Food

Seed exchange ensures the survival of genetic diversity.

by David Hiatt

I first started saving seeds when I discovered that a variety of squash that I was fond of growing was no longer being offered by Stokes; fortunately, I had about 10 seeds left, so at the end of the next year I saved a fruit for seeds and have been growing it and saving seeds for some time.

The community marketplace not only provides health benefits, it also contributes to the quality of life in rural settings.

Community marketplaces and related endeavours, such as farmers' markets, seed exchanges, and simple networking, are among the best features of rural life. Indeed, such amenities also produce benefits for city dwellers, as produce is frequently brought into urban settings to be sold country style. Vancouver's Granville Island is one of the most successful of such city marketplaces.

Cubans made the most of the break up of the Soviet Union. Losing their source of pesticides and fertilizers, they're growing some of the cleanest produce in the world.

by Robert E. Sullivan - Earth Times News Service

The Cuban revolutionary threat is back. In an innocuous, unmarked building in the Miramar suburb of Havana technicians from Fidel Castro's communist government are training cadres from all over Latin America.

Eventually it's many problems will overcome conventional industrial farming.

by Colin Graham

It is becoming stunningly clear that conventional, chemically based agriculture faces a grim future. Organic farming, on the other hand, seems to have blue skies popping up all over.

by G. Willow Wilson

The city government of Seattle, Washington has declared 2010 the Year of Urban Agriculture. The program, developed through the Department of Neighborhoods, aims to make locally grown produce af­fordable and available to as many of Seattle’s diverse residents as possible, while supporting the urban and exur­ban farmers who grow it. New zon­ing laws will allow backyard farmers greater flexibility in what they grow and raise on residential property. A bold pilot program is in place to cre­ate ten urban farms inside city limits.

This initiative is just the latest stride for a city that has long been the pacesetter for sustainability in the American Northwest. As a transplant to Seattle, I was immediately im­pressed by the vigor of the city’s farm­ers’ markets, where a variety of public benefit programs give struggling fam­ilies access to the

Amidst the concrete and skyscrapers of the city sprouts a determined group of folk who are turning backyards, balconies and vacant lots into a green oasis of food. Growing food in the city is not a novel idea, but with concerns about food security, food systems and people wanting to connect with the land – urban agriculture is a “growing” movement. Our Solutions – Urban Food section highlights some of the urban agriculture initiatives and ideas that are playing a role in regreening the urban landscape. This series of articles includes Vancouver’s Urban Farming Census, Sharing Backyards mapping project, youth guerilla gardening, community trust farming, myths about backyard chickens, how to turn lawn into garden