The Vertical Farm by
Imagine a world where every town has its own local food source, grown in the safest way possible, where no drop of water or particle of light is wasted, and where a simple elevator ride can transport you to nature's grocery store - imagine the world of the vertical farm.When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. Despommier's stroke of genius, the vertical farm, has excited scientists, architects, and politicians around the globe. These farms, grown inside skyscrapers, would provide solutions to many of the serious problems we currently face, including: -Allowing year-round crop production -Providing food to areas currently lacking arable land -Immunity to weather-related crop failure -Re-use of water collected by de-humidification of the indoor environment -New employment opportunities -No use of pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides -Drastically reduced dependence on fossil fuels -No crop loss due to shipping or storage -No agricultural runoff
The Good Food Revolution by
A pioneering urban farmer and MacArthur "Genius Award" winner points the way to building a new food system that can feed--and heal--broken communities. The son of a sharecropper, Will Allen had no intention of ever becoming a farmer himself. But after years in professional basketball and as an executive for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Procter & Gamble, Allen cashed in his retirement fund for a two-acre plot a half mile away from Milwaukee's largest public housing project. The area was a food desert with only convenience stores and fast-food restaurants to serve the needs of local residents. In the face of financial challenges and daunting odds, Allen built the country's preeminent urban farm--a food and educational center that now produces enough vegetables and fish year-round to feed thousands of people. Employing young people from the neighboring housing project and community, Growing Power has sought to prove that local food systems can help troubled youths, dismantle racism, create jobs, bring urban and rural communities closer together, and improve public health. Today, Allen's organization helps develop community food systems across the country. An eco-classic in the making, The Good Food Revolution is the story of Will's personal journey, the lives he has touched, and a grassroots movement that is changing the way our nation eats.
The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers by
There are no stupid questions here. Everyone has to start somewhere, after all. In The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers, Sean and Allison McManus, the gardening pros behind the popular website and podcast Spoken Garden, answer all of your questions and more. Caring for outdoor plantings can be intimidating, especially if the process is completely new to you. Before running to the hardware store to stock up on plastic bags of mulch and tools you don't really need, arm yourself with the know-how to plant and tend outdoor areas correctly and safely. Doing so saves you time, money, and energy--and helps make the process a whole lot more fun! With help from this easy-to-follow beginner gardening guide, you'll learn: Tips for selecting the best plants and flowers for your growing conditions The best planting techniques for different types of plants How to mulch trees, shrubs, and garden beds correctly Pruning dos and don'ts for common garden plants Ways to keep weeds out of outdoor areas--without using synthetic herbicides How to recognize and manage different pests and diseases naturally Insider tips on everything from the difference between annuals and perennials to choosing the best organic fertilizer Plus, you'll find time-management advice and tips for effective, resource-conscious gardening You will close the book not only knowing how to care for your home's outdoor plantings using earth-friendly methods, but also knowing the satisfaction of a beautiful, all-natural landscape. This book is part of The First-Time Gardener Guide series from Cool Springs Press, which also includes The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables. Each book in The First-Time Gardener Guide series is aimed at beginner gardeners and offers clear, fact-based information that's presented in a friendly and accessible way, including step-by-step instructions and full-color illustrations throughout.
Farm to Table by
With information on purchasing, marketing, and employing farm-to-table principles in restaurants, schools, hospitals, and other institutions Nearly a century ago, the idea of local food would have seemed perplexing, since virtually all food was local. Food for daily consumption fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and dairy products was grown at home or sourced from local farms. Today, most of the food consumed in the United States and, increasingly, around the globe, is sourced from industrial farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which power a food system rife with environmental, economic, and health-related problems. The tide, however, is slowly but steadily turning back in what has been broadly termed the farm-to-table movement. In Farm to Table, Darryl Benjamin and Chef Lyndon Virkler explore how the farm-to-table philosophy is pushing back modern, industrialized food production and moving beyond isolated locavore movements into a broad and far-reaching coalition of farmers, chefs, consumers, policy advocates, teachers, institutional buyers, and many more all working to restore healthful, sustainable, and affordable food for everyone. Divided into two distinct but complementary halves, Farm and Table, Farm to Table first examines the roots of our contemporary industrial food system, from the technological advances that presaged the Green Revolution to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz s infamous dictum to farmers to Get big or get out in the 1970s. Readers will explore the many threats to ecology and human health that our corporatized food system poses, but also the many alternatives from permaculture to rotation-intensive grazing that small farmers are now adopting to meet growing consumer demand. The second half of the book is dedicated to illuminating best practices and strategies for schools, restaurants, healthcare facilities, and other business and institutions to partner with local farmers and food producers, from purchasing to marketing. No longer restricted to the elite segments of society, the farm-to-table movement now reaches a wide spectrum of Americans from all economic strata and in a number of settings, from hospital and office cafeterias, to elementary schools and fast-casual restaurants. Farm to Table is a one-of-a-kind resource on how to integrate sustainable principles into each of these settings and facilitate intelligent, healthful food choices at every juncture as our food system evolves. While borrowing from the best ideas of the past, the lessons herein are designed to help contribute to a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable tomorrow."
