Will Allen Growing Power Aquaponics and Greenhouse

Great for local food, local jobs, and encouraging innovation. Originally posted by GreenLearning on YouTube as "1 MILLION pounds of Food on 3 acres. 10,000 fish 500 yards compost."

On Job Creation—Local Fruits and Vegetables vs. Corn and Soybeans | CommonDreams.org

On Job Creation—Local Fruits and Vegetables vs. Corn and Soybeans | CommonDreams.org

Informative writing on regional economics (upper midwest) and the driving potential of local production.

From CommonDreams.org's blog:

Some key findings on the economic impacts on the region as a whole:

• Increased fruit and vegetable production in the six states could mean $882 million in sales at the farm level, and more than 9,300 jobs. Corn and soybean production on that same acreage would support only 2,578 jobs.
• If half of the increased production was sold in farmer-owned stores, it would require 1,405 such stores staffed by 9,652 people.

The full study new study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.


This is consistent with findings in numerous local food studies: economic, profitable, sustainable, and not requiring extensive subsidy beyond instantiation of infrastructures (say, processing facilities). 


See also Grower To Grower from cais.wisc.edu for some of the dynamics of smaller scale farms. Big bucks from small acres. University of Illinois Extension circa 2002 found a lot of "takers" for small scale farming; some of it purpose-driven, funding college, a new boat, or to pay down a mortgage, etc. I don't have a link at hand for that one.


Photograph: Mike Glodo, Small Jonathan and Stayman Apples from Southern Illinois

Watch this space: Shared Lands

Shared Lands

Some really good things will happen with this.

Heartland Papers - Midwest Economic Issues

Heartland Papers

Excellent thinking about the rural economy here in the Midwest. Strong sense of regionalism. 

Issue 2 - "Past Silos and Smokestacks: Transforming the Rural Economy in the Midwest," by Mark Drabenstott, director of the Center for Regional Competitiveness at the Rural Policy Research Institute and chairman of the Territorial Development Policy Committee for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Local Food, Local Economy, Bad Governmental Policy

Why we need transformational leadership in government. Status quo is hurting families and limiting choice.Florida and California apparently dominate policy. Where are we?

My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)

By JACK HEDIN

Published: March 1, 2008

Ultimately, it is the consumer who will pay the greatest price if the federal government continues to prevent the local food movement from expanding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01hedin.html

Fish and Salad In Situ Ville: NY Times on Aquaponics

New technology has enabled smaller scale livingry systems. (That is a Bucky Fuller word.)

Fascinating overview. Fish-Sun-Water-Plants

The New York Times discusses aquaponics as practiced in the US, with a ton of Australians in the mix. See http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/ for more on that. I just discovered the Australian site and am gleeful from the experience. The Times article mentions also Aquaponics Journal, which has doubled subscriptions every year for the last five years.

The Spotless Garden

By MICHAEL TORTORELLO

Published: February 17, 2010

Aquaponic gardens use fish, water and no soil — and may be the future of food growing.

This technology/approach dates at least to the early 1970s - see New Alchemy Institute's innovations in bioshelters. I had mentioned New Alchemy Institute in November 2005 in the context of Sustainable Architecture at http://techneblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/sustainable-architecture.html

More New Alchemy materials at The Green Center http://www.vsb.cape.com/~nature/greencenter/ which includes reports on aquaculture, bioshelters, and agriculture.

Good stewardship + good eats.

Strawberries: High Margin Greenhouse Food

Perfect example of in-situ agriculture yielding ~ $20/pound. Systems. Systems. This is what physicists do when they change jobs: geek and eat.

Readily tweakable for other environments and economies. From Smithsonian Magazine.

High tech greenhouses in the desert, physicist. Lovely. "In 1991, a French nursery called Marionnet introduced Mara des Bois, a deep red strawberry with soft, melting flesh and a fantastically intense perfume... it fetches a premium price, and accounts for about a tenth of the nation's strawberry harvest." Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/strawberry-side.html?c=y&page=1

Environmental Restoration in Texas from All Things Considered

Wonderful interview long on practical stewardship.

Texas Rancher An Unlikely Environmentalist: NPR

"David Bamberger converted 5,500 acres of some of the most badly damaged and overgrazed hill country in Texas into a showpiece of environmental restoration. Bamberger has been hailed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and has won the state's top voluntary land stewardship award.

A visit to Bamberger Ranch is like a trip back in time. Instead of cedar brush and barren limestone breaking the soil's surface, large hardwood trees surround grassy meadows. Wild turkey and deer wander in the open, and bobcats lurk in the hollows hunting game"

Sustainable Local Foods Farming Program at John Wood Community College

JWCC’s new Sustainable Local Foods Farming program provides courses and hands-on training in sustainable fruit and vegetable production, entrepreneurship, and marketingJWCC’s new Sustainable Local Foods Farming program provides courses and hands-on training in sustainable fruit and vegetable production, entrepreneurship, and marketing. More athttp://www.jwcc.edu/instruct/agriculture/LocalFoodsFarming/default.asp


Course brochure (pdf) athttp://www.jwcc.edu/instruct/agriculture/LocalFoodsFarming/docs/SustainableFoodsBrochure.pdf