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Meet The Green Man of Ludhiana Who Has Created Vertical Gardens Across City From Waste Plastic Bottles
A man has started turning plastic waste into vertical farms in order to recycle in a new way.
Aimed at reducing waste of plastic and also as an attempt to reduce air pollution, Mehra said under his instructions, the vertical gardens have come up in many places including schools, colleges, gurudwaras, churches, police stations, government offices and railway stations.
Using waste plastic, an IRS officer Rohit Mehra (in grey sweater) set up Vertical Gardens to tackle air pollution in Ludhiana. (Credit: ANI/Twitter)
In today's time when there is a huge need to recycle waste and reduce the use of plastic, Rohit Mehra, Additional Commissioner in the Income Tax Department, has shown an inspiring path to follow when he used 70 tonnes of discarded plastic bottles to act as planting pots for vertical gardens in Ludhiana.
Aimed at reducing waste of plastic and also as an attempt to reduce air pollution, Mehra said under his instructions, the vertical gardens have come up in many places including schools, colleges, gurudwaras, churches, police stations, government offices and railway stations.
Speaking to news agency ANI on Sunday, Mehra said, “Using at least 70 tonnes of waste plastic bottles as pots, we have set up more than 500 vertical gardens at public places.”
Speaking about what made him turn to this unique idea of using plastic, Mehra said he started thinking of the copious amount of plastic waste and pollution that plagues the cities when his child some 4 years ago, one fine day informed him that their school had declared holidays due to high air pollution. Mehra said he pondered how the situation has turned so bad that they cannot even breathe in fresh air and provide the same to their children. This made him take note of the worsening situation and he decided to do something about it.
Mehra, who is know as the Green Man of Ludhiana due to his conservation work at the trees, has also created 25 mini forests ranging between 500 sq feet to 4 acres in 2 years, along with the vertical gardens. To broaden his understanding of quick growing of trees, he studied ancient Indian texts like the Vrikshayurveda that talks about the science of growing plants and forest. He also stumbled across the Japanese technique of Miyawaki.
He added, “It is a cost-effective and space-efficient solution for urban greenery. The vertical gardens also save the environment as you reuse plastic wastes as pots. Thanks to drip irrigation, these gardens save 92 per cent water."
Mehra said that after the establishment of the vertical gardens, they had checked the air quality index (AQI) of the city by a scientist associated with the Punjab Agricultural University and found a 75 per cent reduction in air pollution, thus making their venture a success.
Des Moines, Iowa: Food Inflation Is Real And Growing
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, of the United Nations, during the month of November, its Food Price Index marked its largest month over month increase since 2012
Dec 04, 2020
by Dan Hueber
While it should come as no surprise to any of us involved in the commodity trade, but global food inflation is back. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, of the United Nations, during the month of November, its Food Price Index marked its largest month over month increase since 2012; it rose to the overall highest level since December of 2014. The index itself came in at 105, which was 4 points higher than October and was 6.4 points higher than the same month last year. For the month, the Cereal Price Index was up 2.7 points, Dairy was up .9 and the Meat Index up .9, the Sugar Index up 2.8 points, but the real gain was recorded in the Vegetable Oil Index, which gained a whopping 15.4 points. Rising palm oil values were the main driver in this rise, but soy, rapeseed, sunflower, and other veg. oils all contributed. I guess it only stands to reason that oil has lost the least of all grain/soy markets this week.
Needless to say, none of this has gone overlooked in China, and yesterday, the government drafted a new law concerning the oversight of grain reserves. Previously, the central government only tracked the central state stockpiles, but obviously, that will now be expanded to oversee local and regional inventories as well. The rationale for the change in policy given was “new situations and questions have arisen regarding grains reserves security administration, posing severe challenges to China’s grain stockpile security.” I guess this is saying; you local authorities have not been doing a good job, so it must be your fault that we have food price and availability concerns. It is tough to find good help these days.
We do have a little more corn business to report as we wrap up the week. The USDA reports that Mexico has purchased another 182k MT. There have been rumors circulating for the past few days that China has been purchasing more corn, but nothing has been confirmed. Regardless, it does not appear to be providing much support for now as we are staring at a lower close on the combination chart for the first time in the past five weeks.
The same cannot be said for the trade in the equity world. The S&P 500, the Dow Industrials, and Nasdaq are all on track to finish with record-high weekly closes, so optimism reigns supreme over there. The same cannot be said for the dollar though, as if we closed right now, it would be at the lowest point since April of 2018.
Food Waste To Indoor Farming Input: Re-Nuble Raises $1.1m Seed Funding
New York-based Re-Nuble is adopting yet another strategy: turning food waste into a way to grow more food. The company’s technology ‘upcycles’ organic compounds from unrecoverable vegetable food waste, generating water-soluble, organic, hydroponic nutrients for soilless farms
November 23, 2020
Startups are taking a diversity of approaches to tackle the issue of food waste. Phood is using hardware and software to measure and address waste in restaurant kitchens, while Clean Crop is targeting post-harvest wastage. Ambrosia turned leftovers into a household cleaning product while Full Harvest connects food producers with buyers to sell what would otherwise go to waste.
New York-based Re-Nuble is adopting yet another strategy: turning food waste into a way to grow more food. The company’s technology ‘upcycles’ organic compounds from unrecoverable vegetable food waste, generating water-soluble, organic, hydroponic nutrients for soilless farms.
“We haven’t seen anyone applying this to indoor or controlled environment ag,” Tinia Pina, Re-Nuble founder, and CEO, told AFN.
Pina’s inspiration for the business came from her stint working as a teacher in 2012, when she noticed a serious lack of healthy food options for her students. In her view, this affected their productivity – which had downstream implications for their future success. She saw an opportunity to wrap her interest in tamping down food waste into the venture, too.
Re-Nuble recently closed a $1.1 million seed round led by Global Sustainable Future. She1K, SOSV, SVG Ventures, WOCstar, and others participated in the round as well.
The fundraising process involved some education, Pina explained. Investors at first considered Re-Nuble’s need for a constant supply of food waste as a risk – but the former teacher taught them that there’s certainly no shortage.
“The other thing we had to really educate investors on was how food waste is handled differently region to region,” she said. “Agricultural economies are going to have different regulations. Here in New York, by 2022 a lot of the industrial and commercial food scraps or food waste generators have to divert to an organic recycler within 20 miles.”
Pina said she met with prospective investors all over the US, but ended up having most success raising from investors on the East Coast.
“[That’s] because I think the sophistication of seeing the potential with agtech, especially in the NYC metropolitan area, helped us. And, to be quite honest, I think the diversity of seeing a woman of color in agriculture. That is an anomaly in some states based on what I have experienced.”
The new funds will be used for typical seed-stage tasks like hiring, R&D, manufacturing, and general acceleration. Pina estimates the product market pipeline is worth at least $2 million.
Thanks to a lot of upfront diligence, Re-Nuble is confident that it has reached product-market fit and that securing customers won’t be too much of a challenge. The startup spent seven years studying different food waste characterizations and their biochemical reactions when applied under different environmental controls for a group of specialty crop varietals.
“We’ve been really drilling down and making sure the product works consistently in each type of farm, which is very different,” Pina said. “Some use deep water culture systems, some vertical farming systems are using tray racking systems and ebb and flow. Others are nutrient film techniques. We really wanted to spend the time to make sure that it is consistent in all farm types.”
In addition to its core nutrients product, Re-Nuble has also developed what it calls its ‘On-Site Food Waste Recovery System.’ This captures residual product waste — such as plant matter like vines, leaf cuttings, and perishable produce — as well as a farm’s wastewater for conversion into sterilized biostimulants and potable water. These byproducts are then reused for reduced water and agricultural input consumption.
The startup has faced some serious Covid-related challenges, according to Pina. It had a $500,000 loan rescinded that caused the team to completely redesign its manufacturing process, while also trying to work with manufacturing equipment under a cash-strapped budget.
“We’ve overcome that and we are now on pace to continue working with the farms that we’ve been doing case studies with, which we will release Q1 of next year,” she said. “That will definitely lead to growth and allow us to accelerate more farms getting access to our product.”
GUAM: Small Urban Farms Can Be An Oasis For Underserved Neighborhoods
Adrian Higgins | The Washington Post
October 15, 2020
I ate the last of the season's potatoes the other day, and it's not a bad harvest achievement when you consider I dug the lot in July from a bed no more than 15 feet long. I've eaten many meals over the summer where the bulk of my plate has come straight from my small community garden plot in the city.
It is amazing how much you can grow in a small space if the soil is good and you stay on top of tasks such as watering and weeding. But even in a pandemic-driven planting year full of homegrown potatoes, beans, and carrots, you have to face reality. If you relied on most urban veggie plots alone to feed yourself, never mind a large family, you'd be forever tightening your belt.
FLOWER GARDEN: Dominic Hosack, left, and Scott Kratz, of Building Bridges Across the River, take in the flower garden at the National Children's Center urban farm in Washington on Oct. 2. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post
This is why I've had my doubts about whether urban agriculture can meet the challenge where it is most needed: in poorer, food-insecure neighborhoods.
Rosie Williams is in charge of such a garden, in an expansive side lot of the National Children's Center, an early-learning and educational development provider in Southeast Washington.
The garden packs a lot in. There are almost 70 raised planter beds, each four by eight feet and filled with deep, rich soil. That's a lot of growing area; the beds generate bushels of edible plants for most of the year. A shed houses tools, a single beehive is active, a few fruit trees ring the area, and one side is devoted to little benches for little people. The center, which normally houses classes for 188 children up to age 5, has been closed because of the pandemic, though a limited reopening is in the works.
