Meet Will Allen, The Urban Farmer Starting His Own Revolution

The Cornucopia Institute's photo.

May 15, 2015, www.cornucopia.org | “Will Allen is a former professional athlete who played basketball throughout college at the University of Miami and post-college in Belgium. Though he has also held jobs in corporate America, Allen has spent the last 21 years in a completely different profession: urban farmer.”

Sage Lampros shared a photo to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline. The Cornucopia Institute Will Allen is a former professional athlete who played basketball throughout college at the University of Miami and post-college in Belgium. Though he has also held jobs in corporate America, Allen has spent the last 21 years in a completely different profession: urban farmer. http://www.cornucopia.org/…/meet-will-allen-the-urban-farm…/ ‪#‎farmer‬ ‪#‎food‬ ‪#‎urbanfarmer‬

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2,000 free trees up for grabs in Spokane

Ric Weidner prepares one of the cherry trees before planting it in the ground. The wind was howling and temperatures were hovering in the mid 40's but a couple hundred people turned out for the event. To celebrate the Japan United Sates Cherry Blossom Cen

March 20, 2015, www.krem.com | “SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane and its partners are giving away 2,000 trees in an effort to reduce stormwater runoff.”

  GoodNews FortheEarth

Local residents can come grab two trees each for two tree give away events. The first event was held April 17 and 18; the second event will be held at the end of October. The local residents who do come and claim trees have been asked to plant their trees in a way to help mitigate water from the storms.

  • Pedram Goudarzi, Pippi Langkous, Merry Bindner, Tree Hugger, Alice Alford, Rex Peters, Annie Vas, Robert Stone, Amy Ruddell, Pete Denison, Allan Schwarz,                            Ami Linden, Diana Hartel, Rita Cooper, Kate Sinks, Nancy Knight, Alison Jones, Alex La Tierra, Gail Lucas, Judith Green, Kate Dow, Lesley Labbe, Michael Sykes, Dawn Shitstorm Ti, Jericho Sarai, Rita Kerzen, Linda Stein, Maryska Azzena, Regina Siegel

Organic Trumps Conventional Across the Board: Highlights from The Rodale Institute’s 30-Year Report

April 26, 2015, foodtank.com | “After a 30-year side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional agricultural systems, the Rodale Institute reports that organic systems match, or even outperform, conventional systems in terms of yield, profitability, and energy efficiency, while having positive effects on soil health, water quality, and rural communities.”

After a 30-year side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional agricultural systems, the Rodale Institute reports that organic systems match, or even outperform, conventional systems in terms of yield, profitability, and energy efficiency, while having positive effects on soil health, water quality, and rural communities.
The Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial® has concluded that organic methods are superior across the board.
foodtank.com

France Declares All New Rooftops Must Be Topped With Plants Or Solar Panels

April 8, 2015, csglobe.com | “A new law recently passed in France mandates that all new buildings that are built in commercial zones in France must be partially covered in either plants or solar panels.  Green roofs, as they are called, have an isolating effect which helps to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building during the winter or cool it in the summer. They are capable of retaining rainwater and reducing problems with runoff, and also offer birds a place to call home in the urban jungle.”

Kevin Phillips shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
A new law recently passed in France mandates that all new buildings that are built in commercial zones in France must be partially covered in…
csglobe.com|By Broderick Corban
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Pledge To Plant – One Billion Seeds for Earth Day

January 13, 2015, www.facebook.com | “ Be a part of the biggest grass-root effort in history by planting a seed/tree as a “give back” to Earth. It’s an old Native American tradition that when you take something from the Earth, you must put something back. Earth Day 2015 will be a global “give back to Earth” event, as an “offering” for all the planet gives us. Our goal is to plant one billion seeds/trees.

Robert BrothersGoodNews FortheEarth

Already .. 64,000 people are going … why? because every day is Earth Day

Thanks to Ysabel Vicente for letting me know
One Billion Trees/Seeds Planted – Earth Day, April 22, 2015All over the World 93,499 people are going
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Regenerative Ranching in North Dakota

Dec 11, 2014, www.youtube.com | “Outside Bismarck, ND is a ranch that exemplifies a quiet revolution in commercial agriculture. While more and more consumers learn about the overwhelming benefits of eating healthfully (preferably local, organic food), a growing number of farmers and ranchers are weaning themselves from the grip of a small cartel of extremely powerful chemical “pharming” corporations. They are returning to a style of farming that had always existed before. Gabe & Paul Brown are a father and son who are not shy about showing off their beautiful land and visibly happy livestock. They practice what they call “Regenerative Farming” – a set of practices that encourage biodiversity and the natural enrichment of untilled soils.”

