Don't sleep on the might pawpaw

The Washington post has a story (gift link) about the growth potential for pawpaw tress (and fruit) as global warming increases areas where the trees can grow. It is a native plant, delicious fruit, and currently a rare produce item.

Hands-on student learning in food production

Here is a great story about students getting hands-on experience in research and agribusiness here at Rutgers SEBS. It shouldn't be a big surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise, these students are getting help from people with a deep concern for students. It is interesting to read it with an eye to how we sustain these successes during a time of isolation.

the food state we're in

Michele Byers writes a regular column, published in a variety of New Jersey papers, called The State We're In. Foodies will find her latest column interesting as it links regenerative agriculture with other topics including climate change and human health.

A deliberately confusing landscape

So many farms in our area have found success with corn mazes that there is a magazine that helps you sort out which one is best for you.

Intriguing talk

More than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change 

Speaker: Garrett M. Broad, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University

Wednesday October 5th

When: 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Where: Room 131, Blake Hall, George H. Cook Campus

Sponsor: Department of Human Ecology 

Urban agriculture in Tulsa

An article in The Guardian on urban agriculture in Tulsa served as a reminder of how differently community gardening is perceived in different cities:

Newsome says she and her husband are considering leaving Tulsa, perhaps for Philadelphia to be with her son, who is also involved in community gardening. “I didn’t believe it until I was there: you have gardens on every corner in low-income neighbourhoods, and you don’t have to talk people into it. You have elders, young people, everyone just coming out.” 

 It is an important lesson for us that social response is not uniform across all landscapes.

Farmers Market Week

Make sure you get out and celebrate Farmers Market Week. Who knows, maybe there'll be a Pokemon gym there.

Friday Photos: Manhattan

Millenials hunger for better food

When we hear reporting about the Millennials, it usually focuses on them as a generation of tech-savvy individualistic single adults, enjoying the best of urban living and reinventing modern culture. But a substantial portion of the millennials have come of age at a time when jobs are scarce and times are tough. This piece from Refinery29 takes a look at a group of young adults struggling, even with government assistance, to feed their families and get their lives on track. As it points out, "While food culture across the United States explodes, hunger rates have simultaneously risen."

The changing food landscapes of NJ

NJ.com has great vintage photos showing the changing food landscapes of New Jersey.

What CAN'T maps do?

The Star-Ledger has used maps to get us a step closer to understanding North Jersey's great Taylor Ham/Pork Roll divide.

GIS Day follow-up

As a follow-up to my "short" presentation at GIS Day I wanted to post some links for readers interested in learning more about our work mapping the food and physical activity environments.

Here are some links to recent work on mapping the food environment:

The Food Trust Report on Supermarkets in NJ

Physical Activity Chart Book for Trenton

Food Environment Chart Book for Newark

The full CSHP list of Chart Books from the NJ Childhood Obesity Study

Two of our recent peer review papers are:
Neighborhood Perceptions and Active School Commuting in Low-Income Cities

A Closer Examination of the Relationship between Children's Weight Status and the Food and Physical Activity Environment

The latter established a clear link between BMI and the density of convenience stores within 1/4 mile of children's homes and also found a significant relationship between BMI and large parks (more than an acre) within 1/2 mile.

Lecture on urban agriculture

PLANT BIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES 

Matthew Smith 

Sabedo Argueta 

Mark Robson 

Rutgers University will present a seminar entitled 

“Case Studies: Urban Agriculture in Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee” 

Friday – November 8, 2013 

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

Foran Hall Room 138A Cook Campus 

New building at Cook

Changes are coming to the Cook Campus. This week the Board of Governors gave final approval to start building the new Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health.  Watch the video.

Food + Land = Cool job

Here is one for those of you interested in land as an active source of food: The Farm at Locusts on Hudson is seeking Interns for the 2012 season.
h/t: Puk

Rutgers Alum in the news

One of our RU LA alums, Nina Zinn, is in the RVA news. The story describes how Nina has been working in Richmond to promote growing healthier food, “You can have a very pleasing landscape and still be able to harvest from it.” It is a hot trend and nice to see yet another one of ours doing well.

Here is a News21 video about artist Matt Moore using time-lapse video photography to document (or memorialize) the crops on his family's farm as development moves in.

Lost in Sprawl from News21 Berkeley 2011 on Vimeo.

Public Farm 1

This Friday at 12:35 in Blake Hall Room 152, Dan Wood and Amale Andraos of WORK Architecture Company, NYC will be presenting their urban ag project that was built for MoMA Queen, Public Farm 1.  It's a fresh look at community-building and agriculture in the City.  All are welcome.

Cities have changed

StrangeMaps uses Cedric Price's examples of eggs as a way to illustrate how cities have changed over time.

Free movie tonight

FARMAGEDDON showing for free at Rutgers University

WHEN: Friday, October 28, 2011, 7:00 pm Movie

Following the screening, meet the film producer Kristin Canty, and participate in a panel discussion on food choice.

Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.

For clips from Farmageddon, visit: http://vimeo.com/smallfarmproject/videos

WHERE: Voorhees Hall #105, Rutgers University

Sponsored by Cook Campus Dean, College Ave Campus Dean, Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, and the Office of Undergraduate Education

FREE