Food Security, Production, and Human Health

Focused on improving agricultural production; enhancing the quality of food and feed; ensuring an adequate, affordable, and safe food supply; and maintaining agrosecurity to ensure food security and the basics of nutritional health for a growing global population.

Survey on Practical Examples of Urban Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA)

The Friends of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (FEBA) Urban EbA Working Group has developed this survey to identify practical examples of Urban EbA planning and implementation. The Working Group, co-chaired by IUCN and PlanAdapt, brings together researchers and practitioners from the fields of urban development, EbA and Green-Grey Infrastructure to share successes and failures to help learn and improve future urban EbA initiatives in the Global South and Global North. Your participation in this survey contributes to the knowledge base of the growing area – in theory and practice – of Urban EbA. Follow this link to take the survey.

Sourced from: Friends of EbA

Urban Gardens Growing Strong Amid COVID Pandemic

Mike Levenston stands over a half-harvested stalk of kale, eyeing the autumnal remnants slowly disintegrating into the soil. It’s a familiar scene for Levenston, an urban gardener who has been growing food and community in the garden he founded, dubbed City Farmer, for more than 40 years.

At the time, it was almost unheard of to grow food in cities, and gardens weren’t given much thought in city planning efforts. No longer: Urban gardens are thriving worldwide, especially this year as pandemic-bound city dwellers have sought sustenance in gardens, parks, and other green spaces.

“I’m there seven days a week. It’s the best place for my family to be in COVID times because it’s a garden with lots of space,” Levenston said. “We’re busier than ever because of the backyard garden craze. We sell city compost bins (and) people are picking them up every day, and (there) are a lot of new gardens (in the city).”

Canadians like their gardens, especially in 2020. A report released earlier this month by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that roughly 51% of Canadians grow at least one variety of fruit or vegetable at home. Follow this link to read more.

Sourced from: Morning Ag Clips

10th Annual Ohio Food Policy Summit + Ohio Local Food Council Workshop

Join the Ohio Food Policy Network (OFPN) and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs for the 10th Annual Ohio Food Policy Summit and Ohio Local Food Council Workshop, which is being held virtually this November. 

Ohio Food Policy Summit
Monday, November 16, 1-4 p.m. E.T.

• Keynote speaker Tom Philpott, author of Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It
• Presentation of the OFPN draft policy framework and the opportunity to interact with the framework, setting the course of the OFPN policy agenda
• Presentation of the OFPN Food Hero award

Ohio Local Food Council Workshop
Tuesday, November 17, 4-6 p.m. E.T.

• This interactive workshop will prepare local food policy councils to operationalize their policy agendas
• Topics addressed include how to work within the law, steps in campaign building and tools to move forward

Follow this link to register.
Follow this link to join the Ohio Food Policy Network

 

Sourced from OFPN

The Two Sides of Participation in Urban Food Policy

In many countries around the globe, urban food policies were born in an era of increased public participation in local policymaking. However, food raises specific questions when it comes to participation. Indeed, how do you foster participation around a topic that is new to local actors? An article published in Politics and Governance analyses participation at the onset of local food policy in the city of Ede, in the Netherlands. Researchers looked at the way local civil servants in charge of developing food policy viewed both their role and that of non-governmental actors. They unveiled a tension between two very different ways to see what participation is about. Follow this link to learn more.

Sourced from: Urban Food Futures

Take A Break! Live Healthy, Live Well Challenge

Join Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Franklin County, for the Take A Break! Live Healthy, Live Well fall email wellness challenge. The challenge will begin the week of October 19, 2020 and run through November 25, 2020. Participants will receive two email messages weekly with tips and encouragement on topics such as play, rest, creativity, nourishment, and more.

Follow this link to learn more.
Follow this link to sign up.

Sourced from: OSU Extension, Franklin County

Feeding Youth Outside of School During COVID

As COVID-19 continues to push families further into financial distress, making sure that families have access to all the benefits that they can is critical for the long-term viability of our communities. Pre-COVID-19 more than 37 million people, including more than 11 million children lived in a food-insecure household. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) more than 1 in 5 Black and Latinx adults with children reported in July that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. Follow this link to learn more.

Sourced from: Cities Speak

More Than a Token: Urban Agriculture Has Much to Offer Close to Home

Jodi Kushins, of Over the Fence Urban Farm, knows she doesn’t grow a lot compared to some farms. She feeds about 20 households through her CSA program, with 2,500 square feet in her yard and her neighbor’s yard. “It’s like a drop in the bucket,” she said. “Seeing a semi truck full of produce and then thinking about the very, very tiny amount of food I’m able to produce in my yard definitely gives me pause.”

Kushin’s farm is one of more than 30 in Columbus, up from about five in 2014. Urban agriculture is driven by desires for food security and fresh foods, vacant land in post-industrial areas and interest in connecting with farmers, said Mike Hogan,  Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Franklin County. “We know we’re not gonna feed the world with urban agriculture,” Hogan said. But Hogan believes that urban agriculture needs to be part of the city food systems. In Cleveland, about 80% of the vacant land could provide 20% of all the produce needed. Follow this link to learn more.

Sourced from: Farm and Dairy

Graduate Assistantship in Urban Sustainability, University of the District of Columbia

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is the land-grant university of the Nation’s Capital. The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) embodies the land-grant tradition of UDC and offers academic programs in urban agriculture, urban sustainability, water resources management, nutrition and dietetics, urban architecture and community planning.

CAUSES seeks a graduate assistant to join its Professional Science Master’s Program in Urban Sustainability. The graduate assistant will work with a group of researchers to assess the current condition and survival of oak trees in the District of Columbia. Work will include evaluation of the presence of pests and pathogens, and measurement of abiotic factors that may negatively impact urban trees. Oak trees experiencing decline will be identified, mapped and sampled for pathogens and insect pests. Field work will be coordinated with public, private, institutional, and federal property owners across the District. The graduate assistant will collaborate with federal and District government agencies on the analysis, summary, and interpretation of data for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and for the general public in the form of blog posts and other publicly-available formats.

Applicants should first apply for the graduate assistantship through the Principal Investigator (PI) listed below. The successful applicant will then need to apply for the PSM in Urban Sustainability Program through UDC Admissions. Applicants should submit via email:
1) a letter of interest detailing their qualifications for the position (two-page maximum);
2) a curriculum vitae;
3) unofficial undergraduate transcripts; and
4) contact information for three professional references (institution, email address, and phone number).

Application deadline: Open until filled. Priority deadline is October 9, 2020.
Starting date: Spring semester, January 2021. Please note that the start date is not flexible.
Duration: One year, renewable for a second year with successful completion of expectations.
Contact: Please apply via email to Dr. Simon Bird at urbansustainabilityudc@gmail.com