The World’s First “High-Tech Eco Village” Will Reinvent Suburbs

BY ADELE PETERS 

A half-hour commute from Amsterdam, a piece of farmland is slated to become a new kind of neighborhood. Vertical farms, along with traditional fields and orchards surrounding homes, will supply food to people living there. Food waste will turn into fish feed for on-site aquaculture. Houses will filter rainwater, but won’t have driveways. A “village OS” tech platform will use AI to simultaneously manage systems for renewable energy, food production, water supply, and waste.

The 50-acre neighborhood, which will be nearly self-sufficient as it collects and stores water and energy, grows food, and processes much of its own waste, was initially planned for construction in 2017. The developers, called ReGen Villages, struggled with red tape–the area, on a piece of land that used to be underwater but was reclaimed in the 1960s when a seawall was constructed–has regulations that make it difficult for someone other than an individual homeowner to build on land that is mostly used for farming now. But after the project finally got government approval this month, it’s ready to take its next steps.

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

“We can connect a neighborhood the way it’s supposed to be connected, which is around natural resources,” says James Ehrlich, founder of ReGen Villages. If the project raises the final funding needed to begin construction, what is now a simple field will have new canals, wetlands, and ponds that can soak up stormwater (the area is seven meters below sea level, and at risk for flooding) and attract migrating birds. The land will be planted with trees, gardens, and food forests. Vertical gardens inside greenhouses will grow food on a small footprint. The 203 new homes, from tiny houses and row houses to larger villas, will provide needed housing in an area where the population may double in 15 years. The houses range in cost from 200,000 to 850,000 euros.

As cities become increasingly expensive and crowded, Ehrlich believes that this type of development may become more common. “In the last few years, we’ve really seen that the market has shifted and that there’s a hollowing out of cities,” he says. “They are really expensive and the quality of life is going down, and as much as millennials or younger people really want to be in the city, the fact is that they can’t really afford it . . . the trends are really moving toward this kind of neighborhood development outside of cities.”

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

There’s also a need to rethink infrastructure so it works more efficiently, with a lower environmental footprint. The new development considers everything–from electricity to sewage–as an interconnected system, and software links the pieces together. Electric cars, for example, which will be parked on the perimeter of the neighborhood to keep streets walkable, can store some of the extra power from the neighborhood’s solar panels and other renewable energy.

The neighborhood works differently than most. Because of the expected arrival of self-driving cars in coming years, and to encourage walking and biking, the houses aren’t designed with parking; a new bus line along the edge of the neighborhood, with a dedicated bus lane, can take residents to the town of Almere or into Amsterdam. (As in other parts of the Netherlands, separated bike paths also connect to the city.) Water will come primarily from rain collection. The on-site farming, including raising chicken and fish, will supply a large portion of the local food supply. If neighbors volunteer for the community–to garden, or teach a yoga class, or provide elder care, for example–the community will use a blockchain-based time bank to track their hours, and then provide a discount on their HOA fees.

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

A “living machine,” a system that uses plants and trees to filter sewage, and a separate anaerobic digester, can handle the neighborhood’s sewage and provide irrigation or water reused in energy systems. A system for processing food and animal waste will use black soldier flies and aquatic worms to digest the waste and create both chicken and fish feed. Other household waste–like cans and bottles–will be handled by the municipal recycling system, at least initially.

It’s a design that Ehrlich believes is feasible elsewhere, though it may not easily fit into existing regulations, and it would need political support. (Some other “agrihoods,” neighborhoods with built-in farming, do already exist, like Kuwili Lani in Hawaii, which also uses renewable energy and harvests some rainwater.)

“We know that governments around the world are in a desperate situation to build probably over a billion new homes around the world,” he says. “It’s a terrible housing crisis. At the same time, they wrestle with a number of things: the commercial interest of farmers, the commercial interests of traditional real estate developers, material companies who have a way of doing things that they’ve been doing for 100, 150 years. Most of the rules on the books relate to this district-scale thinking–of grid-based electricity, of district-scale water, of district-scale sewage.”

Financing is another challenge: While typical real estate developers look for large rates of return and quick exits, ReGen Villages plans to stay involved in its developments and get long-term, single-digit returns. The company is still raising the last round of money needed for the new development. Because Almere has regulations that don’t allow for high density, the initial development will also be more expensive. But once it’s built–something that Ehrlich expects to happen in 2019–others can follow more quickly. “We have access to a lot of really big money that’s waiting for us to finish the next pilot, and so we need the proof of concept,” he says.

The company has plans to build future developments near cities like Lund, Sweden, and Lejre-Hvalso, Denmark, and it ultimately hopes to bring a low-cost version of the neighborhoods to developing countries. “We can imagine going to rural India, sub-Saharan Africa, where we know the next 2 [billion] to 3 billion people are coming to the planet, and where we know that hundreds of millions of people are moving into the middle class,” he says. “And [we want] to get there as quickly as we can to provide new kinds of suburbs, new kinds of neighborhoods.”

