GILA word of the week: Personal Food Computer

There's only one eco-village in Cameroon and it's called the Ndanifor Permaculture Eco-village. Here's a little about their unique story.

-Urban foraging has come a long ways, from back in the day when it wasn't permitted because it just wasn't. And then officials let folks forage for decades because most residents weren't into it. Now in places like Toronto the tide has turned, with foodies and chefs on the prowl and overforaging, officials are hoping to stop foraging before it gets out of hand.
Look up, people, there are always tons of mulberries on city streets!

-Quezon City supports urban agriculture. How much? The vice-mayor advocates for it!

-Open-source farming....data-driven agriculture. The term most likely to catch on is "personal food computer". At least, that's what I think!

through her campaign “The Joy of Urban Planning” which started in 2010 -- advocates the development of green thumbs among city dwellers.

Right in the Quezon Memorial Circle are rows and rows of vegetables planted in a 1,500 square-meter area.

“Quezon City is lucky that places, especially in Fairview and Novaliches, still have a province-like ambiance. We have organic piggeries and chicken farms. As long as you’re not near streets, even if you’re at the slumps, you can grow organic produce,” said Ms. Belmonte.

She credits Mayor Herbert Bautista because “he started it in 2010 [with a program] called Halamanan sa Bakuran (Backyard Gardening), I only continued and grew it. This is the most well-funded in all of my projects because I really believe in it.”

HOW VIABLE IS URBAN FARMING?
“When I started the program, the problem was the mind-set that farming isn’t compatible in the city. It’s all in the mind-set. You can do vertical garden or start with small containers,” said Ms. Belmonte.

She said residents, like senior citizens who find it therapeutic, are interested in organic farming. “They write us a letter, we check if they are sincere and check their space. We give them farming materials, the soil they need, and unlimited seminars. We assign an agriculturalist and a provide greenhouse,” she said.

The city currently has 68 farms of various sizes found in barangays, public elementary schools, daycare centers, parishes, and nongovernment organizations. The city works with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, which provide financial grants.

But even if city farmers fail to bring their items to market, urban farming is still a win-win situation.

“If they don’t produce [enough] for selling, as long as they can eat their products to decrease the issue of malnutrition, it’s already a triumph,” said Ms. Belmonte.

Urban farming can also be a matter of self-suffiency, especially when calamity strikes. “We still rely on the provinces to deliver our food. [The produce is delivered by] carbon-emitting vehicles that only add to climate change.”
- See more at: http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=112163#sthash.twQAEZOT.

Quezon City signs incentives for green roofs and green walls

 
Quezon City, the Philippines largest city, recently approved tax discounts for residential, industrial or commercial buildings which install green roof or green walls! This makes it the first, and only municipality on Earth, to offer incentives for both green technologies!

Last week was filled with so many big news stories...

-In Montreal an organic farming initiative was launched to cultivate vacant land. The hope is by 2019 to have an operation "the size of 55 football fields"!

-Across the province in Quebec City the first rooftop farm on a homeless shelter began it's growing season. It will supply about 1/3 of its growing needs.

-In Wisconsin, the Aquaponics Innovation Center opened last week. With the help of $677,000 in federal funding, the "center will provide education and resources for economic and workforce development". If you're really interested in a career in aquaponics as a career, have a peek at this new job site.

-Yesterday was National Permaculture Day in Australia. I'll have a roundup later in the week on the best activities in Oz.

-A new agrihood is sprouting up in North Carolina on 230 acres of functioning farmland. The developers envision educational events for students, in addition to the working community farm.

-The vertical farming sector is growing every day. However for most people some of the most basic facts are hard to find out. For instance, how big is vertical farming or indoor farming worldwide? In China, according to one researcher, they grow 25% of their food indoors already!
How much does it cost to start a vertical farming operation? In South Korea at least we know it's roughly 10 times the cost of a standard, glass greenhouse.

GILA words of the week: gated agriculture and cemetery farming

-Romania has it's first horticultural therapy program, but if doctors William Brid and Matilda van den Bosch had their way, horticultural therapy would be part of the publicly funded national health service!

-Everyone wants a Highline, an iconic green roof with seemingly unlimited appeal. But not everyone can have one. Read the comments at the bottom of this article, there are some undiscovered stand-up comedians waiting to be signed!

