Category: Food and the planet

After oxygen and water, food is what keeps us living and healthy however, some types of foods are better than others with the best type being “true food”.

But which are the true foods?

True foods are those that grow in NATURE, minimally processed (transformed/preserved in a traditional or innovative way; fewer additives, better and much better if all of them are natural), SUSTAINABLE (produced in healthy soil using clean water, respecting the environment and biodiversity) AND ETHICALLY PRODUCED (towards humans, animals and all living beings involved).

This definition points out two fundamental concepts: NATURE and SUSTAINABILITY that includes ethical production.

What is nature?

Nature is all living and inanimate beings that make up the earth and that interact with each other in a balance where matter and energy circulate. Nature follows its own order and is governed by constant laws that human beings can know but cannot modify.

Many humans (Homo sapiens) think that we are superior to all living beings, despite being one of the youngest species on earth and not knowing if we will ever live as long as bacteria or plants. We are also a very small part of life on Earth.

A study published in 2018 that quantifies life on Earth in terms of carbon (C), a common element of all living beings, shows that plants are the most abundant living forms representing 82.5%. Then we find the tiny bacteria that represents 14.2% of the life on Earth and after the fungi representing 2.2%. Bacteria and fungi are everywhere including IN and ON us influencing our health (see post on the Microbiome). Then there are the algae that represent 0.7% and finally the animals, the group to which we belong which represents 0.4% of life on earth.¹

Sustainability:

Fundación Centro las Gaviotas in Colombia has developed the following sustainability formula:

4 x 4 x 42 / B

it means that human beings cannot live: more than 4 minutes without breathing proper air, more than 4 days without proper water, more than 42 days without nourishment and for all this to be possible the Earth must be covered with at least  60% of Forest, of green, including the plankton that lives in water of the oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, etc. This is the only way to maintain a proper atmospheric dynamic that allows human life or 78.1% nitrogen (N₂), 20.9% oxygen (O₂), 0.9% argon (Ar) and very little other gases including carbon dioxide (CO₂, 0.04%).

The oxygen (O₂) from the air that we need to live is produced by green beings thanks to a substance called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll reacts with CO₂ in the presence of sunlight. These green beings are plants as well as bacteria and algae that feed on dead matter previously transformed by fungi, bacteria or animals such as worms. Respiration produces CO₂ which is essential in the production of oxygen and sugars. Part of these sugars are stored in roots that feed bacteria and fungi from soil. Some fungi associate with the roots of plants forming mycorrhiza (myco=fungus and rhiza=root), a beneficial symbiosis for both organisms. Together they can travel big distances to get water and nutrients they need to live. Mycorrhizae connect with each other and at the same time interact with bacteria and some animals forming a very efficient communication and exchange system known as “Wood Wide Web”.

There is a complex and perfect balance between life and death and life and life. The community we are part of is fascinating!  

The Amisacho collective in the Ecuadorian Amazon is producing short videos. The concepts transmitted allow a clear understanding of how the Amazon rainforest works, the cycles of nature, how they influence the planet’s climate and individual and collective solutions to live in a respectful way.

If we zoom in on the group of animals, we will note that the largest segment is represented by fish (30%) and that all together arthropods, mollusks, nematodes, annelids and cnidarians represent 63.6% of all animals. Humans represent 2.5% of animals while birds and wild mammals together represent only 0.4% and cattle 4.2%.¹ This means that in terms of carbon (C) there are 5 times more humane than all wild birds and mammals combined, and nearly twice as many livestock as humans.

It is evident that we have NOT been paying attention to our environment and that our activities are impacting biodiversity.

Sustainability concerns us and our activities and deals with three elements: the environment, society and the economy. Of these 3, the economy is not part of nature, however, the narrative about the importance of money that first appeared about 5,000 years ago with the appearance of the first coins is so strong that today we cannot perceive the economy outside of the human context. 

All human economic activity depends on nature. It is estimated that globally, nature provides services worth approximately US 125 trillion annually.²

Humanity is using more resources that the Earth manages to regenerate. The challenge is to continue our lives and our activities without depleting these resources, and restoring those already depleted with a population that continues growing. We are the first generation aware of this. Let’s start acting by eating!

Agriculture

The human activity dedicated to food production is agriculture that first appeared about 12,000 years ago. Agriculture deals with domestication of plants and animals.

