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VIDEO: USA, WYOMING - Cody’s Vertical Garden Enhances Downtown
“It’s just to get the community involved in growing edibles, besides a dirt base,” Butler said. “And it’s more of an art form, too, just to enhance this plaza that we have it in.”
August 31, 2020
By Wendy Corr
Visitors to Cody this summer might be able to pick their own salad greens straight from the garden – downtown.
This summer, a hydroponic garden was installed in Bell Plaza, a public space in the heart of downtown Cody. Bernie Butler works for the city but is volunteering her time to take care of the vertical garden that has been placed for the benefit of the community.
“It’s just to get the community involved in growing edibles, besides a dirt base,” Butler said. “And it’s more of an art form, too, just to enhance this plaza that we have it in.”
A vertical garden is just what it sounds like — plants placed in upward reaching rows instead of spread out across the ground. The plants are raised in a hydroponic system that uses nutrient-rich water for nourishment rather than dirt.
Butler said Cody is one of several Wyoming cities to embrace the vegetable growing technique.
“They partnered with Travis Hines out of Pinedale, he has Bio-Logic Designs,” she said. “He built this frame for it, brought everything down, we planted the plants, which he supplied, and filled up the tank – we have fish and aqua plants in there. He just got us going.”
The funds for the garden came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, funneled through the Wyoming Business Council. Amy Quick, the Northwest Regional Director for the Business Council, said the project benefits communities in a number of ways.
“Eleven different communities throughout the state are participating, including, of course, Cody, but Sheridan, Rock Springs, Casper are a few other examples,” Quick said. “And it’s just a really great opportunity to get some community involvement, focus on nutrition, education, economic development.”
Butler pointed out that the produce from the garden is available to anyone.
“I do have a couple of older people that come by almost every night, and they take some lettuce and some kale, and the mint is their favorite.”
Butler adds that once colder weather arrives, the garden will move to Eastside Elementary, where students there will take over the process – and the produce.
Vertical Farming Congress Makes Virtue of Virtual
The first Vertical Farming World Congress will now be held online on 22-24 September, with numerous innovations to help develop an emerging community of leading producers, funders, suppliers, and customers. Its theme will be ‘Shaping Food’s Future.’
By urbanagnews
July 30, 2020
The first Vertical Farming World Congress will now be held online on 22-24 September, with numerous innovations to help develop an emerging community of leading producers, funders, suppliers and customers. Its theme will be ‘Shaping Food’s Future.’
“We already had top speakers confirmed from around the world including North America, the Middle East and Asia as well as Europe,” commented Richard Hall, Chairman of the food and drink experts Zenith Global and the event’s organiser.
“Now, instead of one vertical farm tour, we plan to offer a selection. Beyond chance encounters, it will be possible to contact other delegates and set up meetings beforehand. Questions can also be tabled in advance and sessions will be recorded for later review. Regional welcome receptions will enable introductions to other delegates from the same geographic area.
“When you add the advantages of extra people being able to attend because of no travel, time being used more flexibly and costs being substantially lower, we believe we can deliver even greater value,” Richard Hall added. “I hope attendees will be surprised how virtual can be made to feel real.”
Full programme and booking details are available at www.zenithglobal.com/events. Topics include: market opportunity; an industry leadership panel; strategic alternatives between aeroponic, aquaponic and hydroponic systems; technology briefings ranging from lighting and robotics to overall system design; a nutrition briefing; a funding panel; and key innovator case studies.
Amongst the speakers are:
• Leading producers such as 80 Acres Farms, Aero Farms, Growing Underground, Intelligent Growth Solutions, Jones Food Company, LettUs Grow, Root AI, Square Roots, The Circle, Uns Farms, Vertical Future and YesHealth
• Association heads and academics from Germany, Japan and the Netherlands
• Investment experts from Ashfords, Innovate UK and S2G Ventures. For further information, go to www.zenithglobal.com/events or contact events@zenithglobal.com
VIRTUAL SUMMIT: Connecting Technology & Business To Create Healthy, Resilient Food Systems - July 23, 2020
By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem
The Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit is going virtual! This year’s summit will be live online on July 23, 2020, providing an essential opportunity for the industry to meet, network, https://indooragtechnyc.com/, and exchange ideas at this critical time for our industry.
The world’s leading farm operators, food retailers, and investors will present live, before hosting virtual discussion groups on the emerging trends and technologies that will shape your business as we emerge from the current crisis into a redesigned food system:
Key Themes:
· Finding Growth in Crisis: Responding to a Rapidly Changing Food Landscape
· Scaling Up: Co-locating Food Production and Distribution Centers
· Enhancing Nutritional Value: Towards a Perfect Plant Recipe
· Optimizing Seeds for Indoor Agriculture: Breeding a Competitive Advantage
· Analytics and the Cloud: Digital Integration to Optimize Indoor Agriculture
· Robotics: Developing a Contactless Food System
· Energy Consumption: Driving Efficiency and Economic Viability
· Financing Growth: Can Capital Keep Pace with Industry Demand?
· Consumer Awareness: How to Build a “Holistic” Indoor Brand
All participants can schedule video 1-1 meetings with potential partners and clients throughout the summit, and for an extended period before and after the sessions.
By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.
Summit website: https://indooragtechnyc.com/
Registration:
- One summit pass Indoor AgTech: $195.00
- Start-Up pass: $95.00 / Please contact jamie.alexander@rethinkevents.com to enquire about the criteria to qualify for special rates.
Jersey City May Have The U.S.'s First Municipal Vertical Farm. Experts Share How it Can Thrive
The city has signed a three-year contract with the Newark-based vertical farming company AeroFarms and plans to begin growing leafy greens in 10 locations including senior centers, schools, public housing complexes and municipal buildings later this year
Rebecca King | NorthJersey.com
June 26, 2020
Jersey City is on track to implement the country’s first municipal vertical farming program.
The city has signed a three-year contract with the Newark-based vertical farming company AeroFarms and plans to begin growing leafy greens in 10 locations including senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings later this year.
“A lot of people don’t go for regular physicals,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. “They’re not checking their sugar levels, blood pressure or cholesterol. Having people be more diligent about their diet will hopefully increase their lifespan, long-term.”
Once the microgreens start sprouting, members of the community will be able to sign up to receive free produce. They’ll be encouraged to attend seminars about healthy eating and get regular health tests done through Quest Diagnostics, which has also partnered with the city.
Because crops are stacked at this AeroFarms facility, the company says it can produce 390 times the crops from a traditional farm.~Courtesy of AeroFarms
“It’s important to be doing this prior to people getting diseases or sicknesses,” said Fulop. “A lot of what we’re doing is based on education. Many people aren’t aware of the bad foods they’re putting in their bodies on a regular basis.”
Vertical farming is one method of hydroponic controlled environment agriculture. Instead of being grown outside in soil, plants in vertical farms are stacked on shelves inside, misted with nutrients and lit with LED lights in lieu of sunlight.
Garrett Broad, an assistant professor at Fordham University whose research focuses on new food technology, food justice, and community-based organizing, says vertical farming has many sustainability boons.
Because the environment is completely controlled, the weather cannot destroy or affect crops. Vertical farming saves water. It reduces runoff. There’s no need for pesticides. And any kind of crop can be grown year-round. Fulop predicts Jersey City’s program will produce 19,000 pounds of food annually.
“The idea is that by doing vertical stacking, you can get a lot of productivity out of a very small area,” Broad said.
Farmers tend plants at AeroFarms with the help of platforms that can rise and fall.~Courtesy of AeroFarms
But, there are downsides. Vertical farming is extremely energy-intensive. Even energy-saving LED lights require a huge amount of power to shine on the crops. According to Fulop, Jersey City has no way to offset the impact of this energy use yet. Many of the farms are housed in decades-old buildings that have not been updated to include solar panels or other energy-saving technologies.
