Despite global hunger and widespread poverty, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, humans still waste more than a third of our food. As with most international problems, Sweden already has an ingenious solution. Recently a group of graduate students at the utilitarian sounding “Food Innovation and Product Design” program at Lund University has created a unique way to turn otherwise unusable produce into a valuable source of nutrition. FoPo Food Powder, a system of dried and powdered fruits and vegetables similar to astronaut space food, can be easily dropped into disaster zones to provide non-refrigerated goods. Freeze-dried food is popular for many relief efforts (as well as interstellar travel) because of its ability to retain much of the nutritional benefits of “raw” food. Even food that has expired, or is no longer able to be sold at the market, is still rich in vitamins, minerals, and protein.
“When we found out that one-third of the food produced was going to waste while people in the world were starving we couldn’t back out,” student Kent Ngo tellsSmithsonian.com.
1. If we show how to build a bottle tower <http://youtu.be/-uDbjZ9roEQ> to all the schoolchildren of this world and teach them how to grow some vegetables and herbs at school, they will enjoy building more towers for their family at home.
Riser with vegetables and herbs growing in recycled bottles – Photo Jojo ROM (The Philippines) 56269_1483085875405_1181604134_31159685_1301366_o.jpg
2. If we alleviate child malnutrition in our countries by teaching them container gardening at school, recycling all discarded containers in school gardens, e.g. on risers (see
there will be sufficient food for decent daily meals and a cleaner environment.
And soon there will be fresh food galore everywhere.
Dwarf orange fruit trees grown in pots – Photo Container Growing – .jpg
3. If we convince all young mothers to plant only one fruit tree for every newborn baby and if we plant a fruit tree for every dear family member passing away, we will soon have orchards protecting us against global warming and climate change.
Barrels can easily be transformed in vertical gardens with a lot of fresh food – Photo Grow Food, Not Lawns – 542232_449799711742313_474788682_n.jpg
4. If we pass this message to the world leaders and publish all our photos to show them our green container gardens, it will be a giant convincing step towards a global food revolution.
And soon there will be less hunger because container gardening means solving these major problems at the lowest cost. People in developing countries have been inventive to grow fresh food in a panoply of containers (pots, buckets, bags, sacks, barrels, …). There is a lot of indigenous knowledge about best practices and success stories in food production. It is our moral duty to follow their examples and invest in large-scale application of their methods and techniques. International organizations should reach hands with NGOs to ban hunger and malnutrition without any delay. They should start in all the schools.
Let us put an important step towards a better future today:
JOIN THE GROUP OF CONTAINER GARDENING AMBASSADORS. They are the Fresh Food Home Guards !
Youth community gardeners care for more than 1,400 plants at the Cadillac Urban Gardens in Southwest Detroit.
Urban agri can boost food security in cities—DA
A mixture of urban agricultural production technologies can enable cities to produce their own food, complementing the government’s efforts in the countryside to maintain food security in the country, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
At the launching of DA’s urban agriculture project in Las Piñas City on February 4, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that urban agriculture can provide additional source of fresh and safe food and extra income for urban residents, among other benefits.
The project is implemented in partnership with the DA Regional Office for CALABARZON, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Office of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food.
Norby De La Cruz, a resident of Las Piñas and a container gardening enthusiast cited the benefits his family has gained from urban agriculture.
“On the financial aspect, we are able to save since we no longer have to buy some of the vegetables, herbs and spices we need in our kitchen,” De La Cruz said.
He also mentioned that during emergencies, they have a ready source of food. He likewise shared that having more plants in their house gives them more fresh air, and that gardening has become his way to exercise and contribute to the clean and green program of the city.
Alcala said that urban agriculture may not be able to produce all what city dwellers need but this is a way to increase awareness on agriculture and the government’s programs to ensure food security.
As for my apartment dwelling pals, stick with containers and keep up the good fight. There’s nothing like plucking a sun-ripe tomato from a fourth-story balcony. Gardening triumph in the city!
Today, all over the developed world, important parts of the population are combating the economic crisis and in particular the food crisis by switching to production of fresh food. Produced at home, even in the smallest quantities, this “own fresh food” plays a considerable role in the well-being of families, in particular of children. Container gardening, vertical gardening, bottle towers, gardening on risers, balconies or windowsills, hydroponics, aquaponics, gardening in self-watering buckets, bags, sacks, crates, boxes, pots, guerilla gardening, edible forests, …, it are all different initiatives taken to alleviate hunger and malnutrition problems.
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In a small space, bottle towers produce a mass of fresh vegetables and herbs (Photo WVC)
It’s easy, simple and rewarding to regrow leek from its basal parts. A couple of experiments show the importance of the length of the basal part cut off for a swift regrowth. It is recommended to start the regrowth with basal parts of at least 4″ (10 cm).
