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US - WISCONSIN: Appleton International Airport: Introduces New Hydroponic Farming System
Leading as the first and only airport in Wisconsin to have its own system, Flex Farm provides higher quality and fresher tasting options for travelers
APPLETON, Wis. (October 21, 2020) — Appleton International Airport (ATW) is now growing its own fresh greens with its new on-site Flex Farm, a hydroponic farming system. Leading as the first and only airport in Wisconsin to have its own system, Flex Farm provides higher quality and fresher tasting options for travelers.
“Eating healthy on the go can be difficult with a lack of fresh, nourishing food,” said Abe Weber, Airport Director. “We have worked closely with our health partner, ThedaCare, to introduce this on-site Flex Farm to meet those desires.”
As a health partner with ATW, ThedaCare has worked with the airport’s restaurant, The Fox Cities Eatery, to provide more healthy menu selections and incorporate Flex Farm’s fresh greens into meals such as sandwiches and burgers. This effort is in tandem with ATW’s ‘Making Healthy Connections Fly’ initiative, a forward-thinking program to ensure each traveler has an excellent experience at the airport.
To make the Flex Farm hydroponic system a reality, ATW is proud to work with Fork Farms, a local social enterprise in Green Bay. Fork Farms is an indoor agriculture technology company that partners with communities to make the process of producing healthy food accessible to the world. Their hydroponic unit uses only water, air, nutrients, and LED lighting to grow 300 pounds of fresh greens annually, and eliminates the need for soil, pesticides, and herbicides. These fresh greens produced by the unit will be harvested just steps away from ATW’s Fox Cities Eatery restaurant.
“We are glad we could have local support with this project and would also like to thank Fork Farm, the creators of the Flex Farm, for their help in making this possible,” said Weber. “While eating at The Fox Cities Eatery, our ticketed passengers can see the Flex Farm hard at work – producing fresh greens just a few feet away!”
Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars And Startups Rush In
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years
Christine Hall | August 20, 2020.
Twitter: ChristineMHall
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years.
In fact, in each of the last two years, venture capitalists invested $4 billion in startups in the agtech space, according to Crunchbase data. Based on the $2.6 billion already given out as of Aug. 14 of this year, 2020 is poised to repeat or even exceed the previous years.
Better Food Ventures Partner Seana Day began tracking agtech startups more than five years ago. She said that farming is an area that isn’t typically tech-enabled. In fact, COVID-19 reminded the world about the food supply chain, she added.
“There was a disconnect between demand signals and supply, which is why you saw empty grocery shelves,” she said. “At the same time, the dairy farmers were dumping milk because they didn’t have a process in place to massively produce small consumer packaging.”
Day estimates that global food and agriculture fund managers have about $130 billion in assets under management, which is driving a surge in investments as well as a shift in thinking.
Farmers have historically been resistant to change, Day said, but at the end of the day, they are rational business people. That means that if a startup can show a farmer a product or service that will boost the return on investment—increasing revenue or decreasing costs—the company will have a better chance of making the sale.
The challenge comes in for tech companies that offer apps meant to save time and increase job productivity, areas that aren’t necessarily needed for farmers, she added.
There is also a shift in legacy food companies thinking digitally. Day points to Tyson Foods as an example. The meat producer earlier this month promoted Dean Banks to CEO. He joined Tyson as president last December from Alphabet’s high-tech incubator X.
“That is a huge signal from a company making bold moves, saying ‘we want to be a leader in this space,’” Day added.
New investments
This year has been particularly busy for the agtech innovation sector, as startups secured both big and small investments.
One of the largest went to Farmers Business Network, which raised $250 million in Series F funding earlier this month. Day said the San Carlos, California-based company was one of the pioneers in e-commerce models, helping farmers optimize their financial performances by finding demand for supply.
Meanwhile, Berkeley-based Pivot Bio announced a $100 million funding round in April, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek, to scale its microbial nitrogen technology. The company said the technology increases crop yields, and in turn, farmers’ revenues. Biodesign startup Geltor brought in $91.3 million in a Series B round in July, led by CPT Capital, to make proteins, such as collagen and elastin, but without animals. The startup’s products are used in beauty, and food and beverage products.