An example of Regenerative Farming & Ranching to mitigate climate change: All no-till, with animals grazing on the cover crops and crop residues = less C02 into the atmosphere. No pesticides, fertilizers, or fungicides, since 1993.
Outside Bismarck, ND is a ranch that exemplifies a quiet revolution in commercial agriculture. While more and more consumers learn about the…
youtube.com
  • Rolf Steiner, Suzanne Foote, Maryska Azzena, Coll Harvey, George Bertram, Carlos Merino, Gregg Blanchard, Stacy McIntosh Davis, Nancy Brophy, David and Michelle Ochoa, Wendy White Gayda, and Kitty Lynch like this.

20 Urban Food Forests from Around the World

July 28, 2014, www.shareable.net | “The concept of a food forest has its roots in permaculture, a philosophy that advocates for managing agricultural landscapes in harmony with nature. The practice emphasizes perennial, low-maintenance crops that leverage natural nutrient inputs, drainage patterns and climate to achieve a self-sustaining, food-producing ecosystem. A food forest is quite literally a forest that produces food for people (and, most certainly, forest critters) to eat.”

“20 Urban Food Forests from Around the World
www.shareable.net
The Seven Layers of a Food Forest. Diagram by Graham Burnett via…”
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In These Cities, Your Next Snack May Be Growing in a Public Park

More Cities Jump on the Food Forest Bandwagon

July 9, 2014, www.takepart.com | “For food-loving travelers, stopping at the farmers market or a local food-minded restaurant is a requisite part of visiting a new city. But as you travel this summer, know that in some cases you may not have to enter a shop or even get out your wallet to enjoy the local bounty. That’s because an increasing number of cities are building edible landscapes—trees and plants bearing fruit, nuts, and even spices—right into the cityscape.”

Pamela Benda shared a link

FOOD FORESTS/ FREE GOING VIRAL IN US CITIES
And Planting trees regenerates the Earth
In These Cities, Your Next Snack May Be Growing in a Public Park
www.takepart.com
Fruit is free in these urban centers, thanks to food-bearing plants and trees growing right next to skyscrapers.

A path toward better agricultural investment

February 26, 2014, www.iatp.org | “The food crisis of 2008 led to a broad agreement in the agricultural development community that the lack of appropriate investment in agriculture had been a key contributing factor to unstable prices and food insecurity. The crisis coincided with an increase in land grabbing in many parts of the world, but especially in Africa. It is in response to these events that the idea of developing some criteria on agricultural investments came up in international policy and governance arenas.”

“Open to supporting local agriculture — the United Nations program, the Committee on Food Security.
“responsible agricultural investments should address the specific needs of small-scale food producers and workers: this entails investors as…See More
A path toward better agricultural investment | Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
www.iatp.org”
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The Power of Local Unity: Small US town enacts Free Food Trade

February 2, 2014, news-beacon-ireland.info | “Sedgwick, Maine, the first town in the US to legalize any kind of food transaction as free and legal in order to keep the right to produce raw milk, organic produce, free-range eggs, and more, is revolutionizing the way America keeps its food rights – including saying no to GMOs.”

Polly Howells shared a link via Woodstock Transition NY.

“The Power of Local Unity: Small US town enacts Free Food Trade | News Beacon Ireland
news-beacon-ireland.info
Sedgwick, Maine, the first town in the US to legalize any kind of food transaction as free and legal in order to keep the right to produce…”
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  • COMMENTS:
  • Connie Ashby “A simple seller and buyer agreement is entered into where federal regulations can be bypassed by the seller agreeing to consume food grown by their neighbors organically in their garden or by the farm up the street with their own hormone-free dairy cows that customers have known for decades. It takes the feds and their dirty Monsanto money right out of the game. It is commercially grown food that is killing us all, after all – not locally grown food…For those with their heads in a noodle about bypassing federal laws, the citizens of Maine have stated, “We the radicals who concocted this mutinous act of infamy believe that according to the Home Rule provisions of our State Constitution, the citizens of Sedgwick have the right to enact an ordinance that is “local and municipal in character.” These words are taken directly from this article…I have personal identification w/ this as I stopped breathing April of last yr and was on life support for two days…I have not gotten satisfactory explanations from my health care providers as to why I stopped breathing…however I have a sneaky suspicion it may be from the food I was consuming…after I was released from the hospital …I had a glass of milk (not raw milk) and could not breathe…there are so many growth hormones/antibiotics contained in it…the FDA is clearing dropping the ball and not doing their job…it’s enlightening to me to see an article like this…thank you for the post. This is truly good news to see something like this being done…I hope it catches on everywhere …we must become active participants in the daily foods we consume and the safety of it.”