tapped in
maxfacts growing news , tips , & trivia
Rapper Farmer Teaches Kids About Gardening
Ten years ago , if you had asked Trevor Claiborn what he wanted to be , it definitely would not have been a farmer . He had his sights set on the entertainment business and being a hip-hop artist . In fact , he ’ d never stepped foot on a farm . You ’ d never know that today to see Claiborn performing in front of an audience of school kids as Farmer Brown Tha ’ MC , a cool character who uses rap to promote agriculture . His target audience is elementary through high school students . He wants to reach all youngsters , but especially those in the inner city and minorities , with the message about growing food , raising farm animals and the inter-connectedness of air , water , and soil in agriculture . Claiborn entertains as he educates what he hopes will be a new generation of farmers , and has taken his
Farmer Brown program as far as Chicago to perform for school children .
kentucky . com
Global Boom Time for Urban Farms
Urban farming is booming worldwide , says French urban farming project consultant Marie Dehaene . “ There is a huge variety of formats and business models ,” she says . “ There have also been changes in stakeholders , in the law , in building ownership , and management that have encouraged people to do it .” However , local factors determine the viability and format of such schemes , particularly at larger scales . “ In New York , most fresh produce comes from California or Mexico . California is under environmental strain and there are concerns about traceability . In Singapore , there is a drive for greater food self-sufficiency , while in Japan there has been concern about polluted land post-Fukushima . People lost trust in the quality of produce and some typically Japanese vegetables can ’ t be imported . So , in these places , there has been a real reason to make it viable on a large scale . There are also such projects in France , but there is a cultural difference too .”
hortweek . com
Breeding Healthier Spinach
The USDA ’ s Agricultural Research Service ( ARS ) scientists have identified DNA markers in some spinach that they believe breeders could use to produce healthier vegetables . Researchers found eight spinach varieties that have shown low levels of oxalate , which is sometimes linked to better health . Spinach normally contains higher concentrations of oxalate than most crops , but it is an economically important vegetable crop worldwide and it ’ s considered healthful because of its high concentration of several key nutrients . Reduced oxalate levels , however , could decrease the chance of kidney stones for those who have spinach in their diet . Scientists with the ARS ’ s Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit in Salinas , CA , and the University of Arkansas identified six DNA markers linked to genes that contribute to oxalate levels .
growingproduce . com
24 tapped in