$2.1 million dollars for aquaponics research

Lethbridge College in Alberta has been at the forefront of aquaponics research for over a decade, really it's the place to go in North America. So the fact that they got over $2 million dollars makes a lot of sense, they deserve it and I can't wait to see what comes from their efforts!

-How something is labelled makes a huge difference. So I often find it interesting to hear the phrases of English speakers outside of the UK or USA. In this article this Vietnamese woman calls the produce she collects from her rooftop garden "clean" food, because it's organic. How would things change elsewhere, if organic produces co-opted the phrase "clean" for their produce?

-Installing a green roof, with the help of a couple of professionals, can be a fantastic community event. And it's tremendously satisfying to put the plants in and stand back as you water the plants to help them settle in. But I have never heard of what these folks in Buffalo are trying to do, getting people to also GROW the plants at home, take care of them and bring them to the installation.

-Following up on last week's email, if you want to see pictures of Patrick Blanc's home, and not just a video, check this out.

-I don't think people took the California drought as something to be worried about until the mandatory cuts came last week. What will this mean for landscapers? A switch to more permaculture based gardens as people look to grow more of their own food? More xeroscaping? More painted grass?
The mayor, seemingly, has taken this crisis to heart and wants to weave sustainability into every city department and proposes things like allowing food stamps to be used at farmer's markets. Which would be great, especially because in 20 years the number of farmer's markets has quadrupled across the USA!

-Please indulge me for a second; I have a little pet peeve. I'd like to have a definition for "vertical farming", because I realize it's not something everyone agrees on. And I think you'll see that, as time goes on, there will need to be standardization of the language because the technologies required for growing plants 2 stories high versus in a plastic drum half the height of an average human, are vastly different.

-Here's a KickStarter campaign everyone can benefit from. If these entrepreneurs get their funding, they will create the first DIY program to turn anyone into a mushroom farmer.

Public parks with private poppy

As you know New York's Highline was the catalyst behind big changes on the westside of Manhattan. More changes are coming down the pike with a new park. But is that a good thing? Sponsored by private money, what is private wealth's role in remaking public spaces?

-This fall was the first time MillionTreesNYC free tree giveaway featured exclusively edible fruit trees, in total 4,500 were claimed!

-Since the spring residents of a retirement facility, just outside of Chicago, have grown vegetables on their rooftop hydroponic facility for use in their kitchen and others kitchens across the city. This is the first of it's kind, I believe.

-If you'd like to peer into the life of one horticultural therapist practicing in New Jersey, check out this blog. I've linked to the latest posting in the past, she periodically updates it with interesting anecdotes.

-An Emory College student has launced a vineyard to study the American starvine, a threatened native plant which may have tremendous medicinal benefits.

-Earlier in the year I wrote about Brightfarms opening a urban farm in DC, it will be one of the biggest in the USA. Make that, it would have been. The site is so contaminated, they make walk away from the project and $700,000 already invested. A recent paper highlighted the problem in Buffalo and New York City.

Aquaponics courses in Colorado + Buffalo's Urban Agriculture Turnaround

At the end of this year and in 2015, aquaponics enthusiasts have the opportunity to learn from the best in Colorado. Advanced aquaponics and aquaponics immersion courses I'm sure will be well-attended, up next in December is the aquaponics and medical marijuana course.

-Toronto has a municipal election coming up in about two weeks. It looks like two of the major candidates strongly support more funding for urban agriculture! Not to be outdone, prominent American politicians are throwing their support behind urban ag as well, Congressman Tim Ryan is probably the biggest proponent so far.

-How did Buffalo, a resource-strapped city, go from a laggard to an urban agriculture mecca in just 10 years? A University of Buffalo researcher outlines their path to success:

-Engaging in “ordinary, incremental, persistent practices”
;
-Building a diverse but unified coalition
;
-Balancing incremental and systemic change;

-Nurturing communitywide capacity
;

-Responding nimbly to windows of opportunity
;
-Getting support from local government
;
-Connecting food to the popular issues of the day
.