Woody Harrelson Develops DocuSeries About Sustainable Food Movement Chefs

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By: LATF Staff | Aug. 20, 2018
Filed in: Food & Drinks
Photo Credits: Octaform

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Brothers and plant-based chefs, Derek and Chad Sarno, have teamed up with Executive Producer Woody Harrelson and Tin Rocket Entertainment to develop a new documentary series celebrating the forward thinkers, social entrepreneurs and rock star chefs on the front lines of the sustainable food movement.

The original series, Wicked Healthy World (wt), will follow the Sarnos on their quest to meet the amazing people who are blazing new trails for a healthier population and planet. Their journey will take them everywhere from the fascinating indoor mushroom farms of South Korea, to the organic rooftop farms of Tel Aviv.

"Chad and Derek are doing some incredible work. They are at the forefront of a plant-based movement that's been building for decades and is now becoming a tsunami," states Executive Producer Woody Harrelson in the foreword of the brothers' cookbook, Wicked Healthy, that was released worldwide in May.

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With this series, the Sarnos will shine a light on all of the positive momentum surrounding sustainable food, and recognize the creative people making inroads in this area. "My brother and I are excited to meet other innovators who share our passion and who have developed solutions to bring about change." Chad Sarno says.

Wicked Healthy World (wt) will be produced by Tin Rocket Entertainment with Woody Harrelson, Jerry D'Alessandro, Lisa Tanzer and Ira Chute serving as executive producers.

"You’re Never Too Young to Make a Difference"

Rikalize Reinecke goes to school, just like the average kid in their late teens. But unlike them, she has an unusual side business. In January 2014, when she was just 12 years old, she started her own aquaculture and aquaponics farm just outside Pretoria, South Africa. And the inspiration came from the movie Dolphin Tale.

The movie inspired her to start her own fish farm, but there was more to it: "At more or less the same time that I watched the movie Dolphin Tale, we learned at school about all the natural resources that are being depleted, and that in a few years’ time, there will not be any fish left in the sea", she tells us. "When I saw the dedication of the people at the oceanarium, working with the dolphins, and helping them, that changed my life forever.

"I realised two things: I would like to have a similar experience one day, and that I had to do everything I can to prevent fish from becoming extinct."

From aquaculture to aquaponics

Rikalize started with a pure aquaculture farm. However, she found that ammonia and harmful impurities in the water grew to such an extent that the fish started to die. This and the fact that her capital input was very limited, meant that aquaponics was her only option.

"Aquaponics quickly solved the problem of reducing the high and dangerous water impurities and also provided me with a small constant income." Although her passion is fish, and she would choose aquaculture any time, aquaponics "opened doors for me as an inland resident, with a very limited water supply, to farm with fish in a sustainable way", she says. "Aquaculture would be my first choice, but I realize the value of aquaponics especially in the DAPS application that I developed."

From lettuce to leek, and strawberries to spring onion

Rikalize and her team grow a wide variety of crops in the aquaponic systems: "About 22 varieties, from various lettuces, spring onion, leek, celery, cucumber, rock melon, peppadews, green peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, baby marrows to various herbs, etc."

Most of that produce ends up at the shop she opened late last year, and is sold directly to the public. "I also sell fish to wholesale distributors and chef schools. Previously we would deliver to restaurants and lodges and mini supermarkets, but now all of them can buy and collect from my shop."

And she's constantly looking to expand that range, with a section where they do research and feasibility studies and grow produce to determine if it can be grown successfully in the aquaponics set-up.

With two and a half years of school still left, schoolwork comes first for Rikalize, but she is engaged in high level discussions on expanding production and acreage. "Offtake agreements are one of the ways we are looking at currently and that is the short term expansion. I can say that I am in the process of constructing a new Catfish Hatchery based on a brand new mobile and modular principle to be rolled out over Africa, the first POC will be ready end of July."

Spreading the word on aquaponics

Rikalize tells us that the aquaponics industry in South Africa has grown a lot since she took up farming three years ago. "One of my aims is to put a lot of effort into creating public awareness and hence grow the industry." And it hasn't gone unnoticed. "Aquaponics is now like the next best thing," she says.

One of the ways Rikalize is spreading the word is through the development of an app, which is now in the final testing phase before being rolled out on public platforms. "The team that worked on the design did a great job. The roll out date will be announced soon." She also provides training courses. "Training is the base of knowledge and education. As long as I need to build systems there will be training."

Her ultimate vision is to roll out the modular aquaponics system in Africa and all around the world, to equip people with the opportunity to have a job and provide food to their families. "Aquaponics is the most sustainable farming method of the new century," she says. "This system gives you the opportunity to process food in your backyard and generate a small income. One system can feed a family of 4-6 people sustainably."

And for all the young growers out there, Rikalize has a special message: "You’re never too young to make a difference."

