The Ag Tech Market Map: 100+ Startups Powering The Future Of Farming And Agribusiness

MAY 18, 2017

The Ag Tech Market Map: 100+ Startups Powering The Future Of Farming And Agribusiness

Corporate investors such as Mitsui, Monsanto, and Syngenta have backed startups improving irrigation, crop spraying, harvesting, and more.

If you are a startup in the ag tech industry, add or edit your profile directly at

the CB Insights Editor to get in front of our research team.

As population growth increases the need to ramp up food production, tech startups are creating a range of agricultural software, services, farming techniques, and more aimed at bringing more data and efficiency to the sector.

We used CB Insights data to identify more than 100 private companies in agriculture tech and categorized them into nine main categories. We define ag tech as technology that increases the efficiency of farms, in the form of software, sensors, aerial-based data, internet-based distribution channels (marketplaces), and tools for technology-enabled farming. We only include companies that primarily target the agricultural sector.

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The breakdown is as follows:

• Farm Management Software: This includes software like that produced by Andreessen Horowitz-backed Granular that allows farmers to more efficiently manage their resources, crop production, farm animals, etc.
• Precision Agriculture and Predictive Data Analytics: These startups include those that focus on using big data and predictive analytics to address farm-related issues and make better farm-related decisions in order to save energy, increase efficiency, optimize herbicide and pesticide application (such as Prospera, which uses machine vision and artificial intelligence), and manage risk, among other uses.
• Sensors: Startups in the sensor category include Arable, which offers smart sensors that collect data and help farmers monitor crop health, weather, and soil quality.
• Animal Data: These companies provide software and hardware specifically aimed at better understanding livestock, from breeding patterns (Connecterra) to genomics (TL Biolabs).
• Robotics and Drones: This category includes drone companies and related drone services that cater to agricultural needs (such as TerrAvion), as well as robots or intelligent farm machines that perform various farm functions more efficiently (such as Blue River Technology, backed by Monsanto Growth Ventures, Syngenta Ventures, and Khosla Ventures, among others).
• Smart Irrigation: These startups, including Hortau, provide systems that help monitor and automate water usage for farms using various data exhausts.
• Next Gen Farms: A growing category of companies that utilize technology to provide alternative farming methods to enable farming in locations and settings that cannot support traditional farming. Examples include AeroFarms for vertical farming and BrightFarms for new greenhouses.
• Marketplaces: These startups offer marketplaces relevant to agriculture by connecting farmers directly to suppliers or consumers without any middlemen. While some are e-commerce platforms, others use tech to facilitate physical marketplaces (La Ruche Qui Dit Oui).
• Plant Data/Analysis: These startups are getting more granular data about plant composition (microbial makeup, genetic expression, etc.) and/or analyzing that data to improve seed research & development and breeding (such as Benson Hill Biosystems).

Some companies may overlap with different categories and are grouped according to their main use case.

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See the full company list below:

The Growing Ag tech Industry

CompanySelect InvestorsCategory

Advanced Animal DiagnosticsCultivian Sandbox, InterSouth Partners, Kansas Bioscience Authority, LabCorp, Middleland Capital, Novartis Venture FundsAnimal Data

FarmnoteColopl, GREE, Kanematsu, Kotaro ChibaAnimal Data

Stellapps TechnologiesOmnivore PartnersAnimal Data

MastilineSHIFT InvestAnimal Data

TL BioLabsY CombinatorAnimal Data

ConnecterraBreed Reply, DeNA, Elias Tabet, MENA Venture InvestmentsAnimal Data

CowlarY CombinatorAnimal Data

MoocallThe Pearse Lyons AcceleratorAnimal Data

FarmdokCega GmbH, Tecent EquityFarm Management Software

LandmappHERi Africa, Omidyar NetworkFarm Management Software

AegroSP Ventures, WOW AceleradoraFarm Management Software

ScoutproUndisclosed InvestorsFarm Management Software

GranularAndreessen Horowitz, Emory Investment Management, Fall Line Capital, Google Ventures, H. Barton Asset Management, Khosla Ventures, Tao Capital PartnersFarm Management Software

AgworldREV, Yuuwa CapitalFarm Management Software

AgriviSouth Central VenturesFarm Management Software

ConservisCultivian Sandbox, Heartland Advisors, Middleland CapitalFarm Management Software

Crop-in Technology SolutionsAnkur Capital, Sophia ApSFarm Management Software

TreckerUndisclosed InvestorsFarm Management Software

PickTraceFundersClub, Y CombinatorFarm Management Software

FarmLogsAndreessen Horowitz, Drive Capital, First Step Fund, Huron River Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Sam Altman, Silicon Badia, Start Fund, SV Angel, Y CombinatorFarm Management Software

AgriwebbAl Hamra, John MurrayFarm Management Software

OnFarm SystemsMaxfield Capital, Sacramento AngelsFarm Management Software

AggrigatorUndisclosed InvestorsMarketplaces

AgroStarAavishkaar, IDG Ventures IndiaMarketplaces

La Ruche Qui Dit OuiBNP Paribas Securities Corporation, Caisse des Depots et Consignations, Christophe Duhamel, Felix Capital, Kima Ventures, Marc Simoncini, Paris Initiative Enterprises, Quadia, Siparex, Union Square Ventures, XAnge Private EquityMarketplaces

AgriconomieElaia PartnersMarketplaces

EM3 AgriservicesAspada AdvisorsMarketplaces

YagroUndisclosed InvestorsMarketplaces

Bowery FarmingBoxGroup, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, First Round CapitalNext Gen Farms

Alesca LifeBits x Bites, The Pearse Lyons AcceleratorNext Gen Farms

Freight FarmsBridge Boys, Kickstarter, LaunchCapital, Morningside Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, Spark Capital, TechStarsNext Gen Farms

Aero Farms21Ventures, GSR Ventures, Middleland Capital, Missionpoint Capital Partners, Quercus Trust, Wheatsheaf InvestmentsNext Gen Farms

BrightFarmsNGEN Partners, WP Global Partners, Emil Capital PartnersNext Gen Farms

FreshboxChalsys LLPNext Gen Farms

Green Sense FarmsUndisclosed InvestorsNext Gen Farms

Gotham GreensUndisclosed InvestorsNext Gen Farms

CiBOFlagship PioneeringPlant Data/Analysis

Trace GenomicsIllumina Ventures, Fall Line Capital, Refactor CapitalPlant Data/Analysis

Benson Hill BiosystemsBioGenerator, iSelect Fund, Lewis & Clark VenturesPlant Data/Analysis

AgronosticoNXTP LabsPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

AgribleArcher Daniels Midland Company, Flyover Capital, Serra VenturesPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

GamayaSeed4Equity, VI PartnersPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

S4Arch Grants, BioGenerator, SixThirty, The Yield LabPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

ObserveEntrepreneur FirstPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

StriderBarn Investimentos, Monashees Capital, Qualcomm VenturesPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

GeoVisual AnalyticsTHRIVE AcceleratorPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

AgrilystBrooklyn Bridge Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, TechCrunch DisruptPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

CropMetricsUndisclosed InvestorsPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

Adapt-NArmory Square Ventures, Arthur Ventures, Cayuga Venture FundPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

Farmers Business NetworkKleiner Perkins Caufield & ByersPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

Premier Crop SystemsUndisclosed InvestorsPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

BovcontrolRedpoint e.ventures, MassChallengePrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

CropZilla SoftwareUndisclosed InvestorsPrecision Agriculture And Predictive Analytics

MyAgDataAdams Street Partners, Alpha Capital Partners, Don Walsworth, Early Investments, John Rose, October Capital, OpenAir Equity Partners, River Cities Capital Fund, Saints Capital, Thorndale FarmPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

AgralogicsUndisclosed InvestorsPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

ProsperaBessemer Venture Partners, HishtilPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

aWhereAgFunder, Aravaipa Ventures, Elixir CapitalPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

ec2ecUndisclosed InvestorsPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

Flurosatmuru-DPrecision Agriculture and Predictive Analytics

Mavrx ImagingShasta Ventures, Slow VenturesRobotics and Drones

FarmBotSYD Ventures, muru-DRobotics and Drones

Airwood AerostructuresStartupXseed VenturesRobotics and Drones

Raptor MapsFounder.org, MIT $100K Entrepreneurship CompetitionRobotics and Drones

Harvest CROOUndisclosed InvestorsRobotics and Drones

Blue River TechnologyData Collective, Innovation Endeavors, Khosla Ventures, Monsanto Growth Ventures, National Science Foundation, Pontifax, Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, Steve Blank, Syngenta Ventures, Ulu VenturesRobotics and Drones

SkySquirrel TechnologiesInNOVAcorpRobotics and Drones

SkycisionAccelepriseRobotics and Drones

Leading Edge TechnologiesUndisclosed InvestorsRobotics and Drones

TerrAvionFundersClub, Y CombinatorRobotics and Drones

RessonBDC Capital, BDC Venture Capital, Build Ventures, East Valley Ventures, Monsanto Growth Ventures, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, Rho CanadaRobotics And Drones

Abundant RoboticsGoogle Ventures, KPCB Edge, Yamaha Motor VenturesRobotics And Drones

Ceres ImagingImagineH20, Lemnos Labs, Silicon BadiaRobotics and Drones

Centaur AnalyticsOurCrowd, PJ Tech CatalystSensors

SLANTRANGEMainsail Partners, The Investor GroupSensors

GrowneticsCanopyBoulderSensors

Motorleaf500 startupsSensors

PycnoHAX, Launch KCSensors

Spensa TechnologiesEmerging Innovations Fund, Radicle Capital, Village CapitalSensors