One of the newest is iFarm, a Finland-based startup providing indoor farming technology for growing fresh greens, berries and vegetables. On Thursday, it announced that Gagarin Capital led its $4 million investment with other investors including Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, IMI.VC and several angel investors.
iFarm, founded in 2017, has more than 50 ongoing projects with clients in Europe and the Middle East for 2020, Max Chizhov, co-founder and CEO, told Crunchbase News. The company will use the funding to develop its iFarm Growtune tech platform; expand into new regions in Eastern and Northern Europe and the Middle East; and will experiment with growing strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radishes and other crops.
“We think this is an interesting time to be in agtech, and we think we are in the right time and right place, especially as there is more attention on food and agtech and a pipeline of investments,” Chizhov said. “We are focusing on how to change the supply chain, and we believe we are one of the solutions to solve this problem.”
Last week, we also reported on a new company, Unfold, which is focused on vertical farming. Bayer’s investment arm, Leaps by Bayer, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek infused $30 million into the new company.
Unfold’s President and CEO John Purcell said he is bullish on the farming sector, seeing a need for genetics in vertical farming. The company has an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio that includes lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
“Technology has to catch up with the promise,” he said. “There has been an overall trend in produce moving toward vertical farming and greenhouse, but the hard part is you have to have the tech to make it feasible.”
The “tech” in question is lighting, mechanics and a system in place. Then it has to be competitive with the other forms of production so potential customers will see its value, Purcell added.
New areas of agtech
Purcell sees three promising areas for the agtech industry:
Major urban areas, where there is a desire for local, fresh food;
Self-sufficiency, or helping places where there is limited arable land; and
Produce supply chains, or getting food from the farm to fulfillment centers.
Ashley Tyrner, founder and CEO of Farmbox Direct, thinks there should be one more area: food as medicine. She is in the process of raising $10 million for her East Coast-based organic and natural produce delivery service.
Tyrner said she saw her business grow more than 2,000 percent during COVID-19. In that time, Farmbox also began working with Medicare to provide box services to patients identified as those who need to eat healthier to manage chronic disease.
“The climate has changed in Silicon Valley, and VCs are welcoming because we are doing food as medicine,” she added. “We were the first to find an insurance company to work with us to help patients change their eating patterns. We are creating a new space here.”
In the area of crop protection is Canada-based MustGrow Biologics, an agricultural biotechnology company taking natural compounds from mustard seeds and turning them into pesticides that fortify the soil.
The pesticide industry is valued at $65 billion, but most are synthetics, Corey Giasson, president and CEO of MustGrow, told Crunchbase News in an interview. The biologics side of the pesticide industry is growing, but is still worth only about one-sixth that amount, he said.
The slower growth is due to biologics in the past not being as effective as synthetic fertilizers, so MustGrow has been doing a lot of studies to show that its product works.
“Farmers want to use products that are healthy and safe, but need something effective to grow a crop that will suppress pests,” he said. “We also have a growing population globally, and we need to feed people, doing it in a safe, environmentally sustainable way.”
New opportunities
Crunchbase data shows that is the most active agtech venture investor, having made 20 venture investments in the agtech space since it was founded 10 years ago. It was most recently involved in India-based Intello Labs’ $5.9 million Series A round. The company uses image matching and machine learning to measure the quality of crops.
A new player is FTW Ventures, led by Brian Frank, who on Thursday announced he is raising his first “problem-focused fund” aimed at early-stage food and agricultural startups.
Frank already raised the $4 million fund, in which he will invest in 15 to 20 deals at about $200,000 to $250,000. He has already made five investments, the most recent in April as a part of Plantible Foods’ $4.6 million seed round. He was also an investor in Plantible’s pre-seed round. The San Marcos, California-based B2B food technology company is developing plant-based protein.
