Conference News

From Blight to Opportunity: Detroit Woman Puts Kids to Work in Community Garden

January 28, 2016 | AJ Hughes

Riet Schumack (left) holds a check donation to the organization she helped cofound, Neighbors Building Brightmoor. (photo courtesy of Riet Schumack)

Riet Schumack not only has a heart for gardening and kids, but also for the city she loves and calls home: Detroit. And since 2006, her heart has led her to help inner city kids become gardeners, and in the process, transform blight to beauty.

In 2006, she co-founded the Brightmoor Youth Garden in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood as a way to counteract prostitution and drug dealing in the area, as well as to provide a safe space for children. Read More

Open Data from USDA, Microsoft Cloud Technology Become Tools to Strengthen Food Supply Through “Innovation Challenge” Winners

January 27, 2016 | USDA USDA

Press release – WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Microsoft officials today announced the winners of the USDA-Microsoft Innovation Challenge, in which contestants used USDA agriculture production open data to develop online tools that can help make the American food supply more resilient in the face of climate change.

“In yet another example of how public and private resources can be leveraged together to address significant global concerns, the winners of the USDA-Microsoft Innovation Challenge have used open government data to create an impressive array of innovative tools to help food producers and our communities prepare for the impacts of climate change and ensure our nation’s ability to provide plentiful, affordable food,” said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. “For more than 100 years, USDA has compiled data on the farm economy, production, and the health of crops around the country, and it is exciting to see such modern, useful tools spring from these information sources.” Read More

Q&A: Dr. Peggy A. Mauk of UC Riverside Discusses Economic and Social Benefits of Strengthening Local Food System

January 25, 2016 | seedstock

Dr. Peggy A. Mauk. Director of Agricultural Operations and Subtropical Horticulture Specialist, UC Riverside
Photo courtesy of Dr, Mauk

Mention the southern Californian City of Riverside and people often think of oranges. This is hardly surprising, since it’s the birthplace of the state’s citrus industry and home to an internationally respected citrus research center run by the University of California, Riverside.

An effort is now underway, though, that could change perceptions about food production in this citrus hub. UC Riverside and city government are collaborating on a new initiative to get farmers and residents to think outside the area’s traditional export-oriented citrus growing model by promoting the economic and social benefits of developing Riverside’s local food system.

Seedstock spoke to Dr. Peggy Mauk, Director of Agricultural Operations at UC Riverside, to learn more about this work. Read More

Meeting at Fox Farm Urban Farm to Discuss Local Food System in Riverside California

Urban Farmers at Forefront of Local Agriculture Movement in Riverside

January 25, 2016 | Laura Hurst

Urban Farmer Scott Berndt of Fox Farm with his produce. Photo courtesy of Scott Berndt.

Scott Berndt first moved to California to start a career in hotel and restaurant management. But having spent his childhood on a farm in South Dakota and hailing from a multi-generation family of farmers, he soon embarked on a side project: growing tomatoes.

In the early days of Fox Farm, Scott Berndt packed 300 tomato plants into his backyard in Riverside, CA, seeding them and then selling the young plants at an annual plant sale.

In 2014, Berndt’s real estate agent visited his home and asked about the crop of plants in the backyard. When Berndt told her what he was doing, and that he wished for more space, she offered the two and a half acres behind her home as a growing plot, so long as he did not use chemicals or toxins. Since Berndt was already using organic methods, and continued doing so with the flowers he cultivated on her land, it was a perfect fit. A year later, he converted an unused horse corral as additional growing space for vegetables, and Fox Farm was born. Read More

Future of Small Farms In the US and Around the World Examined by UCR Economist and Team

January 21, 2016 | Bettye Miller

Economist Steven Helfand is part of an international team studying the future of small farms.

Press Release – RIVERSIDE, Calif. – What is the future of small farms in the United States and around the world?

UC Riverside economist Steven M. Helfand is part of an international team that hopes to answer that question, in part, by examining how productivity growth in agriculture has differed for small and large farms on five continents. Their findings may help policymakers around the world determine how best to support smaller farms that may have higher land productivity but lack the resources to be competitive in the marketplace. Read More

Can Local, Urban Agriculture Scale? Hydroponic Farm Urban Till Says, ‘Yes’

January 20, 2016 | seedstock

Photo courtesy of Urban Till

Sustainable growing methods are part of the very fiber of Urban Till’s operations, but the Chicago-based hydroponics farm isn’t an outgrowth of the organic food movement. In fact, it actually has roots in the traditional food industry.

Founder Brock Leach comes from a background in food distribution. Before starting Urban Till with his friend, hydroponics expert Todd Williamson, he worked as manager of continuous improvement over at Martin Brower, a multinational company that provides supply chain management services to restaurants operators around the globe. Watching the increasing costs of moving edible goods along the supply line, he came to the conclusion that local production of food could be profitable, if it was done right. Read More

Urban Farming Program at Indiana High School Teaches Students to Farm and Embrace Entrepreneurship

January 20, 2016 | AJ Hughes

A student at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy handles chickens inside their coop at the school’s farm. (Photo courtesy Lynda Bodie/Thea Bowman Leadership Academy)

Gary, Indiana, known for being the birthplace of Michael Jackson and home to massive steel plants, now has a high school with an urban farm program.

Last year, students at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary started the urban farm. It’s founded and operated under the principles of a business plan written as part of an entrepreneurship and personal finance class curriculum. Read More

Keynote Speakers Set for 3rd Annual GrowRIVERSIDE Conference: Cultivating the Future on March 21 – 22

January 20, 2016 | seedstock

Keynote speakers with expertise in local economics, urban farming, innovation and growing local food systems are set to converge on the City of Riverside for the upcoming 3rd Annual GrowRIVERSIDE Conference: Cultivating the Future, which will take place on March 21 – 22, 2016 in the Highlander Union Building at University of California, Riverside. The keynote speakers include a who’s who list of agriculture luminaries in the state of California – from current California Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture, Karen Ross, and Vice President of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Glenda Humiston, to Solutions from the Land chair and former California Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, and Michael Shuman, Founding Fellow at Cutting Edge Capital.

This year’s conference is being organized by the City of Riverside. The event’s objectives according to the City of Riverside’s registration page are as follows:

Equip attendees with knowledge and tools to create vibrant local food systems
Generate opportunities for economic development and community engagement
Advance public policy related to food and agriculture
Provide a venue for stakeholders to network
Present undergraduate and graduate research projects in food and agriculture

Here is more detail on the 3rd Annual GrowRIVERSIDE Conference: Cultivating the Future keynote speakers: Read More