A study launched last week in the Lancet found that as many as 529,000 people may die as a result of changes in diet, weight, and health due to climate change impacts on food production. This study is a first and critical step forward in examining how those climate-induced impacts on food production will in turn affect nutrition and health.
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This $300 DIY underground greenhouse is ideal for gardening in colder climates by collecting the sun’s rays and earth’s heat to grow food year round. From vertical farms to solar-powered “farms from a box,” we’ve seen how farming technology has grown leaps and bounds in recent years. But for those who prefer something a little more rustic, growing food from a hole in the ground is as low-tech as you can get. A walipini, meaning “place of warmth” from the Amaraya Indian language, is an underground greenhouse with a transparent (usually plastic) covering that stays warm by passively soaking up the sun’s heat and absorbing the earth’s thermal energy. Fruits and vegetables can be grown year-round, making it ideal for communities in colder locations that can’t usually grow their own fresh and local produce during certain parts of the year. The farming method isn’t exactly new. Walipinis have been used in South and Central America for decades, including one that can grow bananas at 14,000 feet in the Andes. The technique was notably adopted by The Benson Institute, a worldwide food security program of the Mormon church. According to The Plaid Zebra, the Benson Institute and its team of volunteers built a community-sized 74-feet-by-20-feet walipini […]
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Transfernation has developed a platform to deliver leftover party food to homeless shelters, connecting social institutions with corporate events to ensure that the extra food is re-purposed rather than thrown away. Food waste is as much a problem in the U.S. as the fact that millions of citizens go without meals every day. One organization aims at bridging this gap by coordinating with businesses and events who have extra food and bringing it to shelters and food banks in need. Transfernation utilizes volunteers via the SocialEffort app, reducing the amount of food that ends up in dumpsters and bringing it to people’s plates. Watch: Hunger Is An Outdated Problem Currently a Manhattan-based start-up, Transfernation began in 2013 and now has a staff of three plus some interns. Fundraisers in the month of December are hoped to expand the service to other NYC boroughs, and eventually nationwide. Shockingly, New York restaurants alone throw away a half a million tons of food per year. Samir Goel, one of the NYU seniors who founded the organization, described to Bedford + Bowery growing up in a home where plates were cleaned at every meal. He says, “And as I grew up I got really […]
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