Achieving Sustainable Urban Agriculture by
Strong focus on infrastructural requirements for successful urban agriculture, such as public policy and planning frameworks, business models and social networks Covers developments in key technologies such as rooftop and vertical farming, as well as waste management Includes case studies of particular commodities, including horticultural produce, livestock and forestry
Urban Agriculture by
You don't have to journey to a rural paradise to find the farm of the future. It's your neighbor’s suburban lawn, the roof of your uptown condominium, or the co-op market garden in the vacant lot down the street. Urban Agriculture is a detailed look at how food is taking root in our cities. It offers inspirational advice and working examples to help you dig in and become more self-sufficient with your own food choices. Taking the local food movement to its next logical step, this fully illustrated, design-rich guide presents a cornucopia of proven ideas for: Windowsill and container growing Edible landscaping Farming the commons Community gardening from allotments to collectives and community orchards Taking urban agriculture to the next level with creative spaces, bigger lots, and higher yields Urban Agriculture is about shaping a new food system that values people and the planet above profits. First-time farmers and green thumbs alike will be inspired to get growing by working examples and expert interviews. Proving that the city of the future will be green and tasty, this book is packed with edible solutions for anyone keen to join the new food revolution. David Tracey is a journalist, environmental designer, and the author of Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto. The director of EcoUrbanist in Vancouver, he is an advocate for all those reclaiming our right to great food through urban agriculture.
Digging the City by
At the last census in 2006, just over 80 percent of Canada's population lived in urban centres. How we feed that population and protect its food sources is an enduring subject of debate in food security circles these days. As consumers and citizens, we all need to take a hard look at the deficiencies in Canada's ability to feed the urban poor; our dependence on imported foods and centralized food processing; our detachment from our food sources; the often problematic solutions to food security devised by governments, municipalities and non-profit groups; and where we are headed if we change nothing in these times when change is urgently needed. Many efforts are being made to introduce urban agriculture initiatives all across the country, to address the problems we've created and to protect our cities from real and potential crises in the food supply. With passion and lyricism, Digging the City addresses the problems facing urban omnivores in the 21st century and looks at various policy, grassroots and utopian solutions being developed and implemented, while considering the pros and cons of plans such as vertical farms, urban fish farms, transition-town initiatives, seed banks, permaculture and water conservation projects.
Making Local Food Work by
When it comes to local food, it takes more than "knowing your farmer." Brandi Janssen takes on some of the myths about how the local food system works and what it needs to thrive. Advocates claim that small biodiverse farms will fundamentally change farming, rural communities, and the American diet. For many, simply by knowing our farmers we become champions of a new way of eating that revolutionizes our economy and society. But that argument ignores the fact that if local food is to succeed, it requires many of the trappings of conventional food production, including processors, middle men, inspectors, and regulators. By listening to and working alongside people trying to build a local food system in Iowa, Janssen uncovers the complex realities of making it work. Although the state is better known for its vast fields of conventionally grown corn and soybeans, it has long boasted a robust network of small, diverse farms, community supported agriculture enterprises, and farmers' markets. As she picks tomatoes, processes wheatgrass, and joins a parents' committee trying to buy local lettuce for a school lunch, Janssen asks how small farmers and CSA owners deal with farmers' market regulations, neighbors who spray pesticides on crops or lawns, and sanitary regulations on meat processing and milk production. How can they meet the needs of large buyers like school districts? Who does the hard work of planting, weeding, harvesting, and processing? Is local food production benefitting rural communities as much as advocates claim? In answering these questions, Janssen displays the pragmatism and level-headedness one would expect of the heartland, much like the farmers and processors profiled here. It's doable, she states, but we're going to have to do more than shop at our local farmers' market to make it happen. This book is an ideal introduction to what local food means today and what it might be tomorrow.