Frank predicts some of the hotter areas will include hardware and automation, software and SaaS, novel products–such as Plantible–and personalized nutrition. He also said that consumers are driving the way food makes its way from the farm to the fork.
“I came into this sector from mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with a deep-seated passion for food,” he said in an interview. “There is a major shift in consumer trends as they look for more resilient and sustainable food. Climate change is both an effect of food and it impacts food. Plants can’t just move to a new climate, so we need to help them.”
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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Temasek, Bayer Form Joint Vertical Farming Venture In California
Temasek Holdings is partnering with German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer AG to create a new vertical farming venture headquartered in California, as part of Singapore’s plans to boost the city-state’s supply of sustainable, locally grown produce
Jovi Ho
August 12, 2020
Temasek Holdings is partnering with German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer AG to create a new vertical farming venture headquartered in California, as part of Singapore’s plans to boost the city-state’s supply of sustainable, locally grown produce.
The joint venture between Temasek and Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer AG, will be a US entity with commercial and research and development operations in both California and Singapore.
The new venture, Unfold, will focus on innovation in vegetable varieties with the goal of lifting the vertical farming space to the next level of quality, efficiency, and sustainability.
Instead of focusing on external infrastructure to support plant growth, Unfold will look within the plant itself.
“By utilizing seed genetics (germplasm) from vegetable crops, Unfold will focus on developing new seed varieties coupled with agronomic advice tailored for the unique indoor environment of vertical farms,” says Bayer.
Unfold has raised US $30 million (S$41.19 million) in its initial funding round and entered into an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio.
Global food challenges are forcing countries to rethink traditional farming practices, says John Vaske, Head of Agribusiness at Temasek.
“We need to ensure secure farm-to-fork supply chains in urban settings while we also work to reduce the overall environmental impact of farming. Reducing food waste and improving the safety, traceability and nutritional value of food are all the more important as populations grow and demand for food expands. Investments in companies such as Unfold allow us and our partners to support innovative, sustainable solutions that will benefit all of us over the long term,” says Vaske.
Back in 2018, Temasek acquired a 3.6% stake in Bayer for 3 billion euros (S$4.85 billion), bringing its total stake to about 4% with 31 million new shares. The share sale to Temasek was part of Bayer's efforts to fund its planned US$62.5 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.
However, according to the latest Bloomberg data, Temasek no longer appears to own a substantial stake in Bayer.
Unfold’s President and CEO Dr. John Purcell will move from his role as Head of Vegetables R&D, Crop Science at Bayer.
“As a company fully focused on the vertical farming industry, Unfold will combine leading seed genetics with the best agtech experts in order to dramatically advance productivity, flavor, and other consumer preferences,” says Purcell.
“We look forward to serving the market through partnerships with vertical farming operators, technology providers, and others across the produce supply chain.”
Prior to joining the food and agriculture industry, Purcell was a post-doctoral researcher at the United States Department of Agriculture from 1987 to 1989. He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts. Purcell is also part owner of a family ranching operation in Montana.
Vertical farms, also known as indoor farms or plant facilities with artificial light (PFAL), help crops grow more quickly while using less space and fewer natural resources.
Investment in the vertical farming market has increased significantly in recent years mainly due to decreasing arable land, increasing market demand for local, sustainable produce, and migration towards mega-cities.
Singapore’s "30 by 30" agriculture goal aims for 30% of our nutritional needs to be produced locally by 2030, though this figure is smaller than 10% currently.
According to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the 77 leafy vegetable farms here accounted for 14% of total consumption in 2019.
Lead Photo: Credit: Bayer stock photo
Farm to Fork: This Millennial Urban Farmer Grows Vegetables On Carpark Rooftops in Singapore
The ongoing battle against the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns imposed in many countries worldwide have put the spotlight on Singapore’s dependence on food imports and its vulnerability to global supply shocks.
Singapore Announced New Measures in April Aimed At Speeding Up Local Food Production Over The Next Six Months To Two Years.
By Vulcan Post
June 25, 2020
The ongoing battle against the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns imposed in many countries worldwide have put the spotlight on Singapore’s dependence on food imports and its vulnerability to global supply shocks.