For more information:

La Pieus Aqua

www.lapieusaqua.co.za

Publication date: 7/12/2018
Author: Jan Jacob Mekes
Copyright: www.hortidaily.com 

iGrow News, Badia Farm Interview With CEO, Omar Al Jundi

iGrow News, Badia Farm Interview With CEO, Omar Al Jundi

Content Contributor to iGrow News: Scott Massey

Omar Al Jundi decided to not only tackle a national issue but also to independently finance it. Why?

    Omar grew up in Saudi Arabia eating food predominantly from elsewhere; produce grown in other countries was imported into the desert, where growing conditions were harsh or impossible. Only through travels to the USA and Europe, did Omar experience the taste of fresh produce that had not lost its flavor and quality through extensive travel, handling, and preservatives.  These experiences inspired him to find ways to grow produce indoors using Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) to make fresh produce available to customers. 

Today, Omar is the current CEO and Founder of Badia Farms in Dubai. Badia Farms is the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) commercial vertical indoor farm, using innovative hydroponic technology to grow leafy greens. The company’s vision is to revolutionize the agricultural industry in the Middle East; to provide a sustainable solution for the region’s dependence on food imports and ultimately to safeguard food security in a country that currently imports more than 80% of its food requirements. 

Traditionally, “locally grown in Dubai (or in any GCC country for that matter)” has not been synonymous with quality. Despite this deeply ingrained notion, Omar was able to secure early client interest and orders by inviting hotel managers and chefs to taste the quality of the produce at Badia Farms. Six months post-launch, Badia Farms is now supplying to 75 restaurants, including Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi, Emirates Palace, Tashas, Fairmont the Palm, and will be available in supermarkets and directly to the consumer by Q2 2019. The company anticipates being more affordable than imported produce as there is no product deterioration due to travel, and as demands increase, production costs will also fall over time.

        Badia Farms is also led by fourth-generation British horticultural expert Grahame Dunling. Equipped with state of the art bespoke-spectrum LED lighting, the highly controlled environment uses the most advanced hydroponic technology, chemical free, soil-free, nutrient-rich base to grow a product range of optimal quality, flavor, and yield. The sustainable eco-system created at Badia Farms uses 90 percent less water than in open field farming, energy efficient and is pesticide free. Indoor, controlled agriculture also removes a majority of the variables that could lead to food contamination that frequently plagues field grown produce.

This revolutionary approach to address food security in the Middle East has not gone without notice. Badia Farms is now engaged by both local and international entities; private, governmental and non-profit organizations to share insights and developments in the agricultural industry and how it can bring about regional food supply stability and aid environmental conservation on both national and global scale.

“They believe this is the way forward, and want to promote it”, says Al Jundi. “We do not get food security without water security. It is true that our underground aquifers have been depleted over the years. To make matters worse, as a region, we have one of the highest consumption rates of water in the entire world.”

“We had to overcome many obstacles to make the system as automated as possible. We are profitable without any government subsidies. We currently draw our power from the grid, but are working towards solar to make it a fully sustainable solution from A to Z.” 

       Now that the commercial success has been proven through Badia Farm’s output yields, a second Badia Farm, which will be located in Saudi Arabia, is in its’ design phase. While success leads to expansion, being the first in the industry has, of course, presented challenges; a key one being how to finance such an initiative. Being first isn’t always compatible with the banks’ risk management and they are naturally skeptical. As such, Omar financed Badia Farms independently; a challenge that sets limits in itself, but a blessing as these limits have ensured the business is running as efficiently, creatively and resourcefully as possible. 

Inevitably, Badia Farms and vertical farming, in general, have caught the attention of many, and Badia Farms will soon be joined by healthy competition in the region.  However, Omar will forever remain the region’s pioneer; one that personally addressed and funded the issue of our food traveling an average of 3000 miles to get to our plate. 

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Scott Massey

Content Contributor to iGrow News: 

Milano, A Melting Pot At The Heart Of Food Innovation

Milano, A Melting Pot At The Heart Of Food Innovation

#FOODINNOVATION #FOODTECH

Source: Marco Gualtieri - Founder and Chairman - Seeds&Chips

26-06-2018

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During the 13th and 14th centuries, you’d know you were at a dinner party of some level of esteem if, at the conclusion of your meal, you were given a piece of fur to clean off your hands. If it were a very high-level event, you may even have had a live rabbit tied to your chair with ribbons to serve the same purpose. However in 1491, a certain Leonardo da Vinci thought there might be a better way both in terms of hygiene, presentation, aesthetics and for not the first time, he decided to innovate. Thus, the napkin was born.

While it may seem as natural to use now as the use of cutlery, plates, or even a table, napkins were not an instant success when da Vinci first unveiled them, so to speak. People were puzzled, unimpressed: some people even wore them on their hands because they weren’t quite sure what to do with them. Leonardo himself was dismayed, and feared that no one would adopt the napkin in common usage, and that we’d be doomed to carry around rabbit hides to all of our meals instead of his tovagliolo. Perhaps he need not have worried so much at all, as the napkin quickly took its place at the table.

