Farms Build Community

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Daniel

Wisconsin Farm

Thirty something year olds in America have been taught growing up that manual labor is beneath them. Yet, the white-collar cubicle office jobs, doesn’t create that much satisfaction either according to a “Crop Mob” participant on American Public Radio’s program Marketplace. In North Carolina and other parts of the country, many people are turning to work on farms without pay to build a sense of community, return to the land and perhaps even work with their hands to earn their next meal.

Throughout history, farmers welcomed people onto their land to learn about the land, food and how it is grown.  A visit to a farm creates an authentic experience with nature often out of the daily consciousness of the modern citizen.  In biblical times, many farmers would leave the edges of the field open so people without food could take what the farmers were unable to harvest.  This act of “gleaning” was a common practice by the landless and is also alive today.

In Virginia, I worked on a farm and we would harvest what we could for the research project.  Many times, crops left in the field are left to return to the land.  But, we always had the option to call on the local food bank to organize a group of pickers to glean our fields.  Nowadays, the Crop Mobs are a very similar phenomena.  People visit a farm; help with farming for a day and the farmer gives back with work experience and the opportunity to earn their next meal.

These types of experiences are not always associated with agriculture from the view of the consumer and the marketplace.  The very idea of having farms open to community is very alive today.  Many farmers would welcome the interest, enthusiasm and motivation of a public to build community on the farm.  My good friend, Sally Weaver, manages a farm outside Woodland, California and is looking for anyone who wants to start a farming project and build community.

What types of farm experience have you had that invoked a sense of community and connection to nature?

Posted in On the Farm, Public Services | Leave a comment

What Consumers Need to See

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Daniel

Roadside Sign

Consumers typically see the price for a commodity at the marketplace.  But, what we don’t see is how prices fluctuate through the supply chain.  Price volatility is a major concern among agricultural producers. Researchers like myself, working with regulators and farming groups, want to promote long-term sustainable practices that may be beneficial to the environment and business overtime.  But, price volatility in short term creates stress, anxiety and a barrier to the adoption of long-term sustainable practices.

Here’s a good example. When production of a commodity increases typically marketing delivers the message to consumers and more consumers balance out the supply with a consistent demand.  However, when another influence enters the marketplace such as a new regulation, a food safety scare or a new supply comes online prices can drop at both the farmgate and wholesale levels.

On the other hand, where you and I buy food at the retail level such as the supermarket, health food store or restaurant, we often don’t see a comparable drop in prices. Why?  Well for the retailer there is an opportunity for a profit.  Also, another motivation for retailers to avoid changing the price is to maintain the image of the product in the consumer’s mind.

Think about this scenario. If a bumper crop of almonds in California causes prices to drop and new markets have yet to be established, the farmer receives less.  But, chances are the price for almonds will not decrease at your supermarket because of the opportunity for profit and the undesirable circumstances to decrease the value of almonds in the consumer’s mind.  The end result can be producers are left with low prices and with less confidence to see into the long-term.

We hear a fair bit about sustainable agriculture and its importance to the environment, our well-being and rural economies.  As a researcher and agronomist, I am often faced with the reality of understanding the science while trying to incorporate the approach into the reality of a farming operation.  Consumers need to see barriers such as price volatility in order to be a partner in the future of food and agriculture.

What other parts of the agriculture and food chain do consumers like you want to see? Leave your comment below.

Posted in Consumer Choice, People and Policy | 4 Comments

Summer Garden Tip

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Daniel

Summer Cover Crops

We are in the midst of summer and one of the best ways to get in touch with agriculture and different types of food species is to grow your own food. At times, managing a garden can be overwhelming with work, family and vacation. Depending on where you live, managing water and the weeds that fill in open space are probably your biggest challenges.

In California, we have a bunch of different systems for irrigation. In humid regions like Europe and the East and Midwest of the United States, there are other ways to manage water in case rain doesn’t fall in a timely fashion. When water does find its way into the soil and sunlight shines on bare ground, an unmistakable time sink takes root and weeding becomes a battle.