Amber AgricultureiVenture AcceleratorSensors

FieldInTerra Venture PartnersSensors

SaturasThe Trendlines GroupSensors

Acuity AgricultureTHRIVE AcceleratorSensors

FarmobileAnterra CapitalSensors

GrassometerEnterprise Ireland, Kernel CapitalSensors

PhytechMitsui & Co., Syngenta VenturesSensors

Farmers EdgeFairfax Financial Holdings, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mitsui & Co.Sensors

ArableSparkLabs, Imagine H20Sensors

MimosaTEKExpara AcceleratorSensors

Smart YieldsEnergy Excelerator, Blue StartupsSensors

Flux8200 EISPSensors

Garden SpaceHAXSensors

SemiosFedDev Ontario, Haywood Securities, Niagara Angel Network, Verizon CommunicationsSensors

SencropBreega Capital, Emertec GestionSensors

FlowiusImagine H20Smart Irrigation

TevatronicThe Pearse Lyons AcceleratorSmart Irrigation

LivnStart-up ChileSmart Irrigation

HortauAdvantage Capital Partners, Avrio Capital, BDC Venture Capital, Business Capital, Desjardins Venture Capital, TelesystemSmart Irrigation

SprinklIan Woodward-SmithSmart Irrigation

Smart Farm SystemsUndisclosed InvestorsSmart Irrigation

Powwow EnergyCalifornia Energy CommissionSmart Irrigation

HydroPoint Data SystemsChrysalix Global Network, Chrysalix Venture Capital, Firelake Capital, J.F. Shea Venture CapitalSmart Irrigation

CropXFinistere Ventures, GreenSoil Investments, Innovation Endeavors, Lab IX, OurCrowd.com, Robert Bosch Venture CapitalSmart Irrigation

AquaSpyAlpina Partners, Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies, Cleantech Ventures, Colonial First State Private Equity, Cultivian Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, ES Ventures, Gresham Rabo Management, Nanyang VenturesSmart Irrigation

EdynFenox Venture Capital, Idea Bulb Ventures, Indicator Ventures, Kickstarter, Morningside Ventures, QueensBridge Venture Partners, THRIVE Accelerator, Y CombinatorSmart Irrigation
 

Improvements of The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

IMPROVEMENTS OF THE SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

21 MAY 2017

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s backup for crop collections. It currently safeguards more than 930,000 different varieties. It has been reported that the Seed Vault has seen water intrusion due to melting permofrost. The Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Norway, the Crop Trust, and NordGen would like to assure seed depositors and the public that the seeds are completely safe and no damage has been done to the facility. The Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Statsbygg, Norway, is taking appropriate measures to ensure the protection of the Seed Vault and improve the construction to prevent future incidents. Globally, the Seed Vault is, and will continue to be, the safest backup of crop diversity.

Signed

PÅL VIDAR SOLLIE, DIRECTOR GENERAL, THE ROYAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD, NORWAY

MARIE HAGA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE CROP TRUST

LISE LYKKE STEFFENSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORDGEN

HEGE NJAA ASCHIM, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, STATSBYGG, NORWAY

19 MAY 2017

After 9 years of operation, Svalbard Global Seed Vault is facing technical improvements in connection with water intrusion in the outer part of the access tunnel because the permafrost has not established itself as projected.
Operation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a collaboration between several players. The seed vault is owned by the Norwegian government and administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (LMD). Statsbygg is responsible for the administration of the physical installation and the technical operation of the vault. LMD has entered into a 10-year operating agreement with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), which is responsible for the operations of the seed vault and the International foundation Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT), which is contributing financially.

• The seeds in the seed vault have never been threatened and will remain safe during implementation of the measures.
• The measures are being carried out to provide additional security to the seed vault, based on a precautionary (“better safe than sorry”) approach.
• Description of the measures:
  • Removal of heat sources in the access tunnel will protect against water intrusion resulting from potential climate change.
  • Drainage ditches will be constructed on the mountainside to prevent melt water from Platåfjellet accumulating around the access tunnel and to protect against water intrusion resulting from any climate change.
  • The construction of waterproof walls inside the tunnel will provide additional protection for the actual vault.
  • Alternatives for a new access tunnel to the seed vault will be explored with the aim to improve safety in a long-term perspective.
  • Statsbygg is carrying out a research and development project that will monitor the permafrost on Svalbard.
• The measures will provide the most optimal maintenance and surveillance of the installation.

Statsbygg will answer all questions and enquiries regarding the measures.

MESSAGE ABOUT THE MEASURES

The seed vault is a success, with widespread support and a well-functioning operation. Statsbygg is now implementing measures that will continue to protect the seed vault in the future.

Some improvement measures are being implemented to prevent the season-dependent intrusion of water into the seed vault’s access tunnel. When water intrudes into the outer part of the seed vault, the water is immediately pumped out again by pumps that work around the clock.

• Statsbygg has moved the transformer station out of the tunnel. This provides safer operation, easier maintenance and has removed a heat source.
• Drainage ditches to be constructed and terrain leveling will take place on the mountainside above the seed vault to prevent melt water from Platåfjellet accumulating around the access tunnel and to protect against water intrusion resulting from any climate change
• A waterproof wall will be constructed in the access tunnel as extra protection for the actual vault.
• Alternatives to a new access tunnel to the seed vault will be explored to improve safety in a long-term perspective.

The seeds will remain safe during implementation of the measures.

Any melting of the permafrost has a very long-term perspective, cf. expert statements during the planning phase. In order to be “better safe than sorry,” Statsbygg is carrying out a research and development project that will follow the development of the permafrost on Svalbard.

The seed vault on Svalbard is a very safe installation for the preservation of copies of the world’s seeds. The seeds are stored deep inside the mountain, which is kept frozen by both permafrost and artificial freezing. Statsbygg provides 24-hour surveillance of the technical installation to ensure the seeds are safe. When water intrudes into the outer part of the seed vault, the water is immediately pumped out again by pumps that work around the clock. The effect of the measures will be continuously assessed in the coming years. If they are not sufficient, further and more extensive measures will be implemented.

The measures will be implemented from now to 2018.

For further questions on the improvements to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault please contact Statsbygg: Hege Njaa Aschim, Communications Director, henr@statsbygg.no, tel: +47 91370172.

Beijing Oriental Technologies Ltd. Joins Philips Horticulture LED Solutions Partner Network

Beijing Oriental Technologies Ltd. Joins Philips Horticulture LED Solutions Partner Network 

19 May 2017

Philips Lighting, a Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) company and the global leader in lighting, today announced that it signed a partnership agreement with Beijing Oriental Technologies Ltd. (Beijing Oritech) on 11 May 2017 at the 19th Hortiflorexpo IPM show in Shanghai, China. The partners will cooperate closely on projects in the greenhouse segment. The partnership agreement was signed by Wu Shao Juan, vice general manager of Beijing Oritech, and Udo van Slooten, global general manager of Philips Horticulture LED lighting. 

This partnership strengthens the ability of both partners to further develop the Chinese greenhouse market. By combining Philips innovative greenhouse lighting solutions with the professional greenhouse expertise of Beijing Oritech, the collaboration will allow Chinese greenhouse growers to quickly learn and adapt Dutch cultivation technologies to produce excellent crops year-round with professional service and support. The energy savings realized with LED grow lights will help the Chinese greenhouse industry make more efficient use of resources as well. 

About Beijing Oriental Technologies Ltd.

Beijing Oriental Technologies Ltd. is a modern and professional business that designs, produces and installs industrial grade greenhouses and agricultural equipment that is competitively priced. The company has experience in both industrial and horticultural cultivation. Beijing Oritech is committed to providing high quality agricultural facilities that meet industry standards for the European Union, North America and Japan. Professionally trained staff provide a range of services, including greenhouse research, production and construction. 

For further information, please contact:

Daniela Damoiseaux, Global Marcom Manager Horticulture
Philips Horticultural LED Lighting, Nederland
E-mail:  daniela.damoiseaux@philips.com 
www.philips.com/horti 

About Philips Lighting

Philips Lighting, a Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) company, is the global leader in lighting products, systems and services. Our understanding of how lighting positively affects people coupled with our deep technological know-how enable us to deliver digital lighting innovations that unlock new business value, deliver rich user experiences and help to improve lives. Serving professional and consumer markets, we sell more energy efficient LED lighting than any other company. We lead the industry in connected lighting systems and services, leveraging the Internet of Things to take light beyond illumination and transform homes, buildings and urban spaces. In 2015, we had sales of EUR 7.4 billion and employed 33,000 people worldwide. News from Philips Lighting is located at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.  

‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault Meant To Survive Global Disasters Breached By Climate Change

‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault Meant To Survive Global Disasters Breached By Climate Change

Fortunately, no seeds were damaged

by Alessandra Potenza@ale_potenza  May 19, 2017, 1:48pm EDT

The Global Seed Vault -  Crop Trust

The seed bank designed to preserve the world’s crops and plants in the event of global disaster isn’t prepared to withstand the greatest global disaster facing our planet: global warming. Melting permafrost on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, where the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located, has seeped into the seed bank, raising questions of how the structure will be able to survive in the future as the Earth keeps warming.

The seed vault is built in an abandoned Arctic coal mine, deep inside a mountain. It contains about a million packets of seeds from almost every country in the world, representing “the most diverse collection of food crop seeds.” In 2015, the ongoing civil war in Syria prompted researchers in the Middle East to withdraw some seeds to replace those previously stored in a gene bank in war-torn Aleppo.

“BUILT TO STAND THE TEST OF TIME”

The structure was built underneath the permafrost so it could be “a fail-safe seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time — and the challenge of natural or man-made disasters,” as the seed bank’s website says. But oh, the irony. Unusually warm temperatures in the winter have caused rain, and the permafrost has been melting. “It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that,” Hege Njaa Aschim, from the Norwegian government, which owns the vault, toldThe Guardian.