Williams, a teacher and the garden coordinator shows me cool-season veggies growing in the fall, young plants of kale, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, and red cabbage. In other planters, mature plants are seeing out the season in robust vigor. The most obvious is a single pepper plant – now taller than Williams – whose leaves hide unripe green chiles that hang like ornaments. This is a mighty hot pepper from Trinidad named Scorpion, she said, and I have no doubt that it has a sting in its tail.
Nearby, a Japanese eggplant is full of purple streaked fruit. Along another path, Williams stops to lift a wayward cherry tomato vine and places it back in its bed. "I don't like to step on my babies," she said.
Elsewhere, wizened sunflowers have had their day. "We bring the kids out, we show them how to plant seeds, what the plants need," she said. "It's getting folks exposed to the garden." Food from the garden is used in the center's kitchen.
Thus the children (and their families) get a sense that food comes from the soil. This is not so obvious a connection in Ward 8. In this corner of the capital of the United States, there is one full-service grocery store for 80,000 people, and access to something as basic as fresh vegetables is limited.
"We have a lack of grocery stores," said Jahni Threatt, the CSA market manager for the nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River. "In Wards 7 and 8, we have three grocery stores." Residents eat from fast-food chains or out of convenience stores and liquor stores. "The food that's available isn't necessarily healthy," she said. Under Community Supported Agriculture programs or CSAs, growers provide direct weekly harvests to subscribers.
'Through the lens of equity'
The Baby Boomers Urban Farm that Williams coordinates at the National Children's Center is one of seven in a network of city farms east of the Anacostia River, including a one-acre farm run by Threatt's organization at THEARC, the arts, education, and social services campus at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE.
This one farm produced as much as 1,600 pounds of food this year, but to provision its CSA program, the Building Bridges group turns to an additional 10 farms within 50 miles of the city, most of them Black-owned, said Scott Kratz, vice president.
AN OUTDOOR CLASSROOM: The urban farm functions as an outdoor classroom for almost 200 children and is a portal for sources of fresh vegetables for families in a predominantly Black area of Washington with just one grocery store. Here, the pollinator garden is shown on Oct. 2. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post
The CSA runs three seasons of subscriptions, and bags are picked up on Saturdays at THEARC. The spring season was canceled because of the pandemic, but the summer and fall ones have been heavily subscribed and will provide food for more than 400 families this year. The season has also been extended, from the end of this month to the end of next. Lower-income subscribers get a reduced rate, and families on assistance get the food free, Kratz said.
This is heartening because the pandemic has hit the city's poorest wards the hardest. Many residents have underlying health issues related in part to their diet, and many are front-line workers or rely on the gig economy, putting them at greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, Kratz said. Ward 8, which is 92% Black, so far has the highest number of virus deaths in the district, with 127, according to city-data. Ward 3, 81% White, had 34 for the same period.
"We need to make sure that the programming we have is coming through the lens of equity and making sure the access people need is available to everybody in the community," said Dominic Hosack, farm director of Building Bridges.
I am rethinking my sense that mini-farms in the city are of limited value. They are, rather, a key portal into a larger infrastructure of food-security efforts.
Beyond their utility, they are places of deep reconnection, to the soil, to food, and to communities. In the food deserts of big-city America, they are the oases.
Lead photo: CHECKING ON HER BABIES: Garden coordinator Rosie Williams checks a pepper plant at the National Children's Center urban farm in Washington in October 2020. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post
Tags Farm Rosie Williams Food Agriculture Gardening Vegetable Garden Plant Pepper Veggy
Virtual Class - GrowNYC Cooks with Chef David Stample - Sunday Aug 9, 16, 23, 30
Join Chef David Stample for a virtual farmers market cooking class and go behind-the-scenes of the world-famous network of GrowNYC's New York City Greenmarkets.
Join Chef David Stample for a virtual farmers market cooking class and go behind-the-scenes of the world-famous network of GrowNYC's New York City Greenmarkets.
Sunday, August 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
Noon and 6:00pm
Whether you're new to napa cabbage or authority in artichokes, GrowNYC Cooks will provide a fun, interactive, and informative guided cooking experience right in your own kitchen. After registering, participants will receive an ingredient list for shopping at your neighborhood farmers market or farmstand and will prepare the meal together during the class.
Chef David will be teaching how to cook simple and delicious go-to meals so ingredient lists are flexible and can be adapted for dietary restrictions or lack of availability,
Throughout the 1.5 hour class, held via Zoom on your computer, tablet, or mobile device, you will have the opportunity to meet the other 10-20 participants and chime in with cooking questions via video or chat - video participation is optional, but encouraged!
Each class will also be joined by a representative from GrowNYC's Food Access & Agriculture programs so, depending on the class, you will learn more about a number of topics, including how to make the most out of your farmers market shopping trip, tips on going zero-waste, cooking with whole grains and flours from the GrowNYC Grains project, farmers market varieties during peak season, and how to grow your own food.
Get your Mis En Place and let’s get cooking!
Interview With Eddy Badrina, CEO of Eden Green Technology
One company that is looking to take on the commercial agricultural industry is Eden Green Technology, a company based out of Texas that focuses on sustainability in the food industry
Josiah Motley · April 27, 2020 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/5018
A look at the vertical farming platform that uses tech to grow a variety of healthy foods
When we talk about technology, it's easy to focus on things like computers, smartphones, apps, and the growing number of smart gadgets found in our homes.
But technology is far-reaching and can influence and change traditional sectors quickly. One sector that may seem immune to the growing use of technology is the farming industry, but a quick look at what farm equipment is becoming can prove that wrong quickly (even if the transition is proving difficult for some).
One company that is looking to take on the commercial agricultural industry is Eden Green Technology, a company based out of Texas that focuses on sustainability in the food industry.
I had the chance to interview Eddy Badrina, CEO of the company, to learn a bit more about what they are doing, how they use technology, and how they envision the future of the agricultural industry.
Check it out below.
Care to introduce yourself and your role with Eden Green?
Sure. I'm Eddy Badrina, and I’m the CEO of Eden Green Technology.
In just a few sentences, what is Eden Green?
Eden Green Technology is a vertical farming platform that grows large quantities of local produce safely, sustainably, and efficiently. We use less land, energy, and water than both traditional farming and other indoor solutions.
Our greenhouses are constructed on small footprints, in urban or suburban areas, to provide stable jobs and produce non-GMO, pesticide-free produce, which goes from farm to table in as little as 48 hours, compared to the 14 days it usually takes under the traditional model.
What inspired the creation of the company?
The founders of Eden Green are brothers Jacques and Eugene van Buuren. They witnessed firsthand the effects of hunger in their native South Africa and thereafter dedicated themselves to helping feed the world.
They came to the US to secure investment, source talent, and experiment with their technological solutions in our diverse climates. They started in Texas, with its own extreme range of environmental considerations, agricultural know-how, and business opportunities, and built from there.
What types of produce can your vertical farms grow?
Our greenhouses can grow 50+ varieties of produce, including herbs, leafy greens like spinach, kale, and arugula, and a sizable array of vegetables, plus other non-produce plants like hemp and research crops.
You call yourself a tech company, can you go into more detail on that?
Absolutely. So, our technical secret sauce consists of a few ingredients, including our patented vertical “vines,” where our produce grows, and the way we create microclimates for each individual plant with temperature-controlled air and nutrient-enriched water.
We also designed and built a proprietary mechanical, electrical, and plumbing solution specifically to automate and remotely monitor all our greenhouses. Because of that hardware and software combination, we like to think of ourselves as a technology company that happens to grow produce.
Eden Green seems extremely relevant right now with coronavirus, are you doing anything to help people and businesses affected by the virus?
We directed our R&D facility to start a unique partnership with a local business that had to pivot from supplying high-end restaurants to starting home deliveries of high-quality poultry, eggs, beef, and produce.
For every pound of our produce they deliver, we are giving one pound away to local food banks, homeless shelters, and other nonprofits. The creative problem-solving of combining how to sell our produce, help another small business grow, and feed the local underserved population all at the same time, was a really valuable experience.
More generally, the coronavirus crisis brings into focus the kinds of problems with traditional farming methods that we help directly address - easy access to local food sources, sustainability, and resiliency.
A more-widespread application of greenhouses like ours would also help defray the market effects of workforce shortages due to sickness, the personal effects of crowded, unsanitary, and otherwise-unsafe work environments, and the problems that come with relying on low-paid seasonal work.
What locations are you currently available in and do you plan on expanding?
We currently have our R&D facility in Texas and are prepping for facilities to be built in two other countries and a number of states.
Through our Texas facility alone, we’ve partnered with local food banks and nonprofit organizations, run pilot tests with two grocery companies, and a research university, with a lot more expansion planned in the coming years.
Do you believe this is the future of farming?
We absolutely believe that this is the future of farming. Not only does our solution make market sense - because global demand for year-round access to a variety of produce is growing, and costs to meet that demand are rising, having a locally-sourced, year-round solution solves for that - it’s also a sort of good on its own.
To be clear, we believe we are reshaping farming, not replacing farmers. We have always believed this will innovate the entire industry and will support farmers in the field to improve their processes and best practices.
The way we grow is more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and efficient (in terms of land, water, energy costs, and chemicals) than traditional farming. It saves time, money, and waste in the transportation of the produce, and it reduces food waste and the decrease in nutritional value incurred by transit as well.
If we can offer an opportunity to develop farms into a more efficient operation that improves not just food security in underserved areas, but also food safety, then we grow our business and help farmers as well.
Anything you'd like to close with?
Without getting too much on my soapbox, I’d just like to say that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reassess what’s really important in each of our local communities, to refocus our efforts to care for those around us, and to rethink how businesses can thrive while doing that.
