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The Thomas Farm Project

Matt — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:49:15 +0000

Just a heads-up: I am participating in an agricultural living “experiment” with two friends of ours and we just launched a new site dedicated to the year-long venture: thomasfarmproject.com. We plan to post blog entries (more frequently than I do here) and photos as we explore “sustainable” “intensive” “gardening.” (Please overlook the site’s default styling—we’re working on it.)

Check it out!

—m

“Sizing Up Sustainable Food”

Matt — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:19:28 +0000

On a semi-recent edition of NPR’s Talk of the Nation, host Ira Flatow interviewed three individuals regarding the local food movement—James McWilliams, Michael Pollan, and Brian Halweil. While Flatow tried to structure the debate with the interviewees in opposition to one another, they had little to disagree about. Instead, this interview turns out to be a nice overview of the broadness of the so-called locavores’ arguments regarding food production. It’s more than simply reducing your “carbon footprint”; they promote thinking about where your food comes from in terms of energy use, community connection and development, economics, health, and creating a decentralized, stable food system. Also, Pollan et al. argue that it’s important to put an end to the strict dichotomy between what is known as conventional farming and organic farming. To its own benefit, the former can easily integrate some of the practices of the organic community, while the latter can be easily co-opted by large agri-businesses, reducing its benefits, particularly in terms of energy use. (I recommend listening to the interview over lunch.)

Moreover, this interview is a fine response to one previously aired, in which Charlotte Allen vents her frustration with what she feels is an impossible and condescending call to eat locally. However, she doesn’t offer very strong arguments for her position during the interview outside of a desire to be able to eat whatever she wants, cheaply, and ignores the broader costs of food production.

On a related note, in a more recent interview on NPR’s All Things Considered, Pollan discusses the national diet and the food industry in relation to the health care debate. His primary argument is that while the federal government is trying to cut health care costs, it is also fueling the fire by heavily subsidizing the crops that find their way into our junk food—in particular, corn syrup.

This topic verges on a conversation I’ve been hoping we could have for a while now. Unfortunately, discussion about how to build healthy lifestyles has been shadowed by the conversation about how to mend health problems. Health reform (as opposed to simply health care reform), should include a thorough examination of our food and our food sources.

Ben’s Solar Cooker

Matt — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:08:13 +0000

In a recent trip to Boise, Idaho, I had the chance to check out my father-in-law’s new solar cooker. He built it for a small competition at work, making it from scratch and hand-cutting 140 pieces from two mirrors to create a parabolic reflector. In the Boise sun, the cooker can be really effective. It’s reportedly able to heat food up to almost 360 °F! I’ve posted some pictures of us using the device to cook eggs, hot dogs and marshmallows.

If you’re interested in building one of your own, you may want to visit the Solar Cooking Archive.

Enjoy!

Vertical Farms?

Matt — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:59:32 +0000

I recently read “A Farm on Every Floor,” an opinion piece in the NY Times by Dickson Despommier. In the letter, the author attempts to make the case for what he calls urban “vertical farms.” The idea is that we’re running out of farmable land, farmer-applied chemicals are rendering our soil unusable, and the world population is booming so we need a new, soil-less way to farm. In particular, he suggests we can build these vertical farms in buildings in the middle of large cities.

Having a read a few things about growing food (e.g., Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver (in progress), etc.), I’m really skeptical. In particular, the author mentions growing plants not in soil, but in “nutrient solutions.” Is it just in my head, or do significant nutritional and developmental benefits come from the subtleties of a cultured soil, developed over a long time of care and processes of recycling biomass? I believe this is one of Pollan’s arguments in In Defense of Food. I am familiar with the notion of hydroponic farming, but do we really know enough about the complex nutrient balance in soils and plants to fully simulate good topsoil?

Despommier says that vertical farming will also “finally put an end to agricultural runoff.” From what I understand, this polluting runoff is actually due to poor farming techniques in land unsuitable for row cropping. Furthermore, he suggests these farms should be run by “private sources, including groups controlling venture-capital funds.” Haven’t we suffered enough from handing over our food sources to corporations fed by disconnected shareholders? This funding model may be appropriate for Google, GE, and Ford, but not for food, again.

For the time being, I’d much rather see more urban buildings adopt rooftop gardens.