“It’s something we need to consider in the future,” said Fulop.
The other issue with vertical farming is that leafy greens are essentially the only plants worth growing, said Broad. Larger, heavier fruits and vegetables have too much biomass and require too much artificial light and nutrients to grow in a cost-effective way.
Indeed, Fulop confirmed that greens are the “easiest base material” to grow and will be the focus of Jersey City’s vertical farms.
That said, vertical farms do have the ability to create change in a community when done right, said Broad.
“Vertical gardens are similar to other urban farming projects we see,” he said. “They exist on a sort of spectrum. Some are total failures, some are a fun project and some are actually part of a social change.”
Projects that don’t receive enough funding or attention rank as “total failures.” Small community gardens rank in the “fun project” category -- “They provide small scale change. People get to know their food a bit more, they learn some horticultural skills, but it doesn’t drastically change the community,” said Broad.
According to Broad, Jersey City will have to do extensive community outreach to make vertical farming a long-term success – which means reaching out to faith leaders, schools and groups that are trusted by the community and getting them involved with the distribution of produce.
It means talking to residents about what vegetables they actually eat; planning cooking classes at times when people aren’t working; making dishes at those classes that the attendees will actually cook in their own homes.
As technology continues to improve, the company expects vertical farming to become even more cost-effective. | Courtesy of AeroFarms
“Did we ask to see if the people who are actually the target of this project have working kitchens? Are we making sure they have pots and pans? Are we growing food that’s culturally relevant to them? If we don’t ask these questions, a lot of times vertical farming projects stay in the ‘nice and fun’ category,” Broad said.
Jersey City has launched a few food initiatives in past years. The city gave grants to bodegas and corner stores to redesign display cases, putting fruits and vegetables next to their counters instead of snacks and candy to encourage healthy eating. Another program involved walking senior citizens around a supermarket and teaching them to read the labels on the back of packaged foods. At the end of the tour, they were given money and encouraged to purchase healthy meals.
Areas in which there is an extreme lack of nutritious, affordable food have been called “food deserts.” But, those who study farming technology have been moving away from that term, which brings up images of scarcity and used-up land. Instead, “food swamp” is now used to describe cities and towns that have food available, but few healthy options. Others use the term “food apartheid” to draw attention to food inequality. Poorer neighborhoods are usually the places that lack fresh, affordable food.
Jersey City is one such place, said Broad. If given the right attention, he added, a vertical farming initiative could be a step toward addressing poverty and food inequality.
“This is the kind of thing that can be fun and flashy and get media attention,” he said. “But, it’s up to us to apply pressure to the government and say, ‘OK, show us how this is part of something bigger.’”
Rebecca King is a food writer for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up for our North Jersey Eats newsletter.
Email: kingr@northjersey.com Twitter: @rebeccakingnj Instagram: @northjerseyeats
June 26, 2020
Indoor Agtech Virtual Innovation Summit July 23, 2020
By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem
We Are Proud To Be A Marketing Partner
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Major names join speaker line-up for virtual summit
We are thrilled to announce the first speakers confirmed for the 2020 virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on July 23.
They'll share critical intelligence on how the indoor farming industry is shaping the agri-food landscape, and redesigning food systems to meet consumer demand for fresh produce.
VIEW SPEAKER LINE-UP
Hear from and connect with international thought leaders including:
WHAT ARE OUR EXPERTS SAYING?
"Instead of shutting down, we implemented South Korean-style measures for our warehouse, farm, and office. Then, we launched a new nationally distributed product that allows folks to grow mushrooms at home rather than travel to the grocery store."
Andrew Carter, CEO, SMALLHOLD
"COVID-19 has raised awareness about the prospects for automation such as machines working in packing houses and indoor environments. I think it’s fair to say that humans can be relieved of those tasks."
Elyse Lipman, Director of Strategy, LIPMAN FAMILY FARMS
"Given current pressures on the U.S. food system, one thing is clear: the importance of strengthening our country’s food supply chain through decentralized, regional supply chains."
Viraj Puri, CEO and Co-Founder, GOTHAM GREENS
READ MORE INSIGHTS FROM OUR SPEAKERS>>
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PAKISTAN: Responding Creatively To Crisis With Non-Traditional Farming
Vertical gardens and microgardens have enjoyed new popularity in recent years, which the COVID-19 pandemic may catalyze further
27/05/2020
Rehman produces okra, gourds, melons, and tomatoes in the two tunnel garden units he built in the back yard of his home in Aka Khel, a town in one of Pakistan’s most food-insecure regions. Each less than a meter wide, these creative and economical structures are a type of low-technology greenhouse, consisting of steel tubes clad with a plastic covering and lined with irrigation hoses.
FAO helped him install these earlier this year and now “it’s a relief at a time when markets and transports are closed due to the pandemic,” he says. He is one of the millions of people around the world responding creatively to mitigate the pandemic’s disruptions to the food supply chain, which risk making food less available where it is needed most due both to logistical bottlenecks and declining incomes triggered by the health emergency. In this scenario, solutions that shorten the food supply chain, including vertical and urban farming have taken on new importance.
Despite the fact that prices for wheat and rice, staple foods for Pakistani families, rose sharply in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province due to COVID-19 restrictions on movement, Rehman was still able to feed his family. With the produce from his garden, they also have a more diversified diet. FAO, working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), also helped 75 of Rehman’s neighbors build tunnel farms, which help lengthen cropping seasons, intensify yields and boost local availability of fresh nutritious produce. Rehman says his tomato plants are producing five to ten times as much as they would in an open field.
Farming vertically
Vertical gardens and microgardens have enjoyed new popularity in recent years, which the COVID-19 pandemic may catalyze further. The former are often high-tech urban facilities allowing vegetables to grow indoors or outdoors using hydroponics while the latter are tiny farming plots that fit in urban settings. Both can offer high-yield opportunities to grow leafy green vegetables and other high-value food crops. Restaurants are even engaging in a type of microgarden, also called “precision indoor farming”, thanks to a company in Budapest, Tungsram, that was the first to patent the modern light bulb. Today it produces a closet-sized cabinet with computer-controlled lighting and temperatures and an integrated hydroponics system that allows businesses to create their own indoor gardens with minimal labor. Vertical farms, on the other hand, are often large urban operations, housed in old warehouses or basements. Some practitioners can even duplicate conditions needed to grow the world-famous basil from Italy or the prized Omakase strawberry from Japan.
But vertical farming isn’t just a trend in developed countries. In Kibera, a densely populated part of Nairobi, households use sack gardens made from local sisal fibers to grow onions and spinach without blocking alleyways. In Kampala, locals stack wooden crates around a central composting chamber and use old plastic water bottles for a precision-drop irrigation system to grow kale.
In Dakar, FAO helped galvanize microgardens as a food and nutrition strategy for poor households vulnerable to malnutrition. Today the city, with the participation of thousands of middle-class families, runs that program, which relies on one square meter structures made of coconut fibers to facilitate soil-less cultivation. “It’s ideal for short-cycle, high-value horticultural crops, including mushrooms and spices,” says Rémi Nono Womdim, Deputy Director of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division.
There are a host of extra benefits compared to open-field farming, including the possibility to reduce water use, limit pesticide applications and produce year-round, garnering additional income and insurance against temporary interruptions of normal access to food, he says. In Cairo, elaborate rooftop gardens can reduce ambient temperatures by as much as seven degrees Celsius.