-Baltimore has a few interesting GILA ideas on the go. The first is called "Green Tracks". There are several component to he project, but the one I'll mention here is using the area along the Amtrak corridor for community gardens. I hope they keep an eye on possible existing contamination and contamination over time.
The second is allocating some of the 14,000 vacant lots in the city for flower production. Nice work Baltimore!

-We all know urban agriculture is huge. How big? Researchers have found all the farms together cover an area the size of Europe. And those 456 million hectares (1.12 billion acres), 15% is in the city proper. Urban agriculture will be crucial, especially in Africa. with half of the continents inhabitants living in cities by 2030. In Kenya a company wants to be a pioneer in providing the produce. The idea? Gate some land and lease it to prospective farmers.

Which gets me to wondering. With development pressures could we see more urban agriculture in marginal or previously taboo lands? In the Philippines a new urban agriculture garden has opened in a cemetery. It seems the cemetery has rich, unused pland within its gates. in the future, could we one day see food production happening anywhere soil is available?

Developer sued by community garden

This hasn't happened many times, as far as I can remember, but a community garden has filed suit against a New York developer. The community group says the owner effectively abandoned the site, as it has been untouched (except for the mounds of garbage) for over 30 years. What do you think, do they have a case?

-To solve America's farming crisis Future Farmers of America is turning to students in urban areas to fill the rural void. It would be nice if the students had options in their home city as well.

-In the Philippines a city official has his own ideas how to boost agricultural production, throughout the country. He introduced a bill which would institutionalize, strengthen, and promote urban agriculture and vertical farming in order to meet predesignated targets. That would mean the creation of a brand new, revolutionary industry.

-Every week I see more stories about urban agriculture in Hong Kong. It seems a true movement is underway, how envious am I that urban agriculturist can grow mangos, bananas, papayas and lychees!

-Add the How-to-Guide for Aspiring Urban Micro-Agricultural Entrepreneurs (created Sustainable Urban Development for residents of West Philadelphia) to your list of valuable resources on how to make a living in urban agriculture. 

Before you get married, you must plant a tree

-Not sure what this statement means, but it appears the Gill Tract saga at UC Berkeley has entered a different stage. Does anyone know where one can get an objective summary of what happened in Berkeley and what it means for all stakeholders?

-It’s the best when press releases are issued which include the names and contact information for your elected officials. Last week Sioux Falls began a discussion on urban agriculture husbandry, while St. Paul launched a new website to “encourage the increased consumption, production and distribution of healthy, sustainable and locally grown food.

Minnesota has a ton of fantastic initiatives growing strong, like the Minnesota Food Association, a “small business incubator teaching immigrant and minority persons how to operate financially viable farms. A member of the National Immigrant Farming Initiative, the MFA is just one of many such programs thriving across the USA. 

-If you want some interesting banter and a few urban agriculture yucks while doing your household errands, listen to last week’s Science Friday talk on NPR. From rooftops to abandoned lots, there’s much to be eaten in your city, wherever you are.

-Naturally you are wondering about today's title. Across the world people understand the importance of trees and in different places, different things are being done to preserve the tree canopy. From the Great Green Wall in the Sahara, to an interesting idea in the Philippines where before getting a marriage license one city would like to mandate that the couple must first plant a tree.

Each city should have their own FBI

-The year of aquaponics continues. In Indianapolis an entrepreneur is drumming up support for a $20 million facility. It is still far from a done deal, but the mayor is involved, team leader is a serial entrepreneur and board member of the local aquaculture association. Let's track this one to see where it goes. I'm predicting big things.

Let's move on from Indianapolis to Agropolis. (Wow, what a segue!) Back in October I introduced you to a truly innovative project in the Philippines. The Agropolis project provides a slew of urban agriculture programs training out-of-school youth to be savvy entrepreneurs.

I was blown away by what they were doing and got in contact with Jose Rene Gayo, who is heavily involved with both the Farm Business Schools and the MFI Farm Business Institute. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the projects.

Of note, the partnership between the stakeholders has entered its third year and the eco-farm tourism entrepreneurship diploma program is two years long (!).

For more information, like how your town can have their own farm business institute (FBI), you can email Jose Rene Gayo at renegayo (at) gmail (dot) com.

Another must have for every big city is an organization designed to navigate bureaucracy, governance structures, and neighborhood dynamics. 596 Acres does just that in Brooklyn. Of course not every one of those 596 acres will be used for urban agriculture, if they were, that's enough land to feed almost 3,000 people!

-Finally last week brought word of not one, but two one-stop shops for urban homesteaders. Detroit's is up and running, Vancouver's will open soon.

