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.
If you’re someone who enjoys healthy growth via indoor plants, you’re well aware of the messy chore to continually re-pot those plants. Here’s an interesting invention: A planter that grows as your houseplants do. This pot, GROWTH, is from Studio Ayaskan, and uses origami-based geometry which will transform to accommodate the growth of the plant…
I frequently talk to clients and business associates who don’t speak English, and that’s why I am very excited to see technology remove language barriers. A Japan-based company, NTT DOCOMO, has launched the Hanashite Hon’yaku app that allows speakers of two different languages to carry out a phone conversation by translating their speech in…
Great story out of Georgia Tech, where students have developed a solution that could allow assistance dogs to better communicate with their handlers. Check it out here: In a project now known as FIDO (for Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations), the group is constructing dog vests studded with an array of sensors that the…
McKinsey Research predicts that in ten years, 140 million knowledge worker jobs could be replaced by office automation, and 75 million jobs by robots. Already we’re seeing it happen. What if it happens to you? Do you have a strategy? Our friend Robert Tucker over at Innovation Resource shares four ways to ensure your future…
Water shortages around the world impacts billions of people. For those who depend on rainfall for their daily nourishment, a lack of water means famine and thirst. Rice production – a staple in many developing nations – takes a lot of water: 1000-3000 liters just to produce one kilo of rice. But in Egypt, innovators…
This ring allows you to write text messages by simply drawing in the air. The same technology can access your apps by drawing shapes in the air. For example, drawing a music note could access your music player, while drawing an envelope shape would allow you to access your email: Post by InnovationEdge.