Urban farming & greener cities
A longtime advocate of engineering greener cities and a lead author of FAO’s landmark report on efforts to do so in lower-income cities, Nono Womdim estimates that more than 360 million urban residents in Africa and Latin America alone already engage in some form of urban or peri-urban horticulture. The trick is to recognize their efforts with policy frameworks that ensure they have access to necessary inputs – including some form of land tenure as well as access to water and energy. Urban gardens and shorter food supply chains also underscore how food security depends on access to nutritious food, Nono Womdim says. “Additional benefits include reducing food waste and minimizing packaging,” he adds.
Producing locally may not always be the answer, but as the COVID-19 emergency has highlighted, in times of crisis, every little bit helps in reducing food insecurity. By the same logic, rudimentary vertical farming makes a lot of sense in extreme and remote conditions. The case is even stronger for ensuring that food systems can innovatively respond to natural disasters, conflict, or the chronic stresses expected to intensify with climate change.
That is why FAO is urging policymakers to facilitate shorter supply chains as a complement that can add sustainability, inclusion, and nutritional value to the world’s remarkably efficient production systems for staple carbohydrates. In the Khyber highlands, Rehman agrees. He’s already installed an additional tunnel unit at his own expense and enjoys his transformation from someone who always had to look for extra income to support his family to someone keen to keep his children in school and who people in the region seek out for advice. “I am very motivated now,” he says.
Tags: COVID-19, FOOD CRISIS, FOOD INSECURITY, FOOD SECURITY, VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, FOOD CHAIN, AGRICULTURE, FARMERS, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE,
Growing Quality Food and Meeting Nutritional Requirements
Can climate-controlled freight containers help in farming or can plants grow without any soil?
By Murali | May 23, 2020 | City Today
Can climate-controlled freight containers help in farming or can plants grow without any soil? The answers to these questions can be found in Urban farming. It involves indoor cultivation under controlled conditions with up to eight (8) harvests in a year. It offers an ideal solution for regional or community-specific food needs, for local crops that would not be economically viable for full-scale cultivation. It can also help cities become sufficient in their produce demand while getting fresh food year-round. Vertical urban farming whether with soil or hydroponics-based increases the space utilization by 3-4 fold with lower water and nutrient usage.
Therefore, it allows the farmer to have a 3-4 fold higher area with a 20 percent faster growth rate, leading to 3-4 fold higher harvests. Multiple harvests in a year would lead to higher profits compared to traditional farming. Indoor farms may use drip-irrigated pots, hydroponics, aeroponics, or hydrogel-based polymers for growing vegetables depending on the growth requirements of the plant.
To View the Full Article, please Click Here
VIDEO: The Future of Farming & Investing in Land - w/ Cubic Farms CEO Dave Dinesen
CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth
May 28, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed fragility in supply chains, such as labour shortages, disruptions in the packing and transportation sectors, and increasing uncertainty in the domestic and international markets. CubicFarms’ automated growing systems have emerged as a key solution to overcoming these challenges by allowing growers to localize food production and provide their markets with fresh produce and nutritious livestock feed reliably and consistently. What does this do to opportunities for land investment?
Speaker Bio:
Dave is the CEO of CubicFarms, one of the world’s leading Ag Tech companies that develops “Technology to Feed a Changing World”. CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth. Dave leads growth at CubicFarms and since inception, has raised over $23MM in capital.
Dave is the former CEO and founder of BackCheck, which became one of the world’s top ten largest background screening companies, where he advanced the company from a start-up to an industry-leading company operating on three continents with over 500 employees.
Recorded: Thursday, May 28, 2020,
**The information provided in this webinar and accompanying material is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered financial or professional advice.
You should consult with a professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. http://addyinvest.com/
Health Check Kids: Leafy Green Machine Planted At West Warwick High School
With permission and funding from the school district, a 40-foot climate-controlled container was planted just outside the cafeteria doors more than a year ago. And that's when the science department got on board
by BARBARA MORSE, NBC 10 NEWS
Thursday, October 31, 2019
A Leafy Green Machine planted at West Warwick High School. (WJAR)
To View The Video, Please Click Here
Sodexo — the school district’s food service company — seeing it in action at a University in Massachusetts.
"And we figured, gee, what a great idea. Local food, right on site. Why don't we just bring it in," said Donna Walker, general manager of Sodexo food services for the West Warwick School District.
With permission and funding from the school district, a 40-foot climate-controlled container was planted just outside the cafeteria doors more than a year ago. And that's when the science department got on board.
"We learned how to run the machine, how to seed and transplant and harvest the lettuce," said Gina Poulos, a science teacher at the high school.
Then they got students involved -- forming the leafy green club.
"I'm super interested in plants and all type of agriculture and it's a nice, relaxing thing to do after school or even in the middle of school when we have advisory and I can kind of just plant stuff and get to learn and talk to other people," said Joshua Dick, a junior at the high school.
"I love salads and I always thought plants were so cool. I always love going to botanical gardens and just thought it was so cool and was like why not," said Gabrielle Dascoli, a senior.
The plants, most leafy green lettuce, are grown -- chock full of nutrients -- vertically, which is a space saver. Special lights are programmed remotely. And the process uses minimal water and electricity.
Harvested and turned into salads within hours.
"I think it tastes amazing. you can taste the nutrients. You can tell it's really thought out. It's great," said Gascoli.
"We're trying different things,” said Walker. "We've done tomatoes, we've done some herbs, we've done kale for soups and stuff."
The leafy green machine can produce up to two acres' worth of greens. The modified shipping containers are re-purposed into green machines by Freight Farms in Boston.
CEA Food Safety Coalition Creates Board of Directors, Elects Officers And Seeks Members
The CEA Food Safety Coalition, comprised of leading controlled environment leafy greens producers, recently completed the formation of its governance structure and is taking steps to accept new members
By urbanagnews - August 13, 2019
Press Release – New York, NY – The CEA Food Safety Coalition, comprised of leading controlled environment leafy greens producers, recently completed the formation of its governance structure and is taking steps to accept new members. Controlled environment agriculture (“CEA”) is agricultural food production in environments that are indoors (such as in greenhouses and vertical farms) and controlled, providing crops with ideal growing conditions and protection from outdoor elements (such as weather and animals). The Coalition’s objective is to establish food safety standards, educate, and protect consumer health.
The Coalition, a tax exempt 501(c)(6), recently filed its articles of incorporation, adopted bylaws and elected the following individuals as the initial members of its board of directors: Michele Kubista (Revol Greens), Paul Lightfoot (BrightFarms), Christopher Livingston (Bowery Farming), Daniel Malech (Plenty), Marc Oshima (Aerofarms), Jack Seaver (Plenty), and Paul Sellew (Little Leaf Farms).
In addition, the Coalition elected the following officers:
Board Chairman – Paul Lightfoot (BrightFarms)
Acting Executive Director – Jack Seaver (Plenty)
Board Vice Chairman – Marc Oshima (AeroFarms)
Board Secretary – Christopher Livingston (Bowery Farming)
Board Treasurer – Paul Sellew (Little Leaf Farms)
Until the position is filled permanently, Jack Seaver of Plenty will serve as Acting Executive Director.
“The growing methods in our industry are different as compared to field-grown produce,” said the Coalition’s Chairman Paul Lightfoot. “This coalition provides an opportunity for all brands in the space to collaborate to further protect consumers by establishing standards and sharing insights.” “This is a critically important step in maintaining consumer confidence and supporting the growth of our industry,” he added.
“We frequently get questions from growers and buyers as to what food safety means in a CEA environment” said Dr. Jennifer McEntire, vice president for food safety at United Fresh Produce Association. “We look forward to helping the coalition develop appropriate food safety standards for this growing segment”
The Coalition is developing an enrollment process for admitting new members. All leafy greens growers employing controlled environment methods (including hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics), and who are willing to submit to third party food safety auditing, are encouraged to join the Coalition.