I’m excited to be part of Eden Green at a moment when we can be an example of the potential of the technology itself, and the philosophy underlying it: that we can treat our food, our people, and our environment - locally and globally -with the respect they deserve, and that we can all succeed together.
I'd like to thank Eddy for taking the time to answer some of my questions.
Turning Your Home Into Your Main Food Producer
The coronavirus has led countless Americans to rethink how they cook, eat and source food, both to expand their supply and connect to community
The coronavirus has led countless Americans to rethink how they cook, eat and source food, both to expand their supply and connect to community.
Gardening has long been a hobby for Jason McCune, which at least partly explains why the coronavirus pandemic has turned him into a thyme farmer.
It started in early March when coronavirus prompted a run on hand sanitizer and Mr. McCune, 39, happened across a YouTube video on the disinfectant qualities of thyme. He also learned, via a YouTube video sent to him by a friend, that the essential oil of thyme, an antiseptic, might help fight respiratory illnesses.
“I thought, if I grow a lot of thyme and drink thyme tea, it certainly won’t hurt,” said Mr. McCune, an engineer at a compost heat-recovery company who lives in Richmond, Vt. He and his wife, Ellen, an early-childhood educator, run a preschool out of their home, but with the school now closed indefinitely, they’ve moved out the children’s dining and play tables and converted the dining room into a thyme greenhouse with a 4-foot by 10-foot bed of seeds.
“I’ll dry the thyme, share it with friends and we’ll make an apocalypse tea blend,” he said.
As isolation orders across the country stretch into their second month and grocery stores race to restock shelves, Mr. McCune has joined countless Americans who are making changes to how they cook, eat and source food to expand their food supply and connect to community.
“Stores weren’t anticipating the sort of stocking issues they were going to have,” said Joseph Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), partly because of hoarding, but also because so many people normally rely on restaurants to feed themselves.
“Fifty percent of what U.S. households spend on food happens away from their home,” Mr. Glauber said. “So all of a sudden, when they can’t eat away from home, they’re having to go to the grocery store and buy a lot more food.”
The research institute has reported that Covid-19 does not pose a threat to the global food supply, but shoppers have been stocking up nevertheless — sales of consumer packaged goods rose more than $8.5 billion during the two-week period ending March 21, according to the Nielsen Corporation, the global market research company.
Whatever the method, many Americans are looking for ways to expand and enrich what they normally eat. Google searches for the term “home farming” jumped 50 percent in March; “how to raise chickens” spiked 75 percent.
“I feel like I no longer know the availability of things from week to week,” said Kate Bertash, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice Beach. An avid pickler, she now makes sure her regular C.S.A. box — a package of farm-sourced vegetables delivered each week — includes items that can be salted or preserved, and her “rot closet,” a dedicated kitchen cabinet for fermenting vegetables, is full. “Pickling and fermenting is really cool because you can be more flexible with what’s available,” she said.
Phyllis Davis, president of Virginia-based Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems, said its web traffic has doubled since the coronavirus outbreak. The company offers clients at-home farming kits, with online instructional courses on assembling its portable system and understanding aquaponics, a process of growing food using fish excretions as fertilizer. “Food security and sustainability are a very hot topic right now,” Ms. Davis said.
David Siegel, a dietitian who lives with his wife and 5-year-old son in a railroad-style apartment in Brooklyn, has begun hosting online chats about aquaponics. Mr. Siegel, 40, got a home fish tank a year ago, both to have something beautiful to look at and to fertilize herbs and vegetables. He initially tried tropical fish because of their bright colors, but found them too hard to care for. Now he has goldfish in a 20-gallon tank in the apartment’s central room, pumping nutrient-rich water into a multitiered system above with lettuce, basil, parsley and arugula.
Mr. Siegel said he doesn’t grow nearly enough food to feed his family, but as he has cut back on trips to the store, his fresh vegetables have made meals much tastier. “We say, tongue in cheek, that this is a pandemic hobby,” he said. “But right now we’re stocking up on frozen goods and canned and dry goods, and we’re able to supplement, especially with the herbs. It’s adding some much-needed freshness to our diet.”
For some, the pandemic has added a new immediacy to old hobbies. Stephanie Gravalese, a freelance writer in Delmar, N.Y., is quarantining with her partner, Max Clement, who is immuno-compromised and not leaving the house. Mr. Clement, 32, has always dabbled in baking. Now he’s making sourdough loaves every day to share with friends who have lost their jobs. The couple is also producing homemade vinegar, pastas, ricotta and liquors, much of which they trade for other goods. The couple’s front porch has become a contact-free swap zone, where they put out their creations for local bakers and farmers, who in turn leave them fresh meat, raspberry bars and lemon bread.
“Baking, and creating anything we can share is creating community for us right now,” Ms. Gravalese, 36, said. “It’s also turned the kitchen into a very special place for us. Right now, the center of our lives is in the kitchen.”
A version of this article appears in print on April 12, 2020, Section RE, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Your New Main Food Producer? Your Home, Naturally.
By Debra Kamin | The New York Times | April 7, 2020
INDIA: These Urban Farming Startups Are Going The Extra Mile To Bring Organic Food To Your Table
With new technologies like hydroponics and vertical farming, these startups are helping people grow produce in small urban spaces
With new technologies like hydroponics and vertical farming, these startups are helping people grow produce in small urban spaces.
By Suman Singh
11th Mar 2020
The Green Revolution in the 50s and 60s may have allowed our farmers to better their yields, but it also brought with it the evils of using pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Urban farming
Over the years, they have been incorporated into conventional farming methods, bringing with them a host of problems. They are not only found to be toxic to humans by increasing the risk of getting cancers, but they also cause pollution, degradation of soil and water, and poison domestic animals.
Now, many farmers and urban-dwellers have switched to organic farming or urban farming. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),
“Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects.”
Just a few years back, farming in cities would have been thought to be impossible. But new technologies like hydroponics and vertical farming have made growing produce in small urban spaces possible.
Here are six urban farming startups which are going the extra mile to bring sustainable farming practices in India:
UGF Farms
Started by Linesh Narayan Pillai in 2017, Urban Green Fate (UGF) Farms converts unused spaces into live food gardens. Live food gardens are built in a way that they do no structural damage to buildings. The Mumbai-based startup sends residents microgreens (vegetable greens after they’ve produced first leaves) in pots, to grow them in organic coco peat as opposed to heavy soil. All a user needs to do is cut the greens from the live plant as and when they need them.
Further, UGF also helps to address issues of starvation, malnutrition, food contamination, and food insecurity by collaborating with schools as well as corporates that work for underprivileged communities as part of their CSR initiatives.
UGF Farms
Since its inception, the startup has planted over 10,000 kg of microgreens. It has also educated 4,000 people over 150 workshops across multiple locations in Delhi and Mumbai about the importance of growing food in their homes and going organic.
Back2basics
Back2basics is the brainchild of S Madhusudhan. Started in 2015, it is an organic farm spread across close to 200 acres around Bengaluru, producing high-quality organic fruits and vegetables.
Run by a father-daughter duo, Back2basics supplies produce to grocery chains, retailers, organic stores, and gated communities in Bengaluru. Its produce is also exported to organic food supply chains and retailers in other parts of the world.
Back2basics
The startup deals in more than 90 varieties of seasonal produce in four categories – fruits, vegetables, greens, and exotics. It has reserved almost three to four acres for customers who wish to visit the farm and try their hand out in agriculture.
It produces products that are 100 percent organic. The producer has full control over the colour and texture of the greens, making them healthier and tastier.
Pindfresh
After returning from New York where he worked as a banker, Somveer Singh Anand, much like UGF Farms' Linesh, found it impossible to source organic food in India.
To address this concern, Somveer developed indoor hydroponic technology suitable for Indian climatic conditions and started Pindfresh in 2016 in Chandigarh. The startup sets up indoor and outdoor hydroponic plants for people who want to farm using the technology across India.
Pindfresh
The lighting, humidity, and temperature are controlled all the time for these microgreens to grow. And to that effect, Pindfresh manufactures quality controlled pipes, lights, and all the necessary equipment required to set up a hydroponic plant.
Growing Greens
Former Infosys employees Hamsa V and Nithin Sagi partnered to start a hydroponic farm, Growing Greens. The Bengaluru-based B2B startup grows and sells microgreens, salad leaves, sprouts, edible flowers, and herbs to high-end restaurants in the city.
Growing Greens
These microgreens, which are about one to three inches tall, are mostly used to decorate and garnish food. They have concentrated nutrient levels that can be almost 40 times higher than the normal-sized produce.
The duo did thorough research by talking to various chefs to understand their requirements before venturing into the business.
Started in 2012 on a small terrace, the startup is currently farming on four acres of land, which it plans to expand to 10 acres.
Herbivore Farms
Not many 24-year-olds would choose to ditch well-paying jobs and take up farming. But after paying a visit to Auroville in Puducherry in 2017, Mumbai-based Joshua Lewis and Sakina Rajkotwala were inspired by musician and organic farmer Krishna Mckenzie who started Solitude Farm with the aim of “honouring Mother Nature through local food.”
Herbivore Farms
The duo got down to business with Herbivore Farms, Mumbai’s first hyperlocal, hydroponic farm. Today, the farm is spread across 1,000 sq ft and grows 2,500 plants. It sells fresh, organic vegetables to customers across Mumbai from its temperature-controlled indoor setting.
The vegetables are grown in a clean, sterile environment, with zero pesticides. As compared to conventional farming methods, the setup consumes up to 80 percent less water to grow the produce due to “recirculating irrigation system.”
Harvested vegetables are delivered to the customers’ homes within hours, maintaining their freshness, nutrition, and flavour.