Fortunately, the water hasn’t flooded the vault itself. It only got to the entrance of the tunnel, where it froze. (The seeds are stored at minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit.) But the incident has raised questions over the durability of a seed bank that was supposed to operate without people’s intervention.

The vault managers are now waterproofing the facility and digging trenches to channel melt and rainwater away, according to The Guardian. They’ve also installed pumps in case the vault floods again. “We have to find solutions. It is a big responsibility and we take it very seriously. We are doing this for the world,” Åsmund Asdal at the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, which operates the seed vault, told The Guardian. “This is supposed to last for eternity.”

Statement of the Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Food:

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s backup for crop collections. It currently safeguards more than 930,000 different varieties. It has been reported that the Seed Vault has seen water intrusion due to melting permafrost. The Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Norway, the Crop Trust, and NordGen would like to assure seed depositors and the public that the seeds are completely safe and no damage has been done to the facility. The Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Statsbygg, Norway, is taking appropriate measures to ensure the protection of the Seed Vault and improve the construction to prevent future incidents. Globally, the Seed Vault is, and will continue to be, the safest backup of crop diversity.

Signed

Pål Vidar Sollie, Director General, The Royal Ministry Of Agriculture And Food, Norway

Marie Haga, Executive Director, The Crop Trust

Lise Lykke Steffensen, Executive Director, Nordgen

Hege Njaa Aschim, Director Of Communications, Statsbygg, Norway

Seeds & Chips 2017 Wraps Up: 13 Prizes Awarded to The Most Cutting-Edge Food Innovation Startups

Seeds & Chips 2017 Wraps Up:

13 Prizes Awarded to The Most Cutting-Edge Food Innovation Startups

John Kerry to be among the Guests of Honor in the 2018 edition

Milano, May 18, 2017 - The closing ceremony of the 2017 edition of Seeds&Chips -The Global Food Innovation Summit – took place in Milano with the winners of the Seeds&Chips 2017 Awards collecting their prizes. The world’s most innovative start-ups in food and AgTech were publicly applauded. At the end of the Award Ceremony, Marco Gualtieri - founder and CEO of Seeds&Chips – took stock of the latest edition of the summit with the extraordinary participation of the 44th US President Barack H. Obama and announced the first of the Guest of Honor of Seeds&Chips 2018, former US Secretary of State John Kerry. Over 200 international speakers, investors, policy makers and startups from all over the world participated in SaC2017 with countries ranging from Italy and Israel to the United States, Jordan and Iraq.

“This exceptional edition of Seeds&Chips and Barack Obama's extraordinary participation have established once and for all that Milan and Italy are the world's hub and global reference point of Food and FoodTech. This, while reaffirming our role as a laboratory focused on finding solutions to the major global challenges, from production and nutrition to the sustainable use of resources and climate change,” stated Marco Gualtieri, founder of Seeds&Chips. “Today, more than ever, especially among the new generations, we have technological tools and skills at our fingertips that make it possible for us to face and overcome these challenges. It is our duty and responsibility to invest in and to support youth and innovation, especially in a key sector such as that of food. This in turn will result in an improvement in our lives and better conditions for the whole planet. President Obama personally asked me to collaborate on the themes of youth, food and innovation. A wonderful opportunity for Milano and Italy as a country and a notable and far-reaching task for Seeds&Chips that next year will host one outstanding keynote speaker each day of the Global Food Innovation Summit. Former US Secretary of State John Kerry has been the first to confirm his participation in 2018”.

Seeds&Chips 2017 Awards

Thirteen prizes for as many categories were awarded to participating startups during the Seeds&Chips Closing Ceremony publicly recognizing Italian and international projects that represent the best of today's innovation in food. The founder of Seeds&Chips, Marco Gualtieri hosted the event with journalist Rula Jebreal, who called the winners to the stage. The 12 startups were acknowledged by their "sponsor" companies that had contributed by supporting and promoting the project. The winner of the NextFood Award by Image Line was applauded by the contest's creators, who were also the leaders of the network awarding the prize. An ad-hoc Jury made up of Seeds&Chips staff, representatives of sponsor companies, by members of the Italian National Research Center in its capacity as a scientific advisor evaluated and selected the winning startups.

Awards and Winners

1. “SEEDS&CHIPS VISIONARY AWARD”

WINNER: Ingredient Optimized by Plasma Nutrition (USA), awarded by Alessandro Russo, President of Gruppo CAP

Plasma Nutrition is transforming the performance of protein powders through our patent-pending Ingredient Optimization process to increase sustainability and improve health outcomes.

2. “BEST DISRUPTIVE STARTUP AWARD”

WINNER: Food Pairing and Tailor Made (Belgium) awarded by Marcello Pincelli, Italy General Manager, PepsiCo

Foodpairing® is a market research automation company identifying the successful flavor combinations of tomorrow, through the combination of scientific flavor insights and unique consumer data.

3. “FUTURE FOOD AWARD”

WINNER: Flatev (Switzerland), awarded by Fabio Ziemssen, Head of Food Innovation and Foodtech, Metro Group

The Flatev Artisanal Bakery and Flatev Dough is Your Personal Baking System (PBS)! The closed baking system expertly prepares single servings of fresh tortillas, rotis, flatbreads, cookies and more with no fuss and no mess. A consumer simply pops a proprietary, recyclable, single serve dough container into the Flatev Artisanal Bakery, selects their desired setting, and soon enjoys a delicious, fresh treat in seconds.

4. “BEST FOOD EXPERIENCE AWARD”

WINNER: The Vegetarian Butcher (Italy), awarded by Niccolo Longoni, Innovation Manager of Just Eat

By 2022, the Meat Substitutes Market will be worth around 6 Billion USD. After a ten-year search, the Vegetarian Butcher team, inspired by our founder Jaap, developed and found innovative meat substitutes with a spectacular bite and texture. Our ideal is to have meat enthusiasts experience the meat free products and to realize they do not have to miss out on anything if they leave meat out of their diet for a couple of days a week. Our mission is also to free animals from the food chain by offering a complete and delicious alternative to meat; by doing that we also aim to reduce the carbon footprint caused by the intensive animal farming.

5. “EAT HEALTHY - BEST HEALTH AND DIET SOLUTIONS AWARD”

WINNER: INDI (Israel), awarded by Gabriella Bartoccelli, Head of Communication and External Relations, CAMST

INDI is the world's first Non Dairy Non Soy infant formula, developed by a team of highly experienced infant nutrition experts with over 60 years of relevant experience. Produced in both powder and liquid forms, INDI is a total solution for allergic, sensitive and vegan infants (0-36m). The Formula is 100% vegan (2 plants composition); Hormones free Antibiotic free GMO free Sustainable with Superior taste. Competitively priced and ready for full scaled production INDI has been approved by the Israeli ministry of health, endorsed by leading infant nutrition medical experts as it is fully conforming to infant nutrition strict intl. standards The formula is Patent Pending in 85 countries around the globe (National phase).

 6. “BEST MORNING SOLUTION AWARD”

WINNER: RISE Products (USA), awarded by Franck Bocquet, General Manager Délifrance Italy

RISE is a green startup that upcycles spent barley from microbreweries into flour for bakers. We produce a sustainable, organic, high-protein, nutritious and inexpensive alternative flour that has a wide range of applications –from cookies to pasta.

7. “INCREDIBLE GROWTH - FASTEST GROWING STARTUP AWARD”

WINNER: Blue Cart (USA), awarded by Francesco Spadaro and Giovanni Rebay, KPMG Partner

BlueCart is a SaaS mobile turnkey procurement platform that connects wholesale buyers with their exclusive network of suppliers in the hospitality industry. Every day, wholesale buyers, restaurants, hotels, etc. spend hours, placing orders to each of their suppliers via email or text messages. BlueCart enables orders to be communicated to all distributors with one click on their mobile phone. Distributors receive all orders in one dashboard, eliminating the need for manual data entry. This digital workflow offers transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the wholesale procurement process that simply does not exist today.

 8. “FARMING OF TOMORROW - BEST INNOVATION IN FARMING AWARD”

WINNER: Agrologies (Greece), awarded by Anders Nilsson, GROW IT UP Partner

Our products and services offer needed technology solutions to the agriculture sector. Agrologies has developed an automation irrigation platform & device, which combine an IOT device, a cloud service & a mobile app. Agrologies enables farmers to plan the irrigation of their crops depending on weather conditions & other data. Additionally, during Seeds&Chips, in partnership with New Holland Agriculture, growITup has opened the #CallForGrowth tender on Precision Farming: a call for all Italian startups and SMEs involved in developing innovative solutions in the food-value chain. To join the call, startups and SMEs must have significant business in Italy and submit their application by 6 June 2017 atwww.growITup.com .

9. “SMARTER RETAIL EXPERIENCE AWARD”

WINNER: Coffee Hat (Italy), awarded by Federica Palermini - Head of Brand & Communication and Digital Innovation, CARREFOUR

Coffee Hat was born with a clear mission: to deliver the finest specialty coffees with a cosmopolitan brewing approach and in line with our modern lifestyles. Our single-serve coffee capsule represents the synthesis of the values of Coffee Hat: Excellence of aromas, Genuineness & Traceability of the coffee beans.

 10. “BEST VERTICAL FARMING INNOVATION AWARD”

WINNER: Robonica (Italy), awarded by Association for Vertical Farming (AVF)

Linfa (Lymph) is Robonica’s smart and beautifully designed home greenhouse, which can have a strong impact on people's habits. It allows you to grow any kind of vegetables, such as herbs, hot peppers or salad, ready to eat in just 5 days. Linfa is a hydroponics culture system with LED lighting to replace natural light, where the recreated microenvironment is fully controlled.

