“Antarctica is no place for a tomato. But starting in January 2018, researchers at the German Antarctic research station, Neumayer III, will begin growing not only tomatoes but also lettuces, herbs, peppers, cucumbers, swiss chard, radishes and even strawberries inside a climate-controlled shipping container. Although other indoor gardens have existed in Antarctica, the EDEN ISS Mobile Test Facility will be the most advanced indoor farm on the continent — an experiment meant to push the limits of indoor agriculture, so that the technology can hold up for a long mission to Mars.

“Some of my colleagues like to say, ‘It’s no longer your grandmother’s garden anymore,'” says Matthew Bamsey, a research associate at DLR, also known as the German Aerospace Center, and a member of the EDEN ISS team, a multipartner project focused on developing plant cultivation technologies for future use in space.”

Check out the FULL STORY at: “Recipes.HowStuffWorks.com“

“For more than a decade, Laxmi Nadendla was fond of the vegetables she grew in her own garden in Hyderabad. Being a nutritionist, she knew the importance of consuming home grown healthy food.

In 2013, when Laxmi got to know about a local non-profit, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives (AAA), she enrolled for a permaculture design course and learnt how to apply permaculture practices in urban spaces, such as a home garden (about 280 sq yards). She soon stopped using pesticides and depended heavily on organic compost. Today, her family gets 60-70 per cent of their vegetables from the garden in winters. In fact, last summers, some days the output was about 17 kilos of fruits and vegetables per day.”

View the FULL Article at: “DownToEarth.org.in“

“Think of urban farming and the images that may come to mind are community garden, vertical greenhouse or even a rooftop garden.

The farm Steven Dring operates in south London isn’t like that. In fact, it’s not even visible from street level. The operation is situated in an air raid shelter 100 feet underground that has been left vacant since World War II.

Dring, his co-founder, Richard Ballard, and a team of a dozen people grow lettuce and microgreens hydroponically, year-round, in the shelter, which includes two tunnels. The produce is then sold to restaurants and stores around London.

“It does seem completely counterintuive to build a farm underneath the soil, but it’s actually one of the best environments to do it,” Dring said.”

Read the rest of the article at: “CBSNews.com“

“On Oct. 14, hundreds of people marched in Anacostia, in southeastern Washington, D.C., to a Giant supermarket. Some held carrots in the air; many carried shopping bags filled with groceries. They were marching to raise awareness of what it’s like to live in a food desert, an area where full-service grocery stores are scarce or nonexistent. In Ward 8, where the march took place, just one supermarket — the Giant — serves about 70,000 people. In Ward 7, directly north, two grocery stores serve another 70,000.

The lack of access to fresh food is a factor in great health disparities in D.C. Residents of Wards 7 and 8 are several times more likely to be obese, and have diabetes and other food-related illnesses than are residents of wealthier communities just across the Anacostia River.”

Read the rest of the article at: “NextCity.org“

“The city’s launch of an agriculture pilot project on plots of unused land is long overdue but could plant the seeds for a local food revolution, says a well-known Calgary urban farmer.

Operators who’ll farm two plots of land on a two-year lease — one in the northeast and the other in the southeast — are being sought by the city, with a tour of the sites scheduled for Oct. 27.

It’s something Grow Calgary founder Paul Hughes has been advocating for years.

“We proposed that Highfield site in 2009 — it never happens as quickly as we’d want and I wish there was more consultation, but it’s happening,” said Hughes, referring to the three-hectare plot on Highfield Crescent S.E.

“We rank last in North America in getting urban agriculture going, but I’m excited.””

Read the FULL Story at “CalgaryHerald.com“