Farmers have domesticated some living beings learning from them and from nature, observing and experimenting, a very interesting and important job that has allowed the development of humanity. After the Second World War, the green revolution began in which agriculture was industrialized. This industrialization or dehumanization together with large-scale global trade has contributed to the current social, environmental and economic imbalances.

Agriculture is against nature but it can be respectful if it respects nature as is done by agroecological and regenerative farmers around the world.

Today there are many problems related with food: overweight and malnutrition, waste, environment destruction and loss of biodiversity. Even though small farmers who produce in an area below 2 hectares of the worlds food and protect food diversity, many of them live in extreme poverty. Let’s do what we can to help these farmers be successful and in turn, we will all prosper! 

What can we do?

First of all, let’s inform ourselves because knowledge is essential.

Let’s be smart consumers and remember that our demand and our everyday actions can generate positive changes. Let’s buy local, seasonal, socially and environmentally responsible products and let’s support farmers who work respecting nature locally and globally.

Let’s practice urban agriculture respecting nature and learning from nature, thus building resilient, green, inclusive and sustainable cities. One pot at a time – remembering that to be a respectful farmer we must learn many things and be open to new ideas.

Let’s cook more often using local, seasonal, socially and environmentally responsible products to know, taste and experience new flavors. Let’s not be afraid to use unusual vegetables, “ugly” produce that may not be the perfect specimen of what we are used to seeing in the grocery store, try wild products that we are not use to eating and become aware of the importance of dietary diversity. Let’s not forget that cooking is an act of love towards ourselves and the people for whom we cook!  

I highly recommend the Radio Semilla podcast (only available in Spanish) of the Red de Guardianes de Semillas who, with a relaxed vibe and broad vision, speak of social, environmental and economic regeneration with local solutions. With a different approach, the podcast Food Talks (only available in English), is also worth a listen. Both are fantastic, informative and fun!

To improve the food system, changes are needed from the production to the table, from those who grow food to those who eat it, and all those who move the food in between! Remember that food is directly connected with the farmers, the land, the watersheds and the climate; and that our health is a reflection of the quality and quantity of the food we consume. In the end, it is all – and we are all – interconnected! Let’s take care of one another!

By M. Salomé Gachet

REFERENCES:
¹ PNAS, 2018. Nar-On, Y.M., et al. The biomass distribution on Earth
² WWF. 2018. Living Planet Report 2018 (Summery)

A curious man enters one of the orchards of the Segantini Park and finds Sergio and Luca. He’s Junior, a young man who is passionate about the land and eager to know how we grow plants in the park, and why? He also works the land there and, because of the pandemic, he has been trying to do it for a living since last year. He tells us that he has not studied agriculture, that he learned the basics in his native Cuba where all the children and young people cultivate the land after school, “I work hard for a child,” he tells us.

Sergio and Luca show Junior our worm compost that has been working for the past two years. Depending on the time of year, the compost is made in a period between 3 and 6 months. Junior tells us that it could be more efficient and, if we want, he can show us how to do it. Salomé, who is very interested in home composting, gets involved and immediately organizes a visit to Gaggiano where Junior works.

To Gaggiano by bike to make earth

It was a Sunday with good weather at the beginning of May when 5 people, Francesca, Nicolò, Enrico, Ivana and Salomé, arrived by bike at the garden center where Junior works.

We met Junior, who welcomed us with enthusiasm and immediately showed us how the orchard/plant garden works. In the orchard, Junior grows a wide variety of vegetables that are disappearing. Due to globalization, food diversity is in danger. Fortunately, there are people like Junior working to recover it.

His way of cultivating not only has a practical approach, a synergistic garden in full respect for nature and relationships with various organisms, but it is also a philosophy of life! His garden highlights the importance of mother earth as well as a non-consumeristic lifestyle that values relationships.

Junior told us that when he arrived in Lombardy, he wondered what he could offer that land and that particular place. He saw that in the vicinity there were rice fields and a rice factory that produced the bran of the grains as a waste product. As he later pointed out, bran is an important ingredient in his compost. Also nearby, Junior has access to cows from which he takes manure as well as pieces of wood from the trees that border the vivarium, both of which are the ideal substrates for decomposing microorganisms.

Another way to compost

Let’s get to work, first we collect all the ingredients we would need:

1. straw
2. rice bran
3. manure
4. molasses (water saturated with sugar, about half a liter)
5. freshly cut grass
6. pieces of bark with microorganisms (branches with bark)*
7. water

* The microorganisms can be found at the base of large trees, just below the first layer of soil. They are like thin white cobwebs. In the absence of these, you can find pre-packed, ready-to-use microorganisms for purchase. In Italy, for example, there is a product called Top Crop from Microvita.