When people think of Italy, one of the first images that come to mind is food, and the forms that food can take are seemingly endless. Some might say that food and the activities related to it is our national pastime, and one of the very pillars upon which the Italian identity is based. Indeed, this is probably true: it’s common to have entire conversations that revolve around food within the country, and Italians are known to sit down for lunch and immediately start discussing what they’ll eat for dinner. While regional dishes vary dramatically the attachment that Italians have to the cuisine of their area is profound. But it’s not just the food we eat that makes Italy such an important culinary pillar, it’s the innovations that food has inspired throughout our history.

Because food is never just about food, is it? Food is an archive, a story told through a taste, a reflection of both time and place. Da Vinci’s napkin is telling because it shows that even in those early days, food was both a landscape and a medium for progress and innovation. Techniques themselves would evolve along with the availability of certain ingredients that might have never before been seen, making our dishes a conduit for cultural exchange as well as a focal point for experimentation. And nowhere have these been more obvious than in Milano.

Lombardia is the largest agricultural region in Italy and as its capital, Milano has made significant contributions to the library of Italian cuisine. From risotto and cotoletta alla Milanese to osso buco to panettone, there is no shortage of dishes that originate in the area and many of those have become as recognizable as the pastas and pizzas that bear the mark of the Italian culinary heritage around the world. However, Milano has come to be characterized more by its industrial development and its entrepreneurial spirit, and it is this aspect of the identity of the city and larger region which has become its most recognizable attribute. Over the course of its history, Milano has been a meeting point for different cultures both from within Italy and the world at large, and its evolution into a global city reflects this rich history.

The development of the city has been unique among all others in the country, and it’s long been a crossroads between cultures both within Italy and from around the world. This melting pot makes Milano an ideal global hub for food innovation, where the legacy of EXPO Milano 2015 and the collective efforts towards achieving sustainable and resilient cities have embraced both the importance of tradition and the necessity of innovation. Milano is rapidly becoming home to emerging ecosystems of startups, companies, institutions, and investors, and each are contributing to a renaissance of the culture of entrepreneurship, invention, and food appreciation that makes the city so special.

A (Very) Brief History of Time

Coming from the Roman Mediolanum, Milano has signified a land in the middle of it all since the very beginning. While it’s impossible to condense the history of a city into such a short space, the history of Milano has had two important currents that have helped make it ripe as the city of the future, and the city of food innovation. First, after the Emperor Charlemagne declared himself the first King of Lombardy in 774, Milano became a key part of the Holy Roman Empire and its position between the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas, as well as at the Southern point of the Alps in the Po valley, made it an important point of trade and commerce. As a midpoint between Venice and Genova, Milano became a hub for goods, services, and people seeking work to support an emerging global economy. While the industrial development is known as ‘the Miracle, that would follow the end of World War Two, was fundamental to the modern day development of the city into a financial capital, it was built upon this long-standing tradition of trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship that dates back centuries.

Second, the historical influx and movement of people seeking work in the silk and textile industries that developed as part of this strategic position helped Milano to grow into a city of immigrants, both from within Italy and from other parts of the world. While the impact of these population shifts was felt across a range of social institutions, it was also an important aspect of the development of a distinct food culture in and around the city. Indeed, the iconic risotto allo zafferano relies not only on rice that would have been introduced to the peninsula in the 13th century via the Moors, but on the golden stems of the crocus that made its way to Italy via the mountains of Iran. Likewise for dishes like the cotoletta, which more than likely owes its presence in the canon to the Austrians that ruled the region in the 10th century.

Later on, in the 17th century, the Austro-Hungarians would return to Lombardy and with them bring the michetta, a bread that bears a striking resemblance to the ‘Kaisersemmel’, or emperor’s bread, and which the Milanese cleverly renamed to denote a ‘crumb’. But it was not only foods from far afield that contributed to the development of a distinctly Milanese culinary context: workers coming from the southern Puglia region brought with them the recipe for panzerotto, a stuffed and fried dough pocket, and it soon became one of the staples of the food culture in Milano. Indeed, Panificio Luini, which has been serving the adopted dish since the Luini family emigrated from Puglia in 1949, is one of the most popular Instagram hashtags for visitors to the city. Food in Milano is unique among other cities in Italy for both its modernity as well as its faithfulness to an ethos of unfailing quality. Indeed it’s most famous maestro, Gualtiero Marchesi, could have been speaking for the city when he said, “If I had to worry about all the comments that have been made about me, I wouldn’t have arrived anywhere.” It is unabashedly idiosyncratic, and all the better off for it.

Expo: The Emergence of the Resilient City

The decades after the so-called ‘Miracle’ were a struggle, as a decline in industrial development, and a sagging global economy left the city floundering. By the 1980’s, even the vibrant artistic atmosphere that this vacuum had given rise to in the decade preceding was petering out, with the superficial hedonism of the ‘paninari’ gradually receding and a dramatic shift in political forces that continued to build upon the city’s strategic and financial position but undermined its social development.