I, like you, would rather spend my time picking vegetables and sharing the bounty. Chances are you were very ambitious about what you could grow, how much you could grow and we forget how to manage expectations. One of the easiest thing so you can do, in order to tame your garden is planting summer cover crops. Summer cover crop seed is found on the internet there’s a whole range of different species that have been researched that you can grow.\

I put them into three groups.

1) Pollinators to attract beneficial insects

2) Nitrogen fixers to add organic nitrogen to the soil

3) Fast-growing grasses to choke out weeds and add carbon.

I’m going to give you three different species that are grown all over the world. Now I know what you’re thinking, you spent all your time planting the garden in spring. Why would you want to do more work during summer? Well, chances are there is part of your garden or land that is out-of-control and needs your attention. By throwing down some seed in different places you can watch the seed do the work for you.

I’ve written different posts about how to manage cover crops. But for your sanity and to keep your experience of growing different crops alive. I recommend buckwheat as a pollinator, black-eyed peas as a nitrogen fixer and millet as a rapid-growing grass.

What other challenges do you have trying to grow your own food this summer?

Posted in Be the Producer, In the Garden | 1 Comment

How to Define Food

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Daniel

The first question to ask is “What is food?”. People describe food in many different ways. The first and most obvious definition is food is energy and nutrients in order to live healthy lives. The components of food are broken up into calories and nutrients and further into biochemical components that hold energy such fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Food also delivers important vitamins and minerals.

Food is also derived from living organisms and can be looked at in a very different way. In biology, scientists categorize plants, animals and fungi into groups. Why not do the same with food in order to learn more about its life cycle and production origin? If food is defined by species, how does this definition create a new and relevant eating experience?

I conducted a self-experiment to test this idea. I developed codes for common food species from different categories such as grains, legumes, above and below-ground vegetables, warm and cool climate fruits, herbs and spices, beverage plants, sweeteners and a host of different animal species. Then I set-up a quota system, for example if I ate a substantial amount of a species in a day I would count it.

I tracked myself for 20 days and the results in the above histogram were interesting. I ate about 100 species in a 20 day period or a rate of 5 new species a day. Almost everyday I ate wheat as seen by the bar on the left and, there were other species like onions and tomatoes. When it comes to animal products it was more variable, for example I did not typically eat a single animal species everyday but, I did eat different animal products such as beef, chicken, pork, eggs as well as cow and goat dairy.

When it comes to eating habits does someone like myself reach a plateau? Does the rate decline under high stress, at different times of year or during those not-so-healthy times? The variation would differ from person to person and can serve as a personalized indicator for consumption. To define food by species may also be a user-friendly way to track diet as opposed to a one size fits all approach like the food pyramid.

Fall Brassicas

Finally, if we look at food defined by species, we will learn about food geography. If you’re living in the city or country, food looked at by species and where it is grown gives the consumer a new eating experience. Also, proximity and seasonality of food production leads to a better understanding of quality. For example, brassicas like broccoli, kale and cabbage have outstanding taste and post-harvest when grown in fall and crops like coconut, sugarcane, cacao and papaya are grown in tropical regions.

Tropical Fruits

What does this mean?

The meaning for the individual depends on their view of food. Someone who eats to get through the day without a connection may find this definition to be useless. But, for others who know there is more to food like its connection to people, the planet and producers will find food defined by species to be refreshing and new. Food defined by species is a real tool to track diet and to give the food industry insight into consumer demand.

