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.
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The Strategic Marriage of Local Food and Foreign Capital

Touch the Soil News #1127 (Feature photo – Chinese Currency – CCA SA 4.0 International) Milk & Eggs is an online farmers market in the Los Angeles area. The company goals include connecting good people with the best foods (local foods). AgFunder, recently posted a news piece on Milk & Eggs. Obviously, the company has a sales model that has merit for local and regional farm producers. What is interesting is that the company is taking on venture capital funding to the tune of $6 million. The funding is led by a venture capital firm out of China. You can read the full story here: https://agfundernews.com/milk-eggs-raises-6m-funding-for-made-to-order-online-farmers-market.html/ Want More? – Sign…

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AgroPro – Europe’s Largest Organic Hemp Company

Touch the Soil News #1125 (Feature photo – Hemp Farm – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) AgroPro in Eastern Europe has over 4,000 acres under contract production. Along with its sister company Borela UAB (hemp processor) the company has just been acquired by a Canadian company for over $6 million. The Hemp plant has three important parts: 1) Seeds which are used for food and personal care products, 2) Leaves and flowers which produce CBD used in wellness products, supplements and beauty products. 3) Stalks which are used to produce fibers for paper, building materials, clothing and other textiles. You can read the full story here: http://www.globalaginvesting.com/aurora-cannabis-acquires-europes-largest-organic-hemp-producer/ Want More? – Sign…

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No Global Food Trade – Own the Farm

Touch the Soil News #1126 (Feature photo – Saudi Arabian Desert – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Saudi Arabia doesn’t have enough water or farmland to feed itself. It is a food-dependent nation of some 33 million people. Saudi tried to be more food self-sufficient by encouraging agriculture at the expense of using up four fifths of its total groundwater reserves by 2012. Given the infiltration of speculation into the global food chain, Saudi wants to own or control farmland in other countries. Saudi Arabia is close to inking another deal in the Ukraine that would bring its farming operations there to almost 500,000 acres. That is equivalent to a farm…

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GreenBelly – A New Idea in Urban Agriculture

Touch the Soil News #1124 (Feature photo – The GreenBelly Model – courtesy of GreenBelly) GreenBelly is a vertical garden that makes use of existing walls to produce fresh food in limited spaces. By using recycle materials and organic waste from neighbors, this project holds potential for the future. By leveraging the vertical spaces next to urban walls, rainwater, sunshine and space can be utilized for growing more fresh local food. You can learn more about the effort here: http://www.greenbelly.org/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

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Oregon – Welcomes Hemp

Touch the Soil News #1123 (Feature photo – Harvesting Hemp – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Hemp Magazine recently reported on a rather interesting trend. The legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in many states has created an explosion of cannabis farming – which has dramatically softened the price of cannabis. A number of Oregon cannabis growers as quitting and going exclusively to hemp for the production of CBD oil. You can read the full story here: https://thehempmag.com/2018/09/in-oregon-a-marijuana-exodus-creates-a-hemp-renaissance/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

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Stepping Up Urban Food in South Korea

Touch the Soil News #1122 (Feature photo – Many parks in Korea are used for urban farming – CCA SA 2.0 Generic) Gyeonggi Province in South Korea is upping the game when it comes to urban farming. According to the Korea Bizwire, there were 552,000 people engaged in urban farming. It is interesting to see where these city people are growing food. About 48 percent farmed community spaces. 33 percent farmed in parks, 9 percent farmed at schools and 5 percent farmed at senior centers. One of the big concerns in Asia is the safety of industrial food. Has food in America strayed too far from its roots? Want More?…

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Feminized Hemp Pollen & Seeds

Touch the Soil News #1121 (Feature photo – Hemp – CCA Sa 3.0 Unported) For hemp farmers that want to focus on growing hemp for CBD rich flowers (for CBD oil) the goal is to have fields of feminized hemp which create the CBD-rich flowers for the CBD oil. Hemp Magazine recently interviewed Bryan Sawyer, the managing partner of Envision Farms in Monte Vista, Colorado about how they go about creating seed that will produce female plants 98 percent of the time. You can read the full story here: https://thehempmag.com/2018/09/farmers-find-profits-selling-feminized-hemp-pollen-seeds/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

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NADA – the No Packaging Grocery Store

Touch the Soil News #1120 (Feature photo – The NADA Grocery Store – courtesy of NADA) Brianne Miller, a former marine biologist, had seen the impact of packaging ending in the oceans in the form of toxic flotillas and micro-plastics. Now she is the founder of NADA – a no packaging store guided by creating a just food system. Called the NADA store in Vancouver, Canada it is a first of its kind to take food-chain packaging issues to the next level. You can learn more about the store here: https://www.nadagrocery.com/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

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Do You Need Brain Juice?

Touch the Soil News #1119 (Feature photo – Famous Thinking Statute – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Making news recently is BrainJuice, which has been chosen to make a presentation at the prestigious competition event called FoodBytes. If they make a good presentation on October 18 in New York, it means more media attention and credibility. FoodBytes is organized by Rabobank, the world’s largest agricultural bank. You can buy a dry-mix powder of BrainJuice – good for 30 servings – for only $119.00. What do you think? Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

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The Fast-Growing Hemp Movement

Touch the Soil News #1118 (Feature photo – Whole Hemp Seeds – CCA SA 3.0 Austria) Rather than a universal set of rules to grow hemp at the Federal level, it is states that are enacting individual rules and regulations for their respective states. Things are moving along rapidly. Hemp Today just released the numbers with an impacting info-graphic on states with hemp programs. In 2016, fifteen states had hemp legislation enacted which resulted in 9,770 acres of hemp grown. For 2018, 41 states have enacted hemp legislation with an expected planting of 25,713 acres of hemp. That translates into a 2.6 fold increase in hemp production in the U.S.…

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