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All of that changed in dramatic fashion in 2015, when EXPO Milano opened its gates in an unprecedented show of innovation and possibility that drew millions of visitors and a new wave of investment and opportunity back to the city. I have previously written about the fundamental importance of EXPO to the genesis of the food innovation and sustainability movement, and how the concatenation of EXPO, the development of the UN SDGs, and the signing of the Paris Agreement shaped the course of global business, but it is also important to note how crucial this experience was to the city itself. While EXPO was, according to some, “a sign that Italy was back on its feet”, it was a critical step on the path that Milano as a city had been on for nearly a decade before that. The skyline had already started to change, with skyscrapers taking their place and new developments like the City Life and Porta Nuova districts springing to life, and a twofold increase in green spaces and ecological initiatives. The arrival of EXPO also helped to boost an increasing tourism economy that helped bring even greater attention to Milano as a key city in Italy not only for business but for experiences. With more than 20 million visitors over five months in 2015 for EXPO, Milano showed the world that it was an engine of change, innovation, and possibilities.

With the theme of EXPO Milano, ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’, the city reclaimed its historic place as a global crossroads for food and built upon this legacy with an emphasis on developing new systems to sustainably grow, feed, and renew the planet. Highlighting the best qualities of the city, the pavilions at the newly built FieraMilano explored how to build a better food system through integration, cross pollination, and technological innovation. The introduction and signing of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2015 was an immediate indication that EXPO was no flash in the pan, and to date the Pact has been signed by 167 cities around the world, with over 450 million people now on the course to a sustainable urban food system. The importance of water, which was a fundamental part of the fourth edition of the Summit this year, is reflected in the forthcoming Centrale dell’Acqua, a museum and learning space dedicated to the importance of clean water to human survival and development. Sustainability has become the cornerstone of urban, social, and financial development in Milan, as well as the explosion of a vibrant food culture that reflects this renaissance.

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A Changing City in a Changing World

For a city that has always survived and indeed prospered on the clever use of integrating the global into the local, Milano is poised to become one of the most advanced cities on the planet with an ethos that matches its prosperity. The extraordinary transformation is as apparent throughout the city as it is on the tables in restaurants, bars, and cafes, with a series of initiatives that are meant to “build social cohesion” by developing green infrastructure, housing, and transportation networks. Former industrial areas are also being reinvented with former warehouses and manufacturing plants being converted into cultural centers and unique housing opportunities for a growing population of artists, startups, and innovators coming from around Italy and the world to be a part of the next wave of Milano’s development. The city is taking its commitment to resilience seriously, with initiatives aimed at combating climate change and ensuring equitable access to public resources. Hints of this are popping up everywhere, with the orders for electric buses completed and expected on the roads in early 2019, and more initiatives aimed at reducing pollution and easing traffic on the way. The Bosco Verticale, a modern day Hanging Gardens that anchor an evolving city skyline, are the quintessential blend of culture, technology, and creativity that has become the trademark of Milano.

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With the political landscape of Europe changing rapidly, Milano stands as one of the potential centers for global commerce, production, and finance in the next few years, particularly as the realignment in the wake of Brexit could remake the face of the continent. These changing winds could be a blessing to the city, as its newfound confidence makes it a real contender for the businesses and institutions that now find themselves looking at alternative solutions. Indeed, efforts to make Milan and Italy a more attractive place for investment could be a deciding factor in the development of the country as a whole. While this is certainly cause for optimism, our continuing efforts to develop Milano must not lose sight of its importance as a hub for innovation, and for the kind of fusion that has given it such a unique identity, particular in its food culture. These are assets that will assist us all in building a food system for the future, as we once again look to borrow the best of what has crossed our path with the brightest of what we have developed.

Milano has always been a melting pot of culture, and the opportunity to make it a melting pot for food innovation is a natural progression of that heritage. After all, Da Vinci didn’t stop at the napkin: along with his rules of table etiquette (including such gestures as not turning one’s back on a table companion, and not engaging in fisticuffs), his notebooks were filled with sketches and explanations of tools like the duck press, elaborate menus, and the rationale for a plant-based diet. His time in Milano, from 1482 until 1499 and at the very height of the melting pot, was among the most important in his life and perhaps one of the most important eras in food innovation itself. The legacy of the city is in part his legacy: perhaps his Last Supper was just the first of many more to come, each more ingenious than the last. 

Marco Gualtieri - Founder and Chairman - Seeds&Chips

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A Warming Planet Could Zap Nutrition From Rice That Feeds The World

A Warming Planet Could Zap Nutrition From Rice That Feeds The World

May 24, 2018

ANGUS CHEN

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Scientists find that rice grown under elevated carbon conditions loses substantial amounts of protein, zinc, iron and B vitamins, depending on the variety.