Posted in Consumer Choice, Eating Food, Pure Science | 5 Comments

Marketing Green with Wine

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Daniel

DSC_0165

Wine plays a major role in the new marketing of regional “green” food products.  Regardless if you drink or not, wine is an interesting case study for how people select products based on place.  People buy wine by year and cultivar but, the role of the wine region is a major factor in marketability.  Wine marketing is in the business of targeting more consumers who are socially-minded with an interest in agriculture and the environment.  Wine paves the way toward bundling information of origin with the food product in the consumer marketplace because the wine label, the marketability of the vineyard landscape, and the differentiation of wine quality across regions

One of the best ways to deliver information about a place is describing important public services such as conservation of natural resources and mitigation of greenhouse gases.  In the case of wine, winegrowers cultivate winegrapes to create a carbon sink and plant vineyards within various ecosystems.  Spatial data can account for these two major indicators.    To the target consumer, these indicators provide valuable information to differentiate and add value to a product.  I wrote about an approach to describe the vineyard landscape in a past post.

In the article, I described the Russian River Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Sonoma County, California.  Winegrapes are the dominate commodity in the Russian River Valley AVA and home to diversified agriculture and land-use as well as valuable ecosystem diversity.  Past efforts to conserve natural resources create an opportunity to capitalize on the unique nature of region.  In a world of fierce competition in the global wine industry, unique characteristics of the region are valuable assets for marketing.  Many wine marketers rely on anecdotal evidence to communicate the unique nature of a wine.  But, the delivery of relevant content based on two major indicators of greenhouse gas mitigation and conservation of ecosystem diversity may prove valuable to the consumer.

The potential for a wine region to generate a negative exchange of greenhouse gases or net storage is tied to vineyard management practices.  Management practices, cultivars, and soil types differ across the acreage but, unlike other carbon-emitting industries, the woody vines and cultivated soils of the winegrape industry are a carbon sink.  Information delivered about the carbon footprint of management practices are one type of relevant information for the target consumer.  Practices such as conservation tillage, use of cover crops and conversion of woody waste to biochar all reduce or mitigate greenhouse gases.   In the race to develop the future “green” product, wine has great potential if marketers leverage technology to deliver relevant content to the target consumer.

Outside the vineyard lies a diversity of ecosystems important to diversified agriculture and species richness.  The ecology of a region often includes a combination of natural habitat or land for agricultural production.  Policy decisions at the local level, including a combination of land conservation incentives, environmental regulations and innate winegrower stewardship, are all responsible for the condition of ecosystems.  Efforts yield valuable benefits at the local level but, may not be appreciated by the global marketplace.  In order to bolster the wine products of the region, marketers will leverage technology to communicate the facts about a region to the target consumer.

Finally, information shared by producers allows for growth and promotion of consumer confidence.  Further work may help ameliorate the carbon footprint associated with vineyard management practices and the condition of ecosystem diversity.  Furthermore, data collection and distribution technology paves the way for the development of major indicators including the role the agricultural lands play in the mitigation of greenhouse gases and conservation of ecosystem diversity.  In conclusion, wine marketing will play an important role to change the role of regional foods in the new “green” marketplace.

Posted in Consumer Choice, Product Marketing | 6 Comments

Ask a Question

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Daniel

As a graduate student working on my PhD in Agriculture I am frequently questioned about food production, food safety and the environment.  I try my best to maintain a balance because agriculture encompasses many other fields like economics, nutrition, engineering, business, basics sciences (chemistry, biology and physics) and ecology.  There is definitely room to improve communication across our complex food chains.  One way to end the duality among opposing viewpoints is to go to the source for answers.

Doctor Morse

Before we dive into farms, farmers and the decision-making process to bring food to market.  Let us reflect on how Agriculture has propelled us into the 21st century.

Basic economic development theory simply describes the need for society to increase agricultural output to open up new economic opportunities for the population.  When people are fed and food prices are stable, workers can find jobs in manufacturing goods and professional services.  Typically, economic development following an increase in agricultural output model leads to an influx of rural populations to cities.  True, hidden environmental and societal costs are inevitable and the model depends heavily on new technology but, it has worked quite well for countries like the United States.  In 1940, farmers were 18% of the labor force and today farmers are under 3% while at the same time productivity increased by 158%.