Interested parties can contact membership@ceafoodsafety.org. In addition, the Coalition seeks great candidates for a permanent Executive Director, and welcomes applications at info@ceafoodsafety.org.
Here's Why Ultra-Processed Foods Are So Bad For Your Health
Ultra-processed foods have higher amounts of ingredients that are known to be bad for your health. Increasing the amount of ultra-processed foods that you eat also shortens your life, according to a new study
These packaged foods can increase overall risk of death.
By Nicole Wetsman February 15, 2019
Ultra-processed foods have higher amounts of ingredients that are known to be bad for your health.
Increasing the amount of ultra-processed foods that you eat also shortens your life, according to a new study. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, tracked nearly 45,000 French men and women over eight years. It found that for every 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods the participates ate, risk of death went up 1 percent.
Ultra-processed foods fall at the far end of the NOVA food classification system, which breaks what you eat down into four categories: unprocessed foods (edible parts of plants and animals); processed ingredients (like oils, flour, or sugar); processed foods (which involve cooking unprocessed foods with processed ingredients to make breads or canned vegetables); and ultra-processed foods (which don’t have any intact, unprocessed parts).
These ultra-processed foods are mostly made from substances derived from other foods, preservatives, and additives—designed to create convenient and long-lasting products. Both processed and ultra-processed foods can add excess sugars, oils, and fats to a diet, notes Claire Berryman, an assistant professor in the department of nutrition, food, and exercise sciences at Florida State University. Ultra-processed foods, though, take the amount to the next level—and also contain additives and other highly manufactured ingredients.
The JAMA Internal Medicine can’t say that these foods caused an earlier death, just that they’re associated with an early death. It’s not possible, therefore, to say what exactly in these foods contributes to the problems. However, the high amounts of bad-for-you ingredients are likely to play a role, Berryman says. “Anytime you’re getting an excess of sugar, fat, or salt, there can be problems.” Here’s what’s hiding in the packaging:
Lots of sugar
Ultra-processed foods have, on average, eight times more added sugars than processed foods. So, as people eat more ultra-processed foods, naturally their added sugar intake goes up along with it—which can have negative effects on health. Reports by the World Health Organization, the American Heart Association, and other groups show that eating more added sugars increases the risk for diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and stroke. Consuming added sugar also increases the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Lots of salt
These foods also have higher amounts of sodium—in the JAMA internal medicine study, people who ate more processed foods also consumed more sodium. “We know that when you over consume salt you can contribute to increases in blood pressure [and] hypertension,” Berryman says. In addition, high salt intake is associated with a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Fats and saturated fats
The more ultra-processed foods someone eats, the more likely they are to eat a diet that’s higher in saturated fats. “They’re often added to foods for flavor,” says Cristina Swartz, a clinical oncology dietitian at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. “Saturated fat is well-known risk factor for increasing LDL cholesterol, which can put you at risk for cardiovascular disease. It’s something that should be limited.”
Crowding out nutrients
Eating a diet high in ultra-processed foods is also associated with eating a diet lower in fiber, which decreases risk of death. The new study found that for every 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed food someone ate, the amount of fiber they consumed dropped off significantly. “Excessive intake of these foods can displace the intake of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber from whole foods,” Swartz says.
Additives and preservatives
Trans fats, which used to be common in ultra-processed foods, were banned by the Food and Drug Administration because of their clear link to high cholesterol and heart disease. But trans fats are just one of the additives manufacturers add to foods. Some research has raised questions about the health effects of others, like high fructose corn syrup, says Berryman, but there isn’t conclusive evidence available to say for sure what they are.
“Sometimes these additives are derived from natural products, but we don’t know the chemical and physical affects the food has on our bodies,” she says. “There’s lots of research in our future, and some of additives might have a similar fate to trans fats.”
However, just because ultra-processed foods can increase overall risk of death doesn’t mean eating them is going to immediately kill someone—it’s still fine to have some ice cream. Living a healthy life means making sure most of your diet comes from minimally processed foods, Berryman says, but eating something high in sugar isn’t going to send you straight to the grave. “Everything in moderation,” Berryman says. “You don’t want to deprive yourself.”
Photo by: Deposit Photos
Despite Small Wins, the New Farm Bill is a Failure of Imagination
Maintaining the status quo in the farm bill might feel like a victory to some, but long-time farm bill expert Dan Imhoff says it still won’t support the kinds of agriculture we need most as the climate warms.
BY DAN IMHOFF
Posted on: December 13, 2018
The $867 billion 2018 Farm Bill the House and Senate passed this week is a hot mess. The Washington Post editorial board described it as “a bad outcome—that could have been worse.” And they’re right. Unfortunately, we’re all going to be affected by it.
Congress passes a farm bill around every five years. It’s an encyclopedic set of rules that doles out nearly a trillion dollars every 10 years for farm subsidies and crop insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and on-farm conservation programs.
To be fair, the farm bill is a mirror of our political process. As such, it is a lopsided mix of some good policy and a lot of bad. I’ll get into the good (and mixed) news in more detail below, but for now let’s just say that progressives can be happy that programs to combat hunger, expand local and organic food production, train beginning farmers, and protect the land were all successfully championed this time around.
Still, the revised farm bill will ensure that citizens continue to pay for their food at least three times: 1) at the checkout stand; 2) in environmental cleanup and medical costs related to the consequences of industrial agriculture; and 3) as taxpayers who fund subsidies to a small group of commodity farmers deemed too big to fail.
Granted, many of those farmers are caught in a vicious cycle. Most live in areas where the only market and infrastructure support commodity crops, and yet those crops don’t support a resilient farm system. One-half of agricultural counties in the United States were designated as disaster areas from 2012 to 2016. Current subsidies are supposed to provide a safety net to even out the financial ups and downs of crop production and help farmers stay afloat in a competitive global economy.
Instead, over the last half century they’ve created an expensive and polluting engine of overproduction, which drives down prices, saturates markets, and shifts the burden of recouping costs to taxpayers who subsidize farmers’ insurance policies and other relief.
The 2018 Farm Bill will strengthen crop insurance subsidies that guarantee farm income even across swaths of the U.S. where soybean, corn and wheat growers will benefit from more generous terms on government loans. Small dairy farmers, who are regularly swamped by a flood of cheap milk from mega-dairies, will also gain protection.
Perhaps the biggest boon for commodity producers is the opening of eligibility loopholes. By blurring the definitions of what constitutes a “family farm,” the new bill will allow these farms to balloon in size and exponentially dip into the public trough. Current household limits for the two largest subsidy programs are set at $125,000 per year per operator and $250,000 for a married couple. (Household operations with an adjusted gross income under $900,000, and $1,800,000 for couples, are eligible.)
The revised law will now permit children and their spouses to also be seen as “actively engaged” in farming and therefore eligible for subsidies. It doesn’t end there. Nephews, nieces, cousins, and other extended family members can be daisy-chained to receive benefits as long as they can demonstrate participation in farm management even if they don’t set foot on the farm. This was justified in the name of supporting a new generation of family farmers. It seems more designed to help the big operations get bigger.
Swaddling struggling commodity farmers in a lavish safety net might be acceptable if we were also building a nationwide foundation of stewardship and vibrant local food production. But most of the nation’s ever-increasing harvests of corn (farmers grew a near-record 14.6 bushels in 2018) and soybeans (farmers grew a record 4.5 billion bushels in 2018) aren’t even eaten directly by humans. They’re fed to cattle, hogs, and poultry or transformed into processed food ingredients and biofuels.
More than 20 percent of our agricultural output is exported. The real winners are the grain traders, meat packers, ethanol distributors, agrochemical corporations, equipment manufacturers, financiers, and insurers whose lobbyists write the farm bills and who benefit from low commodity prices and capital-intensive farming methods. There is a waste crisis as well: 40 percent of the food produced never reaches an eater’s plate; much of it ends up in landfills.