Check out the whole article in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development

Engaging in “ordinary, incremental, persistent practices”
Changes in local laws followed years of on-the-ground action by MAP, which grew food, sold it to low-income residents, and raised fish on an urban aquaponics farm.

Building a diverse but unified coalition
MAP’s “Rust Belt radicals” had limited policy reach on their own, so they partnered with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, government officials, farmers and others to get messages out. All had a shared vision for improving Buffalo’s food system.

Balancing incremental and systemic change
MAP built urban farms (incremental change), while also pushing lawmakers to amend land use laws (systemic change).

Nurturing communitywide capacity
MAP trained hundreds of youth to produce, distribute and sell food, and worked with partners to send policymakers to food-related workshops. This created a large body of experts with the know-how to move Buffalo’s food policies forward.

Responding nimbly to windows of opportunity
MAP and its allies jumped at the chance to advise planners writing the city’s new Green Code. Such windows of opportunity may open rarely; activists must take advantage when they do.

Getting support from local government
Continual engagement with city planners and councilmembers resulted in an awareness of problems surrounding food, which in turn led to proposals for new laws.

Connecting food to the popular issues of the day
Economic revitalization is a priority for post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt. Recognizing this, MAP lobbied policymakers on the idea that food — and good food policy — could be vehicles for economic development.

- See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/10/018.html#sthash.J8mbpbD5.dpuf

Engaging in “ordinary, incremental, persistent practices”
Changes in local laws followed years of on-the-ground action by MAP, which grew food, sold it to low-income residents, and raised fish on an urban aquaponics farm.

Building a diverse but unified coalition
MAP’s “Rust Belt radicals” had limited policy reach on their own, so they partnered with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, government officials, farmers and others to get messages out. All had a shared vision for improving Buffalo’s food system.

Balancing incremental and systemic change
MAP built urban farms (incremental change), while also pushing lawmakers to amend land use laws (systemic change).

Nurturing communitywide capacity
MAP trained hundreds of youth to produce, distribute and sell food, and worked with partners to send policymakers to food-related workshops. This created a large body of experts with the know-how to move Buffalo’s food policies forward.

Responding nimbly to windows of opportunity
MAP and its allies jumped at the chance to advise planners writing the city’s new Green Code. Such windows of opportunity may open rarely; activists must take advantage when they do.

Getting support from local government
Continual engagement with city planners and councilmembers resulted in an awareness of problems surrounding food, which in turn led to proposals for new laws.

Connecting food to the popular issues of the day
Economic revitalization is a priority for post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt. Recognizing this, MAP lobbied policymakers on the idea that food — and good food policy — could be vehicles for economic development.

- See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/10/018.html#sthash.J8mbpbD5.dpuf

Should Buffalo invest in vertical farms?

We haven’t had a video in a while, how about peeking in on the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law’s Urban Agriculture Symposium? They have been kind enough to put a great deal of the proceedings online and have been at the forefront of discussing urban ag and law for at least 5 years.

-I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’ve never really seen a green infrastructure company campaign for a certain city to buy their product by talking about said product on tv. Maybe they are looking for government funding to make the Plantagon feasible for somewhere in the US? What the spokesperson says is true “we are living in a world where the pollution is increasing and acreage is decreasing.” But the opposite is true of Buffalo, with a decrease in population comes the need to shrink the city. Residential land can become agricultural once again. 

-Remember that Occupy the Farm movement in California? Of course you do! Well, it looks like a lawsuit against the occupiers has been dropped. 

-A model for all of North America, Chicago’s award winning Vanguard Weiss Memorial Hospital is highly accommodating to it’s neighbors, including embracing various payment methods, letting disadvantaged community members garden and growing more “ethnic” crops. 

Urban agriculture job posting in Buffalo

Buffalo's Massachusetts Avenue Project is looking for a full-time Youth Training Director. Your primary responsibility would be to coordinate and implement an urban agriculture training curriculum. Looks like a great opportunity, deadline is May 4, 2012. Good luck!