11. “BEST SMART CITY VISION AWARD”

WINNER: AeroFarms (USA) awarded by Marco Moretti, A2A

Aerofarms produces delicious, nutritious leafy greens and herbs without sunlight, soil, or pesticides. Crops get the perfect amount of moisture and nutrients misted directly onto their roots in a completely controlled environment. With our patented technology, we take indoor vertical farming to a new level of precision and productivity with minimal environmental impact and virtually zero risk.

12. “NEXTFOOD AWARD by Image Line”

WINNER: Seamore Food (Netherlands), awarded by Roberto Ghioni, Partner and Graphic Designer at63De-Sign and by Paolo Rumi, Creative Director at63De-Sign

Seamore Food wins a full mentoring package aimed at product placement and industrialization. Seamore Food’s product SEA PASTA, 100% seaweed vegetable noodles -, stood out among participants in this 1st International edition of NEXTFOOD AWARD focused on Food Innovation targeted to all food startups with at least one branded product and which was held in conjunction with Seeds&Chips - The Global Food Innovation Summit. The NEXTFOOD AWARD is promoted by 63DE-SIGN, a team of communication designers with experience in different and converging sectors. Partnering with Seeds & Chips and thanks to the participation of the Politecnico di Torino Department of Architecture and Design and the Ecopak Observatory (OEP), the NextFood Award by Image Line enjoys the support of the main sponsor Image Line …Since 1988 hands on a keyboard, feet in the field ... and eyes on the present and the future of agriculture. With this in mind, Image Line develops digital solutions for professionals: innovative software for the sustainable management of agricultural holdings, vertical portals and search engines for sharing technical knowledge.

13. “BEST SOLUTION FOR A BETTER WORLD AWARD”

WINNER: Impact Vision (United Kingdom) awarded by Hugo Doyle, Head of International Public Affairs, Intesa Sanpaolo

ImpactVision's mission is to build a more transparent and secure global food system using hyperspectral technology. ImpactVision’s software platform provides quick and non-invasive information on the quality and characteristics of different foods, using image recognition and predictive learning. With ImpactVision, a picture of a food product is enough to understand its nutritional content, freshness level, ad protein, fat, sugar, or moisture content. An innovative solution to reduce waste by increasing quality and safety.

Information : www.seedsandchips.com; @SEEDSandCHIPS, #Sac17

For additional information

Close to Media – Seeds&Chips Press Office 

Tel +39 02.70006237
michela.gelati@closetomedia.it; davide.dibattista@closetomedia.it; luigi.borghi@closetomedia.it; francesca.pollio@c

Developing a Tool to Measure Nutrient Levels in Food

Developing a Tool to Measure Nutrient Levels in Food

The Bionutrient Food Association is working with producers to establish growing practices that yield more nutritious crops, while developing a standard for nutrient-dense foods and a handheld tool to measure those nutrient levels. The idea behind the tool is to use existing technology, like the camera in a Smartphone, to scan produce right in the grocery store, measuring the nutrient-density of the consumer’s food options.

The Association’s mission is to empower consumers to choose the most nutrient-dense foods, ultimately rewarding farmers for their improved growing practices.

Food Tank spoke with Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Association and an organic farmer himself, to discuss why he thinks we need a definition of nutrient density, and the power he sees in this standard to transform the food system.

Food Tank (FT): What first inspired you to start working on nutrient density in food?

Dan Kittredge (DK): It started when I, as somebody who grew up on an organic farm, when I got married I had no other viable skillsets besides farming. And I came to terms with the fact that my crops were not healthy. They were succumbing to infestation and disease, and I was not economically viable. And I knew I needed to do a better job.

FT: What does the Bionutrient Food Association do to promote nutrient density in our food supply?

DK: Our core work is training growers. We work with growers of all sizes across the country, across North America, in what we call principles of biological systems. And we walk them through the growing season, walk them through the year, and talk about how plants grow in relation to the soil and microbiology, and help farmers identify what the main factors are so they can address them. That’s been our core work.

Our overt mission is to increase quality in the food supply. And by quality, I’m referring to flavor, aroma, and nutritive value, which is often times virtuous to nutrient density. So we’re now at a point where we have, I think, sixteen chapters across the country.

And we’re actually working on a definition of what quality means to density in the amount of nutrients. You know, what is the variation in nutrient levels in crops and trying to give consumers the ability to test that at point of purchase. Something along the lines of a handheld spectrometer, something that would be essentially, if a Smartphone had the right sensors, something that could be in your phone. You know, give the consumer the ability to test quality at point of purchase and then make your decisions accordingly, as an incentive to inspire the supply chain to change its practices.

FT: What does soil have to do with nutrient density?

DK: Well for the general public, I think we need to understand what nutrient density is first, because it’s a term that is thrown around a lot without a clear understanding of what it means. So for us, nutrient density is, you have greater levels of nutrients per unit calorie in a crop, better flavor, better aroma, and better nutritive value.

Basically, those compounds that correlate with nutrition, with flavor, and aroma in crops, are built from the soil and through a well-functioning microbial ecosystem. So plants evolved with a gut flora, in the same way that we have a gut flora, that digests their food for them. The bacteria and the fungi in the soil are fed by the plants. When the plant makes sugar in the leaves, it injects that sugar into the soil to feed the soil life, who then digest the soil and feed the nutrients up to the plant.

So it’s only when you have a well-functioning soil life, when the soil is actually flourishing, with vitality, with life, that’s the only time when you’re going to get the plants having access to the nutrients necessary to have nutrient dense crops.

So in many cases, farmers engage in management practices that are counterproductive. Tillage, bare soil, adding fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides, a lot of the basic practices of agriculture are systemically counterproductive to nutrient density in crops. Which is why we have pretty categorical data from USDA and other sources about the decreasing levels of nutrition in food over time.

FT: Why do consumers need standards and definitions to identify the nutrient density of their food?

DK: Because I think in many cases consumers don’t understand that there is a variation in nutrient levels in crops, and they don’t understand the connection between the nutritional value of food and the health giving attributes of food. I think we have a health crisis in this country that is not entirely due to our decreasing nutrient levels in crops, but in large part connects to that.

So helping to make those connections and give consumers the tools they need to actually use their economic leverage to facilitate solutions is our core agenda, a part of our core agenda.

FT: What benefits can producers gain from a better understanding of the nutrient levels of the food they grow?

DK: My experience as a farmer is that when your plants are healthier, they are more productive; they have better pest and disease resistance; you reduce the need for fungicides, insecticides, fertilizers; you’re sequestering carbon, so you’re building resilience into your system. You know, from the farmer’s perspective it’s really like there’s an octuple bottom line of systemic incentives.

But the issue is we don’t have, in many cases, the awareness as farmers or the humility about what we’re doing wrong, and we don’t have the economic incentives to change our practices.

FT: How does the nutrient density of our food supply impact food security and health?

DK: For us, as an organization, nutrient density is the lens with which we can begin to understand how all of these bigger issues are deeply interrelated. We propose that we have epidemic levels of degenerative disease in large part because we don’t have high-quality nutrition in our food.

We have high levels of toxins in our foods because farmers need to use those toxins to kill the pests because the plants aren’t healthy. When you actually have healthy plants they are physiologically indigestible to insects and bacteria. You don’t need fungicides and insecticides when you have healthy plants, when you’re producing healthy crops. All of the issues with aquifers and the ecosystem are by-products of what we call conventional ag.

We propose that by growing healthy plants you can actually sequester all the carbon necessary to reverse global warming fairly rapidly. If we were to, on a global scale, grow healthy food crops, we could sequester 15 parts per million of C02 per year.

So it’s the correlation between nutrient density in food and the reversing of a number of apparently intransigent social, environmental, and political human health issues. It’s really very exciting, we can solve these problems. If we just ate food that tastes good we would solve these problems.

FT: What is one major change in the food system that could increase the nutrient density of our food supply?

DK: I think if consumers had the ability to test the quality of the foods they purchase that would be all we would need. If consumers had the ability to, at point of purchase, choose between the three bags of carrots available the one that was most nutritious, and then they could use their economic power to inspire the supply chain to focus on quality as opposed to aesthetics, we could drive the solutions through that one point.

That’s what we’re focusing on because it feels like it’s the most plausible, it’s founded on transparency, empiricism, and empowerment. We’re not trying to convince federal agencies or governmental bodies or big corporations in any kind of adversarial way. We’re simply giving consumers the ability to choose the food that tastes good to them.

You know, if you have a carrot that tastes bitter, you’re not going to eat it, especially if you’re a three year old. If you have a carrot that tastes like a wonderful carroty flavor, you will want to eat it, even if you’re a three year old. So if we can provide growers the skills and consumers the understanding to choose the food that tastes good, our thought is that simple economic leverage will drive the solutions we’re looking for.

Your Voice - Your Future - Your Opportunity

Dear Supporter,

Every five years, America's farmers and ranchers have the opportunity to represent ourselves, our farms, and our communities by taking part in USDA's Census of Agriculture—and 2017 is a census year!

For farmers and ranchers, especially young and beginning farmers and ranchers, participation in the 2017 Ag Census is a critical opportunity to shape American agriculture for years to come. The Ag Census is the only source of uniform, comprehensive, and impartial agriculture data for every county in the nation. NYFC relies on this data to advocate for you and for policies, services, and programs that support young farmers!

Please sign up to take the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Make sure you're counted! 

If you're new to farming or did not receive a Census of Agriculture in 2012, you MUST SIGN UP BY JUNE 30th in order to complete the 2017 Census. 