It is important to note that these increases in farm supports are the product of a compromise reached through negotiation. The bills passed separately by the House and Senate earlier this year were so different that they went into a process known as conferencing, wherein majority and minority leaders in both Agriculture Committees attempt to make a deal.
The House Bill included much-discussed work and job training requirements for some SNAP recipients. In the name of promoting “independence” this would have placed additional hoops in the path of over a million underemployed Americans seeking hunger relief—for questionable budget savings. This issue may not be settled, however. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Purdue has drafted a rule intended to crack down on recipients who currently have work requirement waivers. The House Bill also included riders that would have exempted pesticides from clean water violations and eased restrictions on logging in federal lands under the guise of reducing fuel loads. Democrats declared victory after these crucial elements were dropped in the conference process.
In the end, one wonders whether these were ever serious expectations or just part of a shrewd Republican strategy. More importantly, why did the Democrats not wait until January to conference the bill when the newly elected House may have offered an opportunity for much needed reforms?
There are a few gains to so-called “small but mighty” programs. Efforts to expand composting operations and reduce food waste in 10 states, along with the establishment of a food loss and waste reduction liaison were funded at $25 million per year through 2023. Industrial hemp will now be recognized by the USDA as a legitimate commodity crop, and may offer an additional cash crop to rotate in with commodity crops. (That may also provide some temporary relief in the form of hemp-derived, non-psychoactive cannabidiol, or CBD, for citizens frustrated by the lack of forward thinking in the bill otherwise.)
Permanent mandatory funding was also granted for local food initiatives, beginner farmer support, and organic research. Given the value that these programs generate and proven track records, however, their funding should have not only been guaranteed but increased ten-fold.
Conservation spending—which goes to help farmers use practices that reduce air and water pollution, improve the soil, and sequester carbon—was renewed at 2018 levels. There will be an increase of 3 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays landowners not to farm on land and to protect on-farm habitat. CRP payments will be reduced to 80 percent of a county’s average rental acreage, however, making it a less attractive option than rolling the dice with crop insurance.
The innovative Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) survived the House bill’s attempt to absorb it into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program but saw its budget nearly cut in half. The CSP, as it is known, rewards farmers for a range of stewardship activities rather than per acre output of corn, soybeans, etc. CSP pays farmers to reduce their use of chemicals, grow cover crops, optimize their use of energy, protect wildlife habitat, and diversify their operations. This is exactly the type of farming we need more than ever, as the climate warms and becomes less predictable and nitrogen levels in our waterways and oceans have reached crisis level.
Federal money spent on conservation programs are arguably the most justifiable investments the government makes in our rural landscapes. In the absence of policies that encourage supply management, crop subsidies and crop insurance payments encourage the overproduction of commodities by taking the risks out of planting. The consequences of low prices and intensive farming practices then become the responsibility of the taxpayers.
When global markets are flooded with cheap commodities, it’s often the small holder farmers in nations without subsidies who are most affected. Conservation programs should be designed to support landowners for efforts the market does not: building resilience with perennial habitats that can harbor fish and wildlife, filtering runoff, limiting storm damage, and removing carbon from the atmosphere by storing it deep within the soil.
Some policymakers have declared the preservation of conservation budgets at the current spending levels as a key victory. But in the larger scheme of things, citizens were still done a great disservice. Conservation programs were slashed by $6 billion during the 2014 Farm Bill and should have been restored to those former spending levels at a minimum.
That funding could be directed to drastically increase our use of cover crops such as rye and legumes, which provide non-chemical nutrients and build organic matter and protect bare soil on farms and rangelands. On-farm energy use could be aggressively reduced. Research into soil building, no-till and organic farming, and rangeland management must be significantly scaled up. Animals could be removed from massive feeding operations and re-integrated in lesser numbers in managed pasture rotations. This effort will require a whole new generation of training and infrastructure, including hundreds of regional processing facilities.
Farmers could massively expand habitat in and around farmlands by taking marginal lands and former field borders and drained wetlands out of production and planting deep rooted perennials to create a bank of underground carbon. There are historical examples of such bold action in response to crisis. In 1935, for example, the government launched the Plains Shelterbelt Project, with the goal of planting a 100-mile wide swath of trees from North Dakota to Texas to provide a line of defense against wind erosion and the Dust Bowl.
The farm bill is our chance to invest in agriculture that is ecologically and economically sustainable. When it comes to food and agriculture policy, we reap what we sow.
Registration For The 9th International Forum on Food and Nutrition, Which Will Take Place On 27 And 28 November, At Hangar Bicocca In Milan Is Now Open.
Registration for the 9th International Forum on Food and Nutrition , which will take place on 27 and 28 November, at Hangar Bicocca in Milan is now open.
Following the first international forum in Brussels and in New York, the International Forum on Food and Nutrition returns to Italy for a two-day event, to provide substantial food for thought on the delicate issues linked to food sustainability.
ENABLING FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION TOWARDS SDGs
World population keeps growing; obesity is rising to the highest level, while food insecurity is forcing people to migrate. Food is wasted instead of feeding the hungry.
We have to tackle such challenges now. It is the only way to ensure a future for humankind, for our Planet, for each of us.
Together we will pave the way for answering concretely the most critical questions for the future of food sustainability.
Food and nutrition are defining features of the 21st century and can contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
For this to happen, we need a better understanding of how food systems and nutrition patterns will impact and/or contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the roles of international organizations, governments, research and academia, civil society and private sector in this process.
The 9th edition of the BCFN International Forum on and Nutrition will be held on November 27-28, 2018. It will provide a unique opportunity to advance food, nutrition and sustainability in this Agenda, and better explore the relationship between food systems, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, development and migration.
Fostering Global Collaborations For Better Agriculture Food And Nutrition Supplies
Dr. Srinubabu Gedela, the CEO of Omics International, firmly believes that food and nutrition conferences are essential for a healthy future, and the form the bedrock of sustainable development
Conference Series Food and Nutrition Conferences 2019
Conference Series
Creating a world where science and innovation are universally viewed essential for a safe, nutritious, and sustainable food supply for everyone
SINGAPORE, AND LONDON (PRWEB) OCTOBER 30, 2018
Agriculture, food and nutrition form an indispensable part of any country’s economy. Therefore, focusing on the latest trends in the field is crucial for global strategic development. The Food, Nutrition and Agricultural conferences of the ConferenceSeries serve as a platform to bring together all the researchers working in the field, in order to develop novel ideas aimed at creating a future having sustainable agriculture and ushering in a new food world.
Dr. Srinubabu Gedela, the CEO of Omics International, firmly believes that food and nutrition conferences are essential for a healthy future, and the form the bedrock of sustainable development.
The 2019, Food and Nutrition Conferences are primarily focused on important topics such as, Food quality, Food regulatory affairs, Food processing, Food security, Nutrition & Dietetics, Plant biotechnology, Agronomy, Agriculture and Crop science, Food safety, Plant genomics research, Plant proteomics and Plant science.
The Global Food Industry Market is growing at unimaginable speed, with the US & Europe being the prominent investors. The demand for food is expected to increase by 59% to 98% by the year 2050. The Nutraceutical market is piloting by USD 336.1 billion by 2023 from USD 230.9 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 7.8%, from 2018 to 2023. When it comes to food logistics, North America rules the food market, and Western Europe dominates with 27%. In Asia, Japan occupies 11% of the Asia pacific (6%) and other countries (3% from the Central & South America, 3% from the Eastern Europe and 1% from Africa/Mideast) comprise 7% of the global food market.