The government has repeatedly assured its citizens that Singapore has sufficient food supplies, amid bouts of panic buying that gripped the country when Singapore raised the DORSCON level to Orange.
Although the panic buying has now eased, another cause for concern is that Singapore has a population of about 5.7 million people but it only produces about 10% of its food needs.
To tackle this food crisis, Singapore announced new measures in April aimed at speeding up local food production over the next six months to two years.
This includes providing a SGD 30 million grant to support production of eggs, leafy vegetables, and fish in the shortest time possible, and identifying alternative farming spaces, such as industrial areas and vacant sites.
As part of that project, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Housing Development Board (HDB) have launched a tender in May for rooftop farms on public housing car parks.
This means that the rooftops of a handful of multi-story carparks in Singapore will be converted for use to farm vegetables and other food crops from the later part of this year.
Farming hits the roof
The move to find alternative farming space in land-constrained Singapore is part of their strategy to meet the country’s 30 by 30 goal, which is to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
Local agritech startup Citiponics did not take part in the tender this time round, though it piloted SFA’s multi-story carpark rooftop farm project in Ang Mo Kio last year.
According to Danielle Chan, co-founder of Citiponics, its 1,800 square metres farm atop the carpark at Block 700 in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 can grow between three and four tonnes of vegetables a month.
They grow up to 25 different types of vegetables naturally without the use of pesticides.
“We currently specialize in growing our own crossbreed of lettuces—Georgina Lettuces—and have also been growing other varieties such as nai bai, Italian basil, and Thai basil based on customers’ requests,” said Danielle.
Sharing more about the Ang Mo Kio site, she said they have been steadily producing pesticide-free vegetables on a monthly basis, supplying to nearby residents and consumers islandwide.
Rooftop farm in Ang Mo Kio. Photo courtesy of Citiponics via Vulcan Post.
Beyond contributing to local food production, this pilot project has also generated “positivity,” which stems from community involvement when visitors get to know and see their food source.
“It brings us great joy to see the senior citizens enjoying their time as they work on farming activities as well as the support we have received from visitors who come to our community markets to self-harvest their produce,” said Danielle.
She added that they hire senior citizens from AWWA Community Home as well as part-time workers to help with farm maintenance.
“We believe that even if one does not have the technical agriculture know-how, they should be able to contribute to food production as well.”
Citiponics is a Singapore-grown urban farming company that started in 2016, which aims to grow safe produce through its zero-waste farming process.
It is co-founded by Danielle and her family friend Teo Hwa Kok, who has a “rich experience in agriculture.”
When agriculture meets tech
The 26-year-old is a National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate, who has worked in technology startups across Singapore and New York, as well as technology consulting companies such as IBM.
But with her tech background, why did she choose to be a ‘farmer’?
“I grew up in an agricultural environment and as such, the farm was always my playground. Growing up, I never had to worry about buying vegetables from the supermarket or doubting my food source. I had the blessing of getting all my vegetables supplies directly from the farm,” explained Danielle.
“Having personally witnessed the wastage as well as the inefficiencies in the traditional farming industry, I knew I wanted to go back to the farming industry to change the way farming is done traditionally as well as to share the blessing of the farm-to-table experience with others.”
Her tech background didn’t go to waste though. She made it a point to integrate technology into Citiponic’s farming processes.
Citiponics at NTUC FairPrice. Photo courtesy of Ministry of Trade and Industry via Vulcan Post.
They have a proprietary vertical farming technology called Aqua-Organic System (AOS). It falls under a solid-based soilless culture, which is different from the likes of traditional farming and hydroponic farming system.
As every drop of water is kept in a close loop within the growing system, it helps to minimize water consumption, using one-tenth of hydroponics water consumption and one-hundredth of traditional farming water consumption.
Due to its vertical nature, it is also able to be seven times more productive than traditional farming.
As it is specially designed to provide a natural farming environment in order to preserve the nutrients value and natural taste of the vegetables, the technology is also pollutant-free and pesticide-free. It’s also anti-mosquito breeding, which makes it very suitable for farming within community and neighborhood areas.