NASS defines a farm as "any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year (2017)." To sign up, click the button below.
 

https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts/

The census report form will not be mailed out until December 2017, but in order to receive it you MUST SIGN UP BY JUNE 30th. 

If you took the 2012 Census of Agriculture, you should receive the 2017 census without signing up again.

With thanks,

Lindsey Lusher Shute

Executive Director and Co-founder
National Young Farmers Coalition

 follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | follow on Instagram

Copyright ©  2017 National Young Farmers Coalition. All rights reserved. 

NATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS COALITION
PO BOX 1074, Hudson, NY 12534
 

 

 

7 Innovative Solutions That'll Help Us Combat Climate Change & Give Us A Chance At Survival

7 Innovative Solutions That'll Help Us Combat Climate Change & Give Us A Chance At Survival

 ANJALI BISARIA 

MAY 10, 2017

If there ever was a time to innovate, it is now. 

The threat of climate change has sprung several architects and designers into action to devise alternatives that work for everyone. Most of these ideas will be taken to fruition in the future to counter every ill-effect caused by global warming.

These 7 solutions will tackle sea level rises, greenhouse emissions, and the changes in rainfall and temperatures. Based on revolutionary technologies, these solutions will give us hope for survival.

1. Skyscrapers that rotate

A building that can self-sustain using the energies present in nature has to be one of the most intelligent solutions to climate change. 

DYNAMIC ARCHITECTURE GROUP

Already under construction in Dubai, a rotating skyscraper designed by David Fisher will power itself with terrace-mounted solar panels and 79 horizontal wind turbines that will be placed between every storey. The focus here is on solar-powered panels wherein the energy will be clean and devoid of emission.

2. Crops that beat the heat

Traditionally, selective breeding methods have helped crops adapt to different climates. But the need to have drought- and heat-resistant crops is the need of the hour. 

BLACK GOLD

Scientists believe that genetic engineering is a great solution for driving characteristics from drought-tolerant species and introducing them into crops. While drought-resistance varieties of maize are being tested in Canada, drought-tolerant wheat is being tested in Egypt.

3. Skyscrapers that are farms

Climate change is making it difficult for crops to grow in a healthy environment and to slow the pace of this disintegration, vertical farms are one of the best ideas anyone has had in a very long time. 

PAWEL LIPIŃSKI AND MATEUSZ FRANKOWSKI

Vertical gardens with hundreds of species of plants have already become a reality in places like Bengaluru and China. Now the focus is on the farms - one is being planned in Africa where a skyscraper of crops will aim to bring Green Revolution to the sub-Saharan Africa. 

But what these farms will really achieve is this - solar-powered lighting, healthy crop cultivation, protection of crops from floods and droughts, and prevention of water and resource wastage.

4. Air conditioners that use solar energy

In a resource limited world that is being consistently pushed into the arms of climate change, we need to think bigger and better. To that end, solar-empowered air conditioners are the next big change we must accept. 

INFO-OGRZEWANIE

Solar-enabled air conditioners continue to cool even when the sun is at its peak and even provide hot water. By using thermal energy, the system compresses air that sprays refrigerant out of a jet. In the process, once this refrigerant evaporates, it sucks in heat. 

5. Houses that float

The sea level is expected to rise by a metre or more by the year 2100. Taking that into consideration, low-lying areas such as Bangladesh, Australia, and the Netherlands will face great peril. 

INHABITAT

Scientists think that houses, communities, and even cities will be "rethought" so that they can withstand a dangerous rise in the sea level. The Netherlands has created what is known as amphibious homes that are anchored to a vertical pile and come equipped with hollow concrete cubes giving the houses the buoyancy they need to withstand a five-metre rise in the sea levels. 

6. Artificial glaciers

Our glaciers are melting and cracking with alarming speed, aiding toward the rise in sea level and dwindling the supply to agricultural lands. Chewang Norphel, who is a retired civil engineer, came up with a genius idea to use artificial glaciers to keep the water supply alive especially in summers.

INDIEGOGO

A resident of Ladakh, Norphel's system pumps water into shallow pools that have rocky embankments. In winters, these pools freeze and once water is added, they gradually form a sheet of ice. In summers, the water melts and aids the sowing of crops. 

7. Cities that float

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut's intelligent design for a floating city has grabbed eyeballs. His floating sustainable city will be based on a giant lily pad, which according to Callebaut, will win us our fight against rising sea levels. 

VINCENT CALLEBAUT

This floating city will be home to 50,000 climate refugees. It will help in collecting their own rainwater into a centralised lake system which in turn will help in generating power from renewable sources such as the wind, waves, and solar power. 

Climate change is a challenge that needs to be tackled head-on but that effort just can't be the responsibility of a few. We must join forces to either take forward these initiatives or come up with our own solutions to extend the life of our beautiful planet. 

A Farm Beneath BC Hydro Power Lines In Langley?

Plans call for cultivation of urban agriculture along the 23 acre (9.4 ha) BC Hydro transmission right-of-way between 200 Streets next to the Uplands Off-Leash Dog Park in Langley City. Undated Bing.com image

A Farm Beneath BC Hydro Power Lines In Langley?

Urban agriculture proposed for City site

• Wed May 3rd, 2017 12:00pm

The land beneath the BC Hydro lines that run through South Langley City could make a fine urban farm.

The City of Langley, along with the Metro Vancouver regional authority and Kwantlen Polytechnic University have announced plans for a Langley Urban Agriculture Demonstration Project.

If the project proceeds, it will bring urban agriculture to the 23 acre (9.4 ha) BC Hydro transmission right-of-way between 200 Street and 204 Street, next to the Uplands Off-Leash Dog Park.

The planning process will take 12 months.

It will begin with a community open house scheduled for May 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Alice Brown Elementary School gym at 20011 44 Avenue.

“This project aims to bring compatible urban farming to a power line corridor in an established single family residential neighbourhood,” said Roy Beddow, deputy director of Development Services and Economic Development at the City of Langley.

“In addition to demonstrating the potential for local food production, the project will also create community partnerships and educational opportunities while enhancing amenity values in a utility corridor.”

“Reconnecting urban and suburban dwelling Canadians with core food system activities- including ecologically sustainable farming – and facilitating greater understanding and appreciation of their relationship with the land is imperative for our sustainable, resilient future,” said Kent Mullinix, Director of Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

For more information about the Langley Urban Agriculture Demonstration Project, visit city.langley.bc.ca.

Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones: Four Years In

Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones: Four Years In

By Eli Zigas, Food and Agriculture Policy Director

May 1, 2017

Photo by Eli Zigas

The Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act will turn four years old this fall, and the California Legislature is now considering extending its statutory life. Conceived in 2013, the act — also known as AB 551 — allows cities and counties to provide landowners with a property tax deduction in exchange for committing their land to urban agricultural use for at least five years. When it was passed, the bill included a sunset provision that would stop any new property tax reduction under the program in 2019, unless the legislature voted to extend it. This session, the legislature is considering a 10-year extension to allow the existing programs more time to develop and give other jurisdictions more time to start incentive programs.  

SPUR was a strong supporter of the original legislation and supports its extension as well, as the program provides a way for some urban agriculture projects to have another avenue to access land and secure land tenure.   

Since its passage, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Santa Clara County opted into the program and passed local laws establishing urban agriculture incentive zones. San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oceanside and Chula Vista are currently in the process of establishing their own zones or considering doing so.

The impact of the legislation has been more modest than anticipated. SPUR contacted all the jurisdictions that had urban ag incentive zones earlier this year and found four parcels across three cities that were currently under contract. For the city gardens and farms on those sites  — including the 18th and Rhode Island Garden in San Francisco and Valley Verde in San Jose — the incentive is providing either access to land or a greater sense of land security than the gardens otherwise might have. For cities and counties, the loss in property tax revenue has been minimal — in all but one case less than $7,000 per year. The fact that only a few property owners and projects have taken advantage of the incentive, and that jurisdictions continue moving forward on implementation, supports the idea of giving the program more time to see how the programs develop.

The extension bill —AB 465 — has already passed the Assembly Local Government and Agriculture committees with unanimous support. It now moves to more committees in the legislature and, if successful, to the governor’s desk in the fall. Given the low cost of establishing urban agriculture incentive zones and the continued interest from advocates and cities, extending the program through 2029 makes sense and SPUR is hopeful that it will pass.

28 Inspiring Urban Agriculture Projects

28 Inspiring Urban Agriculture Projects

Around 15 percent of the world’s food is now grown in urban areas. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), urban farms already supply food to about 700 million residents of cities, representing about a quarter of the world’s urban population. By 2030, 60 percent of people in developing countries will likely live in cities.

At Food Tank, we are amazed by the efforts of hundreds of urban farms and gardens to grow organic produce, cultivate food justice and equity in their communities, and revitalize urban land. Urban agriculture not only contributes to food security, but also to environmental stewardship and a cultural reconnection with the land through education.

The Urban Food Policy Pact (UFPP), to be signed on World Food Day, will address the potential of cities to contribute to food security through urban agriculture. A technical team of 10 members organized physical and virtual workshops with many of the 45 cities participating in the Pact, and drafted a Framework for Action that includes 37 provisions covering the themes of governance, food supply and distribution, sustainable diets and nutrition, poverty alleviation, food production and food and nutrient recovery.

“The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize the importance of building sustainable cities,” says Maurizio Baruffi, Chief of Staff of the Mayor of Milan, Italy. “The City of Milan is partnering with urban areas around the world to embark on this journey, starting from food.”

Do you want to discover urban agriculture projects in your own city, or are you interested in visiting farms during your travels to new urban areas? Check out these inspiring projects, and find even more links to urban agriculture projects below.

Abalimi

Abalimi is an urban agriculture and environmental action group located outside of Capetown, South Africa. The organization supports and assists groups and individuals looking to improve their livelihoods through organic farming.

