New Zealand is down with foraging

If you're hungry for some foraged fods in the Land of the Long White Cloud check out the Wild Foods Festival on March 12,
where you can sample things like wasp larvae ice cream, and, in general...wait for it, because I can't resist...get your grub on!
Also, while you're at it you can check out this map of urban foraging for New Zealand. And if you can use it, I'm jealous.
What about stateside? Check out Urban Edibles for similar maps and Fallen Fruit started off the same way, but in the last couple of years has expanded to include WAY more than fruit!

A mainstream org embraces a rising movement when the US Green Building Council sponsors a talk on urban agriculture and edible landscapes in St. Louis on March 9. Some might argue if the USGBC is mainstream, but with the size of their workforce, they can't be considered small timers anymore.

Alex Rochas delivers this funky 1,500 foot edible green roof/rooftop garden in Los Angeles.



Looking for a great blog? Behold Danielle Nierenberg's Nourishing the Planet, it's there I read about one of Malawi's new permaculture miracle workers
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Short video on how to build a staple of permaculture gardens, the herb spiral.

Radio replay

Oops, last week I forgot to post that verticiel Inc. dropped by the Green Majority radio program (CIUT 89.5 FM) February 12 to talk about green roofs, living architecture and Toronto's new Green Roof Bylaw. Listen to the podcast, and tell us what you think!

A few things...

Hold on to your potatoes, this blog post is going to be all over the place...

Renderings are amazing in general, but if this concept is actually built, you'll be seeing pictures of this for the next 20 years.
Built to produce fruit, oil, grain, wine, gold (just kidding about the last one), Andres Jaque Architects have really outdone themselves. An urban agriculture dreamscape. Dare I ask...price tag?



Good newsish from the Canadian Council on Learning. The number of jobs in the environmental sector has been growing steadily yet enrolment in post-secondary environmental programs has dropped 9% since 1999 as opposed to a 24% increase in total Canadian grads. What is perhaps even more interesting are the theorized reasons for such a drop, including gender stereotypes and the availability of career information. Time for everyone to double their course load, then when you graduate, list all the cushy jobs you passed on...on Facebook. Alert, alert. 3,200 jobs unfilled in meteorlogical field alone this year!!!
Which gets me to thinking, maybe they'll be some more green jobs at in New York City and the whole tri-state area once the FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System is enacted, recommendation by recommendation. Looks like someone in both NYC and Edmontonhave been keepin' tabs on developments in Toronto! Although, Edmonton's urban agriculture section is a little smaller. I guess you gotta start somewhere, right?

Succulent Container Gardens is the latest book from Debra Lee Baldwin. I'm definitely checking it out for plants that could work well on green roofs or green walls.

Looks like DC gives the most cash back for a green roof, usually reported at $5/square foot, if all the requirements are met one can get $7!!! I think that might be the highest in North America! Check out the registration form.

And to finish things up, a nice urban foraging video. What makes it nice? It not only shows you someone wandering around, really happy with their find...it shows you a few tricks of the trade and clear (still) pictures of some free, wild eats.

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"Cash for grass" or "rip your strip" + the latest from Africa

For many of those on this side of the continent, Las Vegas' cash for grass program is a brand new idea. Hmmm...there are a few cities which have had issues with droughts over the last decade (I'm looking at you, Atlanta), I wonder how a similar program would work elsewhere? This article does a really nice job rounding up the water conservation problems and programs around the US.



Speaking of roundup, lots of info from the plateau continent in the last few weeks, including some rainwater recovery programs in Tunisia, sponsored by
International Development Research Center (IDRC-CANADA) and urban agriculture developments in Morocco.
Further down south there are a couple from Kenya. Run by an Italian NGO and Nairobi based grassroots initiative, the first story features the farm in a sack. Next up is a broader article about the urban farming movement across Africa, but starting off in Nairobi.

Okay, back to the...is there a nickname for North America? Edible geographygoes for the gusto with links galore and a preview of the USDA's Food Atlas. Bring a life vest before you decide to dive into this data.

Kongjian Yu in Harvard Design Magazine details how future cities "will be new garden cities.. emitting low or no net carbon, productive and conservation-minded. Rainwater will no longer be discharged from municipal pipes but will be retained in local ponds and supplement groundwater. Green spaces will be full of crops and fruit trees, instead of ornamental flowers and fruitless trees. Rice and broomcorn will ripen in the fields of communities and schools. In the harvest season, animals and humans will take pleasure together. Architectural surfaces will support photosynthesis. The roofs will be fish-raising ponds, with the functions of heat preservation, energy saving, and food production. Cellars will be great mushroom factories.” Sign me up.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the magazine'ssynopsis.

Toronto's urban food strategy

Forgot to post this earlier, Sustain Ontario breaks down the Toronto Board of Health's endorsement of the report, “Food Connections: Toward a Healthy and Sustainable Food System for Toronto.” What's most impressive to me is that outlining strategies to deal with issues like school food and food literacy are waaaaay beyond what most other big, North American cities are even entertaining. A tip of the cap to the Big Smoke!