(Edited by Kanishk Singh)
FDA Suspends Inspections In Foreign Countries Due To Coronavirus
The FDA announced the decision on March 10 with a statement from Commissioner Stephan Hahn. Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to examine produce arriving at U.S. points of entry, but food safety inspections at foreign facilities are postponed until April, according to the FDA.“
March 11, 2020
The Food and Drug Administration has halted most inspections of food facilities outside of the U.S. through April, as travel restrictions increase in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The FDA announced the decision on March 10 with a statement from Commissioner Stephan Hahn. Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to examine produce arriving at U.S. points of entry, but food safety inspections at foreign facilities are postponed until April, according to the FDA.“
Mission-critical” inspections will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The decision also affects on-site inspections at foreign drug and medical device manufacturers.
The FDA is employing interim measures, including Denial of imports;
Examination and sampling of products at ports of entry;
Reviewing a company’s compliance history;
Using information-sharing agreements with foreign governments; and
Requesting records “in advance of or in lieu of” on-site inspection.“
The FDA will continue working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to target products intended for importation into the U.S. that violate applicable legal requirements for FDA-regulated products, which may come from a variety of sources, such as first-time importers unfamiliar with regulatory requirements or repeat offenders trying to skirt the law,” Hahn wrote in the statement.
The FDA uses the Predictive Risk-based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting (PREDICT) system for risk-based import screening to focus on high-risk imports. The agency also checks for “port shopping” or cargo diversions, according to Hahn.
The FDA continues to monitor the outbreak’s effect on operations.“
As this remains a dynamic situation, we will continue to assess and calibrate our approach as needed to help advance federal response efforts in the fight against this outbreak,” according to Hahn’s statement.
Related stories:
Coronavirus gives ‘body blow’ to exporters, worries consumers
United Fresh discusses coronavirus, product trends at FPFC event
How Stockholm Wants To Be 'The Green Food Tech Hub of The Future'
At Grönska, 1.3 million plants are grown each year in long rows of racks filled with stacked drawers. This hall in Huddinge in Stockholm county is not just a business premise, but a high-tech vertical farm
Lead Photo: Photo: Stina Stjernkvist / TT
In 2017, the Swedish food retail sector was worth 272 billion kronor. But how can the Nordic nation embrace innovation to make the food chain more sustainable? Several startups and business accelerators are investing heavily in sustainable development in the form of foodtech.
At Grönska, 1.3 million plants are grown each year in long rows of racks filled with stacked drawers. This hall in Huddinge in Stockholm county is not just a business premise, but a high-tech vertical farm. Food is grown locally in a controlled and space-efficient environment.
"Sweden imports 60 percent of its food and a third to a quarter of the emissions in Sweden comes from transporting food," Natalie de Brun, one of the co-founders of the startup, tells The Local.
"Sweden has a short season of three to four months where food can be produced. By producing food in a vertical farm, we do not depend on the climate. We are replicating nature inside and stacking the crops, which is very space-efficient. Each shelf has its own LED lighting and circulating water system. Here we can grow strawberries all year round."
Foodtech is a movement of companies that are trying to change the way we grow, transport and consume food. By combining traditional and innovative technologies, the idea is that food can become more efficient, sustainable and healthier.
Bright LED lights light up the business space in Huddinge. The plants follow an artificial daylight rhythm to grow as efficiently as possible. Delicate plants such as different kinds of herbs and lettuce are growing in stacks of about 20 metres wide and six metres high. Grönska employees are walking around and taking care of the plants.
"Food is something everyone consumes every day, and you can have a direct effect on it yourself," explains de Brun. "We are selling our products to local restaurants, supermarkets and even an airline. Growing the amount of arugula or lettuce we grow in one year would require at least 15 times more space if grown on an open field, and 100 times more carbon emissions from transportation."
The vertical farm located in southern Stockholm is one of Europe's largest. Photo: Lars Pehrson / SvD / TT
In an office in the Söderhallarna building on Stockholm's Södermalm, Sweden Foodtech brings companies together by organizing events and focuses on major themes around the future of food. One of the key questions is simply: How do we manage to feed future generations?
Together with supermarket Coop and impact hub Norrsken, Sweden Foodtech offers support to companies that want to 'reshape the food system'.
"Food is a huge market, from production and transportation to supermarkets and restaurants. But innovation in the sector is very minimal. That's something we would like to change," says Federico Ronca, Innovation Consultant at Sweden Foodtech.
"One-third of all the food in the world is wasted," he adds. "A few big producers are managing the whole food market. We are trying to work with them and convince them to open up to new initiatives and technologies. We're connecting the dots, and creating an 'orchestra of the players'."
The initiative started as a food festival, SMAKA -- Good Food Festival, which grew into one of the biggest food festivals on the planet and developed into Sweden Foodtech. Ronca sees Sweden and Stockholm as perfect places for foodtech projects.
"There is a large tech sector and a great digital infrastructure. Sweden and the Nordics are the best in sustainable development, they are leading in the world. Sweden also doesn't have a strong food tradition, as France and Italy have. That makes that people are very open-minded about food," he explains.
Stockholm as a hotspot for innovative businesses
The same goals are shared by Stockholm Business Region, the Swedish capital's official promotion agency, which is dedicated to creating a good ecosystem for innovative businesses and hopes to turn the Stockholm into a "leading foodtech hub".
"Stockholm truly is an innovation-driven place. It's full of early adopters", says Irena Lundberg, a business manager at Stockholm Business Region.
"These consumers are aware of their responsibility and like to buy eco-friendly products. There is natural support from the city for all kinds of sustainable projects, and Sweden itself is a very steady environment for starting a business."
The public interest, environmental awareness, Nordic culinary traditions and active tech community in the city make Stockholm the place to be for foodtech initiatives, she believes.
But despite strong ambitions, there are not yet any figures or statistics available to fulfill the hopeful expectations. Stockholm Business Region is currently monitoring 300 businesses in the foodtech industry, and according to Lundberg, expects to see results "in about one year".
At Grönska, we walk along the rows of racks where all kinds of herbs and lettuce varieties are grown. The founders of this vertical farm have experienced the opportunities available to startups in Sweden firsthand.
"Stockholm is a great place to start an innovative business. There is a great startup culture, we really feel empowered and encouraged here. There are a lot of facilitators and enablers that help us grow our business," says de Brun.
In the vertical farm in Huddinge, various herbs and lettuce varieties are grown locally and used in supermarkets and restaurants. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT.
Until now, traditional greenhouse production is the norm. This type of production is less energy effective and has higher transportation emissions. But Grönska sees a big technology shift coming up.
"In the near future we can inexpensively build high tech vertical farms and grow food on a large scale," says de Brun. "This way we can grow our food local and more energy-efficient and people can eat better and healthier. There will be more space for other players in the food market."
But she admits that it will take time to change the food industry.
"We are working with a fresh, organic and alive product," explains de Brun. "It's a complex and established industry. Everyone needs food every day, you can't change that system overnight. There's a lot going on, and it's cool to be part of that wave. Food is key."
US: Lynchburg, Virginia - Lynchburg Hospital Offers Unique Experience With Home-Grown Lettuce
Centra in Lynchburg is offering fresh lettuce that’s grown in the building at its salad bar. Centra partnered with a Charlottesville company to grow four different kinds of lettuce, including romaine. Nutrition service officials said they can control the plant’s environment and receive alerts on their phone if something is wrong
Lettuce takes two to four weeks to grow before served to patients, families
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Feedback has been good for one hospital that’s taking dining to another level.
Centra in Lynchburg is offering fresh lettuce that’s grown in the building at its salad bar.
Centra partnered with a Charlottesville company to grow four different kinds of lettuce, including romaine.
Nutrition service officials said they can control the plant’s environment and receive alerts on their phone if something is wrong.
“We have chefs who serve things. We want the food to be nutritious. We want the food to be good tasting. So, things like this are innovative. We are the first ones to have this in the U.S. This does not exist in any other hospital,” Timothy Schoonmaker, executive chef of Centra Nutrition Services, said.
Schoonmaker said it takes about two to four weeks for the lettuce to be ready and served to patients and families.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Magdala Louissaint
Magdala Louissaint is an award-winning journalist who joined WSLS 10 in July 2017 as the Lynchburg bureau reporter.
Purdue University Mechanical Engineering Technology Grad Developing Food Technology For NASA’s Mars Missions
A graduate student who gained experience growing plants for a Purdue Polytechnic research project is now helping NASA develop microgravity food production technology to sustain astronauts during long missions to Mars
August 19, 2019
NASA Technical and Horticultural Scientist Jacob Torres works in the water for microgravity test bed at the Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Merritt Island, Fla. Thanks to Torres’ suggestion, the Española chile pepper will be the first fruiting plant to be grown in space this November on the International Space Station. (Photo courtesy Jacob Torres)
A graduate student who gained experience growing plants for a Purdue Polytechnic research project is now helping NASA develop microgravity food production technology to sustain astronauts during long missions to Mars.
Jacob Torres graduated from Purdue in May 2018 with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering technology. During his studies, he worked on the Biowall, an eco-friendly air filtration system that can be used in residential buildings to improve air quality. That experience proved beneficial when he applied for an internship at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida.
“I did the application and never thought I’d hear anything back from them, straight up,” said Torres. “On the application, there just happened to be one line that said, ‘plant growth for food production in microgravity.’ I thought that was pretty cool and in my research at Purdue, I made a biowall, and it uses plants to filter indoor air.”
After that 10-week internship, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) invited Torres to continue his work for an additional four months. In December 2018, his position as a technical and horticultural scientist became permanent.