When we went to collect the ingredients, we observed the land around the garden center. Many rice fields were not yet productive but instead were dry land waiting to be fertilized and irrigated.

We start by making a small fire that will be completely covered with the rice bran and will slowly burn until it becomes active black carbon (charcoal), rich in minerals. The bran burns slowly and, little by little, we add more bran that strangely does not produce a flame, but instead, a delicious smell.

He explains that the combustion process (the burning) helps to release minerals. As a result of the combustion process, charcoal is formed. (Charcoal can can also be purchased). Any straw that decomposes easily and does not need to be burned could also be used in place of charcoal.

Meanwhile, on the ground, we draw a circle of 1 meter in diameter. Junior explained that a good compost should be as high as the circumference of its base (1 meter).

While we waited for the rice bran to burn, we went to eat a delicious barbecue with friends.

The recipe

When we return, we proceed to arrange the layers to create the compost pile:

We start with the straw, then the shredded grass, then the pieces of bark with microorganisms, a little cow manure (NB: for a compost in the city, raw leftovers found in the kitchen can also be used (just remember not to use meat products as this may attract rats and/or other rodents) and a good stream of water.

The proportion of ingredients is 3 (parts of dry matter: straw and bark pieces) to 1 (part of wet matter: grass, manure). The dry matter adds carbon (C) while the wet adds nitrogen (N).

One could also add a little finished compost (as is done in the Segantini park) as an inoculator (due to the presence of worms).

We add straw again, then grass, microorganisms from the envelope (commercially available), molasses, pieces of branches, grass and then water.

The sequence should be as follows: dry, wet, dry, wet … and in between the microorganisms and water. With all this good “food” for the soil, Junior tells us that earthworms will come too.

We continue like this until the pile reaches one meter in height.

At that point, we return to our rice bran, which has meanwhile been turned into charcoal. We extinguish the fire using a lot of cold water and spread the finished charcoal on top of the compost pile. The wet rice bran will regulate the moisture and release the minerals.

The pile is covered with a black plastic to increase the rate of the decomposition process (it helps to keep it warm and humid). The compost pile will reach a very high temperature of up to 70 degrees Celsius(158 degrees Fahrenheit) during the first few days! This allows pathogens to be eliminated.

After about 5 days, Junior will turn the compost with a pitchfork, reconstituting the pile, a process that introduces air (most importantly oxygen) and will cover it again. The compost pile will be turned the same way a total of 5 times (about every 5 days).

Compost transformation will occur in approximately 1 month. If left uncovered, it would take much longer.

When the compost is ready it will be reduced by about half its initial size.

Coincidentally, that Sunday was May 9, Mother’s Day. Junior makes us notice that together we celebrate our “pacha mama” (mother earth) by making her a cake.

We bike back home, happy with a new perspective on compost, microorganisms, rice waste, and respect for the earth.

By Francesca Mastrangelo and M. Salomé Gachet

In post 2, we saw that to produce food we need energy, soil, water and biodiversity. So now, let’s talk about soil!

Soil is a very complex natural resource. It contains all naturally occurring chemical elements and simultaneously combines solid, liquid and gaseous states. Soil is also one of the most biodiverse habitats on earth.¹

But, what is soil made of?

Around the world, soils are very diverse. They differentiate according to their physical, chemical and biological properties.¹ There is a whole science behind soil and it is super interesting, especially if you are thinking about making your own garden.

Here some basics:

Soil is made of mineral particles (originated from the degradation of rocks), organic particles (originated from the degradation of organic matter (plants and animals)) and biota (living organisms).²

Soil particles leave tiny spaces between them (pores) that can be filled with air and/or water. The amount of water (and as a consequence the quantity of air) retained by the soil (infiltration) is important for plant growth.²

Living organisms moving in the soil help to aerate the soil favoring plant growing conditions.² Soil is the home of an enormous biodiversity (plants, macrofauna (e.g. ants, termites, earthworms), mesofauna (mites, collembola), microfauna (protozoa, nematodes) and microflora (bacteria, fungi), from which little is known (with the exception of plants where ca. 90% species are known).³

Soil biodiversity plays a critical role in sustaining long term soil health and providing soil-based ecosystem services (see below).³

The soil and agriculture

Physical and chemical properties of the soil (see figure above) together with factors influencing soil formation (CLORPT: climate, organisms, relief, parent material and time) are largely responsible for soil fertility and consequently agricultural productivity.³

To improve soil fertility, external agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, are used. However, crop yields declined after several years of intense soil use, despite the continuous use and increasing application of these agricultural inputs.³

The strategy of improving soil fertility by adding exhausted minerals and controlling pests is obviously not the best solution!