“The AOS farming technology removes the complex technicalities of farming and we wanted to keep it that way to allow people of all ages and backgrounds to have a great experience when they get to farm with our systems,” said Danielle.
COVID-19 does not pose a huge business challenge
All of Citiponic’s farmed produce are segmented to home deliveries, nearby residents, and selected NTUC FairPrice outlets.
Despite their limited farming space, Danielle said that they see a constant stream of supply and sales.
It’s not so much a business challenge, she added, but the need to adapt to the new normal, hence the introduction of home deliveries and engaged logistics channel.
Although COVID-19 does not greatly impact its business, it serves as a timely reminder on the importance of accelerating our local food production.
This pandemic serves a time for us to reflect on how we can enhance our food resilience strategies.
Singapore steps up to be more food resilient
As Singapore is still largely dependent on food imports, the rooftop farming tender and local food production grants are definitely the right steps forward.
According to SFA, Singapore currently secures food supply from about 170 countries.
For instance, Singapore now imports oranges from Egypt, milk powder from Uruguay, eggs from Poland and shrimps from Saudi Arabia as part of its efforts to broaden food supplies.
Danielle is well-aware that food security, food sustainability and food safety are global issues, so she hopes to bring Citiponics’ farming solution to more countries.
Citiponics’ Georgina lettuce sold at NTUC FairPrice. Photo courtesy of Citiponics via Vulcan Post.
“We are not only focused on food production, but also becoming an agritech solution provider. We have developed agriculture technology and designed farming solutions that are suitable for tropical countries, and hope to extend the applicability of our expertise and farming technology to temperate countries as well,” she added.
Citiponics is also looking at scaling its operations to enhance its contribution to local food resilience and grow more communities through the introduction of hyperlocal Citiponics urban vertical farms in various neighborhoods of Singapore.
“We envision Citiponics as a supportive environment that is able to cultivate the next generation of urban farmers and agritech innovators.”
This article was first published by Vulcan Post.
Announcing “Food Talk With Dani Nierenberg” And 23 Great Food Podcasts
Food Tank is excited to introduce the podcast “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg.”
Contributing Author: Katherine Walla
Food Tank is excited to introduce the podcast “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg.” On the podcast, Nierenberg invites chefs, experts, and activists to outline their ideal food system—and how their projects are making a better food system more attainable. This week we launched two brand new episodes with New Orleans legend, restauranteur Dickie Brennan, and activist Karen Washington, the owner of Rise and Root Farm. We hope you’ll listen, subscribe, rate, review, and let us know who you would like to see interviewed. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” on Apple iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you consume your podcasts.
Food Tank is also highlighting 23 podcasts we admire—podcasts that explore issues relating to food politics, environment, history, access and affordability, and women’s equality. Listen, enjoy, learn, and of course, let us know which podcasts are your favorites.
A Taste of the Past, a Heritage Radio Network podcast, connects food cultures of the past to the present, reaching back as far as ancient Mesopotamia and Rome. Host Linda Pelaccio, a culinary historian, invites authors, scholars, and culinary experts to discuss food history. The podcast not only covers single ingredients, such as noodles, but also trends in recipes, dining, and employment in the food system.
2. Agro Africa
Channel Africa’s podcast Agro Africa discusses agriculture and its role in Africa’s development. The podcast brings together entrepreneurs, farmers, and researchers searching for solutions to industrial agricultural practices or practices threatened by climate change. Agro Africa not only discovers ways Africa’s agriculture must change in the future, but also discovers agricultural changes it has made in the past that contribute to the continent’s preparations for climate change.
3. Bite
Bite is “a podcast for people who think hard about food.” Hosted by Mother Jones Magazine Writers Tom Philpott, Kiera Butler, and Maddie Oatman, the podcast invites farmers, chefs, scientists, and writers to explore food. Together, they uncover the politics, history, and science behind food choices today. Bite also breaks down news from the food world for listeners of all backgrounds.
