Heard an interview on local radio (KCBS 740 AM)
http://forage.berkeley.edu/#
Berkeley Open Source Food
http://forage.berkeley.edu/#
Berkeley Open Source Food
PREP Berkeley Open Source Food - Urban Foraging of Edible Plants
- Thread starter Housecarl
- Start date
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- Tags
- edible plants foraging
China Connection
TB Fanatic
Urban Food Growing in Havana, Cuba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRz34Dee7XY
Current status
More than 35,000 hectares (over 87,000 acres) of land are being used in urban agriculture in Havana alone.[3] The city of Havana produces enough food for each resident to receive a daily serving of 280 grams (9.88 ounces) of fruits and vegetables. The urban agricultural workforce in Havana has grown from 9,000 in 1999 to 23,000 in 2001 to more than 44,000 in 2006.[3] However, Cuba still has food rationing for basic staples. Approximately 69% of these rationed basic staples (wheat, vegetable oils, rice, etc.) are imported.[4] Overall, however, approximately 16% of food is imported from abroad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organopónicos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRz34Dee7XY
Current status
More than 35,000 hectares (over 87,000 acres) of land are being used in urban agriculture in Havana alone.[3] The city of Havana produces enough food for each resident to receive a daily serving of 280 grams (9.88 ounces) of fruits and vegetables. The urban agricultural workforce in Havana has grown from 9,000 in 1999 to 23,000 in 2001 to more than 44,000 in 2006.[3] However, Cuba still has food rationing for basic staples. Approximately 69% of these rationed basic staples (wheat, vegetable oils, rice, etc.) are imported.[4] Overall, however, approximately 16% of food is imported from abroad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organopónicos
China Connection
TB Fanatic
Urban Agriculture Part I: What Cuba Can Teach Us
24 May 2012
by Vanessa Quirk
Editorial Cities Cuba Farms Food Garden Urban Agriculture Urban Agriculture Series Urban Farming Urban Planning
Everyday, in the city of London, 30 million meals are served. That’s millions of trucks arriving to millions of stores and restaurants in a complex, tightly scheduled orchestration of production, transportation, and distribution.
We take it for granted that this system will never fail. But what would happen if these trucks were stopped? As unrealistic as it sounds, it’s happened – and not so long ago.
In 1989, over 57% of Cuba’s caloric intake was imported from the Soviet Union. When it collapsed, Cuba became, virtually overnight, solely responsible for feeding its population – including the 2.2 million in the city of Havana. [1] What happened next is an incredible story of resilience and innovation.
As our world becomes increasingly urbanized, our farms increasingly endangered, and our reliance upon fossil fuels increasingly undesirable, the question of how we will feed billions of future city dwellers is no mere thought experiment – it’s an urgent reality.
The story of Cuba offers us an interesting question: What would our cities look like if we began to place food production/distribution as the primary focus of urban design? And what will it take to make this vision a reality?
More on how Food can shape our cities, after the break…
This 1676 map of London shows a broad street running East-West through the middle of London. Carolyn Steel notes that the various street names along its length, such as Cheapside, Poultry and Cornhill, indicate that it was one of London’s central foodways. © Wikimedia Commons User Mike Calder. Via Ecos Magazine.
Food and the City
In her TED Talk, “How Food Shapes Our Cities,” Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City, explains how, since the beginning of urbanization, cities have been intertwined with agriculture – which is, of course, logical. How else could a city flourish without a dependable source of food to sustain it?
As Ms. Steel points out, by looking at maps and street names (for example Friday street in London, where on Fridays fish were sold), you can see the routes where food physically carved its way into ancient cities, towards the great plazas where this food was bought and sold, and how the cities themselves were built around facilitating this food flow.
Of course, industrialization changed all that. As Ms. Steel puts it, as soon as we began to use railroads to import meat, already slaughtered, and vegetables, already gathered, into our cities, we “effectively emancipated [our cities] from geography.”
