US: Food Security

submitted by Stella Tarnay

March 2013 - Carolyn Dimitri, Lynda Oberholtzer, Andy Pressman

We are currently looking for farmers in or around urban areas to take part in a national study (through a survey) being led by New York University, The Pennsylvania State University, and the National Center for Appropriate Technology.
 
The study seeks to examine the state of urban and peri-urban farming in the United States, including the: (1) technical assistance and information needs on the part of urban farms that can be met through outreach programs; (2) production, management, and marketing risks for urban farms and the development of programs to address those risks; and (3) increased awareness on the part of policymakers and communities of the benefits of urban farming. A national outreach and technical assistance program will be developed based on the results of this research.

Farmers not in Philadelphia should take the survey below:
(SURVEY FOR NON-PHILADELPHIA FARMERS)

Farmers in Philadelphia should take this survey:
(SURVEY FOR PHILADELPHIA FARMERS)

Thursday, November 15, 2012 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST

Webinar Registration

Join us to learn ‘first-hand’ from local community stakeholders about the toolkit developed as a direct result of a community pilot titled:  ‘Food: Too Good to Waste’.  This toolkit can be customized and used by any interested local government or community group.  By viewing this webinar you will hear and learn:
• How the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum communities collaborated to develop this toolkit focusing on 5 key waste prevention behaviors  to reduce wasteful household food habits
• How development of this toolkit resulted in both cost savings and environmental benefits
• At a retail value of $125 billion annually, Americans throw away about ¼ of all food purchases
• FACT: A family of four can save more than $1,600 a year by making small changes in how they shop, prepare and store food to prevent food waste
• Food is among the single largest, yet the least recovered, waste streams in the U.S.
• How this toolkit is tailor-able and can be used by any interested local government or community.

phys.org - October 22, 2012

Sudden shifts in complex systems such as the climate, financial markets, ecosystems and even the human body can be preceded by surprisingly comparable warning signals. It is crucial to be able to predict such transitions, but this is notoriously difficult. In an article in the journal Science of October 19, a group of Wageningen University scientists and colleagues showed that systems that are on the verge of a critical transition often emit comparable signals.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)