I was surprised to discover how easy it is to create urban farms in areas where people most need inexpensive, fresh food. Urban-farming is really taking off in cities such as Detroit and Cleveland. Check out this article from Fast Company, on how cities can transform disused land into tomorrow’s (healthy) dinner:
4 Tips For Starting A Farm In Your City All around the country, Americans are dreaming big. Their boldest ideas are changing their communities–and having a ripple effect throughout the world.
Consider this paradox: 49 million Americans live with daily food insecurity, 23 million live in urban food deserts, and collectively we’re all getting fatter. Simultaneously vacant lots, concrete grooves, and other desolate, empty
An urban farm in Chicago (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
spots dot urban landscapes, while a quarter of traditional agricultural land is severely degraded according to the UN.
Enter the urban farm: a fast, smart, cheap way to bring healthy food closer to those who need it, transform ugly vacant spaces into lush gardens, and promote a healthier, greener, more connected urban community.
Plant a garden in your own yard (or farm the job out to someone else).
Acres of perfect green grass are both a hassle to maintain and, nutritionally speaking, useless. Inhabitants with yards in D.C. and Portland can even lease their yard to those with greener thumbs–and take a cut of the produce they yield.
Populate empty lots with crops.
Cities like Cleveland and Detroit are leasing abandoned lots to urban farmers for practically nothing–provided the lessees are committed to filling those spots with edible greenery.
If your lot’s soil is poisoned with lead or other contaminants, simply truck in new soil in raised beds. Even cheaper: Plant your veggies in burlap bags filled with clean soil. Roll the sacks up and fill with more soil as the plants grow, and you can transport them indoors when winter hits.
Use your roof.
ASLA’s video suggests restaurants harness their roofs to grow ingredients for their own meals. Big-box stores can lease or farm their own vast roofs and sell the proceeds in-store or via local greenmarkets. Rooftop farms use wasted space and lower your utility bill, too.
Fill up your food trucks.
Mobile trucks sell prepared foods–often unhealthy at that. Why not use them as fresh-fruit stands? Food truck legislation in many cities has relaxed in recent years. Opportunity knocks, suburban farmers: Coordinate with a food truck owner to sell your produce wherever there’s a need in your city–not just at the Saturday greenmarket. Hook the kids on juicy berries or watermelon in summer, and you may make a confirmed veggie fan year-round.
I’ve been following green concepts over the years, and I’m always excited to see trends in energy power that will eventually make it into our hands someday. Or in this case, onto our fingers! This innovative idea is a concept from the minds of two designers, Song Teaho and Hyejin Lee. Their new finger battery…
Our Innovationedge team meets with inventors to guide and help them bring their inventions to the world. Most people think it just takes money – some willing donor to make their dreams come true. If you’ve ever watched the television hit, Shark Tank, you know that there are some excellent minds out there hoping someone…
Here’s an innovative transportation idea from France that employs fancy footwork in a team concept: The Human Powered Gym. It’s a floating gym on water. The idea comes from Carlo Ratti Associati, showing the world how human energy can power vehicles in the future. The 65-foot floating gym would be powered only by its occupants,…
Most people think of cockroaches as pests. Not these innovative “creatures”: Fleets of cyborg cockroaches could someday roam into damaged nuclear power plants or collapsed mines to carry out reconnaissance or locate survivors. A team of researchers implanted live cockroaches with electrodes that stimulate the nerves in the insects’ antennae, enabling the scientists to steer…
I’ll be the first to admit that computer graphics and animation are not my forte. But I also know that those who can expertly maneuver computer images with ease rely heavily on advanced technology and innovation to make lifelike images. And this type of imaging is not just for movies, video games and other entertainment….
Have you heard of PlantBeat for farms? It’s being developed in Israel thanks to an Open Innovation partnership that is bringing the so-called “internet of things” to the U.S. and Central America. More on what it is in a moment. First, the partnership. Israeli agritech firm Phytech, is partnering with ADAMA Agricultural Solutions to sell…