Alternatives’ Feeding Citizenship

A nonprofit that promotes social and environmental justice in Montreal, Canada, Alternatives’ Feeding Citizenship is growing healthy food to fuel healthy communities. The project engages the community through horticultural training programs while supporting school and neighborhood gardens.

Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students  (BUGS)

An after-school and summer program, BUGS provides children from low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland with a safe place for learning. Kids can garden, visit local farms, and try new foods while improving math and reading skills as well as exploring creative entrepreneurial projects.

Camino Verde

Located in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Camino Verde’s mission is to plant trees and encourage environmental stewardship through educational programs and public awareness. The project’s Living Seed Bank acts as a botanical garden with over 250 tree species and protects endangered varieties. Camino Verde has planted over 70 different fruit trees, 40 flowering species, and enough trees to cover seven hectares of land.

Canberra City Farm

Serving communities in Canberra, Australia, Canberra City Farms is dedicated to establishing learning hubs where people can collaborate and share their knowledge of sustainable and environmentally responsible food production.

Compost Pedallers

A 100 percent bike-powered compost recycling project in Austin, Texas, Compost Pedallers strives to reduce waste, strengthen the local food system, and connect the community with farms. Residents can sign up to redirect organic waste to local farms and gardens through the bicycle-powered network.

Detroit Dirt

Detroit Dirt is a compost company that helps complete the “circle of life” in food production by regenerating waste into resources. Through partnerships with community coffee houses and local businesses, the organization is hoping to instill a self-sustaining culture of recycling organic waste and provide a valuable resource to urban farms and gardens in Detroit.

Ferme de Paris

A municipal organic farm nestled in an expansive park, Ferme de Paris provides the public with vegetable gardens, orchards, medicinal plant gardens and a number of farm animals housed in sustainably-constructed buildings. City residents can even stay to volunteer if they want to.

Fresh & Local

Fresh & Local is looking to use urban agriculture to improve the health and wellbeing of Mumbai. The organization takes underutilized spaces and transforms them into places of community empowered food production.

Frisch vom Dach (Fresh from the Roof)

An aquaponics project starting on the rooftop of a former malt factory in Berlin, Germany, Frisch vom Dach uses nutrients from aquaculture to irrigate plants in a mostly closed loop.

Green Machine Mobile Food Market

A collaborative project among a number of organizations in Memphis, Tennessee, the Green Machine Mobile Food Market uses a bus to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to almost 400 customers in the food deserts of South Memphis.

Grignon Energie Positive

Grignon Energie Positive, located in Paris, France, is an experimental farm run by the AgroParisTech program for sustainable development. The farm is working to reduce energy inputs by developing techniques that minimize its carbon footprint while growing enough organic food to feed between 5,500 and 8,000 people annually.

Grow City

Grow City is a nonprofit in San Francisco, California that works to amend the way people consider the division between urban and rural to build a “more secure, sustainable, and fair” food system.

Huerto Tlatelolco

An edible forest in Mexico City, Mexico with 45 tree varieties, a seed bank, and a large section of bio-intensive gardening, Huerto Tlatelolco was created with the objective of building the local community.

La Finca del Sur

A nonprofit farming cooperative in the South Bronx, New York, La Finca del Sur is led by Latina and black women. By empowering minority women through economic and food stability, the project is contributing to social and political equity in an underserved area.

The Last Organic Outpost

The Last Organic Outpost is a research farm that teaches sustainable agriculture techniques to residents of Houston, Texas. The project targets underserved areas and supports local farmers so they can develop a safe, healthy local food economy.

Local Sprout

An urban farm in San Antonio, Texas, Local Sprout grows fresh fruits and vegetables year-round using a hydroponic growing system. The project aims to contribute to food security, provide education, and reduce environmental impact.

Marathon Urban Farm

Marathon Restaurants, a small, sustainably minded chain in Philadelphia, now sources its fresh, organic produce from Marathon Urban Farm. The farm is revitalizing urban land and providing workshops on cooking and composting.

Mazingira Institute

The Mazingira Institute provides training and support for urban farmers in Nairobi, Kenya. The NGO has trained about three thousand urban farmers and organized youth and women’s hubs.

Natural Sound Agriculture and Craft Education

Natural Sound Agriculture and Craft Education is a private enterprise that offers educational opportunities about agriculture and food crafts to increase knowledge about urban gardening, sustainable agriculture, and traditional skills like beekeeping, mushroom growing, and brick-making.

O’Hare International Airport Urban Garden

At the Rotunda Building of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, 26 vertical, aeroponic towers house herbs, greens, and tomatoes. The project also raises animals that mow the property’s lawn.

Pasona O2

An urban farm in Tokyo that grows over 100 types of produce indoors, underground, and on the exterior walls of the nine-story office-style building, Pasona O2 has been described as technologically intensive.

The People’s Potato

Located in Montreal, Canada, The People’s Potato is a neighborhood collective providing garden and greenhouse space for community members. Volunteers grow and distribute organic produce to the surrounding community and distribute vegan meals through a food bank. The People’s Potato maintains an educational program in the form of monthly workshops and an affordable Good Food Box program.

ReVision Urban Farm

ReVision Urban Farm is a community-based urban agriculture project that grows nutritious, culturally appropriate food for residents of its family home and the Boston community. The project also teaches locals about healthy eating and offers job training for youth and the homeless in the area.

Roosevelt Row Growhouse

Roosevelt Row Growhouse is a revitalization initiative from two artists that transformed a vacant, dilapidated property into a learning center for urban desert vegetable farming, sustainable living, healthy eating, and edible landscaping in Phoenix, Arizona.

SoCal Urban Farms

An urban farm and San Diego-based company that creates and distributes small-scale vertical gardens, SoCal Urban Farms aims to help anyone produce sustainable and healthy food, even with minimal space and poor soil.

Urban Farms of Central Ohio  (UFCO)

A nonprofit organization formed by the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, UFCO transforms vacant or under-utilized land into community gardens to generate a sustainable source of food stability for underserved communities.

The Washington Youth Garden (WYG)

WYG is a community garden that teaches science, environmental stewardship, and nutrition to youth in Washington, D.C. through hands-on gardening experience.

These are just a few examples from a cornucopia of urban agriculture projects happening in these cities. To learn more, read the full lists here:

• Austin
• Baltimore
• Berlin
• Boston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Columbus
• Dallas
• Detroit
• Frieburg
• Houston
• Memphis
• Mexico City
• Montreal
• Mumbai
• New York City
• Paris
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• San Antonio
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Tokyo
• Washington DC

What innovative urban agriculture projects are getting started in your city?

Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Lower Food Miles

Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Lower Food Miles

SUBMITTED BY VIVEK PRASAD  ON TUE, 05/02/2017

CO-AUTHORS: IFTIKHAR MOSTAFA

Millions of urban dwellers cultivate vegetables and fruit trees in home gardens, both for their families and for sale. In Dakar, 7500 households “grow their own” in micro-gardens. In Malawi, 700 000 urban residents practice home gardening to meet their food needs and earn extra income. Low-income city gardeners in Zambia make US$230 a year from sales. In cities like Bamako, Accra and Kumasi, depending on crop and season, between 60 and 100 per cent of leafy vegetables consumed are produced within the respective cities with employment figures ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 jobs. Even megacities such as Shanghai, with about 15% population growth per year, one of the fastest growing cities on the planet, maintains its urban farming as an important part of its economic system.

Farm plots amidst apartment blocks in Chaozhou, China

Around 15 percent of the world’s food is now grown in urban areas. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), urban farms already supply food to about 700 million residents of cities, representing about a quarter of the world’s urban population.    

Most cities in developing countries are facing challenges to create formal job opportunities. Urban agriculture can play an important role not only in enhancing food security but also in contributing to the eco-system - improved nutrition, poverty alleviation, local economic development and job creation as well as productive reuse of urban wastes.

Cuba has a system of urban organic farms called Organopónicos, which provides a fresh supply of organic food to the community, neighborhood improvement, beautification of urban areas, as well as employment opportunities. Cuba has more than 7,000 organopónicos, with some 200 gardens in Havana alone, covering more than 35,000 hectares of land, which supply its citizens with 90% of their fruit and vegetables. In Havana, 117,000 jobs in Havana and income for 150,000 low income families were directly provided by urban and peri-urban agriculture.

In Cagayan de Oro City, the Philippines, 9 percent of the economically active population were employed in agriculture. There were 13,000 farmers in the peri-urban area; 40 per cent of all households maintained backyard gardens and 70 per cent of the city’s demand for fish was produced within the city.

In Mumbai India, a Vertical Farming Association has been formed to promote vertical farming and aeroponics, air-based plant growing that requires no soil, no sunlight (LEDs are used instead) and dramatically less water — roughly 95 percent — than conventional growing methods. The targeted groups for his mission are builders, real-estate people, food industry, green house owners, industrialists, and bankers, who own buildings with large roof space.

A sizable area of Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka and its periphery are engaged in agricultural activities. For example, the business district of Tejgaon in the center of Dhaka has 38 per cent of the land available for agriculture. In addition, about 10 square kilometer of rooftops within the Dhaka City Corporation are vacant and potentially could be used for urban food production.

In developed countries urban agriculture can contribute to the reduction of 'food miles' - with local distribution via farmers' markets and specialized shops. In South London, United Kingdom, Growing Underground is a 7,000 square feet urban farm, which is housed in a network of dark and dingy tunnels originally built as air-raid shelters during World War II. Growing Underground limits the food miles by providing vegetables and salads to local wholesalers and restaurants in London. Similarly in Newark, New Jersey, USA, a 69,000 square-foot former steel factory has been converted into the world's largest urban farm.