Torres’ path to becoming a research scientist at NASA has been anything but traditional. He moved from New Mexico to Las Vegas immediately after graduating from high school, found a job at a restaurant and worked his way into a management position. A chance encounter with actors Bill Murray and Billy Crystal led to several years as manager of three of Murray’s restaurants in South Carolina and Florida.
“It was such a rough ride,” said Torres. “I told myself I couldn’t run restaurants for the rest of my life. I was like, ‘Is this all I have to do, is this as far as I could go?’ No way.”
Read the full Rio Grande Sun article.
We Mapped How Food Gets From Farms To Your Home
Our map is a comprehensive snapshot of all food flows between counties in the U.S. – grains, fruits and vegetables, animal feed, and processed food items
2019
My team at the University of Illinois just developed the first high-resolution map of the U.S. food supply chain.
Our map is a comprehensive snapshot of all food flows between counties in the U.S. – grains, fruits and vegetables, animal feed, and processed food items.
To build the map, we brought together information from eight databases, including the Freight Analysis Framework from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which tracks where items are shipped around the country, and Port Trade data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which shows the international ports through which goods are traded.
We also released this information in a publicly available database.
This map shows how food flows between counties in the U.S. Each line represents the transportation of all food commodities, along transit routes, like roads or railways. Environmental Research Letters (2019), CC BY-SA
What does this map reveal?
1. Where your food comes from
Now, residents in each county can see how they are connected to all other counties in the country via food transfers. Overall, there are 9.5 million links between counties on our map.
All Americans, from urban to rural are connected through the food system. Consumers all rely on distant producers; agricultural processing plants; food storage like grain silos and grocery stores; and food transportation systems.
For example, the map shows how a shipment of corn starts at a farm in Illinois, travels to a grain elevator in Iowa before heading to a feedlot in Kansas, and then travels in animal products being sent to grocery stores in Chicago.
2. Where the food hubs are
At over 17 million tons of food, Los Angeles County received more food than any other county in 2012, our study year. It shipped out even more: 22 million tons.
California’s Fresno County and Stanislaus County are the next largest, respectively. In fact, many of the counties that shipped and received the most food were located in California. This is due to the several large urban centers, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as the productive Central Valley in California.
Who ships and receives the most food, kilograms per year
In 2012, Los Angeles County both shipped (outflows) and received (inflows) more kilograms of food than any other U.S. county. Other California counties ranked highly in both categories.
We also looked for the core counties – the places that are most central to the overall structure of the food supply network. A disruption to any of these counties may have ripple effects for the food supply chain of the entire country.
We did this by looking for counties with the largest number of connections to others, as well as those that score highly in a factor called “betweenness centrality,” a measurement of the places with the largest fraction of the shortest paths.
San Bernardino County led the list, followed again by a number of other California transit hubs. Also on the list are Maricopa County, Arizona; Shelby County, Tennessee; and Harris County, Texas.
Core counties for the US food supply
A study showed that these nine counties -- mostly in California -- are most central to the overall structure of the food supply network. A disruption to any of these counties may have ripple effects for the food supply chain of the entire country.
However, our estimates are for 2012, an extreme drought year in the Cornbelt. So, in another year, the network may look different. It’s possible that counties within the Cornbelt would show up as more critical in non-drought years. This is something that we hope to dig into in future work.
3. How food travels from place to place
We also looked at how much food is transported between one county and another.
Many of the largest food transport links were within California. This indicates that there is a lot of internal food movement within the state.
One of the largest links is from Niagara County to Erie County in New York. That’s due to the flow of food through an important international overland port with Canada.
Some of the other largest links were inside the counties themselves. This is because of moving food items around for manufacturing within a county – for example, milk gets off a truck at a large depot and is then shipped to a yogurt facility, then the yogurt is moved to a grocery distribution warehouse, all within the same county.
The food supply chain relies on a complex web of interconnected infrastructure. For example, a lot of grain produced throughout the Midwest is transported to the Port of New Orleans for export. This primarily occurs via the waterways of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
The infrastructure along these waterways – such as locks 52 and 53 – are critical, but have not been overhauled since their construction in 1929. They represent a serious bottleneck, slowing down innumerable supply chains nationwide, including that of grain. If they were to fail entirely, then commodity transport and supply chains would be completely disrupted.
Railroads are also important for moving grain. Fresh produce, on the other hand, is often moved around the country by refrigerated truck. This is due to the need to keep fresh fruits and vegetables – relatively high-value agricultural products – cool until they reach the consumer.
In future work, we hope to evaluate the specific infrastructure that is critical to the U.S. food supply chain.
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Dean Foods Files For Bankruptcy And Is In 'Advanced Discussions' For Sale
Dean Foods, the largest dairy producer in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. The company also said it is in "advanced discussions" with Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. for a potential sale
AUTHOR Lillianna Byington@lil_byington
November 12, 2019
Dive Brief:
Dean Foods, the largest dairy producer in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. The company also said it is in "advanced discussions" with Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. for a potential sale.
The dairy producer said in a release it intends to use this process to support its ongoing business operations and address debt while it works toward selling the company. Dean Foods has secured commitments for $850 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which is funding for companies in financial distress.
"Despite our best efforts to make our business more agile and cost-efficient, we continue to be impacted by a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption," Dean Foods' CEO Eric Beringause said in a release.
Dive Insight:
Just two months after Dean Foods completed a strategic review and decided against a sale, the company is reversing course.
After a seven-month review, the dairy producer's Board of Directors decided in September to trust in its new CEO to turn the company around, saying Beringause would "provide the best opportunity to enhance long-term shareholder value." This was a lot of pressure for Beringause, who became CEO in July and inherited a troubled company.
Despite Beringause's extensive experience in the food and dairy industry, it seems he decided the problems facing Dean Foods were too large to tackle.
"Since joining the company just over three months ago, I've taken a hard look at our challenges, as well as our opportunities, and truly believe we are taking the best path forward," Beringause said in the release.
This filing for bankruptcy doesn't come as a shock, considering the years of struggle the dairy giant has had amid competition from milk alternatives and deeply discounted private label dairy.
Dean has tried many methods to improve its position, to no avail. Dean Foods has reported net losses in seven of its last eight quarters. In an attempt to overcome these hurdles, the company cut costs, increased its borrowing base and replaced its CEO. Last year, Dean Foods laid off 207 workers with the closure of two milk processing factories, ended more than 100 dairy contracts with the company to curtail how much milk it was buying and closed three other facilities.
Although food and beverage companies face financial turmoil, few file for bankruptcy. With this filing Dean joins companies including Hostess, which, under previous configurations, has filed for two Chapter 11 bankruptcies and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Atkins Nutritionals, Pure Foods and Groeb Farms have also filed for bankruptcy. Analysts have said the diversified portfolio of brands at most food companies can help a company in financial trouble avoid bankruptcy because there are opportunities to raise cash through asset sales.
That strategy didn't work for Dean, which has tried to diversify its portfolio during the last several years. As dairy, in general, continued to decline, Dean diversified its investments. The company purchased a majority stake in Good Karma Foods, which sells flaxseed-based milk and yogurt. It bought Uncle Matt's Organic, a maker of probiotic-infused juices and fruit-infused waters. It also acquired the retail ice cream business of Friendly's Ice Cream. But those moves have not been enough since the company is now working toward a sale of "substantially all assets."
One of the reasons Dean decided to stay independent after its recent strategic review could have to do with its lack of interest from potential buyers. Rumors that Saputo was looking at buying the company were squashed when the CEO told Bloomberg months later he wasn't interested. But now the company says it is in advanced talks with Dairy Farmers of America, which means that a deal could be close.
The dairy co-op could be buying Dean at a good price. Dairy Farmers of America, a co-op with 14,000 dairy farmer members with 47 plants nationwide, is accustomed to the troubles of the dairy industry today. The co-op was formed 21 years ago, and last year's net sales were down $1 billion from 2017.
If Dairy Farmers of America does buy Dean Foods, it will likely face similar struggles. Plant-based dairy alternatives have jumped in popularity across the country, hurting farms and milk producers. U.S. non-dairy milk sales were up 61% over the past five years, while dairy milk sales plunged 15% from 2012 to 2017, according to Mintel. Just last month, Dean Foods gave up its membership in the International Dairy Foods Association because it said the trade group doesn't share its key priority of opposing the labeling of plant-based products with dairy terms.
Looking to the future, it seems like the dairy industry's problems are on track to continue. Dean's move for bankruptcy — and potential sale — is its way out.
Follow Lillianna Byington on Twitter
Photo - Credit: Dean Foods
Health Check Kids: Leafy Green Machine Planted At West Warwick High School
With permission and funding from the school district, a 40-foot climate-controlled container was planted just outside the cafeteria doors more than a year ago. And that's when the science department got on board
by BARBARA MORSE, NBC 10 NEWS
Thursday, October 31, 2019
A Leafy Green Machine planted at West Warwick High School. (WJAR)
To View The Video, Please Click Here
Sodexo — the school district’s food service company — seeing it in action at a University in Massachusetts.
"And we figured, gee, what a great idea. Local food, right on site. Why don't we just bring it in," said Donna Walker, general manager of Sodexo food services for the West Warwick School District.
With permission and funding from the school district, a 40-foot climate-controlled container was planted just outside the cafeteria doors more than a year ago. And that's when the science department got on board.
"We learned how to run the machine, how to seed and transplant and harvest the lettuce," said Gina Poulos, a science teacher at the high school.
Then they got students involved -- forming the leafy green club.
"I'm super interested in plants and all type of agriculture and it's a nice, relaxing thing to do after school or even in the middle of school when we have advisory and I can kind of just plant stuff and get to learn and talk to other people," said Joshua Dick, a junior at the high school.
