Positive Future #421 (Feature photo – Power from the Sun – By Jessie Eastland – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50735950) The world’s largest solar farm today is in China. The Tengger Desert Solar Park has a peak power output of 1.5 gigawatts. The Tengger solar panels cover an area equal to 10,600 acres. CleanTechnica…
Is Urban Food the Next Mega-Trend for the World’s Cities?
Touch the Soil News #1287 (Feature photo – Local Farmers – Public Domain) An interesting article showed up in the U.S. News and World Report about growing food in cities. It is one of the most in-depth articles about food security for cities ever to hit mainstream media. What makes cities important is that there…
Farmland Grab in 2019
Touch the Soil News #1286 (Feature photo – Farmland Grabbing Injustices – CCA SA 2.0 Generic) Wild news about foreign corporations having 999 year leases on farmland that may have been taken illegally to violence against former peasant owners are not going away. In fact, activism is growing with increased illumination of wrongdoing by local…
What States Have the Most Electric Cars?
Positive Future #420 (Feature photo – Electric cars – CCA SA 2.0 Generic) What are the top 10 states for electric car registrations? By far the largest is California with about 10 times more registrations than the next state. InsideEVs journalist Wade Malone brings the story that is making news as many of the top…
Modern Farming Tremor
Positive Future #419 (Feature photo – Soil Erosion – Public Domian) Industrial farming’s impact on the world’s soils is dramatic. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about one third of the world’s topsoil has been degraded. Darker times for food are not too distant in the future. A recent article on…
Sustainable Urban Agriculture
Touch the Soil News #1285 (Feature photo – Local Food at a Famers Market – Public Domain) Can cities actually feed themselves from urban and nearby farms? While it may not be possible for 100 percent of a city’s needs, the potential to make a difference is large. Phil Lempert (https://www.supermarketguru.com/) explores new research into…
Hemp Opportunities – Fiber, Seeds, Feed
Positive Future #418 (Feature photo – Hemp Seed – CCA SA 3.0 Austria, D-Kuru/Wkimedia Commons) Beth McCall of the Colorado Hemp Industries Association dives into the potential of industrial hemp that is now open with recent federal approval. The three main arenas of opportunity include hemp as fiber for textiles, hemp seeds for high protein…
City of Philadelphia – Stepping Up Urban Farming
Touch the Soil News #1284 (Feature photo – Seal of Philadelphia – Public Domain) The Inquirer of Philadelphia reports that the city is looking to get involved in finding land for people to farm. Philadelphia has 28,500 vacant lots within the city and 14,800 properties with vacant or abandoned buildings. Philadelphia with a population of…
Touching the Soil Down Under
Touch the Soil News #1282 (Feature photo – Permaculture – CCA SA 4.0 International) What we eat continues to be embattled with arguments for industrial food versus arguments of more direct and local production of food. This brings us to the story of Kat Lavers from Australia that show us how even a small space…
The Future of Food
Touch the Soil News #1281 (Feature photo – Food – Public Domain) With food spending in the U.S. reaching over $1.5 trillion a year, the food sector has become attractive for new investment and innovation that will change the future of food. Phil Lempert (https://www.supermarketguru.com/) takes a look at where new venture capital money is…