If you’ve been paying attention to the disturbing news about the current state of honeybees, which we rely on for pollinating a large percentage of our food crops, you know that colony collapse disorder has been wiping out beehives across the country and around the world. Even more disturbing is the fact that we don’t know why it’s happening, or how to stop it from happening, and with beekeepers losing an average of 30% of their hives, it’s quite possibly…

Got a 10-gallon aquarium laying around in the basement or garage? The detritus of a failed attempt at adding tropical fish to the home decor? Austin, Texas college sophomore Jack Ikard found one in the back shed a year and a half ago, and decided to…

As we’ve noted many, many times before, we waste an awful lot of food: in fact, it’s the biggest component of the US’ solid waste stream. As we’ve also noted many, many times before, challenges like these inspire creative thinking. This past…

Opportunities abound for creating a sustainable business in the new food economy, and with the rising demand for year-round local organic produce, developing an urban farm could be one answer for an ecopreneur looking to help build a strong local food system and generate an income. But if you don’t have access to open space for farming, or the use of a greenhouse for year-round vegetable production, it can be virtually impossible to get started, unless you can build or…

  “Potatoes may seem fairly humble, but there are more than 4,500 species of potato in the world. Likewise, there are at least 1,000 pepper plant varieties, 7,500 tomato species, and 7,500 known apple varieties worldwide. However, the incredible variety of the planet’s plant life is disappearing. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that approximately 75 percent of the Earth’s plant genetic resources are now extinct. Another third of plant biodiversity is expected to disappear by 2050. This…

The relocalization of our food system is happening, slowly but surely, as the demand increases for a stronger connection with the food we eat and the people who grow it. But to rebuild our food systems and continue the growth of a new food economy, it’s not enough to simply plant more lettuce and hope for buyers. Like any venture, making a food business sustainable and profitable calls for skills and strategies that may not come easy to those who…

Do you want to help change the nature of food production for urban consumers and reduce your community’s carbon footprint at the same time? One way to that goal is by producing more local and sustainable food, even in the heart of the city. One promising solution bypasses the need for a plot of land by building a mobile micro-farm in a box, using vermicomposting and a heat and nutrient recovery system to grow food in an aquaponics setup inside…