"Insert green roof here"

From the mind of artist Shatia Jackson, comes the "insert____here" tag. To make your own tag, head to sponsor 350.org and encourage others to take some community action.

-Those in Britain could probably use a few of these signs. Even better than the headline is how the Guardian calls out the government from the very top with the line "...the green infrastructure partnership has no financial backing but has cross-government support and backing of influential groups." Question, if you are going to support green roofs but not provide backing, why just make it a 2 year push? Why not an infinite one as there is no money involved??? On the bright side, it is good for green roofs to have support. But realistically, money speaks louder than words. Best line of the article? The environment minister proclaiming that green roofs really have lots of benefits and are not "airy fairy". Aye!

-For those interested in fermented foods, Sandor is your man. Not only is he constantly criss-crossing the US on speaking engagements, but he also has a gift for cheeky ways to make fermentation cool, with phrases like "Sandorkraut", "fermentation fetishist" and "fermentation revivalist".

-Website of the week goes to Fruitipedia. Impress your friends with your knowledge of, say, durian or one of the other 424 fruits covered.

-And lastly, Canada's most dangerous city (according to Maclean's in 2010...and I would have never have guessed!) sees some promise in urban gardening.

More on refugees and urban agriculture

We know it's more than a trend when the NY Times reports on it. But as readers of Living Architecture Daily, you are always ahead of the curve!

"With so many native Clevelanders struggling, why help foreigners" with urban agriculture?

The APA recently listed their top 10 public spaces in the US . Let's see how many from this list make it on to the top 100 public spaces in the U.S. and Canada list.

-A cool feature from Cleveland as a local farmer talks about working on the Refugee Empowerment Agricultural Program. Look for his deft answer of the question "With so many native Clevelanders struggling, why help foreigners?"

-Miami's compost mobile recently got a grant to help support it's operations. Why didn't I think of that?

-In the past year we have seen a bunch of articles where residents have had to take on their local governments to grow what they want, be it food or indigenous plants. A company in Houston is bucking the trend by planting indigenous grasses and trees. Hopefully this can become a trend on new urban properties as well.

Urban agriculture jobs, move fast! + GreenBuild lands in Toronto

A couple of jobs have been posted recently. The University of Alberta is seeking a chair in food security and sovereignty. This part sounds especially tasty "The Chair will be given considerable latitude to propose and develop a cohesive program of social science research that brings critical perspectives to issues of food safety and sovereignty!"
For those who want to get their hands dirtier, Isles, Inc. in Trenton, New Jersey wants an Urban Agriculture manager . Looks just as daunting!

-Surely everyone knows by now that Greenbuild is in Toronto this week, lots of cool stuff going on, especially green roof related. Greenbuild's presence dovetails nicely with the news that Toronto's green roof bylaw has created 125 full-time jobs and 1.2 million square feet of green space.

-500 students at the University of Massachusetts'- Amherst took a quarter-acre and turned it into a permaculture demonstration garden.

-Every once in a while it's good to check in with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to see what is happening with their selected key program(me)s, including investing in agriculture and the initiative (to lower, I presume) soaring food prices. Also not to miss is the explanation of why more attention is needed to maximize benefits of urban forests.

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.