Touch the Soil News #2064 (photo – Growing Crops – Public Domain, USDA) The International Grains Council reports on carryover grain stocks from year to year. Carryover is that inventory of grain on hand before new crop comes in. For the grain year 2016/2017 grain stocks ended at 662.9 million metric tonnes. A metric tonne…
Touch the Soil News #2060 (photo – Farming in Egypt – CCA SA 4.0 International, Hesham Farouk Ragab) Farmlandgrab brings a story of a public/private partnership in Egypt to reclaim 1.5 million acres of farmland to increase the nation’s agricultural productivity. It is being accomplished in land that has limited water. Part of the larger…
Touch the Soil News #2051 (photo – Jakarta – CCA 3.0 Unported, Romli mohamad) The People’s Network News brings and interesting story about food and people living in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. Jakarta is at the heart of a metro area of almost 35 million people. They are embracing the Ramadan special time. The…
Community Garden – As Much for Inspiration as Food Production Touch the Soil News #2033 (photo – Community Garden) (Courtesy of USDA, Public Domain CCA 2.0 Generic) The Times of San Diego comes with an interesting story of a community garden being built in a city park. There was almost $500,000 raised for the park. …
Touch the Soil News #2001 (photo – Cities Without Hunger Farm in Sao Paulo – Photo Courtesy of Cities Without Hunger)) With a name like Cities Without Hunger, there are hints of a significant need in the background. Operating in the city of Sao Paulo with a population of 12.5 million, almost 2 million are…
Touch the Soil News #1952 (Feature Photo – Urban Farming at the Town Hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka – (Photo courtesy of International Water Management Institute) Sri Lanka is an island Nation of over 22 million people in the Indian Ocean. About 35 miles from India, this nation recently experienced a dramatic economic crisis in…
Touch the Soil News #1949 (Feature Photo – The Self-Sufficient Backyard – (Courtesy of the Self-Sufficient Back Yard) City Farmer News brings the story of Ron and Johanna Melchiore, who have been living off the grid for 40 years. They wrote the book on how it’s done “The Self Sufficient Backyard.” You can read the…
Touch the Soil News #1932 (Feature Photo – Pyramid Hydroponics – Courtesy of Harvest & Share Food Relief Society) The Free Press journalist Colleen Zacharias brings us the story of Harvest and Share Food Relief Society. This non-profit has invented a new way to grow via a hydroponic pyramid. This innovation is used to…
Touch the Soil News #1929 (Feature Photo – North Fork Ranch Vinyard – Santa Barbara County Water Agency Food Bank news has guest editorials about the world of food banking and hunger in America. Recently, Brian Greene, CEO of the Houston Food Bank provided some shocking perspective, that explains why the problem is not…
Touch the Soil News #1909 (Feature Photo – Victory Garden Poster – Public Domain) The Guardian Newspaper, one of the World’s top independent news agencies, asked the question of their readers how much land it takes to grow your own food. With over 20 responses, a wealth of insights are provided for the person into…