Our Food Conferences comprehend topics such as, Food technology which is getting transformed with newer innovations such as: Vertical Farms, 3D Printed food, Hydroculture, Genoponics, DNA Diets, Robotic Hamburger Machines, Technofoodology, and Artificial Intelligence. The rise of food delivery apps and home-based assistants such as: Alexa, Google Home, and Sonos, etc., has ushered in a new era in food. Food and Nutrition summits provide a means to keep abreast with these latest breakthroughs.
Each of our Food and Nutrition Conference pages draw the attention of around of 22000+ unique visitors which embraces research icons, business experts, and renowned thinkers who endeavour to stitch a transforming experience with ample research ideas. Over 80% of our online visitors and participants are from developed countries like USA, Canada, UK, China, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Australia & UAE etc. Backed up by 5000+ employees and 50,000+ editorial board members of its accompanying journals, Conference Series aspires to circulate the latest explorative trends associated with food and nutrition through its annual Global Scientific Events which take place across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
West Warwick, Rhode Island - High School, Sodexo Unveil New Hydroponic Farm
Kendra Port/klolio@ricentral.com
October 15, 2018
Photos by Kendra Port
WEST WARWICK –– West Warwick High School this week officially unveiled its new state of the art hydroponic farm and served up a number of delicious recipes using freshly harvested produce grown right on campus.
The Leafy Green Machine is a turnkey farming system located inside a shipping container that can grow the equivalent of 1.8 acres of farmland in only 320 square feet. West Warwick High School partnered with the district’s food service provider, Sodexo, and a small startup company out of Boston called Freight Farms, to purchase the unit, which now sits in the school’s courtyard.
On Thursday faculty and staff held a Hydroponics Harvest celebration event at the high school where kitchen staff used recently harvested lettuce to demonstrate some of the meals they will eventually be making for students once the machine is fully operational. Right now the school is only growing different types of lettuce as staff learn how to run the machine, but the Sodexo staff proved that you can make a lot of different meals with a simple head of lettuce.
Staff served up vegetable lettuce wraps, spiced lettuce cake bars, lemon pudding wraps, lettuce beef wraps, lettuce soup and leaf lettuce bread, all made with the fresh lettuce grown in The Leafy Green Machine over the last several weeks and harvested that morning.
Each table in the high school cafeteria was adorned with a colorful display of fresh lettuce from the farm for the celebration.
It’s only about 20 steps from the farm to the school kitchen, says Sodexo General Manager Donna Walker, and “you can’t get any fresher than that.”
Naturally the school plans to use the farm to produce food for all of its students, but eventually they would like to grow enough to feed the entire district. They also plan on using the farm as a teaching tool, and to start a Leafy Green Machine Club in the future to gather students to help run it on a regular basis.
The plants in the farm start out as seeds that are planted in a special seedling area in the pod for about three weeks. Afterward they are transplanted into vertical racks where they will grow for the next five weeks. In about eight weeks total the plants will go from seed to harvest and eventually onto the plates of students and teachers. They plan on growing things like basil, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, dill and parsley down the road.
Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in water with a nutrient solution, according to Freight Farms Representative Dana Lucas, who attended the harvest celebration Thursday afternoon. There’s no dirt involved in the growing or planting process and the farm uses a number of LED lights to act as the sun. The nutrient solution feeds the plants and can adjust the farm’s pH as needed. The temperature levels can also be automatically adjusted based on a plants' needs. There’s even an app for the phone or computer where farmers can view or modify the farm’s settings 24 hours a day, meaning they can grow produce year round without having to worry about the growing season.
“It’s the coolest thing for me to see the farms in action,” said Lucas. “I love seeing them in high schools.”
Freight Farms now has over 200 farms throughout the country.
“This is an exciting joint venture,” said West Warwick Superintendent Karen Tarasevich. “We value our long standing partnership with Sodexo in so many ways.”
She said The Leafy Green Machine is just another way to give students and staff hands-on learning experiences, and she was excited when Sodexo brought the proposal forward to the West Warwick School Committee last year.
“This is one opportunity with one machine that has already served the purpose of expanding the mindset of what we can do,” she added. “This celebration of the first harvest is just the first steps towards feeding the world.”
Sodexo Regional Manager Mark Tucker said the company is always looking to create a partnership with local school departments to provide services beyond the lunchroom.
“We’re really looking to find a way to bring another avenue for students to learn, develop and have access to a machine like this you normally wouldn’t see,” he said. “This is helping us bring nutritional meals to students and redefine local. We all want to do our part and buy local and we’re happy to be able to do that here.”
“Hopefully this is bigger than just growing leafy greens,” he added. “Hopefully it will be an opportunity where we can continue to revitalize students’ minds.”
Lucas was one of the Freight Farms team members assigned to go out and train new users in how to operate the machine.
“Everything is regulated and it takes very little for a farmer to start up their farm,” said Lucas. “Anybody can be a farmer and be successful. It’s totally revolutionary for farming. You don’t need to check if your conditions are good or the nutrients in your soil. Data is being collected by computers and that data will allow us to feed the world. We take pride that students can learn not only about plants but about farming.”
Sodexo’s Hydroponic Consultant Amy Lynn Chauvin has been helping to maintain the farm over the last couple of months, working alongside teachers to get it up and running. Chauvin is a teacher with six years of hydroponic growing experience. Chauvin provided guests with tours of the farm Thursday, fielding question after question about how the whole thing works. Lucas said Chauvin is running the farm like a well-oiled machine and said its one of the most well maintained farms she’s seen in action.
West Warwick High School Science Teacher Haley Winsor has also been a major part of the program.
“Students have been talking a lot about this,” said Winsor. “There’s a lot of interest in getting in there. We’ve had a few students coming in and we need to continue to teach them how to maintain the cleanliness of it.”
Fellow West Warwick High School Science Teacher Gina Poulos said the school is already looking at ways to implement The Leafy Green Machine into the curriculum. The school will even be starting a Freight Farm Committee, which has its first meeting next Wednesday.
“Some faculty have already emailed me sharing ideas and we’ll discuss all this and how to incorporate it into all different parts of school,” she said.
Other administrators of the program include West Warwick Schools Finance Director Joseph Spagna and Director of Facilities Kenneth Townsend.
Follow Kendra Port on Twitter @kendrarport
The Case For A National Institute of Nutrition
BY DR. JOON YUN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 10/09/18
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
© Getty Images
The time has come for Congress to explore the merits of creating a federal agency solely dedicated to nutritional science — specifically, the establishment of a National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Here’s why.
The economic impact of managing diet-related chronic conditions in the United States is estimated at over $1 trillion per year and growing. Yet, the evidence base for making many specific dietary recommendations remains suboptimal and often contradictory. Robust, independent research in nutritional science is an urgent public health priority.
The way federal priorities are currently organized, nutritional science is not the primary focus of any federal agency. None of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focus on nutrition.
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) oversight is largely limited to food labeling and safety. Research funding from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is predominantly dedicated to science as applied to farming and food manufacturing, not nutritional science on the effect of food on humans.
The aggregate sum of research funding set aside for nutritional research across these and all other federal agencies is estimated to be only $1.5 billion annually. To put this into perspective, national spending on candy is about $50 billion per year.
Given the modest level of available support from public institutions, food scientists rely to a significant degree on research funding from industry sources. On one hand, the industry funding fills an important gap in food science research and has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge. On the other hand, disproportionate reliance on industry sponsorship for research funding poses its own set of risks to public benefit over the long term.
The NIH recently had to shut down a $100 million trial — one that could have enshrined alcohol as part of a healthy diet — because NIH officials running the trial had violated policy by soliciting funding support from industry. Such solicitations of private interests are in no small part a result of the lack of public funding for nutritional research.
