Vertical Farming – The Billion Dollar Gamble

Touch the Soil News #1376 (Feature photo – Vertical Farming – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license Growing greens in controlled environments is becoming big business. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in a handful of large vertical farm start-ups. The goal is to start suppling cities with fresh greens as opposed…

Read more

When Capital Becomes the Aggressor

Touch the Soil News #1375 (Feature photo – World Bank Logo – Own work This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Inkscape., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49079900) We often think of armies as the source of aggression. However, our rapidly shrinking planet is pitting organized capital against indigenous people whose land ownership and recognition of historical usage…

Read more

United Way – Every $1 Dollar Donated to Community Garden = $10 Worth of Food

Positive Future #509 (Feature photo – United Way – courtesy of United Way) As one of the oldest non-profits in the U.S. The United Way still has almost 1,200 affiliated offices throughout the United States. Historically the organization just asked for money to help other charitable organizations in communities. However, United Way is directly involved…

Read more

Is the Focus on How Food is Produced Changing?

Touch the Soil News #1373 (Feature photo – Large Scale Grain Handling – Public Domain) For the time being, big farms will prevail. However, just like the tide, things can change without notice. Middle school students in New York have retrofitted a classroom into a hydroponic farm, that sells produce to their cafeteria. Since there…

Read more

Re-Visiting Permaculture

Touch the Soil News #1371 (Feature photo – Permaculture Garden Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license – Claire Gregory) The application of permaculture to agriculture as a regenerative approach to agriculture is not new. However new thoughts about permaculture are exploring it as a system of thinking relating to things like economics and lifestyles.…

Read more

Why the Washed Eggs of America Are Banned in the European Union (must read)

Touch the Soil News #1370 (Feature photo White Eggs Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license- M. Chambers) The USDA has strict guidelines on how eggs should be washed and dried to prevent external pathogens. The European Union has strict guidelines against washing eggs which destroys the egg’s outer “cuticle” increasing chances of pathogen getting…

Read more

The Emerging Dilemma of Fresh Water Availability

Touch the Soil News #1367 (Feature photo – Agricultural Irrigation – Public Domain) Global AgInvesting bring us a review of the world’s fresh water resources and our uncertain position of using more than Earth can sustainably replenish. Since 70 percent of the world’s available freshwater is used for agriculture – if we are going to…

Read more