All of a sudden, our cities could grow in any which way at an incredible rate of growth – and they continue to do so today. But, as is often the case, this progress has a dark side.
The typical Urban Dweller today has no understanding of where or how food is produced/distributed. We have become dependent on huge, powerful, profit-minded corporations to bring huge quantities of food from industrial farms into our supermarkets – but the entire process is hidden, massively complex, and, ultimately, unsustainable.
Foodies and Farmers’ Markets
From the cultural cache of Farmers’ Markets and organic produce, to the proliferation of rooftop gardens and local CSAs, there is a sizable portion of the population trying to close the gap, both physical and conceptual, between the food consumer and producer.
But despite the increased presence of these grassroots organizations, it’s difficult to understand how they could offer a viable alternative to the massive food system that currently has a stranglehold on our economy and government. As “Stocking the City” writer Chris Dehenzel has pointed out, for any kind of alternative food system to succeed it would require “fundamental structural shifts at policy and planning levels.”
Which begs the question: what would a fundamental shift in policy/planning look like? We can turn to Cuba for an answer.
An example of a garden in Havana, Cuba. Via CPULs.
The Case for Cuba
In the 1990s, in the face of a massive food shortage, the citizens of Havana did the only thing they could – take their lives into their own hands.
On balconies, terraces, backyards, and empty lots, neighbors began planting beans, tomatoes, bananas – anything they could, anywhere they could. In the span of two years, there were gardens and farms in every neighborhood in Havana. [2]
The government took notice, and instead of squelching these efforts, facilitated them. In 1994, the newly formed Urban Agriculture Department undertook a few key actions: (1) it adapted city law to the planning concept of Usufruct, making it not just legal, but free to adapt unused, public land into food production plots; (2) it trained a network of extension agents, community members who monitor, educate, and encourage gardeners in their neighborhoods; (3) created “Seed Houses” (agricultural stores) to provide resources/information; and (4) established an infrastructure of direct-sale Farmers’ Markets to make these gardens financially viable. [3]
By 1998 there were over 8,000 officially recognized gardens in Havana – from individually run plots to large State-run estates – all organic (by necessity, no pesticides were being imported) and producing about 50% of the country’s vegetables. [2]
On Viability and Visibility
Of course, Cuba is far from perfect, and whether these policies remain successful, or even successfully in place, is doubtful (Cuba is again dependent on foreign imports. When Raúl Castro took over from his brother in 2008, one of his major promises was to revitalize an agriculture sector riddled with bureaucracy and un-productivity).
But what’s fascinating about Cuba, is how, due to necessity, food once again became the guiding factor in the shaping of its capital city. What it required, however, was the complete and forced removal of its previously entrenched food system.
While the circumstances in the United States are no where near as dire, nor extreme, there are some parallels to be drawn. First of all, our current Economic crisis has made the need to change our outdated, inefficient, and unsustainable food systems far more pressing. Secondly, the cultural shift in our relationship with food, especially due to rising health problems and an obesity epidemic, has similarly resulted in citizens taking food production into their own hands.
In Cuba, that’s how it all began – involved citizens taking action in response to a crisis. Before Urban Agriculture became a viable alternative to feeding the city, it became a visible course of action. If we let food once again be our guide to urban design, then the first step will be to use design to shorten – not just the physical distance – but the conceptual distance between us and our food.
How can we use Design to change our urban relationship with food? Stay tuned for the follow up-post: Urban Agriculture Part II: Designing Out the Distance
http://www.archdaily.com/237526/urban-agriculture-part-i-what-cuba-can-teach-us/
24 May 2012
by Vanessa Quirk
Editorial Cities Cuba Farms Food Garden Urban Agriculture Urban Agriculture Series Urban Farming Urban Planning
Everyday, in the city of London, 30 million meals are served. That’s millions of trucks arriving to millions of stores and restaurants in a complex, tightly scheduled orchestration of production, transportation, and distribution.