Growing Underground, an urban farm in a tunnel.

Urban agriculture has potential for not only to provide fresh and nutritious food for urban consumers but also to create more and better jobs faster for growing youth population. For urban agriculture to play such an instrumental role, appropriate policy instruments must ensure that the sector functions well. Furthermore, strong institutional capacity at all levels of national economies will be needed to deal with challenges that arise from urban agriculture.

2018 Farm Bill Is Enormous Opportunity For Urban Agriculture

2018 Farm Bill Is Enormous Opportunity For Urban Agriculture

 APRIL 19, 2017BRIAN FILIPOWICH 2

By Brian Filipowich, Director of Public Policy at The Aquaponics Association

About every five years the Federal Government passes a massive, far-reaching “Farm Bill” with the main aim of providing an adequate national supply of food and nutrition. The Bill affects all facets of the U.S. food system including nutrition assistance, crop subsidies, crop insurance, research, and conservation. The 2014 Farm Bill directed the spending of about $450 billion.

Unfortunately, in recent decades, the Farm Bill has become a boondoggle for “corporate mega-farms”; multi-billion dollar operations that control vast acreage. The Farm Bill has failed to provide commensurate assistance to urban farmers. In effect, our government is using our tax dollars to give an advantage to corporate mega-farms over our small urban farms. Sad.

For example, the Farm Bill is the main reason high-fructose corn syrup is so cheap and loaded into 70% of food in the grocery store. In his book, Food Fight: The Citizens Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill, Daniel Imhoff writes: “Fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains – the foods most recommended by the USDA dietary guidelines – are largely ignored by Farm Bill policies.”

The Farm Bill has provided us a large, reliable quantity of food, but a food system racked with economic consolidation, environmental damage, and poor health outcomes.

The Urban Agriculture community has a great opportunity to shape the 2018 Farm Bill for two big reasons: 1) we offer benefits that appeal to politicians across the political spectrum, and 2) the public is already with us on this issue, ahead of the politicians.

Urban Agriculture boasts the following benefits that politicians love to hear:

• Year-round controlled-environment jobs and local economic growth;
• More fresh food to improve our diets and lower healthcare costs;
• Less waste from food spoilage and food transport; and
• Better food security.

The American consumers’ spending habits show that they are ahead of the politicians on this issue: Consumer Reports found an average price premium of 47% on a sample of 100 USDA Organic products. If folks are willing to pay 47% more for organic, then they are also willing to call their representative’s office, attend a town hall meeting, and show up at the ballot box. The energy to make the change already exists, we just need to channel it.

We have already seen the first step to shifting the Farm Bill toward our direction: Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, recently introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016. The goal for the Act is to be eventually included as its own Title of the 2018 Farm Bill.

Here are some provisions of the Act:

• expands USDA authority to support urban farm cooperatives;
• makes it easier for urban farms to apply for USDA farm programs;
• explores market opportunities and technologies for lowering energy and water use;
• expands USDA loan programs to cover urban farm activities;
• provides an affordable risk management tool for urban farms to protect against crop losses;
• creates a new urban agriculture office to provide technical assistance; and
• expands resources to research, test, and remediate contaminated urban soils.

In Washington, DC, change is sometimes painfully slow. Positive changes for Urban Agriculture are by no means a foregone conclusion, especially in our unpredictable political environment. Politicians need to see that this issue will move votes.

So let’s stress our message and get the word out now, the politicians are ready to listen. Urban Agriculture offers jobs; fresh food and better health; less waste; and better food security. The legislative soil is fertile my agricultural amigos, now it’s our job to plant the seeds of an urban-friendly Farm Bill!

One way to stay involved is to sign up for the Aquaponics Association’s 2018 Farm Bill Coalition. Or there are many other groups that will be getting involved, including a few listed below.

Here’s some related resources to learn more:

• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Farm Bill Primer
• Haas Institute: The U.S. Farm Bill; Corporate Power and Structural Racialization in the United States
• Food Tank, the Think Tank for Food
• Association for Vertical Farming
• Congressional Research Service 2014 Farm Bill: Summary and Side-by-Side
• Congressional Research Service The Role of Local Food System in U.S. Farm Policy
• The Atlantic: Overhauling the Farm Bill; the Real Beneficiaries of Subsidies

Brian Filipowich
Director of Public Policy
The Aquaponics Association

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The Global Food Innovation Summit

The Global Food Innovation Summit

Former President Obama to Speak At The Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit

Former President Obama to Speak At The Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit

The 44th United States President Barack H. Obama will be the guest of honor at the 2017 Seeds&Chips Global Food Innovation Summit. Obama will be a keynote speaker on Tuesday, May 9, and will also discuss food and agriculture on a panel with Sam Kass, Senior Food Policy Advisor to President Obama and promoter of the White House’s health-conscious revolution.

This four-day Summit will bring together hundreds of business leaders, academics, investors, policymakers, and agricultural experts to discuss innovation from farm to table, where food and technology meet, in Milano, Italy, from May 8 to 11, 2017.

In-depth sessions will range from hi-tech topics, such as applications of 3D printing in food, to marketing, such as the impact of millennials on innovation. Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg will also be speaking at the Seeds&Chips Summit as a distinguished guest.

The Global Food Innovation Summit is presented in collaboration with TUTTOFOOD. Purchase tickets to attend Seed&Chips for 20 percent off, with the promo code FoodTankSAC17.

Invitation to Europes Largest Exhibition & Conference Showcasing Sustainable Agriculture Technology

Invitation to Europes Largest Exhibition & Conference Showcasing Sustainable Agriculture Technology

Build An Apartment Building. Save A farm. This Program’s Doing Both

The historic Reise Farm, at the intersection of Military Road and the Orting Highway. It will be kept as a farm because of the transfer of development rights to the new Stadium Apartments. Peter Haley phaley@thenewstribune.com

MATT DRISCOLL

MAY 01, 2017 1:43 PM

Matt Driscoll: Build An Apartment Building. Save A farm. This Program’s Doing Both

BY MATT DRISCOLL

mdriscoll@thenewstribune.com

On a recent rainy Wednesday afternoon, Amy Moreno-Sills and I are in one of the greenhouses on her 126-acre farm near Orting.

“I’m going to check for some aphids while we’re at it,” she tells me, inspecting rows of upstart tomato plants.

The fledgling tomatoes, and some peppers next to them, will soon make their way to the fields that Moreno-Sills and her husband, Agustin Moreno, have farmed since last year. The organic vegetables they produce here will eventually find their way to places like the Orting Farmers Market, or will be wholesaled to local outfits like Marlene’s Market, Valley Farms, Terra Organics and Charlie’s Produce.

The couple met on a farm, and doing this work, Moreno-Sills tells me, is “a labor of love.”

“It’s part of my identity,” she says. “I’m not happy when I’m not doing it.”

IT’S PART OF MY IDENTITY. I’M NOT HAPPY WHEN I’M NOT DOING IT.

Amy Moreno-Sills, talking about farming

That was the case in 2015, when, despite their best efforts, the couple couldn’t find farmland in Pierce County to call their own. Over the decades, farmland in Pierce County has been disappearing. And much of what remains — thanks to extreme development pressure for housing and warehouse space — is too expensive for new farmers to get their hands on.

“There was nothing available, really at any price. You have to move on,” Moreno-Sill recalls of 2015.

She calls access to farmland “the number one problem” for folks like her.

But this farm is different. Dating back more than 100 years, Moreno-Sills and her husband work the land of the historic Reise Farm, producing organic produce and you-pick blueberries on the first farm in Pierce County protected through the transfer of development rights. It’s called TDR.

Admittedly, the process through which the Reise Farm has been protected — in this case, largely through the work of PCC Farmland Trust, which now owns the Reise Farm and leases it to Moreno-Sills and her husband — can sound a bit wonky. But Nicholas Bratton, a policy director at the regional sustainability nonprofit Forterra described it, in layman’s terms, as “a market-driven approach” to protecting farmland throughout the county.

“Before TDR, landowners had two real estate options: keep farming or sell their land outright - often for development,” Bratton said. “This creates a third choice: farmers can now realize some of the value of their property while retaining ownership and continuing to farm. It’s a win for everyone.”

One of the reasons farmland has become so expensive, and thus difficult to acquire, is because of the development rights that are typically attached to it. These rights allow the land’s owner, or a potential developer, to build homes or warehouses where working farms once stood. This drives up the price and sometimes tempts land owners to cash in on the ballooning value of their fields, trading a farm’s agricultural future for a sizable check.

Through a partnership between the county, the city of Tacoma, and based on the policy work of Forterra, what Pierce County’s TDR program utilizes is the sale of just the development rights attached to working farms, preserving the land’s agricultural use. The development rights are purchased, at market rate, removing the possibility that a valuable farm will one day become tract housing, while a conservation easement protects a farm’s future as a farm.

This process allows landowners to profit from the sale of the development rights, while the farmland is permanently protected, and the future price of the land is lowered — making it accessible to farmers like Moreno-Sills.

She calls the program “the only reason we can farm here.”

RELATED STORIES FROM THE NEWS TRIBUNE

Transfer deal preserves farm, allows Stadium apartment building to grow

It didn’t take long for Tony Carino, a member of the family of developers behind the planned Stadium Apartments, near Stadium Thriftway and across the street from the new Rhein Haus Tacoma German restaurant, to see the appeal of the city’s TDR program.

“When I was 20 years old, I had a backpack, and … we were backpacking around Europe,” Carino recalled. “What I was most surprised by … is how you could get on a bus or train in a city that’s hundreds of years old, and you just get a few minutes outside town and it’s still all farm land, compared to us — it’s all this sprawl.”

“That was 34 year ago, and it still stuck,” he said.