Urban agriculture inspires more municipal code changes

Boise, Idaho is the latest North American municipality to update its municipal codes to allow urban agriculture within the city limits. In the past two months both San Diego and Minneapolis, to name two, have undergone similar reviews.

-Speaking of Toronto, I don't have the inside scoop but sooner or later it looks like a new art collective/urban agriculture garden/community hub rooftop space will be up and running in Toronto. The About Face Collective's ambitious Everything roof looks like a huge undertaking, but it appears the founders know the system well and have everything in place to go from dream to reality.

-There has been much speculation about what has caused bee colonies to collapse in North America and beyond. Two new studies point to pesticides as a partial cause of the die-off.

-One of my favo(u)rite tangential posts from 2011 explored bending bamboo to make bikes. I had no clue that you can get a degree in bamboo engineering, indeed a very useful tool in your tropical permaculture toolbox.

Urban agriculture taking hold + California adopts cap and trade

The Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition has partnered with local residents and non-profits to lobby the city council for a new ordinance that allows for on-site sales by home gardens and community gardens.

-The Feeding Asia in the 21st century conference seems to have inspired a lot of people. I am sure others have seen articles popping up from around the region, officials in the Philippines, in particular,
seem to really have embraced the idea of boosting urban agriculture investment and education.

-With so many gigantic news stories this week, California's adoption of cap and trade regulations slipped through the proverbial cracks. Will we look back and say this was big news?

Truly living architecture - vine bridge with a 5 decade lifespan

-In the Philippines something called the Agropolis Project has been formed to provide a multitude of urban agriculture themed programs including teaching out-of-school youth to become farm entrepreneurs and launching a Diploma in Agriculture Entrepreneurship.

-In Montreal there is a final late push to get more signatures on an urban agriculture petition.

-Last bit of information for today focuses on true living architecture, this "installation" is meant to last at least 50 years.

Ride the Green Roof Wave in the Phils

-Green Mountain College announced earlier in the week that it will offer a distance-learning master's degree in Sustainable Food Systems (MSFS). The first of its kind??? I dunno, someone needs to verify that! Also it looks like a mayoral candidate in Denver would take it to the next level, if elected. Could he take a page out of Edmonton's book?

-It looks like we are witnessing the beginning of a green wall and green roof movement in the Philippines. If you're there, get in now!!! (That little push is for our massive Philippines audience!)

-The Wall Street makes a good point, you don't hear much about "peak oil" in mainstream oil publications. Heavy oil is the euphemismmost often used.

-Agriculture + Development = Opportunity

-Oh yes, and I keep forgetting. Great instructions on how to build a hoop house.

Green roof design will take you places

-A couple of students in India get a free ride to Saint Mary's University for designing a green roof. New info quantifies some additional benefits of green roofs, before coming to Canada I hope the kids get some good performance results of their own.

-While Toronto cancelled its downspout program, Portland's is still going strong. They even PAY people to disconnect the downspouts, why didn't Toronto think of that instead of getting city workers to do it??? I fear Toronto may loose its green roofs bylaw as well, as the current Mayor was one of two to vote against it when he was on city council. Quick, get this report
in his hands, stat!

-On the bright side, in the Philippines it looks like one ambitious senator hopes to have government sponsored vertical farming research and wide spread urban agriculture adoption. And on the North American continent, it looks like another Maine town (number 3!!!) is ready for their own food sovereignty law!

Real green wall information!

As many folks know, I'm a cooperative guy and like to share. And anyone affiliated with verticiel Inc. relishes helping as well. So it's great to see McRae Anderson release this ebook, free, with more info than I can remember coming from one person in a while.

-Continuing on the sharing topic, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension has a comprehensive guide to Urban Agriculture for Nebraska and beyond. Speaking of resources, there are always new ways to build community and save a few bucks too.
-I don't know when it will be done, but be sure to read
the Design Trust for Public Space's plan for the future of urban farms in New York City.

Okay, now a quick global roundup:

-In the Phils the Bureau of Agricultural Research plans to introduce the concept of "edible landscaping" to the mainstream population.
-In Taxco, Mexico, not far from Mexico City, residents are being encouraged to implement Cuban farming techniques to grow certain crops.
-And I've just recently read, African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture. A touch expensive, but worth buying if you have some extra cash. Or...you can share with a few friends!

Lastly, here's a job alert for those in DC who want to write about food!