The NIN’s mission would be to seek fundamental knowledge about food and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness, disability, and their associated costs. The establishment of the NIN would provide robust, independent, and much needed new evidence on health effects of foods as well as independence in translation of this evidence-based nutritional science into national dietary guidelines.
Improving the nation’s health through better nutrition will pay enormous dividends. The NIN could more than pay for itself over the long term through scientific advances, food and nutrition innovations, and cost savings for the HHS.
As it stands today, direct and indirect costs of managing diet-related chronic conditions in the United States are estimated at over $1 trillion annually and growing. Private businesses are being crushed by rising healthcare costs. Two-thirds of active duty military personnel are overweight or obese, and obesity is the leading medical reason that otherwise qualified recruits cannot join the military.
Our food system is also a leading cause of environmental impact, for water, land, forests, oceans, and climate. Poor eating also contributes to disparities, especially for children: a vicious cycle of bad health, lost productivity, increased health costs, and poverty. Indeed, given the growing role of diet in human diseases, and the fact that one in four federal dollars is spent on health care, we may not be able to afford not having a National Institute of Nutrition.
Congress launched the National Cancer Institute through the National Cancer Act of 1937 because it recognized that the time had come to seriously address cancer at the national level.
We are at a similar tipping point for nutrition and health.
Dr. Joon Yun is president and managing partner of health care hedge fund Palo Alto Investors. Board certified in radiology, Yun served on the clinical faculty at Stanford from 2000-2006. Yun is a member of the President's Circle of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.Yun launched the $1 million Palo Alto Longevity Prize in 2013 to reverse the aging process and recently donated $2 million to launch the National Academy of Medicine Aging and Longevity Grand Challenge.
World Food Day 2018 - Our Actions Are Our Future - A #ZeroHunger World By 2030 Is Possible
October 16 is World Food Day, a yearly initiative created by the United Nations to promote awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security, healthy, safe and nutritious diets for all. Across the world, many initiatives are organized over 130 countries, making World Food Day one of the most celebrated days within the United Nations calendar.
This year's main theme is focusing on the Sustainable Development Goal No. 2: Zero Hunger. It is not just linked to eradicate hunger, but also aims at improving nutrition and sustainable agriculture. In fact, after a period of declining in the global data, hunger is once again on the rise. According to the FAO's report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018", over 820 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger and other forms of malnutrition.
What can be done? Policy-makers, media, governments, civil society and International institutions can take the lead to reach SDG2 of the UN 2030 Agenda.
The solution can be transforming radically the way we look at the food we produce and consume, changing our nutritional habits that have created a a sustainable and healthy diets, such as Mediterranean Diet. Recent data show the alarming trends, particularly among young generations: in Italy 36% of children and adolescents between 5 and 19 years old is overweight, a percentage that exceeds 58% in adults.
Overweight and obesity, unhealthy diets and poor physical activity, contribute to the proliferation of non-communicable diseases (especially diabetes, some forms of cancer and cardiovascular problems) that put quality of life at risk and in some cases lead to premature mortality.
According to the preview of the data based on the third edition of the Food Sustainability Index (which will be released on 28 and 29 November at the International Forum on Food and Nutrition, organized by BCFN in Milan), Italy is trying to limit the progressive "nutritional transition", putting in place some concrete measures in school canteens that focus on portions, quality of ingredients and nutritional standards of meals.
"Never before has there been such a need for a food revolution that can make food the focus of our way of thinking. .Thanks to our partnership with the MIUR, we created the Digital Education initiative “Noi, il Cibo, il nostro Pianeta”, which aims to educate new global citizens by way of an innovative digital program centered round the role of food and the effects that its production and consumption have on the environment, health, society and even the phenomenon of migration. We will be discussing this issue at the International Forum on Food and Nutrition to be held at Hangar Bicocca" explained Anna Ruggerini, Operations Director of the BCFN Foundation.
An educational program for tomorrow's adults
The BCFN Foundation is committed to building a new food and environmental sustainability, paying particular attention to education and the active role of young generations. This means opening a dialogue with children and young people, contributing to food education which pays closer attention to health and the environmental impact of eating habits. Within this view, teachers play a critical role, and the BCFN Foundation supports their work with the 'We, food, our Planet" program.
Part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry for Education, 'We, our food, our planet' is an educational project designed to provide incentives for innovative ways of teaching. It offers online training for teacher on the themes of food and food sustainability and digital tools for class work. The project, which also comes with practical lab activities for more dynamic learning, and is designed for three different age groups to better prepare tomorrow's global citizens.
The interactive program, available on the website www.noiilciboilpianeta.it, is divided into four modules and is based on one assumption: food is the element that connects all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations.
Locally Grown Foods: Fresh, Delicious And Nutritious
04/04/2016 - Boston, Mass. - LinkedIn head shots for students attending Public Health and Nutrition Career Expo. (Matthew Healey for Tufts University) more >
By Courtney Millen - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
In 2007, the New Oxford American Dictionary dubbed “locavore” the “2007 Word of the Year,” adding the term to its pages and solidifying the local food movement as a piece of American culture. From a grassroots beginning to dictionary recognition to being spoofed on sketch comedies like “Portlandia” (“Ah [the chicken’s] name was Colin. Here are his papers.”), eating local is a trend that’s here to stay.
More than 10 years after the concept’s introduction, the emphasis on locally grown foods remains prominent. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2018 Culinary Forecast, a focus on local foods occupies two of the top 10 concept trends, with “hyperlocal” claiming the highest spot (think chefs using restaurant gardens) and locally sourced produce coming in at No. 8.
So what nutritional benefits does local food offer and how does Skyscraper Farm distinctively provide those benefits?
First, let’s look at the national and global landscape of healthy eating behaviors. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fewer than 20 percent of Americans consume the daily recommended amount of vegetables (2.5 cup-equivalents for a 2000-calorie diet) and fewer than 30 percent of Americans consume the daily recommended amount of fruits (2 cup-equivalents for a 2000-calorie diet).
Yet research consistently shows that increased fruit and vegetable consumption is part of a healthy eating plan, influential in weight loss and in lowering the risk of a variety of chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers).
Global intake of fruits and vegetables also falls short of recommendations, and in 2016, 3.88 million deaths were attributed to a diet low in fruits and vegetables according to an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Additionally, even if the global population adhered completely to the Dietary Guidelines, growth to support such demand would require an additional 3.86 million square miles (roughly the size of Canada) of fertile land using current agricultural methods.
Enter Skyscraper Farm. With vertical farming practices utilizing sunlight instead of artificial light, Skyscraper Farm is uniquely positioned to sustainably combat the land-deficit problem while providing local, nutrient-rich produce.
With current consumption habits in mind, Skyscraper Farm provides two important shifts offering health benefits. The first relates to access. Skyscraper Farm increases access to healthy food, allowing consumers to make healthier choices. As explained in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, environment strongly impacts people’s eating behaviors.
These behavior changes may require additional resources such as nutrition education, but increased access through sunlight-driven vertical farming provides the option to select healthier items, which is a necessity when implementing a healthy eating plan.
The second shift that Skyscraper Farm provides relates to diet quality. When a fruit or vegetable is harvested at peak ripeness, the nutrient content is at its highest. When grown and sold locally, farmers can pick fruits and vegetables at peak ripeness and quickly bring them to market.
Conversely, when fruits and vegetables are shipped a longer distance, harvesting occurs earlier than peak ripeness to reduce chances of bruising or overripening during storage and transportation. Those fruits and vegetables never reach their full potential for nutrient content. Additionally, fruits and vegetables are subject to nutrient degradation once harvested related to the effects of temperature, light, oxygen and water within storage and transport environments. The longer the timespan from harvest to table, the greater the vitamin, mineral and water content decreases.