On Farmer to Farmer, host Chris Blanchard introduces listeners to successful farmers and growers. The podcast, made by farmers for farmers, explores what it takes to make a farm successful. Listeners can hear about a range of issues including employment in the farm sector, soil fertility, farming challenges, and even the secrets to cultivating carrots.
Food Heaven Podcast co-hosts Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez share tips for using diet and health choices to commit to sustainable, healthy living. The podcast invites experts in topics like food, health, and nutrition to share advice on ways listeners can work toward their desired healthy lives. Jones and Lopez’s focus on health goes beyond food, covering topics such as mental health and body kindness.
6. Gastropod
Co-hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley discover more about food on Gastropod. The podcast brings together experts at research labs, farms, and archaeological sites in order to use food as a tool to understand the world and its history. Gastropod also tries to identify the role that food plays in shaping cultures, history, and current trends.
7. Good Food
Good Food presents the latest news about what’s happening in food and restaurant culture throughout America. Host Evan Keliman discusses the latest water and agricultural issues, food politics, and cultural movements relating to the food system. Kleiman’s take on life, culture, and the human species explores trends in southern California, ranging from avocados, tacos, and the best L.A. pie.
8. Gravy
Gravy spotlights Southern foodways, highlighting the way Southern traditions and food innovations intertwine in the region. Host John T. Edge uses the food we eat to explore the American South as it evolves with new dynamics, movements, stereotypes, and voices. Gravy’s episodes also show how the South accommodates new immigrants and their traditions, coming from around the globe.
Part of the United Nations World Food Programme’s Storytellers project, Hacking Hungershares stories about hunger and nutrition in current events. Host M.J. Altman shares the stories of those not only living with hunger, but fighting it: Altman talks to aid workers, journalists, lawmakers, community leaders, and survivors to encourage listeners to find their own place in fighting hunger.
10. Homesteady
Homesteady finds ways for listeners to lead a self-sufficient and sustainable life, growing and raising food on their own. Host Aust—a farmer and father—lives off the land with his family, trying to create a steady life on the farm. The podcast realistically portrays the obligations of homesteading, from foraging and hunting, to farming and harvesting.
Plate of the Union brings together chefs, farmers, and policymakers with passions for advocacy. Sponsored by Food Policy Action, the podcast aims to promote safe, healthy, and affordable food for all. Host Spike Mendelsohn—celebrity chef and Chairman of the D.C. Food Policy Council—joins Food Policy Action’s Executive Director, Monica Mills, to discuss guests’ dreams for a better food system and their initiatives bringing these dreams into reality.
12. Real Food Reads
Founder and Director of Real Food Media, Anna Lappé believes books have the power to expose reasons why the food system is broken and solutions to fix it. On Real Food Reads, Lappé brings listeners together to discuss top books in food. The podcast also brings prominent authors into the discussion, considering questions big and small, for the future of the food system.
13. Sound Bites
Sound Bites brings together researchers, academics, dietitians, and more to talk about strategies to find good food and maintain healthy nutrition. Host Melissa Joy Dobbins tackles topics including healthy diets, weight management, diabetes, agriculture, farming, and more. Sound Bites aims to provide listeners with credible information on the latest food news and events, like recent episodes on pesticides, pop culture’s psychological effects, and school food.
Small Farm Nation seeks to show listeners the benefits and obligations of having a successful sustainable farm. Host Tim Young gives tips on how to attain success by treating the farm as a business, with marketing strategies and branding tools. The podcast addresses topics like business growth, finding customers, community involvement, and social media engagement to help listeners in any stage of the process of building a farm.
On Sustainable World Radio, host Jill Cloutier interviews sustainability experts about possible solutions to environmental challenges. The podcast focuses on the environment and natural world, exploring ecology, soil, herbal medicine, organic growing, regenerative agriculture, and more. Cloutier also explores the link between psychology and ecology, hoping to find solutions to climate change.