Having grown up in the area, Carino understands the importance of preserving local farmland. But, as a developer, he was also in a position to benefit from Tacoma’s TDR program.

On the county level, the sale of development rights is incentivized, allowing developers — like Carino — to purchase them and then trade them in for increases in height or floor area ratio in their projects here in Tacoma. To make it easier on developers, Pierce County — which has a TDR agreement with the city of Tacoma — operates a “bank” where development rights are purchased and stockpiled, creating a one-stop shopping experience for developers. (King and Snohomish counties have similar TDR programs.)

At its most basic, Tacoma and Pierce County’s TDR program, according to Tacoma planner Ian Munce, accomplishes two worthy goals: It preserves farmland in key agricultural areas, ensuring that working farms forever remain working farms, while simultaneously promoting density in the urban core.

Though Tacoma and Pierce County’s efforts to establish a TDR program date back years, to the Great Recession, Carino became the first developer to actually take advantage of it, purchasing the development rights on about 20 acres of the Reise Farm, and trading that in for permission to build taller at his Stadium District project. The transaction allowed for 21 additional units at Carino’s project.

FOR THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT, IT REALLY HELPED THE BUILDING PENCIL OUT MUCH EASIER.

Tacoma developer Tony Carino

“For the size of the project, it really helped the building pencil out much easier,” Carino told me. “Two or three other developers had (considered building on) the property before us, and they couldn’t make it pencil. (The TDR program) gave us an edge over them.”

“Developers are very risk averse, they don’t want to try something new,” Carino said. “But it was very simple. The city and the county did 90 percent of the legwork.”

While Carino may have been the first Tacoma developer to take advantage of the city’s TDR program, he won’t be the last. A Koz Development project at South 17th and Market streets is also using it for extra density.

“We’ve had conversations with three or four projects that are pretty far along that are interested in doing the same thing,” Munce said.

So far, according to Forterra Conservation Director Jordan Rash, five farms, nearly 500 acres of farmland, have been protected using the county’s TDR program.

“As long as we’re seeing more mixed-use, multi-family buildings, we’re going to see more interest in TDRs,” Munce said. “We’re looking at a 20-year initiative, talking hundreds if not thousands of TDRs, if we can get this program off the ground.”

Back on the fertile land Moreno-Sills farms, the impact of Pierce County’s TDR program is not lost on her.

Gazing out over her 120 acres, hoping for a break in the rain and looking forward to this season’s crops, she’s thankful for the opportunity to be here, thankful for the security the TDR program has provided, and thankful to again be doing what she loves.

“As long as we’re good farmers and good business owners, it’s secure. That’s one of the main reasons we’re able to so heavily invest in startup costs,” she tells me as we walk past a row of peas. “Because we know we have long-term access to this land.”

“I mean, it’s a big deal,” she says.

Matt Driscoll: 253-597-8657, mdriscoll@thenewstribune.com, @mattsdriscoll

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article147934764.html#storylink=cpy

Autogrow Announces Its Support Of A Global Indoor Agriculture Hub In Kennett Township, Pennsylvania

Autogrow Announces Its Support Of A Global Indoor Agriculture Hub In Kennett Township, Pennsylvania

AUCKLAND, NZ – Today Autogrow, a major supplier of automated control systems for indoor agriculture facilities, announced its support for a major public-private initiative to develop a global indoor agriculture production, research, training, and service hub on the US East Coast, to be located in Kennett Township, Pennsylvania. 

According to Darryn Keiller, CEO of Autogrow, “Kennett is already the center of the US mushroom industry, producing about 1.5M lbs. of fresh product every day, all grown indoors and delivered within 48 hours of picking to markets across North America via Kennett’s extensive ‘cold-chain’ infrastructure of refrigerated packing, storage, and shipping facilities. Over the coming years, that unique infrastructure is likely to attract many new facilities growing other indoor crops, such as leafy greens. This alone makes Kennett a huge potential market for our control systems.” 

“But that’s just the beginning of our interest in Kennett’s very innovative initiative,” continued Keiller. “Kennett is also working with a several of the region’s world-class agriculture, engineering and business schools to develop a joint indoor agriculture research, training, and innovation incubator center in Kennett, the first of its kind in a major indoor ag production area. This center will be a major asset to our rapidly evolving industry, and Autogrow very much wants to be a part of its development.” 

Michael Guttman, who directs the initiative for Kennett Township, explained that “it is very important to our initiative to attract innovative ag tech companies like Autogrow to help us grow and diversify our regional indoor ag industry. But Autogrow offers a lot more than just its state-of-the-art control systems. Autogrow also has a very forward-thinking strategy that can help us adapt our extensive infrastructure to incorporate emerging trends like the Internet of Things (IOT) and ‘big data,’ which will have a huge impact on how indoor agriculture is done in the future. Working together with Autogrow and our other partners, we hope to develop a blueprint not only for Kennett, but also for a network of similar indoor agriculture hubs around the world.” 

About Autogrow

Autogrow (www.autogrow.com) is a leading supplier of climate and automation control systems for indoor agriculture, building systems for everything from single compartment environments through to large-scale, fully-automated greenhouses. In the last few years, Autogrow, based in Auckland, NZ, has been at the forefront of new emerging developments from the US, Canada, UK and Asia in vertical growing, building conversion and shipping container based systems. 

About Kennett Township, Pennsylvania 

Kennett Township (www.kennett.pa.us) is a municipality in SE Pennsylvania, and historically the center of the 100+ year old US mushroom industry, with grows 500M pounds of fresh produce year-round exclusively in climate-controlled indoor facilities. Kennett Township is currently involved in a major initiative to diversify its economy by leveraging its already-extensive indoor agriculture infrastructure to create a world-class research, training and production hub for the whole indoor agriculture industry.

Apply To The Food Sustainability Media Award

Apply To The Food Sustainability Media Award

Applications are now open for the Food Sustainability Media Award, which aims increase the public’s awareness of food sustainability issues worldwide, find solutions, and encourage action. Launched by the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the award will recognize excellent professional and up-and-coming journalists from around the world who have focused their reporting on topics relating to food security, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition.

“With this award, we want to connect the everyday person with issues that are ultimately affecting all of us, and we believe media is the best route to make [this] happen,” says Monique Villa, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, in a BCFN press release.

BCFN and Thomson Reuters Foundation believe that the media can play an influential role in the way consumers think about and interact with food, helping to create a more sustainable and just global food system. With the Food Sustainability Media Award, they aim to highlight some of the major paradoxes that are impacting the global food system—such as hunger and obesity, food and fuel, and waste and starvation—as well as propose solutions and engage the public.

Entries to the Food Sustainability Media Award will be judged in three categories: written journalism, photography, and video. One published and one unpublished piece of work will be awarded in each category. Published work will receive a €10,000 (US$10,862) cash prize, while unpublished work will receive an all-expenses paid trip to attend a Thomson Reuters Foundation media training course on food sustainability. Unpublished entries will be distributed via the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the BCFN websites, and unpublished written work will also be distributed to the Reuters wire’s 1 billion readers.

Cassandra Waldron of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Ronaldo Ribeiro of National Geographic Brazil, Laurie Goering of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Olly Buston of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation are among the panel of nine experts and professionals in food and agriculture policy and research, journalism, and photography that will judge the shortlisted entries.

Applications are now open and entries can be submitted on the Sustainability Media Award’s website until May 31, 2017, at midnight (London time). Winners will be announced at the 2017 BCFN Food Forum. 

For more information on the entry guidelines for each category, click here.

Global Food Policy Report Spotlights Urbanization

Global Food Policy Report Spotlights Urbanization

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has released the 2017 Global Food Policy Report. It reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2016, and highlights challenges and opportunities for 2017 at both global and regional levels. This year’s report looks at the impact of rapid urban growth on food security and nutrition while considering how food systems can be transformed to improve the future. 

According to IFPRI, rapid urbanization and population growth are expected to put growing pressure on the global food system, which changes how countries must achieve the United Nation’s (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture.

A 2014 U.N. report states that by 2050, 66 percent of the population is projected to live in urban areas, bringing extra stress to agricultural production from things like environmental degradation, extreme weather conditions, and a lack of land to use for crops and livestock. Most of this urbanization will occur in developing countries, where some of the world’s largest cities are already found.

The 2017 Global Food Policy Report also presents data tables and visualizations for several key food policy indicators per country such as agricultural spending and research investment, projections for future agricultural production needs, and the current state of civilian hunger. The report asserts that the world must move forward with its commitments on the SDGs by strengthening the ties between rural and urban areas to end hunger and malnutrition.

The full report is broken up into chapters that highlight global food policies and investigates the impact of rapid urbanization on local and global food systems. Each one can be explored here. Together these chapters provide an overview of what we know about urbanization, food security, and nutrition and point to some of the most vital research and data needs.

A regional section in the report also expands upon food security in different areas around the globe. Most importantly, IFPRI suggests some policy changes countries and global leaders can implement to improve food security in the future.

In addition to detailed figures, tables, and a timeline of important food policy events in 2016, the report includes the results of a global survey on urbanization and the current state of food policy. More than 1,300 individuals representing more than 100 countries responded to the 2017 Global Food Policy Report’s survey. Seventy-three percent of respondents think the expansion of cities and urban populations will make it harder to ensure that everyone gets enough nutritious food to eat, and 60 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with both global food policies and progress in global food and nutrition security.

In the preface of the report, Shenggen Fan, Director General, explains IFPRI’s goals for this publication: “I hope this report is met with interest not only by policy makers who shape the food policy agenda, but also by business, civil society, and media, who all have a stake in food policies that benefit the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.”

IFPRI produced the Global Food Policy Report 2017 in collaboration with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bioversity International, and other partners.