It became necessary to think about the quality of the soil.

Soil quality considers the importance of the soil as a living system, with a wider role including not only biological productivity but also environmental quality (impacts on air and water) and the effects on plant and animal health.³

In recent years, the discussion of sustainable development has increased and the paradigms of “soil health” and “soil security” have emerged.³

According to FAO, a healthy soil has the continuous capacity to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain biological productivity and to promote the quality of air and water environments, and maintain plant, animal, and human health.¹

For a sustainable and resilient production system, maintaining soil stock nutrients is essential. However, soil stocks are linked to ecosystem functions via the soil biota (i.e. living organisms). Living organisms adapt to environmental change through natural selection (while the physical and chemical components do not) hence they play a central role in sustainable productivity and the provision of other ecosystem services (see below)³.

It is difficult to think that the conventional practice of adding missing nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) can be applied to living organisms. There are so many living organisms in a healthy soil and probably many of them are endemic of a specific ecosystem. It will be very hard to achieve!

Ok, so what do we do?

It is more efficient to let the ecosystem take care of life within the soil and we take care of conserving the ecosystem.

A healthier soil

Soil security is a broader, multidimensional and integrative concept. Soil security is concerned with global environmental sustainability issues such as the maintenance and improvement of the global soil resource to produce food, fiber and fresh water, contribute to energy and climate sustainability and to maintain biodiversity and the overall protection of the ecosystem.³

To clarify the interactions between agroecology and a healthy soil, let’s use the example of agroforestry.

Agroforestry is an agricultural system in which trees and shrubs grow around or among crops or pasturelands.

Studies performed mostly in Africa (in tropical maize-based agroforestry systems) have shown that soil biota abundance (the number of living organisms) is higher in cultivations with trees than in the ones without them. Additionally, the biological activity (e.g. earthworm’s activity) is increased near trees producing larger quantities of fast decomposing biomass that is rich in nutrients (e.g. nitrogen).³

The benefits of agro-ecosystem synergies, such as those generated by tree-crop-soil-livestock interaction, are the reduction of external trade-offs (e.g. fertilizers, pesticides). Additional alternatives to reduce trade-offs favoring ecological synergies include crop rotation, intercropping and the pruning of trees to reduce competition for sunlight that at the same time generate biomass for mulching (or the coverage of the soil surface) helping to conserve soil, water, to improve fertility and to control erosion.³

Living in symbiosis with nature is challenging but possible! Small innovative farmers around the world are already doing it!³

Now, it becomes clear that a healthy soil does not only take care of food production, and is the home of an exuberant biodiversity but also, it also provides ecosystem services. But, what exactly are they?  

Soil-based ecosystem services

Soil-based ecosystem services are processes delivered by the soil (e.g. nutrient capture and cycling) that supply a service to the ecosystem (e.g. food production).

There are two types of services: agricultural and non-agricultural. The following text box explains them: 

A healthy soil sustains life, protects the soil, cleans the air, conserves biodiversity and keeps, stores and supplies water. But not only this, as we also saw on the previous post, soil has the potential to sequester CO₂ from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change by conserving the forest while producing our food through agroecology.

In post 4, we also talked about nitrous oxide (N₂O), an important greenhouse gas (GHG), remember? Well, N₂O production is connected to agriculture and soil as well! Let’s see how.

Nitrogen and the soil

Nitrogen (N) is critical for plant growth.⁴ But even if there is a lot of N in the air, it cannot be directly taken in by plants. It needs to be transformed by the biological processes (e.g. bacterial) of mineralization, nitrification, immobilization and denitrification.² At the end of the cycle, N goes back into the atmosphere.⁴ Importantly, there are certain bacteria capable of fixing N directly from the atmosphere forming the N-containing organic substance that plants can use.¹ The following figure shows the nitrogen cycle:

Importantly, only a certain amount of nitrogen can be stored in the soil. The surplus (caused by the addition of nitrogen containing fertilizers), is lost in the atmosphere, in runoff and leaked resulting in contamination of the air, surface and groundwaters.⁴ This is how agriculture, due to an excess quantity of nitrogen containing fertilizers, produces N₂O, a powerful GHG!