The Beginning Farmer Show follows host Ethan Book—farmer, blogger, and founder of Crooked Gap Farm—as he starts his farm from scratch. Book shares both the easy and difficult lessons he learned along the way growing crops and raising livestock, including listeners in his hard decisions such as downsizing his herds.
On The Doctor’s Kitchen, United Kingdom National Health Service Doctor Rupy Aujla seeks to show listeners that food is medicine. Aujla sits down with experts and researchers to discuss how nutrition and lifestyle are dependent on one another. The podcast outlines the smartest diets for specific illnesses and diseases while avoiding fad-diets and trends.
18. The Eater Upsell
The Eater Upsell is Eater’s flagship podcast hosted by Eater Editor-in-Chief Amanda Kludt and Audience Development and Special Projects Producer Daniel Geneen. The podcast covers food news, restaurant culture, and industry trends, with a deep look into the newest food innovations. The Eater Upsell also presents the “10 Best Food Stories” each month.
The Female Farmer podcast is part of the Female Farmer Project, which seeks to document the rise of women in agriculture and their roles in the food system. The podcast serves as a platform for women to share their stories, discussing all aspects of being a female farmer. Co-hosts Audra Mulkern and Kate Doughty dive deep, bringing up discussions not only about feminism, but also motherhood, disability, and veteran support.
20. The Food Chain
The Food Chain, a BBC podcast series, examines the business, science, and cultural significance of food. On the podcast’s special segment, “My Life in Five Dishes,” top chefs and food writers tell stories about their lives remembering five dishes that influenced them. Host Emily Thomas also composes stories of what it really takes to put food on the table.
The Secret Ingredient dives deep into one food system ingredient each episode focusing on anything from tomatoes, to school food, and even to democracy. Co-hosts Raj Patel, Tom Philpott, and Rebecca McInroy explore food history to tell listeners why they’re eating the food they eat, and why the food system appears as it does today.
The Splendid Table explores the intersection of food and life with conversations about culinary arts, culture, and lifestyles. New host Francis Lam, an award-winning food writer, gives a glimpse into the food world, discussing ideas about cooking, sustainability, and food culture. Known as “the radio program for people who love to eat,” The Splendid Table received numerous accolades since its start in 1995, including James Beard Foundation Awards for Best National Radio Show on Food and more.
The Urban Farm Podcast assembles special guests to discuss urban gardening and growing. Host Greg Peterson aims to motivate every listener to grow some of their own food with podcasts covering topics like urban beekeeping, chicken farming, composting, and more. The Urban Farm Podcast also explores tools and resources to help listeners make better choices in their local food systems.
'Taste The Difference': Farm-to-Fork Movement Takes Off In Urban Flanders, Belgium
Flanders, famed for its medieval cities and most urban corners of Europe. Yet this densely populated area is seeing a mini-boom in a new type of agriculture where farmers sell direct to consumersmotorways that can be seen from space, is one of the
'Taste The Difference': Farm-to-Fork Movement Takes Off In Urban Flanders, Belgium
The densely populated area of Belgium is seeing a mini-boom in model of farming where growers sell direct to consumers
Flanders is one of the most urban corners of Europe. Photograph: Arterra Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo
Jennifer Rankin Brussels
19 Apr 2018
Flanders, famed for its medieval cities and motorways that can be seen from space, is one of the most urban corners of Europe. Yet this densely populated area is seeing a mini-boom in a new type of agriculture where farmers sell direct to consumers.
The movement, known as community-supported agriculture, is the antithesis of the sprawling global distribution chains of modern industrial food production. CSA farming means no supermarkets, no fertilizers, and no monoculture.
Advocates say the most important feature is the direct link to consumers, who pay upfront and often pick the produce from the fields.
This model of farming – sometimes referred to as farm-to-fork – originated in the United States and the Netherlands, but has quickly taken off in the Belgian region of Flanders. More people are eating CSA-grown food in Belgium than in the more populous UK, according to a 2016 report by Urgenci, the international CSA network.
Since the first Flemish CSA farmer struck his spade into the soil in 2007, at least 45 similar businesses have sprung up in the region.