We take it for granted that this system will never fail. But what would happen if these trucks were stopped? As unrealistic as it sounds, it’s happened – and not so long ago.
In 1989, over 57% of Cuba’s caloric intake was imported from the Soviet Union. When it collapsed, Cuba became, virtually overnight, solely responsible for feeding its population – including the 2.2 million in the city of Havana. [1] What happened next is an incredible story of resilience and innovation.
As our world becomes increasingly urbanized, our farms increasingly endangered, and our reliance upon fossil fuels increasingly undesirable, the question of how we will feed billions of future city dwellers is no mere thought experiment – it’s an urgent reality.
The story of Cuba offers us an interesting question: What would our cities look like if we began to place food production/distribution as the primary focus of urban design? And what will it take to make this vision a reality?
More on how Food can shape our cities, after the break…
This 1676 map of London shows a broad street running East-West through the middle of London. Carolyn Steel notes that the various street names along its length, such as Cheapside, Poultry and Cornhill, indicate that it was one of London’s central foodways. © Wikimedia Commons User Mike Calder. Via Ecos Magazine.
Food and the City
In her TED Talk, “How Food Shapes Our Cities,” Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City, explains how, since the beginning of urbanization, cities have been intertwined with agriculture – which is, of course, logical. How else could a city flourish without a dependable source of food to sustain it?
As Ms. Steel points out, by looking at maps and street names (for example Friday street in London, where on Fridays fish were sold), you can see the routes where food physically carved its way into ancient cities, towards the great plazas where this food was bought and sold, and how the cities themselves were built around facilitating this food flow.
Of course, industrialization changed all that. As Ms. Steel puts it, as soon as we began to use railroads to import meat, already slaughtered, and vegetables, already gathered, into our cities, we “effectively emancipated [our cities] from geography.”
All of a sudden, our cities could grow in any which way at an incredible rate of growth – and they continue to do so today. But, as is often the case, this progress has a dark side.
The typical Urban Dweller today has no understanding of where or how food is produced/distributed. We have become dependent on huge, powerful, profit-minded corporations to bring huge quantities of food from industrial farms into our supermarkets – but the entire process is hidden, massively complex, and, ultimately, unsustainable.
Foodies and Farmers’ Markets
From the cultural cache of Farmers’ Markets and organic produce, to the proliferation of rooftop gardens and local CSAs, there is a sizable portion of the population trying to close the gap, both physical and conceptual, between the food consumer and producer.
But despite the increased presence of these grassroots organizations, it’s difficult to understand how they could offer a viable alternative to the massive food system that currently has a stranglehold on our economy and government. As “Stocking the City” writer Chris Dehenzel has pointed out, for any kind of alternative food system to succeed it would require “fundamental structural shifts at policy and planning levels.”
Which begs the question: what would a fundamental shift in policy/planning look like? We can turn to Cuba for an answer.
An example of a garden in Havana, Cuba. Via CPULs.
The Case for Cuba
In the 1990s, in the face of a massive food shortage, the citizens of Havana did the only thing they could – take their lives into their own hands.
On balconies, terraces, backyards, and empty lots, neighbors began planting beans, tomatoes, bananas – anything they could, anywhere they could. In the span of two years, there were gardens and farms in every neighborhood in Havana. [2]
The government took notice, and instead of squelching these efforts, facilitated them. In 1994, the newly formed Urban Agriculture Department undertook a few key actions: (1) it adapted city law to the planning concept of Usufruct, making it not just legal, but free to adapt unused, public land into food production plots; (2) it trained a network of extension agents, community members who monitor, educate, and encourage gardeners in their neighborhoods; (3) created “Seed Houses” (agricultural stores) to provide resources/information; and (4) established an infrastructure of direct-sale Farmers’ Markets to make these gardens financially viable. [3]
By 1998 there were over 8,000 officially recognized gardens in Havana – from individually run plots to large State-run estates – all organic (by necessity, no pesticides were being imported) and producing about 50% of the country’s vegetables. [2]
On Viability and Visibility
Of course, Cuba is far from perfect, and whether these policies remain successful, or even successfully in place, is doubtful (Cuba is again dependent on foreign imports. When Raúl Castro took over from his brother in 2008, one of his major promises was to revitalize an agriculture sector riddled with bureaucracy and un-productivity).