This is ecologically and economically unsustainable! However, if we understand the needs and the dynamics of a healthy soil, we can make these processes more efficient, avoid soil degradation (i.e. removal of nutrients and erosion) and reduce GHG emissions. 

The challenge of climate change, soil security and food security, requires a more productive and resilient agriculture with a better management of natural resources. It requires agroecology!

The international initiative 4 per 1000 aims to demonstrate that agriculture and specifically agricultural soils play a crucial role in achieving food security and reversing climate change (see post 4). Really worth checking it out!   

Agroecology

Agroecology, “the ecology of the food system”, is a science, a global movement for food security and sovereignty and also an agricultural practice. It is an evolving concept that can also be referred as permaculture, organic agriculture, eco-agriculture, conservation agriculture and minimum or no-tillage. Its main goal is to transform the food systems towards sustainability, supporting the balance between ecological soundness, economic viability and social justice.³

But, what is wrong with the conventional agriculture besides its unsustainable relationship to a healthy soil from which we just talked about?

Well, conventional agriculture over-emphasizes high yields (monoculture production) and short-term profit, that results in remarkable economic profits for some, at the cost of ecological degradation (e.g. soil erosion, loss of agrodiversity, pest outbreak) and social side effects (e.g. poverty, malnutrition, dependency, loss of livelihood diversity).³

Fortunately, these problems can be tackled with agroecology. Agroecology is a holistic strategy to produce food approaching ecological, economic and social sustainability!

Even though there are some general guidelines associated with target systems, regions and major soil groups, agroecology requires fine tunings to meet farmers’ needs and adapt to climate, edaphic (soil) and biological parameters of a specific local context.³

So, the soil is central to agriculture and therefore sustainable agriculture is essentially dependent on soil health.³

But farming is not a natural process. Humans domesticate nature and disturb the natural soil processes to produce food. How can it be sustainable?

Well, the key to use the ecosystem in favor of agriculture and that agriculture respects and protects the ecosystem. The following examples show four important aspects of agroecology and the agroecological practices:³

The cases above are just a few examples of the outreach of agroecology and demonstrate that it is possible to feed the world population with food that is good, healthy and fair.

This can be done with smart innovative practices coming from small farmers that have adapted farming to the ecosystem.

Let’s support farmers practicing sustainable agriculture!!

In this regard, there is a very nice organization, A growing culture, that advocates for agroecological innovations coming from farmers. It is really worth checking it out!

Are you still not convinced as why it is so important to support farmers?

Please have a look to the following figure that shows the world urbanization patterns of the population:

It is evident that more and more people move from the countryside to the cities. Nothing wrong with that, right? But if the main reason is to escape from poverty and to have a “better life,” then, something is really wrong with our society…

Did you know that of the ca. 770 million people living in extreme poverty (or 11% of the words population living with less than 1.90 US dollar a day) 80% live in rural areas and are mostly farmers (two thirds)?⁵

Food is mandatory for living! Which make it incomprehensive that the people producing this essential good are among the poorest! And no wonder only few young people are interested in becoming farmers.

How can farmers be motivated to produce good quality food if we do not pay a fair price?

Importantly, prices not only include the cost of food production, but also a range of other factors not captured in the price of conventional food (e.g. environmental enhancement protection, higher standards for animal wellbeing, avoidance of health risks to farmers, rural development).

We need to support farmers, especially agroecologial producers, so that they keep feeding the world with good, delicious, healthy, fair food – with true food!

But, who are these farmers?

Worldwide, there are more than 570 million farms, from which more than 475 million farms are smaller than 2 hectares (ca. 84% operating in 12% of the worlds agricultural land), and more than 500 million are family farms (about 90% operating in ca. 75% of the farm land). Family farms are constantly distributed in almost all countries in the world and, therefore, are likely to be responsible for most of the world’s food and agricultural production.⁶

Also, in low income countries, small farms operate more farmland that do small farms in higher income countries.⁶  

So, we know now more about who is producing our food but how do we support them?

Probably, the only way of really doing it, is to find out who is our farmer. Shops are in the obligation of informing us and, if they cannot do so or we do not trust the information obtained, it may be a good time to change provider.

