The Food Challenge

Satellites weigh California water

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Nasa satellites have weighed the water lost by the US State of California’s heartland since 2003.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins which support the highly productive Central Valley have shed over 30 cubic km of water in that time.
The data comes from the Grace mission which detects changes in gravity caused by [...]

Tags: california water, central valley, irrigated land, nasa satellites, san joaquin river, troubled waters, university of california irvine, water deal, water tables, water woes
Posted in BBC, Consider This, Dire Warnings, Innovation, Innovation Needed, Resources, Shape of Things to Come?, The Food Challenge, climate change, environment, food | No Comments »

A Fish Oil Story

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“WHAT’S the deal with fish oil?”
If you are someone who catches and eats a lot of fish, as I am, you get adept at answering questions about which fish are safe, which are sustainable and which should be avoided altogether. But when this fish oil question arrived in my inbox recently, I was [...]

Tags: A Fish Oil Story, coastal ecosystem, fish in the sea, fish oil, h bruce franklin, herring family, marine food chain, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 3s, passenger pigeon
Posted in Consider This, Dire Warnings, Innovation Needed, NY Times, Need to Know, Resources, Shape of Things to Come?, The Food Challenge, Worth Repeating, environment, food | No Comments »

Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism?

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Dr. Robert Zeigler, an eminent American botanist, flew to Saudi Arabia in March for a series of high-level discussions about the future of the kingdom’s food supply. Saudi leaders were frightened: heavily dependent on imports, they had seen the price of rice and wheat, their dietary staples, fluctuate violently on the world market [...]

Tags: agricultural output, Agro-Imperialism, arable land, food prices, food production, future of the food supply, global population, green revolution, massive food shortages, population growth
Posted in Consider This, Dire Warnings, Innovation Needed, NY Times, Need to Know, Resources, Shape of Things to Come?, The Food Challenge, climate change, economics, environment, food | No Comments »

Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms

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Growing crops in city skyscrapers would use less water and fossil fuel than outdoor farming, eliminate agricultural runoff, and provide fresh food
Key Concepts

Farming is ruining the environment, and not enough arable land remains to feed a projected 9.5 billion people by 2050.
Growing food in glass high-rises could drastically reduce fossil-fuel emissions [...]

Tags: growing skyscrapers, hydroponic greenhouses, the rise of vertical farms, vertical farms
Posted in Consider This, Cutting-edge Research, Innovation, Innovation Needed, Scientific American, Shape of Things to Come?, The Food Challenge, climate change, environment, food | 1 Comment »

Inexpensive ‘Dipstick’ Test For Pesticides In Foods

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Scientists in Canada are reporting the development of a fast, inexpensive “dipstick” test to identify small amounts of pesticides that may exist in foods and beverages. Their paper-strip test is more practical than conventional pesticide tests, producing results in minutes rather than hours by means of an easy-to-read color-change, they say.
The [...]

Tags: conventional tests, dipstick test, food industry, fungicide, john brennan, paper strip, pesticide tests, pesticides in foods, strip test, test strip
Posted in Health, Innovation, Need to Know, Science Digest / Science Daily, Shape of Things to Come?, The Food Challenge, environment, food | No Comments »