Maximilian Stock, Ltd./Getty Images/Passage

Grains are the bedrock of civilization. They led humans from hunting and gathering to city-building. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the fruits of three kinds of grass provide the world with 60 percent of its total food: corn, wheat, and rice. Aside from energy-rich carbohydrates, grains feed us protein, zinc, iron and essential B vitamins.

But rice as we know it is at risk.

As humans expel billions of metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere and raze vast swaths of forests, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our air hurries ever higher. That has the potential to severely diminish the nutritional value of rice, according to a new study published on Wednesday in Science Advances. For people who depend heavily on rice as a staple in their diets, such a nutritional loss would be devastating, says Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington and an author on the study. "When you look at a country like Bangladesh, three out of every four calories comes from rice. Obviously, that means any decline in nutritional value is very significant."

To study how rice responds to different concentrations of carbon dioxide, the researchers grew several varieties of rice in experimental fields in Japan and China. For each variety, they set aside one rice paddy as a control, and one neighboring enclosed rice paddy with tubing running through the field. They blew carbon dioxide out of the tubing, raising the ambient carbon dioxide inside the enclosure to some 580 parts per million, the expected carbon dioxide concentration in the next half century if there are no further attempt to curb emissions or deforestation. "The fields have the same sunshine, same water, same characteristics," Ebi says. "So the experiment sees what happens to the same rice under different carbon dioxide concentrations."

Ebi says that the rice grown under the elevated carbon scenario lost substantial amounts of protein, zinc, iron and B vitamins per grain. Iron, zinc and protein losses ranged from 5 percent to 20 percent. Vitamins B1 and B5 dropped up to 30 percent, depending on the variety. "Folate [vitamin B9] declines across the nine rice varieties ranged from 10 percent to 45 percent. So, it's a lot," she says.

Of course, many foods can be a rich source of these essential nutrients, but Ebi says food other than rice is not always available to people. Among the poorest in the world, the grain can make up an overwhelming portion of their diet, Ebi says. "In the paper, we looked at the most rice-dependent countries in Asia. Using a weighting scheme focusing on those with the fewest resources, we estimate this decline in nutrient quality will affect about 600 million people."

A mass deficiency in vitamin B9, also known as folate or folic acid, would have particularly severe public health consequences. The nutrient is critical to fetus development, and a lack of vitamin B9 can result in defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord at birth. "It can be a catastrophic birth anomaly," Ebi says.

The study's finding is disheartening, if not surprising, to researchers in the field. Scientists already knew that higher carbon dioxide concentrations can decrease protein, zinc and iron levels in important crops, and this study shows a similar effect for B vitamins, says Camilo Mora, a climate change scientist at the University of Hawaii Manoa who was not involved with the new work. "It's just another piece of evidence to show how bad climate change is," he says.

For non-experts, the phenomenon may seem a little odd, considering carbon dioxide is food for plants. Plants that share the same photosynthesis pathway as rice and wheat do indeed grow larger and produce greater yields in higher carbon dioxide concentrations by creating more carbohydrates, says Lisa Ainsworth, a biologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of. Agriculture who did not work on the study. But they don't increase the amount of other nutrients in their grains relative to that yield gain. "They're basically getting a dilution effect of the nutrients in the grains," she says.

Some varieties of rice may not experience as severe of a nutrient loss as carbon dioxide levels go up. For instance, the rice variety Liang You 84 (a hybrid style grown in China) lost around 45 percent of its vitamin B9 content whereas the Koshihikari rice (a short-grained sushi rice from Japan) lost roughly 30 percent of its B9 content in the elevated carbon scenarios. That knowledge gives researchers an opportunity, given enough funding, to breed climate change-resistant strains of rice.

But getting people to switch to new grains is not always easy, Ainsworth says. "I think culturally it is difficult. People eat different rice for different meals and events."

Other strategies are available, too. Investing in ways to increase access to different kinds of food beyond rice would help, for instance, she points out.

Or, Mora says, humanity could always work together to mitigate climate change and carbon emissions so the problem doesn't arise in the first place.

Angus Chen is a journalist in New York. He's on Twitter @angrchen.

• grains   carbon dioxide  vitamins  rice  climate change

NL: GFIA To Feature Speakers From Mars One, Copa-Cogeca, And GODAN

June 20-21, Utrecht

NL: GFIA To Feature Speakers From Mars One, Copa-Cogeca, And GODAN

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The Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA) will open in Utrecht, the Netherlands next week as European and Industry leaders join together to debate the biggest challenges to drive sustainable agriculture for increased productivity and food security in Europe and the World. GFIA takes place from 20th to 21st June 2018, a partner of the first International Week for Smart Food Production (IWSFP), which brings together the food and agriculture industries on a global scale for the first time and marks a significant step towards addressing food security and cultivating change to sustainably feed nine billion people by 2050.

