Touch the Soil News #1453 (Feature photo – The Columbia – CCA SA 3.0 Unported Українська:) New Zealand folks are in a rage over the liberal policies of their government in allowing large tracts of farmland to be sold to foreigners. The four largest landowners in New Zealand are all foreign-owned forestry companies. The latest…
Touch the Soil News #1452 (Feature photo – Toronto District School Board – By PFHLai – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42029131) Canadian CBC News brings us the story of the Toronto District School Board and their collaboration with non-profit Food Share to create an organic farm for students to learn and experience food production.…
Touch the Soil News #1451 (Feature photo – Junk Food – Public Domain, U.S. Marines Photo) Phil Lempert (https://www.supermarketguru.com/) brings us important studies on the effects of diets to loose weight for children. Unfortunately much of the science behind some of these diets is flawed or touted by those who may have a conflict of…
Touch the Soil News #1450 (Feature photo – New York City Department of Education Logo – Public Domain) In a bold move, the New York City Department of Education is banning processed meats in its 1,722 schools with 75,000 teachers and 1 million students. Inhabitat journalist Mariecor Agravante brings us more of the story on…
Touch the Soil News #1449 (Feature photo – The Millen Farm – courtesy of the Millen Farm) ABC New of Australia brings us the story of one of the largest urban farms in the nation. Called the Millen Farm, entrepreneur Arran Heideman has turned a waste land area into a non-profit farming enterprise in a…
Touch the Soil News #1448 (Feature photo – Rabobank Headquarters in the Netherlands – By Michielverbeek – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=454214944.0 FoodMarket News brings us the latest report from Rabobank – one of the world’s largest agricultural banks about the growing destabilization in meat prices caused by the African Swine Fever. Rabobank estimates…
Touch the Soil News #1447 (Feature photo – The Great Seal of the District of Columbia – Public Domain) Civil Eats brings us the inspiring story of Gail Taylor and Three Part Harmony Farm (http://threepartharmonyfarm.org/). A multifaceted farm in the nation’s Capitol that seeks to promote urban agriculture, food security and responsible farming. You can…
Touch the Soil News #1446 (Feature photo – Lead Pollution – Public Domain) The Gotham Gazette brings us the story of risks to urban farming from lead in the soil. Should you test your soils and take abatement action? You can read the full story here: https://www.gothamgazette.com/open-government/130-opinion/8810-soil-scientists-advice-to-urban-gardeners-test-for-lead
Touch the Soil News #1445 (Feature photo – Kimbal Musk – CCA SA 4.0 International -1000X2020) There are many large vertical indoor farming enterprises that have emerged over the past five years. One of them is Square Roots, founded and owned by Kimbal Musk, brother to Elon Musk of Tesla. Recently, a partnership was formed…
Touch the Soil News #1444 (Feature photo – Canola Field – CCA SA 3.0 Unported – John O’Neil) The Financial Post of Canada reveals the dramatic financial collapse that has visited Canadian family farms – primarily from trade reversals with China. Net farm income has fallen in half from 2017 to 2018. How many of…
