The Way Of The Future? Project Mineral, Robot Farming And Growing Food
It’s hard to believe that the film Blade Runner was set in 2019! While today’s world isn’t quite the sprawling neon-lit metropolis filled with flying cars, cyborgs, and mutants like the one portrayed in the movie, small aspects of such a future are trying to creep in. For example, automated robots might soon be growing […]
Garden Advice: Ways to Feed your Plants Naturally
All plants need 17 naturally occurring elements to grow, flower, fruit and reproduce successfully. However, they require different quantities depending on the stage of growth. Macronutrients are elements plants need in large quantities. Non-mineral macronutrients are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They make up around 96% of a plant’s mass and are obtained as carbon dioxide […]
Tight On Space? Try These Small Food Garden Solutions
Urban food gardeners are often challenged by confined spaces with limited options for growing edibles. Many people have to juggle the functionality of outdoor spaces. It can be tricky to balance outdoor seating, lawn for pets and children to play, privacy screens from neighbors, and structural elements like the clothesline and bins. So how do […]
Relationships and Rethinking Profit in Local Food Business
Every business wants to make a profit; that’s how companies progress, and that’s how growth happens. So how can we rethink profit to be more fulfilled? I was talking to a friend at a small local cooperative producers’ market about this recently. We were observing the crowd, seeing the friendly chatter and banter that was […]
App Helping Small-Scale Farmers Fight Food Insecurity
With the World Health Organization estimating that 790 million people struggle with food insecurity around the globe, blockchain technology is helping those vulnerable to malnutrition in western Kenya. Last May, Virginia Tech researchers deployed smartphones equipped with a unique app in the East African country so that small-scale farmers can access the information they need […]
Seasonal Spotlight: Lovely Leeks Offer Cold Weather Flavor
Leeks strike me as among some of the most humble yet elegant vegetables out there. Part of the onion family, the long stalks are white at the base and gradually turn to various shades of green at the top. They look great, smell amazing, and taste even better. This cold-weather stunner is nutritious and reasonably […]
Seasonal Spotlight: Beets A Delicious and Nutritious Cold Weather Food Crop
These days, eating seasonal foods is where it’s at. Not only will you be consuming the freshest, most flavorful produce possible, but eating in-season fruits and vegetables will save you some green. And with food prices skyrocketing again this year, a little extra money in our pockets is a good thing! So what to eat […]
How To Choose The Right Containers For Growing Food
More people than ever are learning to grow edible gardens, especially in small urban areas. With limited space, container gardens are an obvious solution. However, selecting the right container can be confusing with so many options available. There are some factors to consider that can make the decision easier and avoid potential problems. Drainage All […]
Why It’s Smart To Think About Ordering Seeds For The Garden Now
For the second straight year, the grow your own movement is running wild, bolstered by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and rising food prices. More gardeners are a great thing, but it also means possible seed shortages. And while it might be cold outside right now, it’s never too early to start thinking about ordering seeds […]
A Very Merry Plant-Based Holiday
What will you be serving up this holiday season? Between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and ringing in the New Year, traditional feasts are plentiful and hearty. But with food prices rising around the world, festive meals will be more expensive than ever before. A turducken (a turkey stuffed with duck and chicken) may not be the most economical […]
Celebrating Canada’s First-Ever Upcycled Food Festival
At one point or another, we’ve all let perfectly good food go to waste. It happens, but it needs to happen less often. On October 22nd, Canadians from coast to coast celebrate National Food Waste day. It’s a day that deserves our attention; after all, four million Canadians are food insecure. Meanwhile, 58% of the food […]
Seasonal Eating: Get Cozy With These Healthy Fall Favorites
While the summer is undoubtedly for grilling delicious meals on the bbq, the fall is for slow-roasting and cozy soups and stews. Eating with the seasons gets you more bang for your buck and a nutritional boost! It’s also one of the golden rules when following a “clean” eating diet. So here’s a seasonal food […]
The Secret To Creating And Maintaining Local Food Networks
The logistics of creating and maintaining local food networks takes time and effort, of course. Here we are in the 21st century with the best tech and comms capability we’ve ever had, and yet we are still not talking to each other! Also, is it possible for us to see the impending climate doom stalking us […]
Tower Farming Technology Doing A World of Good
Some might shy away from using gadgets in the garden, but with the United Nations sounding the alarm that we only have 60 years of topsoil left, something’s got to give. Many experts say regenerative farming practices will help, but technology might also be a part of the solution. With a growing population, food production […]
Is Organic Certification Worth It For Small Scale Farmers?
“It’s the people who spray the chemicals on their food that should have to label it!” We’ve all heard this one. And it’s true. How we got to a place where to be organic, we have to go through rigorous testing and evaluation is baffling. I suppose it makes sense, though, in some way. Since […]
Health Canada Wants To Know How You feel About More Glyphosate In Your Meals
Time is one thing we never seem to have enough of. But for Canadians, the Federal Government has decided to give us all a little more of it. At least when it comes to weighing in on their proposal to increase the amount of glyphosate herbicide residue allowed on some of our foods. The previous […]
Agricultural Threefolding and Building a Cooperative Grocery Store in a Food Desert
In a big broad stroke, we live in a world defined by culture, rights, and economy. These domains of social activity generate the landscape for our humanity. The conscious dynamic between these realms, combined with the relative autonomy and authority that they hold, leads to the potential for a healthy society and world. Agricultural Threefolding […]
Grow Bag Gardening an Easy and Eco-Friendly Way To Grow Food
First Light Farm Strives For Nutrition And Food Security in Revelstoke
Extraordinary circumstances sometimes have a way of sparking us into action; for Jesse Johnston-Hill and Chris Rubens, the COVID-19 outbreak pushed them to make their dream of becoming vegetable farmers a reality. Residents of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Rubens is a professional skier, and Johnston-Hill a chef at a ski resort. They were both working in […]
Atlanta Home To Largest Food Forest In The U.S.
Some initiatives deserve to be applauded, and Atlanta’s giant food forest is one of them. The seven-acre plot is the largest such space in all of the United States! The project aims to improve food security for the local community by growing fresh fruit, herbs, and nuts. What exactly is a food forest? What makes […]