Koen Tierens, a plant biologist, is one of the newest on the scene. Tierens swapped his desk job as an agrarian expert for the 5.30am harvests that come with running his own vegetable farm. He has a 1.2-hectare (2.96-acre) plot in the village of Kampenhout just outside Brussels, where the rich, loamy soil is ideal for growing.
Koen Tierens on his farm in Kampenhout, Flanders. Photograph: Jennifer Rankin for the Guardian
Tierens’ father, a retired farmer, was sceptical when he outlined his plans; a small holding, no fertilisers and a few old-fashioned, second-hand tools: “My father told me, ‘Koen what are you doing? You studied at university, you have a PhD! Are you going to be an ancient Belgian farmer doing how they did it in the middle ages?’”
Tierens says there is nothing primitive about his business, and stresses he is not against conventional farming or fertilisers. “The market is evolving in this [CSA] way,” he says, describing the combination of care for the environment and close connection to the customer, allied to marketing and a website that allows consumers to choose their vegetable boxes. Now in his second growing season, Tierens has 72 households paying him to grow their vegetables and hopes to increase this to 90. His father is now convinced, he says.
He grows 200 varieties of vegetable in a year – a much wider range than typical farmers. As well as the more common peas, carrots and potatoes, he grows less familiar varieties – purple cauliflowers, green zebra tomatoes, black radish, salsify and cardoon.
But Tierens does not grow Belgian endive, the most emblematic vegetable in the national cuisine. Although he farms in a region that is famed for the bitter white lettuce, he decided it would be arrogant to grow his fellow farmers’ best-known crop.
Another big difference with conventional farming is the limited use of subsidies, although he received EU funds to start his business and cover the costs of gaining organic certification.
Koen Tierens at a brewery in Kampenhout, the collection point for his vegetables. Photograph: Jennifer Rankin for the Guardian
Other things are constant – the unpredictability of the weather and early starts. Tierens works in his field every day, wearing a head torch on dark winter mornings. During the peak growing season from May to October, he works 12 to 13 hours a day, seven days a week. His customers share the risk of a storm or a bad harvest. “It would be a disaster for them as well, but the chance of that happening is not that big because I grow 200 types of vegetables,” he says.
Unlike most CSA farms in Flanders, Tierens’ customers do not pick their own vegetables. In the UK, a quarter of such farms are pick-your-own, but in Flanders, 85% fall into this category.
Belgium is an enthusiastic latecomer to CSA farming, which traces its roots to the biodynamic movement launched in the US in the 1980s. But there were other inspirations. The first known CSA farm in Europe was Les Jardins de Cocagne, an organic vegetable cooperative near Geneva founded in 1978. Japanese farmers were experimenting with similar models at around the same time.
“It is not only about the food, it is also about the community and being outside,” says Nele Lauwers, a policy adviser at the Flemish farming union Boerenbond. She belongs to a CSA cooperative near Ghent and describes harvesting days as “a weekly outdoor trip” for her children.
Demand for pick-your-own vegetables is growing among medium to high earners, she says. But price may limit its appeal. “It’s quite a different market. You have to pay in advance and it is not possible for everybody, although some CSA groups may offer social prices.”
CSA farming is therefore likely to remain marginal to food production – 0.1% of the population of Flanders are paying customers.
Land is also limited. Pepijn de Snijder, an independent expert, says would-be CSA farmers face competition from nature reserves, traditional farming, horse paddocks or city sprawl. “If we don’t change anything by 2050, 50% of the area of Flanders would be paved concrete,” he says.
The Flemish government has agreed a ban on new urban development from 2040 unless an equivalent area of land is returned to nature.
Another feature of CSA produce is that it takes longer to prepare. Vegetables arrive in customers’ kitchens with earth clinging to roots and leaves, rather than shiny and neat in plastic packaging. “Not everyone likes to bring soil into their kitchen,” says Tierens. “With me you need to invest a little bit more time, but you can taste the difference.”
This article is part of a series on possible solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems. What else should we cover? Email us at theupside@theguardian.com