As Skyscraper Farm increases accessibility to healthy food while improving the nutrient content of those foods, people within the community will be better equipped to increase fruit and vegetable intake, reaping the benefits of vitamins and minerals that aid in reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
As access to fruits and vegetables becomes as common and convenient as access to less healthy foods, the potential for positive nutrition behavior change increases. Local, sun-ripened fruits and vegetables picked at their peak, offering the highest quality in nutrition and taste, will land on plates shortly after harvest, providing the nutrient-dense options that fall within a healthy eating pattern. Locavores, rejoice.
• Courtney Millen, MNSP, RD, is chief operating officer at Skyscraper Farm LLC. She is founder and lead dietitian of Palate Theory (palatetheory.com) and has worked professionally in food-service management, provided evidence-based nutrition counseling and conducted nutrition workshops in academic and military settings. Follow her on Twitter @palatetheory.
“Farm.” Portlandia, season 1, episode 1, IFC, 2011. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/watch/70222162.
National Restaurant Association. (2018). What’s Hot - 2018 Culinary Forecast, 114. Retrieved from http://www.restaurant.org/Restaurant/media/Restaurant/SiteImages/News and Research/Whats Hot/Whats_Hot_Culinary_Forecast_2018.pdf
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990 2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. (2017). Lancet, 390, 13451422. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32366-8.
Rizvi, S., Pagnutti, C., Fraser, E., Bauch, C. T., & Anand, M. (2018). Global land use implications of dietary trends. PLoS ONE, 13(8), 112. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200781.
Rickman, J. C., Barrett, D. M., Bruhn, & M, C. (4179). Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. Part 1. Vitamins C and B and phenolic compounds. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87, 930944. https://doi.org/10.1
Barilla Center For Food And Nutrition Joins The Conversation On Food Sustainability
The Italy-based foundation is holding a September summit in New York to inform the world about how what we eat impacts the rest of the planet.
AUTHOR Megan Poinski@meganpoinski
September 1, 2018
Many would agree that a sustainable and robust food supply is important. But recent research from the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition shows just how vital it is.
"It's a geopolitical analysis of the relationship between sustainable food systems and migration," Valentina Gasbarri, communication and external relations manager for the Italy-based foundation, told Food Dive during a recent trip to the United States. "What we found out was that the root causes for migration, particularly in the Mediterranean region, was more due to food scarcity and food insecurity than causes related to conflict and political instability."
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The report came out in December as a joint venture between the foundation, which studies the relationship between food, nutrition, and sustainability and makes policy recommendations, and geopolitical research firm MacroGeo. It concentrates on the Mediterranean area, which includes the foundation's home country of Italy, and has lately been at the center of the European immigration debate. But its implications are much wider throughout the world, showing how forces like climate change, societal shifts, and immigration policies impact the global food market.
This kind of food policy idea is at the heart of what the Barilla Center is trying to identify and share. The organization was started in 2009 by the family behind the pasta mega-brand, which is the market leader in Italy. Luca Di Leo, head of media relations for the Barilla Center, said the Barillas wanted to establish a research center to "look at the very important food sustainability issues of our time."
"The root causes for migration, particularly in the Mediterranean region, was more due to food scarcity and food insecurity than causes related to conflict and political instability."
Valentina Gasbarri: Communication and external relations manager, Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition
At the start, the center looked at the price of durum wheat — a major component of dried Barilla noodles — but also energy use. Today, its research looks more at the broad view of global sustainability and the food industry.
The foundation, which partners with well-known research firms, holds an annual forum to discuss some of the major sustainability issues. For the first time this year, the forum is being held outside Italy, with a session recently held in Brussels, and one planned for Sept. 28 in New York City, coinciding with the UN General Assembly session and co-organized by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Gasbarri said the intent of the forum is to gather several of the world's leaders on sustainable development and food policy and high-level discussions on three macro-themes: the global nutritional crisis, best practices for development in areas that see large levels of migrants coming and going, and how food relates to the U.N.'s sustainable development goals.
"It's something that is underestimated in the current research, even at the policy level," Gasbarri said. "We're trying to see what kind of best practices, experience from the field and concrete limitations to the achievement of the [sustainable development goals] that countries are doing."
Credit: Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition
Raising awareness of food sustainability
One of the symbols commonly associated with the Barilla Center looks like a set of two triangles facing different directions. One of them is the well known "food pyramid," showing how many servings of different types of food are healthy and make up a balanced diet. The one next to it is upside down.
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"Basically, the breakthrough that the Barilla Foundation did was gather all of the scientific data and evidence and show that what is good for people — fruits and vegetables, at the bottom of the pyramid — is also good for the planet — meaning that to make fruits and vegetables, you use less water that the food products that are on the top," Di Leo said. "You use less land, and there are fewer CO2 emissions."
"...Depending on what you believe in — in Mother Nature or God — things were done properly because by eating all of this, you do something that is good for your own health and good for the planet," he said.
And looking at how closely different nations follow the second pyramid is a big part of what is becoming an annual study from the Barilla Center: The Food Sustainability Index. Done jointly by the Barilla Center and The Economist Intelligence Unit, the index looked at 34 countries that make up 85% of the world's GDP. Researchers looked at demographic and economic factors — including population, income levels and urbanization — food loss and waste, sustainable agriculture, nutritional challenges — including vitamin deficiencies, access to improved water sources and dietary patterns, and physical activity.
"Depending on what you believe in — in Mother Nature or God — things were done properly because by eating all of this, you do something that is good for your own health and good for the planet."
Luca Di Leo
Head of media relations, Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition
Under this index, France is the most sustainable country. The United States, on the other hand, ranks 21st. Di Leo and Gasbarri said this is due to many Americans' dietary choices, including the nation's love of beef and sugary items. According to specific statistics about the nation's performance in the index, the U.S. has the highest prevalence of overweight children (42%), and 71% of adults can be considered overweight or obese. The United States also is one of the worst countries when it comes to sustainable agriculture, ranking 31st.
But the report isn't intended to shame countries, Gasbarri said.
"[We're] trying to back up something that is very difficult to highlight to the Nebraska housewife ... those very hard topics and theoretical themes to the level of understanding," she said. "We're trying to raise awareness, and even to make people cautious and conscious of the ... daily food choices."
Credit: Public domain pictures
Inspiring global change
The organization and its studies have yet to make a significant impact — although its home country of Italy did pass some legislation dealing with food waste following publication of the sustainability report. This is part of the reason the foundation is spreading its wings and hosting summits worldwide.
"The end goal is to get policymakers and civil society in general ... to basically make food more sustainable," Di Leo said. "The index is what we see as a possible guiding light for policymakers to follow."
"The end goal is to get policymakers and civil society in general ... to basically make food more sustainable. The index is what we see as a possible guiding light for policymakers to follow."
Luca Di Leo
Head of media relations, Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition
The forum in New York is planned for stakeholders ranging from governments to industry to consumer groups to researchers to consumers. Topics that will be discussed include addressing the nutrition crisis and food paradoxes — focusing on why many people in the world are starving and many others are obese — the role agriculture and food play in migration and finding actionable ways to make food more sustainable. According to a draft of the agenda, speakers will include UN staff, academics, and researchers.
"The general message that we want to say is to highlight the link that each single [UN sustainable development goal] has with food," Gasbarri said. "It tends to be underestimated in the current research and even at the policy level."
And while this forum is not expected to immediately impact domestic and international policy, it's a start to the conversations and examinations that need to take place. Gasbarri said that food is both a part of the world's problems and solution, and the forum will start many parties on the positive path of making a difference.
Di Leo agreed that the forum is a step in the right direction.
"By making the right choices, we can change the world," Di Leo said.
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Filed Under: Policy Meat / Protein Sustainability