"I love salads and I always thought plants were so cool. I always love going to botanical gardens and just thought it was so cool and was like why not," said Gabrielle Dascoli, a senior.
The plants, most leafy green lettuce, are grown -- chock full of nutrients -- vertically, which is a space saver. Special lights are programmed remotely. And the process uses minimal water and electricity.
Harvested and turned into salads within hours.
"I think it tastes amazing. you can taste the nutrients. You can tell it's really thought out. It's great," said Gascoli.
"We're trying different things,” said Walker. "We've done tomatoes, we've done some herbs, we've done kale for soups and stuff."
The leafy green machine can produce up to two acres' worth of greens. The modified shipping containers are re-purposed into green machines by Freight Farms in Boston.
7 of The Best Crops For Vertical Farming
Along with a number of other key factors — including a good location and an appropriate pricing strategy — smart crop choices play an essential role in helping vertical farms keep costs down and ensuring that farmers are able to sell the majority of what they grow
One of the biggest decisions that can make or break a vertical farm is the question of which crops to grow. Along with a number of other key factors — including a good location and an appropriate pricing strategy — smart crop choices play an essential role in helping vertical farms keep costs down and ensuring that farmers are able to sell the majority of what they grow.
According to a recent blog post from ZipGrow, a leading provider of vertical farming equipment and services, the following are two of the most important points to consider when choosing crops for a vertical farm:
Economic viability — ZipGrow and many other experts in the vertical farming industry are quick to remind aspiring farmers that just because something can be grown, this doesn’t necessarily mean it should be grown. With the right resources, it’s technically possible to grow just about anything in a vertical farming facility, but not all crops are economically viable. Some crops just aren’t able to make money when they are vertically farmed because their production costs are too high (for example, the crop requires hotter temperatures or more light relative to other crops), or simply because there is a lack of market demand for the crop. To make smart crop choices, vertical farmers need to be realistic about balancing likely costs with projected profits.
Timing and liability — The time period that elapses between a seedling entering the farm’s system and a mature plant being harvested and sent to market is known as a “turn.” In general, successful vertical farmers find that focusing on crops with fast turns, like salad greens and some herbs, helps to minimize their liability. This is because fast-turn crops mature so quickly that farmers are rarely more than about six weeks away from production, which limits the amount of resources that will be lost in the event that the crop fails. However, this doesn’t mean that there is no place in a vertical farm for slow-turn crops: some of these, like fruiting crops, can offer higher margins than fast-turn crops, potentially making them a good proposition depending on local market conditions (of course, while the profits may be higher, so is the risk).
What are some of the best crops for vertical farms?
While ZipGrow recommends that the process of choosing crops should be part of a comprehensive feasibility study undertaken by aspiring vertical farmers before launching their operations, the company does offer a basic guide to some of the most successful and popular crops currently being cultivated in vertical farms. These include the following:
Lettuce — Lettuce and other leafy greens are by far the biggest crop grown by indoor farmers (according to the Agrilyst 2017 State of Indoor Farming Report, 57% of indoor farms, including vertical farms, produce leafy greens). It’s not difficult to understand the popularity of the humble lettuce: it’s quick and easy to grow, inconsistent demand all year round, and available in dozens of different varieties so that farmers can switch up their product from time to time without having to change to a whole new crop.
Kale — Despite the predictions of some naysayers, the booming popularity of kale is showing no signs of decreasing. Not only is kale a nutrient powerhouse — ounce for ounce, cooked kale is richer in iron than beef — it’s also delicious, incredibly versatile and, like lettuce, available in many different varieties. A great choice for vertical farmers serving health-conscious markets, kale is fairly easy to grow, although farmers must take some care when harvesting in order to get the highest yield.
Chard and collard greens — These dark, leafy green vegetables are not quite as popular as kale, but they come close. Like kale, they can grow quite large in the proper conditions, and they can be partially harvested multiple times, each time growing back with a larger yield.
Basil — In many ways, basil is an ideal crop for vertical farming. Basil is sensitive to cold temperatures — when grown conventionally in soil, basil is only available for a few months each year — so it responds very well to the climate-controlled conditions of a vertical farming facility. In addition, some studies indicate that hydroponically-grown basil is richer in flavor than field-grown basil because it contains 20–40% more oils. Finally, compared to most other crops, basil can command a very high dollar amount per pound, and because it is an important ingredient in a great deal of restaurant cooking, it can often be sold in larger amounts to local restaurants or other institutions rather than by the ounce to individual customers.
Chives and mint — These two herbs are some of the best crops for new vertical farmers to start with. Chives and mint alike are easy to care for, have very quick turns, and are easy to harvest due to their dense, grass-like growing structure. Their distinctive flavors also make them very popular with customers.
WRITTEN BY Mark Crumpacker
Mark Crumpacker is a passionate marketing specialist with years of creative storytelling experience.
Solar Foods Receives World's Most Prestigious Design Award
Solar Foods is a foodtech company developing globally revolutionary solutions for food production. The bioprocess and technology developed by Solar Foods enable food production without agriculture. In the future, harvesting can comprise of an entirely new harvest grown in a clean environment, while complementing existing protein sources with new natural protein
06/09/2019
Solar Foods, the Finnish company producing protein by using carbon dioxide and electricity, has been presented with the Index Award supported by the state of Denmark. The 100,000 euro award is given for the most impactful solution significant to the environment and improving people’s lives.
The Index Award is a biennial award supported by the state of Denmark. The total award fund is €500,000 divided between the winners in five award categories. Index Award has existed since 2005 and is the biggest money prize in its class. This recognition, also called the “Nobel prize for design”, acknowledges actors solving global problems in areas such as equality, food production, and plastic pollution.
Participants include projects from all over the world, with the finalists and winners judged by an international jury. Other winners of this year’s prize include Microsoft and Xbox, with previous winners including Elon Musk. The award is under the patronage of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
Denmark has the ambitious goal of being a carbon-neutral country by 2050. Therefore, many Danish companies have set themselves the target of becoming the most responsible company before anyone else in their business.
“It is a magnificent feeling to know you are taking part in global responsibility. Researchers must turn the inventions and technologies incubated in laboratories into reality and commercialise them faster to benefit humankind. The Solein® protein is an excellent example of an innovation urgently needed by humans and the entire globe,” says Pasi Vainikka, CEO, Solar Foods.
Solar Foods is a food tech company developing globally revolutionary solutions for food production. The bioprocess and technology developed by Solar Foods enable food production without agriculture. In the future, harvesting can comprise of an entirely new harvest grown in a clean environment, while complementing existing protein sources with new natural protein.
At the core of the company’s operation is a sense of enormous responsibility: using renewable energy for producing food in a way that has the lowest possible environmental burden.
“The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the rainforest wildfires in Amazonia are recent examples of the dire news we are witnessing about the state of the globe and its food system. At Solar Foods we develop solutions that disconnect natural resources from economic growth and food production. That’s how we are contributing to a solution in the crisis of global food supply,” Vainikka says.
Cleanest natural protein
Solar Foods is introducing a globally revolutionary protein for foodstuffs for consumers made in its bioprocess developed in-house. The Solein protein, suitable to be added to a variety of products, is produced mainly from air and electricity. In the future, Solein protein can be grown and harvested anywhere: in the middle of a desert, or even in space.
Solein is natural protein at its cleanest. Its production minimises harmful environmental impact, thereby providing transparent support for sustainable development. Revolutionary on a global scale, Solein is a protein for solving problems in managing the global food crisis and the overexploitation of natural resources. Solein is the product of natural evolution over hundreds of millions of years by using the diversity of nature.
At present, Solar Foods is studying the applicability of the Solein protein to different diets and consumer preferences. The protein includes no additives, instead, consumers will know it as an example of an ethical, clean source of protein. Solein’s amino acid composition is like that of soya and algae, therefore optimal for human needs.
Solar Foods aims at starting the first stage of commercial production of the protein during 2021.
Download Solar Foods Presentation
More information:
Pasi Vainikka, DSc (Tech), CEO, Solar Foods Oy, tel. +358 40 5825 987, pasi@solarfoods.fi
Solar Foods is a food-tech company that develops revolutionary innovations for food production at a global level. Solar Foods is an active player in solving the global food crisis and securing sustainable use of natural resources by disconnecting food production from agriculture. Solein® is a registered trademark of Solar Foods. www.solarfoods.fi
Flavonoids Have Amazing Health Benefits — Here's How To Eat More
You've heard that eating the rainbow is good for your health. But do you know why? Plant foods contain special compounds called flavonoids, which are plant-based nutrients that offer countless health benefits from reducing inflammation and slashing your risk of certain diseases
SARAH PFLUGRADT, RDN AUGUST 19, 2019
You've heard that eating the rainbow is good for your health. But do you know why? Plant foods contain special compounds called flavonoids, which are plant-based nutrients that offer countless health benefits from reducing inflammation and slashing your risk of certain diseases.
Flavonoids act as antioxidants, which may play a significant role in heart health and may help to prevent diseases such as cancer caused by free-radical damage. Eating foods rich in flavonoids reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and the impact of this was even stronger in those who smoked or drank a lot of alcohol — two groups with historically high levels of inflammation, according to an August 2019 study published in Nature. What's more, flavonoids may also provide benefit in the prevention of other chronic conditions such as osteoporosis and diabetes.
Now that you know what flavonoids are, note that they fall under six subgroups: flavonols, flavones, isoflavones, flavanones, chalcones and anthocyanins, according to a December 2016 study in the Journal of Nutritional Science.
