Author: UOG

Hemp attracts bees in droves, a new study finds.

Researchers tested several strains and found bees – both wild and domestic – love them all, especially the taller varieties.

It’s an unusual finding considering cannabis doesn’t possess the sweet nectar or bright colors typical of flowers that attract pollinators.

The researchers speculate it’s something to do with the plentiful pollen found in hemp flowers.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://returntonow.net/2020/02/11/bees-love-hemp-study/

Joining the effort to reforest the planet, Jane Goodall commits to planting 5 million trees by the end of the year. 

Jane Goodall, known for saving the chimpanzees, is now on a similar mission to save our forests.

The famed primatologists’ Roots & Shoots program connects young people across 60 counties in an effort to reforest the planet.

The organization has committed to planting over 5 million new trees this year alone.

The group has a larger goal of planting a trillion trees in the next 10 years, as part of a joint effort with the United Nations’ 1 Trillion Trees Campaign.

“Now is the time for everyone on the planet to do their part.” Goodall said in a statement.

The World Bank estimates we’ve lost almost 4 million square miles of forest since the start of the 20th century.

Whether it’s clear cutting for agriculture, mining, cattle gazing, or wood products, one thing is clear, we’re losing about 1,000 football fields of forest every hour.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://returntonow.net/2020/02/12/jane-goodall-plans-to-plant-5-million-trees-in-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2eLLMqRZq2Iaozl6bN3UGHMM_KIdEfpHX3GuSsjc14nTIPpSQUMYbRiYQ

Hundreds of Philadelphians grow their own food on city land. African and Southeast Asian immigrants cultivate African eggplant and Thai roselle in South Philadelphia. Mexican immigrants and Puerto Ricans grow jalapeños and gandules in Kensington. In neighborhoods across the city, some 418 edible gardens bloom across 500 parcels.

But these spaces face an uncertain future as development pressures encroach.

The areas where many of the edible gardens cluster — South and West Philadelphia and Kensington — are gentrifying fast and growers find themselves facing eviction from land no one else wanted until now.

As the city moves forward with a first-ever Philadelphia Urban Agriculture Plan, three maps created by Interface Studio, with data gathered by Interface and partners at Soil Generation, tell the story of where Philly’s urban farmers are now and where they may be in the future.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT: https://whyy.org/articles/3-maps-tell-the-story-of-urban-farming-in-philly-right-now/

When Socrates, Plato, and the gang hung out at the farmers market in downtown Athens, they argued a lot about the essence of beauty, truth, and justice.

They had no idea of the problems they would create for urban agriculture 2500 years later.

Ancient Greece, a major tributary to western culture, was obsessed with absolute and universal Truth — that’s Truth with a capital T and in the singular.

This singular (academics call it “essentialist”) legacy lives on in today’s thinking about food. Think of such commonly used expressions as food policy, food strategy, food culture, local food, sustainable food, alternative food, and urban agriculture. Not much pluralism, plurals or variation here!!

We betray the Greek origin of western styles of thinking every time we use the singular to discuss the opposite — the sheer abundance and bounty of foods and food choices that modern living and technologies offer.

READ MORE:

Urban Agriculture is Dead! Cities have One, Two, Three…Many Urban Agricultures!

Opal’s Farm is a 5-acre patch of land along the Trinity River, in the shadow of downtown Fort Worth. It’s part of the United Riverside neighborhood, which is located in a food desert.

“You look across the river and there’s downtown, but everything kinda stops at the river,” farm manager Greg Joel said. “The money stops at the river.”

The farm’s 5-acres were donated by the Tarrant Regional Water District. It’s named after Opal Lee, a well known 92-year old community activist who had a dream of helping feed communities in need in Fort Worth.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/fighting-hunger-urban-farming-in-fort-worths-food-desert/2292808/

As the demand for sustainable and locally sourced produce in urban areas increases, so does the chance to be a part of the solution. Urban farming, a new development in real estate, brings an opportunity for investors to profit by transforming commercial real estate into urban gardens.

The growing demand for urban farms

Environmentally aware consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about where their food is coming from and the impact our current food production system has on the earth.

On average, food travels 1,000 to 2,000 miles before reaching supermarket shelves, resulting in about 20 to 30 percent of food loss occurring during the transportation process.

According to the Natural Defense Resource Council, the average American meal is sourced from five foreign countries using multiple methods of transportation — resulting in food with lower nutritional value and more carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere.

With heightened consumer awareness of these facts, especially in urban areas, buyers are increasingly seeking local produce grown in a more sustainable, eco-friendly way.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.fool.com/millionacres/real-estate-investing/articles/urban-farming-budding-investment-opportunity-real-estate/