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Keynote speeches will set the agenda around the future of food security at Europe’s largest showcase of sustainable agtech for the two-day exhibition and conference during the opening ceremony at Jaarbeurs Expo Center, Utrecht from 10:30 am - 11:30 am on 20th June. Opening addresses will be presented by Bas Lansorp, CEO, and Co-founder of Mars One, the Dutch foundation that aims to land the first humans on Mars in 2030; Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General, Copa - Cogeca - the united voice of farmers and their cooperatives in the European Union and André Laperrière, Executive Director, GODAN who promote the proactive sharing of open data to make information about agriculture and nutrition available, accessible and usable. 

Nicola Davison, GFIA Show Director said: “GFIA has emerged as a global authority on sustainable food production, driving innovation through exhibitions and conferences across the World. We believe in cultivating change through driving a global vision that showcases the latest game-changing innovations and technology whilst delivering local relevance. GFIA Europe will bring stakeholders a pioneering conference and exhibition to foster meaningful dialogue, collaboration, recognition and year-round action between regional food producers, buyers, innovators, policymakers, and investors. As proud partners of the International Week for Smart Food Production, the second edition of GFIA Europe will for the first time bring together the food and agriculture industries alongside a series of other pioneering agricultural events including VIV Europe 2018, European Halal Expo and the Proagrica Future Farming Theatre.”

She added: “The conference agenda this year will include high-level panel discussions on the role of Europe in global food security and importantly discuss the steps that have been taken over the past year by European governments, industry, and organizations to support it. We will also address adapting agriculture to climate adaptation in European agriculture; the role of circular economy for agriculture at a regional, national, continental and global level; and the role of agriculture in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

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Key innovations which will be showcased as part of the conference will include: N2 Applied who have developed a breakthrough technology enabling livestock farmers to process animal manure and produce nitrogen fertilizer locally that can contribute to a mind-shift in significantly reducing the livestock CO2 footprint and compliance with environmental regulations; VITO Remote Sensing online tools that are designed to extract accurate information at high update rates and support precision agriculture and environmental monitoring; beam technologies who alongside its partners are pioneering new ways to minimize chemical and drug use through low energy electron beam equipment; and Cropio who monitor over 50+ countries to successfully interpret data from optic and SAR satellites to validated and calibrated data points over the world for crop health management. 

The opening ceremony is free to attend, on a first-come-first-served basis, with registration required online at www.gfiaeurope.com. Full access to the conference tickets: from €399 +VAT this includes entry into the International Exhibition, Opening Ceremony, Main Conference, Innovations Theatre, Proagrica Future Farming Theatre, partner workshops, daily delegate lunch, refreshments during networking breaks, priority access to technical tours, plus access to an online meeting system and app to facilitate networking with exhibitors and other attendees.

Publication date: 6/18/2018

The (secret) Recipe For The Perfect Strawberry 🍓

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Pierre-François Pluchon

 

The (secret) Recipe For The Perfect Strawberry 🍓

Our mission has been simple: make excellent fruits and vegetables grown without pesticides accessible to everyone. But what does “excellent” mean? For us, it’s two things: flavor, yes, but also and most importantly nutritional value. This second point is what we’re going to talk about in this series of articles. Our way of growing upends how things used to be done, so it’s time to look at the nutritional value of the fruits we’re growing. As a biology expert at Agricool, I took to my keyboard to let you know everything we do here.

• #1 — The (secret) recipe for the perfect strawberry 🍓
• #2 — No need for whipped cream, our berries are sweet as is! 🍧
• #3 — Inside our berries? A shot of vitamins! 💪

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Looks like me, Pierre-François (but you can call me PF) !

Hello, science! 🔎

From the very beginning, we’ve been recording the nutritional value of our strawberries. How? By conducting analyses in our own superlab and with the help of external, specialized labs.

These analyses let us study every aspect very closely. One thing is sure — everything went under the microscope. Next, we compared our results to both national and international standards (and you can find that data directly thanks to the internet):

• The French national agency for food safety (ANSES), the key reference in France 🇫🇷
• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the key reference for everyone in the world 🌎
• The French technical body for fruits and vegetables (CTIFL), the key farming reference in France 🇫🇷

Thanks to this approach, we can have a global and objective view on the nutritional value of not only our strawberries but also all those that are available today (different varieties, different ways of growing, different regions…).

The nutritional value of a strawberry 🌿

Before getting into the heart of the matter, there’s one very important detail: the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables changes not only thanks to certain options (variety, growing technique, storage, analytical method, etc.) but also during the course of the growing process itself.

→ The sugar example

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The sugar level is typically quite low at the beginning of a harvest, when the strawberries are large and numerous. As time goes on, the number and size of the fruits diminish, and the sugar level increases. Why? It’s a dilution effect. In other words, a strawberry plant in ideal conditions will produce a certain maximum amount of sugar each day. Thus if there are fewer fruits on the plant, they will have higher sugar levels (and vice versa).