But what’s fascinating about Cuba, is how, due to necessity, food once again became the guiding factor in the shaping of its capital city. What it required, however, was the complete and forced removal of its previously entrenched food system.
While the circumstances in the United States are no where near as dire, nor extreme, there are some parallels to be drawn. First of all, our current Economic crisis has made the need to change our outdated, inefficient, and unsustainable food systems far more pressing. Secondly, the cultural shift in our relationship with food, especially due to rising health problems and an obesity epidemic, has similarly resulted in citizens taking food production into their own hands.
In Cuba, that’s how it all began – involved citizens taking action in response to a crisis. Before Urban Agriculture became a viable alternative to feeding the city, it became a visible course of action. If we let food once again be our guide to urban design, then the first step will be to use design to shorten – not just the physical distance – but the conceptual distance between us and our food.
How can we use Design to change our urban relationship with food? Stay tuned for the follow up-post: Urban Agriculture Part II: Designing Out the Distance
http://www.archdaily.com/237526/urban-agriculture-part-i-what-cuba-can-teach-us/
China Connection
TB Fanatic
Nearly all of these are in the U.S. Most can be bought as seed. Plant about and eat
http://permaculturewest.org.au/resources/pw-edible-weeds-and-foraging-around-perth.pdf
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/08/03/52-wild-plants-you-can-eat/
http://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.com/wild-edible-greens.html
http://permaculturewest.org.au/resources/pw-edible-weeds-and-foraging-around-perth.pdf
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/08/03/52-wild-plants-you-can-eat/
http://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.com/wild-edible-greens.html
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
FIRST thing is get the wild edibles guides for your AO.
THEN you can do some guerrilla planting in that area....
Make sure that there is some papaver somniferum in your plantings in MANY WIDELY SCATTERED PLACES AND DON'T PINCH OFF THE HEADS.
THEN you can do some guerrilla planting in that area....
Make sure that there is some papaver somniferum in your plantings in MANY WIDELY SCATTERED PLACES AND DON'T PINCH OFF THE HEADS.
homecanner1
Veteran Member
Interesting harvestible fruit trees in Madison on Google Maps in city parks, campus plantings etc.
The concept of stone fruits and berry bushes as decoratives for park planting is gaining ground here.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zxM_4yQzUvmM.kS-YtRQJxxgI&msa=0
except the pins out in the middle of the lake! Those are supposed to be on Picnic Point I believe.
Lots of Crab Apples for jellymaking in the median strips between roads, maintained by State Highway Dept, public lands!
The concept of stone fruits and berry bushes as decoratives for park planting is gaining ground here.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zxM_4yQzUvmM.kS-YtRQJxxgI&msa=0
except the pins out in the middle of the lake! Those are supposed to be on Picnic Point I believe.
Lots of Crab Apples for jellymaking in the median strips between roads, maintained by State Highway Dept, public lands!
Well here's a start.....
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods Paperback – April 7, 2009
by Thomas Elias (Author), Peter Dykeman (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Wild-P...1428219049&sr=8-3&keywords=edible+wild+plants
Medicinal Plants of North America: A Field Guide (Falcon Guide) Paperback – April 1, 2008
by Jim Meuninck (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Medicinal-Plants-North-America-Falcon/dp/0762742984/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Wild Edible Plants
by Samuel Thayer
http://www.amazon.com/The-Foragers-...d_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=19NRPGF8K86KPFZFMBC5
Edible Wild Plants for Beginners: The Essential Edible Plants and Recipes to Get Started Paperback – November 27, 2013
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Wild-P...1428219049&sr=8-7&keywords=edible+wild+plants
China Connection
TB Fanatic
I'll give you one tip. Select a few green plants and put an egg or two beaten and mixed into a watering can and water with this mix about every two weeks. Saturate around the plants. In other words don't go shy on the eggs. You will be pleasantly surprised.
