions about the impacts of our food choices. We do. The open food system will be social, and is as potentially disruptive to the established closed food system as social media has proven to be for the media world. Low-cost and low-friction software will mean that we can demassify food the way that social tools have demassified media. Supermarket chains might be a lot like newspaper conglomerates Just as we have increasingly turned to the web to learn about — and influence — world and local events, so too we will turn to an open and social food system, managed online, to learn about and acquire food. Long food chains with closed information cannot be safe. What will be safer? We can’t wait for the kinks to be worked out, or for someone else to work it for us.

Questions Answered

What is food tech?

How will an open food system be social?

Who controls food data now? How can we get it?

What tools are available for food tech?

Why is access to food data important?

Level Intermediate

Supporting Material www.foodte.ch

Category Emerging Technology / Mobile

Tags food, mobile

Please vote here

Slow Food Almanac

stoweboyd — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:08:32 -0400

via email

Dear friend,

I’m happy to announce that the Slow Food Almanac is back. A recent addition to our movement’s publications, edition by edition it paints an increasingly effective picture of what we are doing in the world.

Never before has the Almanac been so rich in stories that describe who we are and what we do—arguably better than lots of theory. “Slow Food and Terra Madre are our home and our project”. In these pages, you’ll read about the activities Slow Food is involved in on every continent through the Terra Madre communities, experiences in the defense of biodiversity and food and taste education.

They are stories of young people, men and women—active, purposive, pivots of their communities—who bring their presence to bear in the places where they live. All we have to do is get these people networking and what they are doing becomes an example, a stimulus and an opportunity for common growth and exchange. We are lucky enough to be on their side so that we can learn from them and let them light our path towards the new paradigms for the future that we are seeking with perseverance and imagination.

Discover all the tools offered by this electronic publication: not only the active links that connect to the various sections of the Slow Food website, but also other websites, photo galleries and video footage. The 2011 Almanac speaks about us and the land we live on: in other words, our true wealth. A wealth that comes out in geomorphological diversity and its anthropization, which allows us to be creative and produce food in a good, clean and fair way, and thus continue to hope for a better world. This is our culture, the culture of Slow Food.

To read the Almanac, click here.

Carlo Petrini
President of Slow Food

Farmers Markets by the Numbers

stoweboyd — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:35:22 -0400

Gretchen Hoffman, Farmers Markets by the Numbers

At farmers markets across the country, Americans are in search of fresh, healthy food. What they also find is an opportunity to connect with farmers and ranchers and strengthen the local economy. More and more, farmers markets are helping to make healthy food available to more people.

A look at the numbers help to paint the picture of the unique benefits associated with farmers markets.

6,132: The number of farmers markets reported by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service in 2010 – a 16 percent increase from 2009!

59.4: Dollars in millions that Iowa farmers markets contribute to the state’s economy.

10x: The amount of food Arlo and Janice could have bought at the farmers market instead of growing their own.

Arlo & Janis: © United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

2012: When the USDA projects that consumer demand for locally grown food will reach $7 billion.

37.8: The percent of vendors that have been selling at farmers markets between 2 and 5 years, according to a study conducted by Farmers Markets Today.

25: The percent of vendors at markets surveyed in USDA’s 2005 farmers market survey that derived their sole source of farm income from farmers markets.

1,000,000,000: Sales at farmers markets were slightly more than $1 billion annually in the USDA’s 2005 National Farmers Market survey.

263: Percent growth in the number of farmers markets and direct marketing farmers accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits over the past five years.

1,889: The number of new jobs the Michigan based study Eat Fresh Grow Jobs, estimates could be created if state leaders adopt recommendations to increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption.

7.6: The density of farmers markets per 100,000 people in many rural counties (see Economic Research Service “chart of note”) – indicating that many rural counties have greater per capita availability of farmers’ markets than urban counties.

Dutch PlantLab Revolutionizes Farming: No Sunlight, No Windows,...

stoweboyd — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:46:27 -0400

Dutch PlantLab Revolutionizes Farming: No Sunlight, No Windows, Less Water, Better Food | Singularity Hub

You’ve heard of paint by numbers? Get ready for feed-the-world by numbers. Dutch agricultural company PlantLab wants to change almost everything you know about growing plants. Instead of outdoors, they want farms to be in skyscrapers, warehouses, or underground using hydroponics or other forms of controlled environments. Instead of sunlight they use red and blue LEDs. Water? They need just 10% of the traditional requirements. At every stage of their high tech process, PlantLab monitors thousands of details (163,830 reports per second!) with advanced sensors to create the perfect environment for each individual type of crop. In short, they create a high tech ‘plant paradise’. See it in action in the videos below, followed by plenty of pics of their tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. PlantLab’s revolutionary approach to agriculture may be able to leverage math and science to create a better food supply for the world’s escalating population. Fresher, local, more efficient…and they supposedly taste better too!

via smarterplanet

stoweboydif you eat broccoli while you’re pregnant, there’s a much better chance your...

stoweboyd — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:32:14 -0400

stoweboyd
if you eat broccoli while you’re pregnant, there’s a much better chance your baby will like broccoli http://t.co/JFcJ2JX
8/12/11 1:30 PM

Putting Farmers First

stoweboyd — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:27:35 -0400

Putting Farmers First:

National Farmer’s Market Week is coming Aug 7, and things are booming at farmer’s markets:

Stacy Miller

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, farmers receive only 15.8 cents of the average dollar consumers spend on food. Farmers markets are one place where farmers can retain a higher proportion of the food dollar, and earn a fair wage.

This week, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proclaimed August 7-13, 2011 as National Farmers Market Week. Since 2000, the number of farmers markets has grown 150%, from 2,863 markets in 2000 to 7,175 in 2011. As demand grows for fresh local food, farmers markets are fostering appreciation for agriculture even in the most urban of neighborhoods, and putting farmers in the center of the food system and allowing independently owned family businesses to thrive.

A recent PolicyLink report notes, “Smaller-scale farmers who face high competition from larger, industrialized agriculture can increase their viability by selling their goods at farmers’ markets, where returns are generally 200 to 250 percent higher than what they receive from wholesalers.”

Farmer’s markets are a great place to get good local food, and they lead to more money in the pockets of the farmers — and the community — than spending the same or even significantly more money at chain stores.