Crosscut
17 November 2020
Text / Over 3000 Words
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seattle’s urban agriculture community saw a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests. BIPOC-led urban farms — like YES Farm and Black Star Farmers — had an increase in volunteers and people wanting to help provide food security, agricultural education, and land access to communities who don’t have their basic needs met. In the first half of 2020, the city of Seattle assigned plots of land to 439 new gardeners to pursue urban farming, with nearly half of them going to underrepresented populations.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/conquering-food-deserts-with-green-carts
David Bornstein
The New York Times
18 April 2012
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Programs to get fresh produce carts to areas with no access to healthy food work best when government and determined entrepreneurs team up. Success from this model is evident in New York City, where the city has incentivized the selling of fruits and vegetables by street vendors in areas that are in the most need of the produce.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/doing-more-than-praying-for-rain
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
9 May 2011
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Most insurance companies avoid insuring poor farmers because the transaction costs are too high, but a non-profit in Kenya created a sustainable way to cover them.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/01/436292784/denmark-might-be-winning-the-global-race-to-prevent-food-waste
Sidsel Overgaard
NPR
1 September 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
To decrease the nation's food waste, activists in Denmark showed the people that it was safe to buy and consume items that were very recently expired. From live demonstrations where celebrity chef features expired items in the entrees to reducing prices for out-of-date items, "Danes now throw away 25 percent less food than they did five years ago."
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/filling-the-gap-between-farm-and-fair-trade
David Bornstein
The New York Times
25 October 2010
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The non-profit RootCaptital created a lending initiative in Mexico which helps mid-size rural farmers gain access to capital, skills, and consumer markets from which they would otherwise be excluded.
http://civileats.com/2015/09/09/former-black-panther-launches-oakland-urban-farm-to-give-ex-prisoners-a-fresh-start
Sarah Henry
Civil Eats
9 September 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
After incarceration, Black men and women have a difficult time re-integrating into society without financial and educational resources. A former Black Panther activist has created the non-profit Oakland &the World Enterprises to offer an urban farm as a prisoner re-entry program and community center. The Oakland project supports self-sufficiency, self-determination, and empowerment for Black people.
https://web.archive.org/web/20171017065949/http://futurefood2050.com/greener-pastures-for-cattle-ranching
Lisa Palmer
Future Food
18 November 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
In Colombia, traditional cattle pastures have caused soil degradation, deforestation, and desertification. To reconcile this, several thousand acres of land in Latin America have been transformed into a silvo-pastoral system of grazing and raising cattle with agro-forestry. The Colombia-based Center for Research in Sustainable Systems of Agriculture seeks to reduce pasture land by 26 million acres while increasing cattle numbers by 2019.
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/06/growing-a-solution-to-californias-groundwater-crisis
Peyton Fleming
National Geographic
6 August 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
Due to drought and water shortage in California's Central Coast, community members collaborate with local government to create better water usage systems from runoff and to recycle waste water in order to irrigate crops.
http://nextcity.org/features/view/how-the-local-food-economy-is-challenging-big-food
Tracie McMillan
Next City
14 April 2014
Text / Over 3000 Words
In an agricultural system designed for big-industrial growers, many farmers struggle to bridge the relationship between their produce and consumers, as well as strengthening local economies. The food hub is a collection of buildings that process and distribute the sale of local food. Eastern Market in Detroit is an example of a food hub that makes local produce accessible to low-income neighborhoods.
http://ensia.com/features/how-to-grow-more-food-with-less-water
Matt Weiser
Ensia
3 August 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The U.S. government has developed different sensors for irrigation devices that gauge water demand and help conserve use. as water shortages caused by drought have increased across the globe, and farmers are faced with economic burdens, such technology is focusin on sustainability for the future.
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/04/408297353/climate-change-ready-rice-keeps-farmers-fields-green
Amy Yee
NPR
4 June 2015
Text / Under 800 Words
Soil in Bangladesh is becoming increasingly saline and infertile due to climate change. Bangladeshi farmers have begun using a saline-tolerant rice seed in order to produce an abundant crop despite salty soil.
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