While it's easy to get confused with all of the fancy antioxidant names, think of it this way — the overarching group that encompasses flavonoids is called polyphenols. Flavonoids are then divided into the subgroups, and pretty much all the good-for-you plant-originating foods fall into these categories.
Read more: Top 10 Healthiest Fruits and Vegetables
Flavonols
Flavonols are the largest and most well-known subgroup of flavonoids. Flavonols, especially quercetin, have been studied extensively for their role as an antioxidant. Oxidative damage to the body is responsible for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and many cancers. Flavonols help protect the body against this type of damage, according to an extensive July 2016 review study published in Pharmacognosy Review.
Foods rich in flavonols include:
Berries
Tomatoes
Onions
Kale
Apples
Cherries
Broccoli
Grapes
Red wine
Green tea
Flavones
One of the major health benefits from flavones is their anti-inflammatory effect, according to a June 2016 study in Plants. Inflammation is usually the common thread between many chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer as well as in people who smoke.
"Some research suggests that certain flavonoids (flavones and flavonols) are beneficial for reducing the risk of breast cancer," Cathy Leman, RD and founder of Dam. Mad. About Breast Cancer, tells LIVESTRONG.com.
Foods rich in flavones include:
Celery
Broccoli
Green pepper
Carrots
Olive oil
Navel oranges
Parsley
Thyme
Oregano
Dandelion
Peppermint
Rosemary
Chamomile tea
Isoflavones
The king of all plant proteins is the soybean, which is high in catechins and a particular type of flavonoid, isoflavones. Isoflavones have a mixed reputation because of their similarity in structure to estrogens. In fact, isoflavones have been found to block estrogens that can cause breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer, according to June 2016 research published in Nutrients.
Countries with a high intake of isoflavone-rich foods typically have lower rates of these types of cancer. Isoflavones are found in legumes and other common soy foods, such as miso and tofu.
Foods rich in isoflavones include:
Soybeans (and soy products such as tofu)
Alfalfa sprouts
Peanuts
Legumes
Flavanones
Flavanones are found in citrus fruits, in the juice and in the peel — and yes, you can eat the peel. The flavanones are responsible for that bitter taste, which most people stay away from. Flavanones are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, and they have been shown to lower cholesterol.
Read more: What's The Difference Between Plant-Based, Vegetarian and Vegan Diets?
Hesperidin, the most common flavanone found in lemons, oranges and grapefruit, is currently being studied for its possible role in helping protect against neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's Disease and multiple sclerosis, according to February 2019 research published in Molecules.
Foods rich in flavanones include:
Grapes
Oranges
Lemon
Lime
Chalcones
The word chalcone comes from the Greek word "chalco," which means copper, and is an indicator of the color of some of the natural sources of this flavonoid. As with many of the other subclasses of flavonoids, chalcones are studied because of their potential to stop the development of cancer, according to a 2015 study in Current Medicinal Chemistry.
Foods rich in chalcones include:
Wheat products
Licorice
Shallots
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Pears
Strawberries
Anthocyanins
Anthocyanins are the actual pigments in red-orange to blue-violet plant foods and are linked to heart health, brain health, vision improvement, antidiabetic and antiobesity properties, anti-inflammatory effects and chemoprevention and cancer protection, according to September 2015 research published in Advances in Nutrition and an August 2017 review study published in Food and Nutrition Research.
Foods rich in anthocyanins include:
Berries
Grapes
Red wine
Sweet potatoes
Plums
Cherries
How to Get More Flavonoids in Your Diet
Ready to reap flavonoids' multitude of health benefits? "If you want to increase flavonoids in your diet, eat an abundance and variety of vegetables and fruits and aim for at least 3 daily cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit a day, varying the colors to vary the micronutrients," Hayden James, RD and founder of Satiate Nutrition, tells LIVESTRONG.com.
"Put more plants on your plate! Build meals and snacks around fruits, vegetables, whole [unprocessed] soy, legumes and whole grains," says Leman.
Get creative with it: Zest citrus peels into your favorite foods or blend an array of fruits into your morning smoothie to get more flavonoids in your diet.
Warning
There are some fruits and vegetables that can interact with medications, so if you regularly take medication, speak with your doctor to find out which foods you should avoid. For example, grapefruit, which is high in flavonoids, should be avoided if you take certain statins. In addition, foods high in vitamin K, such as flavonoid-rich leafy greens, may interact with blood-thinning medication warfarin.
Read more: High Antioxidant Fruits & Vegetables
Lead Photo: (Image: Compassionate Eye Foundation/Natasha Alipour Faridani/DigitalVision/GettyImages)
Our Food Is Killing Too Many of Us
And Americans are sick — much sicker than many realize. More than 100 million adults — almost half the entire adult population — have pre-diabetes or diabetes. Cardiovascular disease afflicts about 122 million people and causes roughly 840,000 deaths each year, or about 2,300 deaths each day. Three in four adults are overweight or obese. More Americans are sick, in other words, than are healthy
Improving American Nutrition Would
Make The Biggest Impact On Our Health Care
By Dariush Mozaffarian and Dan Glickman
Mr. Mozaffarian is dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Mr. Glickman was the secretary of agriculture from 1995 to 2001.
August 26, 2019
The Democratic debate on health care has to date centered around who should be covered and who should pay the bill. That debate, which has been going on for decades, has no clear answers and cannot be easily resolved because of two fundamental realities: Health care is expensive, and Americans are sick.
Americans benefit from highly trained personnel, remarkable facilities and access to the newest drugs and technologies. Unless we eliminate some of these benefits, our health care will remain costly. We can trim around the edges — for example, with changes in drug pricing, lower administrative costs, reductions in payments to hospitals and providers, and fewer defensive and unnecessary procedures. These actions may slow the rise in health care spending, but costs will keep rising as the population ages and technology advances.
And Americans are sick — much sicker than many realize. More than 100 million adults — almost half the entire adult population — have pre-diabetes or diabetes. Cardiovascular disease afflicts about 122 million people and causes roughly 840,000 deaths each year, or about 2,300 deaths each day. Three in four adults are overweight or obese. More Americans are sick, in other words, than are healthy.
Instead of debating who should pay for all this, no one is asking the far more simple and imperative question: What is making us so sick, and how can we reverse this so we need less health care? The answer is staring us in the face, on average three times a day: our food.
Poor diet is the leading cause of mortality in the United States, causing more than half a million deaths per year. Just 10 dietary factors are estimated to cause nearly 1,000 deaths every day from heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone. These conditions are dizzyingly expensive. Cardiovascular disease costs $351 billion annually in health care spending and lost productivity, while diabetes costs $327 billion annually. The total economic cost of obesity is estimated at $1.72 trillion per year, or 9.3 percent of gross domestic product.
These human and economic costs are leading drivers of ever-rising health care spending, strangled government budgets, diminished competitiveness of American business and reduced military readiness.
Fortunately, advances in nutrition science and policy now provide a road map for addressing this national nutrition crisis. The “Food Is Medicine” solutions are win-win, promoting better well-being, lower health care costs, greater sustainability, reduced disparities among population groups, improved economic competitiveness and greater national security.
Some simple, measurable improvements can be made in several health and related areas. For example, Medicare, Medicaid, private insurers and hospitals should include nutrition in any electronic health record; update medical training, licensing and continuing education guidelines to put an emphasis on nutrition; offer patient prescription programs for healthy produce; and, for the sickest patients, cover home-delivered, medically tailored meals. Just the last action, for example, can save a net $9,000 in health care costs per patient per year.
Taxes on sugary beverages and junk food would help lower health care costs. Credit: Jenny Kane/Associated Press
Taxes on sugary beverages and junk food can be paired with subsidies on protective foods like fruits, nuts, vegetables, beans, plant oils, whole grains, yogurt and fish. Emphasizing protective foods represents an important positive message for the public and food industry that celebrates and rewards good nutrition. Levels of harmful additives like sodium, added sugar and trans fat can be lowered through voluntary industry targets or regulatory safety standards.
Nutrition standards in schools, which have improved the quality of school meals by 41 percent, should be strengthened; the national Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program should be extended beyond elementary schools to middle and high schools; and school garden programs should be expanded. And the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which supports grocery purchases for nearly one in eight Americans, should be leveraged to help improve diet quality and health.
The private sector can also play a key role. Changes in shareholder criteria (e.g., B-Corps, in which a corporation can balance profit versus purpose with high social and environmental standards) and new investor coalitions should financially reward companies for tackling obesity, diabetes and other diet-related illness. Public-private partnerships should emphasize research and development on best agricultural and food-processing practices. All work sites should demand healthy food when negotiating with cafeteria vendors and include incentives for healthy eating in their wellness benefits.
Coordinated federal leadership and funding for research is also essential. This could include, for example, a new National Institute of Nutrition at the National Institutes of Health. Without such an effort, it could take many decades to understand and utilize exciting new areas, including related to food processing, the gut microbiome, allergies and autoimmune disorders, cancer, brain health, treatment of battlefield injuries and effects of nonnutritive sweeteners and personalized nutrition.
Government plays a crucial role. The significant impacts of the food system on well-being, health care spending, the economy and the environment — together with mounting public and industry awareness of these issues — have created an opportunity for government leaders to champion real solutions.
Yet with rare exceptions, the current presidential candidates are not being asked about these critical national issues. Every candidate should have a food platform, and every debate should explore these positions. A new emphasis on the problems and promise of nutrition to improve health and lower health care costs is long overdue for the presidential primary debates and should be prominent in the 2020 general election and the next administration.
Lead Image: Cheeseburgers at a White House picnic in 2018. Credit Alex Edelman/Getty Images
What Are Cruciferous Vegetables And Their Health Benefits?
Vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, but not all veggies pack the same nutritional punch. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale, tend to stand out among edible plants because they are linked to several health benefits — most notably a reduced risk of cancer
KAY PECK UPDATED ON JULY 17, 2019
Vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, but not all veggies pack the same nutritional punch. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale, tend to stand out among edible plants because they are linked to several health benefits — most notably a reduced risk of cancer.
Cruciferous vegetables in a basket at market. (Image: kosobu/iStock/GettyImages)
What Are Cruciferous Vegetables?
Cruciferous vegetables are part of the greater Brassicaceae, or mustard family, and are alternatively referred to as Brassica vegetables. Common types include:
Arugula
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Collard greens
Horseradish
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard greens
Radishes
Rutabaga
Turnips
Wasabi
Watercress
Cruciferous vegetables, or crucifers, are known for their distinctive odor and somewhat bitter flavor — two factors that make these veggies unappealing to some people. This pungency is related to their high content of sulfur-containing glucosinolates, according to the Linus Pauline Institute at Oregon State University. Ironically, these sulfur compounds are responsible for several of this vegetable group's awesome health benefits.
In fact, crucifers provide the richest sources of glucosinolates in the human diet, according to an October 2012 review in Food and Nutrition Sciences. When a cruciferous vegetable is cut, chopped or chewed, the plant enzyme myrosinase is released, which transforms the glucosinolates into other health-promoting compounds. And whenever you fork into a cooked cruciferous veggie, your intestinal bacteria help metabolize the glucosinolates.
The benefits? The breakdown products of glucosinolates, most notably indoles and isothiocyanates, may have powerful anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In fact, sulforaphane (an isothiocyanate) and indole-3-carbinol (an indole) have been widely studied for their anticancer properties.
The nutritional benefits of cruciferous vegetables extend beyond their glucosinolate content. Cruciferous vegetables are wonderful additions to your diet because they're high in fiber and are solid sources of beta-carotene (the precursor to vitamin A), B vitamins and vitamin C, says Isabel Smith, RD and founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition.
Also, cruciferous vegetables are great sources of vitamin E, vitamin K and calcium, the October 2012 review states. Another benefit: These veggies are naturally low in calories, so feel free to load up your plate!
Cruciferous Vegetables Hold Promising Anti-Cancer Benefits
When it comes to health benefits, cruciferous vegetables may be best known for their role in reducing cancer risk. According to the Linus Pauline Institute, case-control studies (which compare historical information in study participants with a health condition to study subjects without that same diagnosis) have linked high intakes of cruciferous vegetables to a lower risk of cancer of the colon, rectum, bladder, kidney, lung, breast, ovaries, stomach, pancreas, prostate and endometrium.
Because case-control studies rely on the recollection of food intake, this research method is subject to inaccuracy and bias. This may explain why most cohort studies, where participants are followed over time with their diet routinely assessed by researchers, have found little to no association between cruciferous vegetable consumption and cancer, according to the NCI.
To better understand the link between crucifers and cancer, high quality cohort studies or randomized trials are still needed. And until more is research is conducted, it's important to note that the anticancer activity of cruciferous vegetables holds significant promise.
According to the NCI, compounds produced from glucosinolates, particularly indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane, have the potential to prevent the mutation of healthy cells into cancer cells, and can also kill or inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Indole-3-carbinol may detoxify cancer-causing substances that enter the body, according to Smith, and substances from cruciferous vegetables can provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral effects — all mechanisms that may reduce cancer risk.
Cruciferous Vegetables' Heart Health Benefits
In addition to their potential role in cancer risk reduction, research is still trying to clarify how cruciferous vegetables impact heart and blood vessel disease. While eating more fruits and vegetables is known to reduce the risk of heart disease, there is very limited and sometimes conflicting observational data specific to crucifers, according to Moe Schlachter, RDN, a spokesperson for the Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and president of Houston Family Nutrition.
For example, consuming high amounts of cruciferous veggies has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, a June 2017 research analysis published in the International Journal of Epidemiology concluded. Meanwhile, a study of older Australian women published in the April 2018 issue of Journal of the American Heart Association linked a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables to a reduced thickness of the carotid artery wall — suggesting that crucifers may protect the blood vessels. What's more, the sulforaphane in these veggies has been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, a January 2015 study in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity found.
In contrast, crucifers were not found to be protective against heart disease in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, according to a report in the June 2018 issue of Clinical Epidemiology.
Crucifers appear to have the right mix of components to promote heart health since they are rich in substances that may decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke. According to Schlachter, preliminary studies have associated high amounts of glucosinolate from broccoli with lower LDL cholesterol levels while sulforaphane has been shown to reduce oxidative stress — which plays a large role in the development of many cardiac-related dysfunctions. But additional studies are needed to better understand the role of crucifers in cardiovascular health.
Other Health Benefits of Cruciferous Vegetables
In addition to their potential anticancer and heart-protective properties, cruciferous vegetables may provide additional health benefits, according to a 2018 review in the Journal of Human Health Research.
Compounds found in these vegetables have the potential to improve blood sugar and treat type 2 diabetes as well as treat H. pylori infections, a bacteria that leads to stomach ulcers. However, as you've likely guessed, the research is preliminary and more quality studies are needed to clarify these benefits.
One of the compounds formed from glucosinolates — 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) — is recognized for its hormone-balancing benefits in addition to its more established anticancer, antioxidant and detoxification properties. DIM is touted to prevent problems related to excess estrogen (such as hormone-fueled breast cancer) or excess testosterone (including hormonal acne).
However, because the transformation of glucosinolates to DIM in the body can be unpredictable, research of this compound is limited to supplements, not cruciferous vegetables. Plus, there aren't many human studies on this compound.
Warning
Since DIM may not be appropriate for everyone to take, you should note that supplements should not be taken without a doctor's assessment and approval, the National Institutes of Health recommends.
Are There Any Risks Associated With Eating Cruciferous Vegetables?
Now that you know about the plethora of potential health benefits crucifers are linked to, it's time to brush up on the possible risks of eating too much of these.
Very high intake of cruciferous vegetables has caused hypothyroidism in animal research. A plausible explanation is that some of the compounds created from crucifers can interfere with thyroid hormone production, and others may compete with the thyroid gland's uptake of iodine, a nutrient important for thyroid health. Although eating cruciferous vegetables consumption isn't directly linked to thyroid problems in humans, more research is needed on this issue as well.
How to Eat Cruciferous Veggies
Cruciferous vegetables slices of pizza with broccoli and cheese (Image: Seva_blsv/iStock/GettyImages)
Although it's good to emphasize cruciferous vegetables in your diet, you may not need to eat large, daily portions to reap the health benefits. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend at least 2.5 cups of vegetables daily, with this same amount weekly from dark green and cruciferous choices. So, aiming to eat at least a half cup of cruciferous veggies most days of the week is a good place to start!
What's more, it's important to understand how different types of cooking methods affect your veggies' health benefits. Bioavailability of glucosinolates and their breakdown products is impacted by your cooking temperature and method, and more research is needed to understand ways to optimize the availability of these health-promoting substances, a report in the August 2016 issue of Frontiers in Nutrition found.
"Boiling is not the best option for cooking cruciferous vegetables because glucosinolates are water-soluble and may be lost in the cooking water," Schlachter tells us. Additionally, high heat may deactivate myrosinase and decrease the bioavailability of sulforaphane.
So how should you cook your crucifers? "Our best cooking methods generally involve using less water and low heat," Schlachter says. "So that means steaming, stir-frying or even microwaving."
Read more: Healthy Cooking Tips for Beginners and Experts Alike
If you find crucifers unappealing, the variety of choices along with creative preparation strategies may eventually win you over. Here are some tips to make cruciferous vegetables tasty and appealing:
Add mustard greens, arugula, radishes, cabbage or kale to your usual lettuce salads.
Use bok choy, broccoli or cabbage in your favorite stir-fry.
Roast broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnips or Brussels sprouts by drizzling with olive oil, seasoning as desired, and placing in an oven set to 400° Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes, tossing halfway through. Roasting crucifers helps bring out their natural sweetness!
Add chopped kale to smoothies.
Finely dice cauliflower and use as an alternative to rice.
Use cauliflower crust in homemade pizza.
Serve broccoli, cauliflower, radishes and kohlrabi raw as appetizers or snacks.
Warning
If you have special dietary needs and have been told to limit cruciferous vegetables because of their fiber or vitamin K content, speak with your doctor or dietitian before adding them to your diet. Also, if you have hypothyroidism or are concerned they may worsen your Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms, consult your doctor.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
Oregon State University: Linus Pauline Institute: "Cruciferous Vegetables"
Food and Nutrition Sciences: "Nutritional Quality and Health Benefits of Vegetables: A Review"
National Cancer Institute: "Cruciferous Vegetables and Cancer Prevention"
International Journal of Epidemiology: "Fruit and Vegetable Intake and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Total Cancer and All-Cause Mortality—A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies"
Clinical Epidemiology: "Intake of Glucosinolates and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Three Large Prospective Cohorts of US Men and Women"
Journal of the American Heart Association: "Cruciferous and Total Vegetable Intakes Are Inversely Associated With Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Older Adult Women"
Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity: "Sulforaphane Protects against Cardiovascular Disease via Nrf2 Activation"
Molecular Nutrition and Food Research: "Diet Rich in High Glucoraphanin Broccoli Reduces Plasma LDL Cholesterol: Evidence From Randomised Controlled Trials"
Frontiers in Nutrition: "Bioavailability of Glucosinolates and Their Breakdown Products: Impact of Processing"
Journal of Human Health Research: "The Benefits of Brassica Vegetables on Human Health"
National Institutes of Health: "Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know"