But, you might think that the so-called biological shops selling organic food are just too expensive and products are unaffordable…and you are probably right. A new economic system is now using the word organic frequently and labels food with lots of certificates.

And yes, we agree that organic products are limited, typically they have greater production and logistics costs due to the smaller quantities of produce (e.g. transportation, marketing, distribution) and farmers need to pay to be “certified organic”.⁷

When did it become normal that the food needed to be certified to be organic? Isn’t food organic by definition? Shouldn’t the food that uses chemical inputs be labeled chemically produce? Our food system is upside down!

Actually, there are a lot of agricultural systems that fully meet the requirements for organic agriculture that are not-certified organic. Especially in developing countries, these products are sold locally (e.g. village markets) directly to the consumer who benefit from knowing the origin of the food at normal market price.⁷ Let’s support their work!

But what does the “organic label” mean? Foods labeled as organic certify that the product does not contain synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, right? However, should we not care about what is inside our food and where it comes from instead? It might be the only way to start living in a sustainable way!

To achieve a transformation in the food system, changes are needed. From the production to the table. From those who grow food, to those who eat it, and all those who move the food in between.³

Some really outstanding projects that are making the difference by using agroecological principles are:

Nagenahiru, in Siri Lanka, is a foundation that focuses on the capacity of building disadvantaged rural communities addressing local needs through economically viable, culturally feasible, socially just and ecologically sustainable activities. They are achieving amazing things!

Eca-Amarakaeri, in Peru, is a Communal and Natural Reserve co-managed by 10 indigenous communities and representatives of the Peruvian State, covering an area of more than 400,000 hectares of forest. The financing comes from the sustainable harvesting of Brazilian nut which generates a stable income avoiding illegal logging, mining and other activities that threaten the Amazon rainforest.

Veta la Palma, in southern Spain, is a farm within the National Park de Doñana that has managed an integrated intervention of artificial wetland habitat for fish farming (29% of the land), the ecoagricultural practices of rice cultivation and foraging crops for cattle and horses growing (29% of the land) with the preservation of the ecosystem (42% of the land), generating  new economic activities based on principals of sustainability.

Las Cañadas, located in one of the last islands of the Veracruz Cloud Forest in Mexico, is a sustainable agroecologiacal farm as well as a green enterprise sharing knowledge through courses, seeds, plants and books helping others to implement practical and integrated solutions to live in a more sustainable way.

But probably one of the best ways to start is simple and can be started at home, in our community: let’s start a sustainable garden! There are a lot of benefits in creating gardens in cities (urban gardening):⁸

• Economically, it helps low-income households to grow food for consumption and the surpluses for selling (income generation). Additionally, it provides employment opportunities.
• Socially, it can provide a sense of community, promote rural-urban connections. It offers recreational opportunities improving life quality for urban residents (particularly young and elderly people). The production and consumption of fresh and nutritious vegetables improves child nutrition.
• Ecologically, it reuses wastewater and organic soil waste, reduces the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and helps cites to become more resilient to climate change by reducing vulnerability of urban residents (particularly poor), diversifying urban food sources and income opportunities, keeping green open spaces and enhancing vegetative cover reducing urban heat-island effect.

Cities have a vital role to play in shaping the food system of the future, they can offer valuable contributions for regenerative practices with the potential of creating a new sustainable economy.⁹

Let’s be an active part of the solution; buy local, sustainable, seasonal, Fairtrade items, support agroecological farmers and make your own garden.

Stay tuned – we are starting our own urban garden! You can be part of it here by sharing your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

By M. S. Gachet et N. Zanuto
Full story of the cover photo can be found here.

REFERENCES:
¹ FAO. FAO Soils Portal.
² FAO: 1985. Irrigation Water Management: Chapter 2 – Soil and Water
³ FAO: 2015. Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition. Proceedings of the FAO International Symposium.
⁴ Chapter 6: Nitrogen in the Soil-Crop System. In: Soil and Water Quality – An Agenda for Agriculture. NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS, Washington, D.C. (1993).
⁵ World Bank Group: 2016. Who are the Poor in the Developing World?
⁶ Lowder, S. et al., FAO, 2016. The Number, Size and Distribution of Farms, Smallholder Farms and Family Farms Worldwide.
⁷ FAO: Organic agriculture.
⁸ The World Bank, 2013. Urban development series.
⁹ Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2019. Cities and Circular Economy for Food.