Author: Touch the Soil

Touch the Soil blog is the work of Benjamin and Susan Gisin . They are former publishers of Touch the Soil magazine – dedicated to local and sustainable food. Previously they were bankers with over 50 years of combined banking experience. Ben was a senior agricultural credit approval officer for the nation’s 7th largest ag bank. Leaving banking they spent 10 years consulting distressed family-farms, negotiating debt settlements and lecturing on family farm advocacy and the monetary system. In their careers, they have visited over a thousand agricultural enterprises. These visits included mainstream and small sustainable farms, dairies and ranches. They have written hundreds of published articles on sustainable food, local farms, backyard gardeners, organics, food economics, domestic and global food security.

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Re-Discovering the Fruit Walls of 400 Years Ago

Touch the Soil News #1279 (Feature photo – Fruit Walls of Paris – Public Domain) Creating thick walls to encase fruit production allows heat to be absorbed during the day and releasing it at night. The fruit walls create a micro-climate that could increase the temperature within the walls by almost 18 degrees. This old-tech system was used hundreds of years ago to grow fruit in northern European climates. Bringing us the story of fruit walls today is Low-Tech Magazine as they take a deeper look at how civilization often zooms past its best developments. You can read the full story here: https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-farming.html Want More? – Sign up below Special…

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Meatless Monday

Touch the Soil News #1278 (Feature photo – Meatless Foods – Public Domain) The City of New York just announced that come September 2019, all 1.1 million students in the city’s public schools will have meatless Mondays. This means the students will eat vegetarian-style meals with emphasis on fruits and vegetables for breakfast and lunch. Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative that began in 2003. The history of eating meatless meals goes back to World War I when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for every Tuesday to be meatless. What do you think? You can read more of the story on Inhabitat here: https://inhabitat.com/meatless-mondays-are-coming-to-public-schools-in-new-york-city/ Want More? – Sign…

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Frightening Crop Destruction

Touch the Soil News #1277 (Feature photo – Desert Locust – Public Domain NASA) The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sends warnings of swarms of desert locusts forming in northeast Africa and Saudi Arabia. Triggered by heavy rains the desert locusts emerge from hibernation to become the world’s most dangerous migratory pest that can wipe out entire fields of crops. The desert Locust can travel up to 100 miles a day consuming everything green in their path. Swarms have been known to number in the billions and can reach a size of 40 miles across. You can read the full warning from the FAO here: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1180586/icode/ Want More? – Sign…

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Urban Planning – The New Approach to Food Security

Touch the Soil News #1276 (Feature photo – Urban Greening – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Hunger around the world has been the focus of thousands of non-profits, national governments and international agencies. Top policy makers at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are changing at how to tackle hunger and access to food – urban planning. This is a major change in shifting responsibility and functionality of food systems from federal governments and industrial agriculture to local and urban planners. Putting food security into the arena of urban planning is a tremendous decentralization of how food and farming have worked in the past. Having cities become responsible…

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Have Your City Build a Food Hub

Touch the Soil News #1275 (Feature photo – The Tainan City Food Hub – photo courtesy of MVRDV Architects) Dezeen news portal brings an unusual story about how a city in Taiwan commissioned the building of a food hub with a huge undulating rooftop for growing food. The food hub will help local farmers and wholesalers auction, sell and buy goods. The Tainan City Government Agriculture Bureau is spearheading the food hub effort. You can read the full story here: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/08/mvrdv-rooftop-farm-tainan-xinhua-fruit-vegetable-market-taiwan/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on March 12, 2019March 18, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Reduced Prices for Foods Near Expiration Dates

Touch the Soil News #1274 (Feature photo – Hyvee Food Store – GNU Free Doc License) HyVee Food Stores is employee owned and has over 85,000 employees. Now the store is offering deep discounts on foods nearing expiration dates in order to cut food waste and save customers money. Phil Lempert (https://www.supermarketguru.com/) gives us more of the story on this new service: Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Growing Food in The Desert – Should The U.S. Pay Attention?

Touch the Soil News #1273 (Feature photo – The United Arab Emirates – Public Domain) In the Province of Abu Dhabi of the UAE, the provincial government has approved $272 million in incentives to agricultural tech firms that can advance desert farming. Considering Abu Dhabi’s location in the dry Middle East, food security is a top priority. Arabian News recently published the story of how Abu Dhabi is leading the charge to establish food security in an area at the mercy of food from other countries. Considering that the Western U.S. is facing increasing water shortages, perhaps there is value in taking note. The Western U.S. is where most of…

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

Global Hog Tremors

Touch the Soil News #1272 (Feature photo – Pig Farm – Public Domain) As the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork, China is at a crossroads. Poor economics for pork production and problems with the African swine fever have toppled the number of producing pigs in China by 13 percent in one year. Prices are going up and up. Unless there is a change in the basic economics and control of the African swine fever, pork shortages and price spikes could spread far beyond just China. Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on March 10, 2019March 12, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

RootWave Instead of Roundup

Touch the Soil News #1271 (Feature photo – Weeds – GNU Free Doc License) A new company called Ubiqutek has developed what they call the RootWave. It brings electricity to kill weed roots in an organic and safe way. The world is long overdue for a solution to weeds that is not chemical and without soil resides.. You can learn more about the new technology and company here: http://rootwave.com/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Touch the Soil — Leave a comment

A Holistic Approach to Seeds and Food

Touch the Soil News #1270 (Feature photo – Seed Development – Courtesy of Row 7 Seed Company) A new company called Row 7 Seed Company works with Chefs and seed breeders. The goal is to make food more delicious while being sensitive to the soil. All seeds are certified organic and produced in the U.S. The company strives to develop special recipes from the seed level up. You can learn more about the company here: https://www.row7seeds.com/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!