Urban Certified Organic?

Researchers from the Department of Geophysical Science working in the area of Food and Environment at The University of Chicago are currently evaluating the application of the National Organic Standards to Urban Agriculture. The U of C team of Geoponicuns are working in collaboration with several national and international organizations, to determine and address the inherent challenges of preserving organic integrity on urban farms.

By Julia Govis:
For questions and/or comments, contact:
Email: govis@geosci.uchicago.edu

Consumer demand for organic food continues to climb according to a 2009 press release by the Organic Trade Association.(1) Growing concerns over food safety and chemical usage in conventionally raised farm products are some of the reasons cited by consumers choosing to purchase certified organic food.

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Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser (left) traveled to
Jefferson City to testify in favor of House Bill 1848. Jason Holsman (right).

Urban Farming Task Force

The Missouri Expatriate
22 March 2010

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Shortly after two o’clock today, the Missouri House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture Policy unanimously voted to pass a bill [HB1848] sponsored by State Representative Jason R. Holsman, D-Kansas City, which would create a task force to study urban agriculture and vertical farming in Missouri’s metropolitan areas. The committee also unanimously voted to mark the bill as a ‘consent bill’ which means that the proposed legislation is non-controversial in nature. Consent bills are often fast-tracked through the legislative process as they can usually be passed out of the house without substantial change.

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Yara-Grow Regina Community Garden in Winter 2010 – Canada

February 12th, 2010

Today was one of those frosty days that begged to be captured! The temperature was only -7 degrees Celcius, the humidity was high, almost 100%, and the winds had not yet come creating the perfect day to photograph the frost.

For those who are visiting our site from around the world, it may be hard to believe that come May we will begin to work the soil again for a new growing season.

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UVic students dig flower beds in front of a campus library, in part to protest the university’s inaction on a communal agriculture project. Photo by Geoff Howe for The Globe and Mail

Guerrilla green thumbs also aim to raise awareness of global food security issues

Brennan Clarke, Victoria, BC
Globe and Mail
Apr. 01, 2010

Excerpt:

For the second straight week, University of Victoria students armed with garden implements, potted seedlings and pails of compost dug up a patch of lawn and planted gardens in front of the McPherson Library as part of an ongoing turf war with the administration over communal gardening on campus.

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