Touch the Soil News #1526 (Feature photo The City of Doha, Qatar – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license, StellarD). Voice of America news brings us a sobering story of how one small nation – Qatar – had its food imports blockaded by neighboring nations. This is tough survival time when almost 100…
Positive Future #632 (Feature photo – Bobby Rush – Official photo – public domain) U.S. Representative Bobby Rush with others introduced legislation that would increase the availability of land and capital in communities to encourage more local urban agricultural production. One of the underlying goals is to improve food security for people in areas that…
Touch the Soil News #1483 (Feature photo – Michigan Urban Farming Initiative – courtesy of MUFI https://www.miufi.org/) YES news portal brings us the story of MUFI – Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. It is a 3 acres urban farm focusing on the food insecurity of one of Detroit’s poor neighborhoods. The closest fresh produce store to…
Touch the Soil News #1464 (Feature photo – Philippine Senator Francis Pangilinan – Attribution, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62021362) Francis Pangilinan, a Philippine Senator and lawyer, is also a home food gardener. He is pushing legislation that mandates national and local governments to use idle or abandoned government lots and buildings for growing crops, raising livestock and vertical hydroponic…
Touch the Soil News #1441 (Feature photo – urban food – Manfred Sause CCA SA 3.0 Unported) AP News brings us the story of how local food and non-profits are working to bridge the gap between eating and food insecurity. The key is to get local food growing in food desert areas and then having…
Touch the Soil News #1428 (Feature photo – New York City Seal – Public Domain) FoodTank brings us the story of New York City’s entrée into food security and access to fresh foods. Something the USDA and the retail grocery industry has been trying to do for decades. The problem is that more than 1…
Positive Future #534 (Feature photo – Human Activities Drive Climate Change – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 1.0 Generic license.) The United Nations just released a report on how climate change is putting unprecedented risks to our ability to feed ourselves. Recommendations include commitments to sustainable use of farmland. At issue is that people have affected…
Touch the Soil News #1384 (Feature photo – Powell River Edible Garden Tour – courtesy of Powell River Food Security Project.) The small town of Powell River, along the west coast of British Columbia, Canada is the center of a metro area of around 17,000 people. Yet, the community is concerned about food security and…
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…
Touch the Soil News #1365 (Feature photo – North Korean Farm Without Adequate Equipment – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (Stephan) at Flickr and http://nk.subnetwork.org/) While the news on North Korea is generally about potential armed conflict and weapons, North Korea is facing a food crisis. While trying to wave military threats to the…