Strawberry connoisseurs, read this! 👇

You love super sweet strawberries? There are some growers in Japan who use the dilution effect to produce very large, very sweet berries. How? During the growing process, they cut away most of the flowers. This way, they get only 1 or 2 berries per plant (as opposed to 25–30 normally!). All of the sugars produced by the plant are thus concentrated in these fruits known as “Sugar bombs”. These are very rare strawberries, with prices that are usually around €30 per 250 grams (€120 per kilo!).

Taking this kind of change into account, it’s not rare to find a nutritional value that doubles between two different samples, particularly if they come from different varieties and different growers. This is why the ANSES reports on upper and lower limits rather than simple averages that aren’t necessarily very pertinent outside of a certain context. Repeated nutritional analyses (which we do!) are still the best way to estimate the qualities found in a certain crop of fruits. And just like with all data, the reliability of any analysis is proportional to the number of samples analyzed.

Close-up on a strawberry

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So those are the methods; let’s see the results.

The nutritional value of a fruit is judged using several criteria:

• The most famous: sugar and vitamins
• The lesser-known: antioxidants, fatty acids and minerals

To know the nutritional value of a fruit, there are 2 options: trust your taste buds and/or look at the nutritional values. The latter depend directly on its composition. You might know it already, but fruits are principally composed of water and sugars. The other 3 components are minerals, proteins and lipids. Other elements (vitamins and antioxidants) are present as well, but in very small quantities (measured in milli- and micrograms for 100 grams of fruit) that aren’t visible on the graphs below.

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Measuring Energy Values 🔍

Now we need to quantify the various elements that make up a strawberry, which can be measured in either joules or calories. We can also measure the energy provided to the body when one consumes the fruit.

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A little catching-up 🏃‍

To function normally, the body consumes calories. For an adult between 18–55 years of age whose body-mass index (= weight/height²) is 22 and who partakes in an average amount of physical activity per day, the average recommended calorie intake is 2100 kcal for a woman and 2600 kcal for a man.

Examples

• While reading this article, your brain is consuming roughly 1.5 calories per minute
• A person who weighs 70kg and who runs 10km in an hour consumes roughly 720 calories

Back to the strawberry

The caloric value of a strawberry is, on average, 32 kcal per 100g. A large strawberry weighs 50g. It supplies the energy needed for 10 minutes of walking or 5 minutes of biking.

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And just for comparison’s sake, the caloric value of 100g of spaghetti is 158 kcal.

And the Agricool strawberry?

The caloric value of our berries is slightly higher than average, at between 40–50 kcal/100g. In other words, the energy value of our fruits is a bit higher than the norms recorded by ANSES. This is explained by the higher sugar content of our strawberries. Essentially, most of the caloric value of a strawberry comes from its sugars. We’ll get into that in more detail in the next article.

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                           Comparative analysis of strawberry composition

There’s one other point to note: our strawberries contain relatively little water. That explains their firm, fleshy texture. Their fats and proteins are standard, as are the minerals. And the sugar level is a bit higher than average, which gives them that little something extra.

And it seems like this last part (sugar!) is the most important for many people. If you want to learn more about that aspect, keep an eye out for my second article next week.

What will it cover? Well, among other things, the Brix index, the glycemic effect, and a detailed analysis of different strawberry varieties (including our own).

• Science  Foodtech  Innovation  Farming  Startup

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Pierre-François Pluchon

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Welcome to Agricool

We grow food where you live

Coalition For Sustainable Organics Continues Efforts To Ensure Containers And Hydroponics In The National Organic Program

Coalition For Sustainable Organics Continues Efforts To Ensure Containers And Hydroponics In The National Organic Program

By urban ag news

May 8, 2018

Led by executive director Lee Frankel, the Coalition for Sustainable Organics (CSO), continued its advocacy efforts at the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Spring meeting to ensure the National Organic Program remains open to producers using containers and hydroponic cultivation methods.

Frankel testified, “Comprised of growers big and small, we [the CSO] advocate for the continued allowance of containerized growing methods under the National Organic Program while enabling growers to select the most appropriate production system for their specific site and commodity needs.”

“In addition, the CSO was pleased to receive confirmation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that of the legal basis for these methods via Sections 6503 and 6512 of the Organic Foods Production Act,” stated Lee Frankel.   “CSO has long argued that OFPA and the accompanying regulations do not prohibit containers and hydroponics from the organic program.”   

“Thanks to USDA’s strong statement, producers can continue to meet the rising demand for fresh organic produce using a wide variety of environmentally sound and sustainable farming methods such as containers and hydroponics,” continued Frankel.

Following a presentation by Undersecretary Ibach on USDA efforts to increase organic integrity, members of the CSO as well as Frankel testified today in Tucson, Arizona at the meeting of the National Organic Standards Board to show continued support for efforts to further strengthen and clarify the USDA organic regulations and ensure integrity in the USDA Organic Seal.

• TAGS   Coalition for Sustainable Organics  Hydroponics  Sustainable Agriculture
• US Department of Agricultue