from Coast to Coast:
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2015/04/02
Expert in self-reliance and backyard food production, Marjory Wildcraft, has been seen on such TV shows as Doomsday Preppers. In the second half, she discussed her work helping people to become more resilient by loosening their dependence on corporate agriculture, and setting up easy ways to produce food no matter how small your home may be. While current US citizens are not used to famine, drought, and power outages, various disruptions have been a part of human history, she noted, and as a practical matter it can be extremely valuable to have experience growing your own food. Grocery stores only have about four days worth of food, she added.
The process of industrial agriculture has lowered the nutritional value of food over the years, Wildcraft suggested. For instance, to get the nutritive value of one carrot from 50 years ago, you'd have to eat 11 carrots today, she reported. Being able to directly work with the earth and grow your own food is incredibly self-empowering, and improves strength and fitness as well, she stated. Starting small rather than trying for complete self-sufficiency is a good way to begin, such as planting a 50 sq. foot plot for potatoes, or getting involved in a community garden. For more, check out Wildcraft's video, as well as her free online event "Home Grown Food Summit" in which 30+ leading experts in backyard food production will share tips from April 6 through April 12.
(These guys post the audio, but I can't find April 2nd. Maybe you will have better luck. http://zfirelight.blogspot.com/)
Edit: Here it is. I suppose I need to stop surfing with Windows XP and Firefox 3.0. I tend to miss stuff. http://zfirelight.blogspot.com/2015/04/04-02-15-chinas-wealth-food.html
(I guess I really should have posted this over here: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?466446-CALLING-ALL-GUERRILLA-GARDENERS!-FIGHT-DIRTY!)
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2015/04/02
Expert in self-reliance and backyard food production, Marjory Wildcraft, has been seen on such TV shows as Doomsday Preppers. In the second half, she discussed her work helping people to become more resilient by loosening their dependence on corporate agriculture, and setting up easy ways to produce food no matter how small your home may be. While current US citizens are not used to famine, drought, and power outages, various disruptions have been a part of human history, she noted, and as a practical matter it can be extremely valuable to have experience growing your own food. Grocery stores only have about four days worth of food, she added.
The process of industrial agriculture has lowered the nutritional value of food over the years, Wildcraft suggested. For instance, to get the nutritive value of one carrot from 50 years ago, you'd have to eat 11 carrots today, she reported. Being able to directly work with the earth and grow your own food is incredibly self-empowering, and improves strength and fitness as well, she stated. Starting small rather than trying for complete self-sufficiency is a good way to begin, such as planting a 50 sq. foot plot for potatoes, or getting involved in a community garden. For more, check out Wildcraft's video, as well as her free online event "Home Grown Food Summit" in which 30+ leading experts in backyard food production will share tips from April 6 through April 12.
(These guys post the audio, but I can't find April 2nd. Maybe you will have better luck. http://zfirelight.blogspot.com/)
Edit: Here it is. I suppose I need to stop surfing with Windows XP and Firefox 3.0. I tend to miss stuff. http://zfirelight.blogspot.com/2015/04/04-02-15-chinas-wealth-food.html
(I guess I really should have posted this over here: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?466446-CALLING-ALL-GUERRILLA-GARDENERS!-FIGHT-DIRTY!)
Last edited:
Martinhouse
Deceased
The urban gardening is a start in the right direction as far as educating people about growing their own food and foraging wild food, but telling people to eat things that grow in constant automobile exhaust doesn't sound very healthy.
I've read that one should not eat anything that is grown within fifty feet of any sort of roadway.
I've read that one should not eat anything that is grown within fifty feet of any sort of roadway.
Be very careful where you forest and harvest from and that you have explicit (and written) permission to do so. There have been some pretty big names that have been arrested for foraging in public parks and private byways.