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This new vertical farm is trying to make vegetables taste so good, you won't want to eat anything else. 
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"Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny. Hunter-gatherers practiced the most successful and longest-lasting life style in human history. In contrast, we're still struggling with the mess into which agriculture has tumbled us, and it's unclear whether we can solve it."
Colleen Blankenship's curator insight,
February 19, 2018 1:50 PM
Another of Jared Diamond's theories. Agree or disagree? Support your stance!
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Just how much of the world's cropland can we really call urban? That's been a big mystery until now.
Now, a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters has an answer: Somewhere around 1.1 billion acres is being cultivated for food in or within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of cities. Most of that land is on the periphery of cities, but 16.6 percent of these urban farms are in open spaces within the municipal core.
Evan Margiotta's curator insight,
March 20, 2015 2:42 PM
This is a perfect application of how Von Thunen model still applies today. Von Thunen mapped how crops were distributed around cites. The crops near the city were labor intensive while the crops farther away from the city were labor extensive. Von Thunen's model is often disputed today in a world with such fast transportation, but this study shows that it still applies today. Unit 5 Agriculture 
Ellen Van Daele's curator insight,
March 22, 2015 3:34 PM
This research explores the concept of urban agriculture and the water supply needed and used. It came up with surprising results that state that 80% of urban agriculture is in the developing world and 40% of urban agriculture is in or near cities.
The research also covered water supply, stating that most of urban agriculture relies on irrigation. This is especially true in South Asia, and since the water resources are already scarce, the farmers have to compete for water with the government. 
Raychel Johnson's curator insight,
March 22, 2015 7:55 PM
Summary: This article is mostly about how much of our agriculture is grown within 20 miles of a city. It turns out 40% of agriculture is grown in this proximity of a city, and this mostly occurs with irrigated agriculture in South Asia. Most of these urban farms are in the developing world as well.
Insight: This article relates to the von Thunen model because it directly talks about the rings that occur around a city, although it is a skewed version of it. I think this is also a good example of how cities have changed since the developing of the von Thunen model, showing that developed countries are supporting the idea of urban agriculture.
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Most everyone who has ever selected their fruits and vegetables from the "organic" section while grocery shopping probably thought they were doing something good for their bodies and the environment.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Hmmm...this is sure to get the Prius-driving crowd all in a tither.
One of the chief arguments offered by proponents of organic foods (aka it is healthier for you) seems to have some validity. And this a meta analysis no less.
But...and this is a BIG BUT, I still say the main reason one should consider opting for a more organic diet is the well supported fact that organic food generally has a lighter impact on the planet. I know all the arguments that we "cannot meet our existing nutritional demands if we were to somehow instantly go 100% organic," etc., etc. But the reduced impact from organic is usually (except for bananas) a kinder thing for Mama Earth.
Crunch away you granola heads!
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From
qz
During harvest last year, banana farmers in Jordan and Mozambique made a chilling discovery. Their plants were no longer bearing the soft, creamy fruits they'd been growing for decades. When they cut open the roots of their banana plants, they saw something that was turning banana plants into a rotting mass.
Scientists first discovered the fungus that is turning banana plants into this rotting mass in Southeast Asia in the 1990s. Since then the pathogen, known as the Tropical Race 4 strain of Panama disease, has slowly but steadily ravaged export crops throughout Asia. The fact that this vicious soil-borne fungus has now made the leap to Mozambique and Jordan is frightening. One reason is that it’s getting closer to Latin America, where at least 70% of the world’s $8.9-billion-a-year worth of exported bananas is grown.
Chiquita, the $548-million fruit giant with the world’s largest banana market share, is downplaying the risk. ”It’s certainly not an immediate threat to banana production in Latin America [where Chiquita's crops are],” Ed Lloyd, spokesman for Chiquita, told the Charlotte Business Journal in late December, explaining that the company is using a “risk-mitigation program” to approach the potential spread. Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald
PIRatE Lab's insight:
For more about banana's see Dan Koeppel's Blog: http://www.bananabook.org
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ARTOIS, Calif. — Nestled in a corner of the Sacramento Valley known for its rice, almonds and walnuts, densely packed rows of manicured olive trees stretch toward the horizon.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Industrialization can be one approach to more sustainable food systems. but it must be done right (and it normally isn't). This is possibly a case in point in that they are able to generate a higher yield of fruit without a corresponding massive increase in pesticides, water, etc. While we need to see the hard numbers on water use, etc. this is an interesting model.
So the upsides: reduced transportation costs of oil (for California/U.S. consumers) and more efficient agricultre. The downside is that with increased mechanization comes fewer people jobs (although those that are there tend to be higher wage).
A similar "new" approach to agriculture can be seen with a local industrial tomato grower here in Ventura County, CA: (http://future360.tv/video/houwelings-tomatoes). A wonderful approach (but their tomatos lack taste/flavor).
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When someone says that there are two Californias, the reference these days is usually to the political differences between coastal and inland residents rather than the historical split between north and south.But there is a third and even more...
PIRatE Lab's insight:
A rational water policy op-ed. These are rare beasts in much of my state.
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Reporters in 14 newsrooms across the Midwest teamed up with InsideClimate News to explore local solutions to climate change.
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The Economist offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
This well-researched article totally ignores issues of nutrition, soil health, water supply, food justice, etc. This is an interesting read to be sure, but at times most closely tracks with big Pharma and the Monsanto-esque approach to food production that is firmly in the driver seat of our food policy these days. Biotech approaches are truly impressive and are clearly part of the mix now and in the future. But there are many more layers of the onion here than "simple" technofixes and whiz-bang things that appear to "solve" the hard choices and difficult decisions that are necessitated by a world of perhaps 9 billion very hungry humans.
Thanks to Rachel Langley for flagging this piece.
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Central America is suffering from a severe drought that's devastating crops and killing livestock. Nicaragua has one answer to the grim situation.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Fight the drought with Iguanas??? This whole climate change end-of-the-world thing is getting interesting, to say the least.
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The UK’s largest independent cheese-maker has officially opened a £1m water treatment plant that will recover up to 95% of its factory waste water. Via Acquisti & Sostenibilità not-for-profit
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As climate change makes vast parts of Inner Mongolia uninhabitable, an official declares: ‘Land desertification is China’s most important ecological problem.’
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Great story and graphic video demonstration of one compenent of climate change.
I still find it amazing this lack of will amongst most scientists in China when it comes to criticizing Chinese policies. This may be something of a misquote, but my experience shows it may well not be:
"Our biggest concern today is not man-made problems, it is climate change and water resources" Excuse me??? Climate change and you overdrafting of water supplies ARE FUNDAMENTALLY a "man-made" problem. We have all seen the consequence of such incorrect phrasing and articulation. We are creating this mess. I would hope we could be mature enough to own up to the problem and face it head on.
This story also does a good job of putting yet another face of the greatest victims of climate change; the poor who eek out a living in marginal environs.
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