Where we are going from today further into the 21st century is both exciting and an important challenge for humanity.  Part of the reason why I steadfastly remain planted in the field (pun intended) is because of the dynamic nature agriculture will take in our future.  By 2050, optimistic global census figures predict a population of 8-9 billion with greater demographics of underfed poor, undernourished people, meat eaters and consumers of high-priced organic and local foods.  The next generation of farms and farmers will be as diverse as the peoples on our planet and require support to drive innovation.

Enter social networking and the age of the consumer.  Innovative food companies like Dole, producer and distributor of tropical fruits like banana and pineapple, decided to bring the farm to us.  Lately, their produce stickers show a Farm ID of the region where the fruits was grown.  Consumers can visit Farm 402 in Peru via a website.  This is an excellent step in the right direction to begin connecting people with producers and ultimately the consumer with the food product.  The social network garners trust and at the same time refines the marketplace.  I took the liberty to tell Dole what I thought using Twitter.

I try my best to answer each question asked of me with a conscious response.  There is no one expert of our complex food chain but, we can all seek out facts based on science and dispel myths.  Our food systems will continue to change into the next decade of the 21st century and its our responsibility to demand the technology to connect with the people and places of agriculture.  If you have a question of agriculture, please ask and we will find an answer.

Posted in Consumer Choice, Product Marketing | 4 Comments

Plants Tell Temperature

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Daniel

I went to the pharmacy the other day to buy a thermometer.  I have a new baby boy and my wife and I wanted to be able to take his temperature.  From our daily weather forecasts to the news about climate change temperature is and integral part of our daily lives.  Understanding temperature is important and without all the instruments to measure it; we can turn to plants for help.  Plants tell us about temperature because every plant has something called hardiness.  Hardiness is the minimum temperature a plant can survive in before it dies.

Hardiness is broken into zones and is variable across regions and countries.  I live in the Luther Burbank Neighborhood in Santa Rosa, California and we are in zone 9, where the average minimum temperature is 30-20 degrees F.  Zone 9 is milder than my hometown in Connecticut where the average minimum temperature is 0-(-10) degrees F.  In my garden, plants behave in a particular way as they respond to temperature.  I grow pepper, broccoli and barley and each of these three plants tells a different story about temperature.

I grew a pepper plant all summer long and it is hardy above freezing temperatures.  When the temperature drops below 32 degress F, the pepper experiences a frost.  The water in its cells turns from liquid to solid.  Given that ice is less dense than water; the same amount of water when frozen takes up more space.  When the ice melts the next day, water rushes out of the plant cells and the pepper shows symptoms of permanent wilt before drying up.

Frost-killed Pepper

Broccoli is typically grown as a annual plant when cultivated as a vegetable for supermarkets.  In my garden I am able to grow it as a perennial.  In the cool months, broccoli grows during the day and does very well at night even if the temperature drops below freezing.  But, it is only hardy to 20 degree F.  Broccoli tells us about temperature in summertime as well.

Unlike the pepper plant that thrives under temperatures as high as 90 degrees F; broccoli begins to wilt and look sick.  In order to keep my broccoli plant alive, I used a horticultural technique of removing leaves and watering to keep it alive until temperatures cooled down in autumn.  Understanding how the plant responds to temperature is how I was able to the same broccoli plants alive for over one year.

Perennial Broccoli

The final plant I want to talk about is barley. Barley is grown for grain and it is also used in crop rotations as an annual winter cover corp.  As summer turns to fall, farmers plant barley seed and barley only germinates at a specific temperature.  The seedlings grow to a certain height and during the cool season they slow their growth in order to survive the winter.  Barley begins to grow again during spring as the temperature warms up.  In my garden, I plant barley as a cover crop to add carbon to the soil and to break up compacted layers that I am too lazy to dig up.  I developed a strategy where I harvest the leaves and use them in my compost.

Winter Barley

Different plants tell us different things about temperature.  Plants like pepper die at frost, broccoli survives under a wide temperature range, but only thrives in cool weather and barley follows a specific life cycle based on temperature.  I have one question for you .  What type of experiences have you had where plants told you something about your environment?

Posted in Be the Producer, In the Garden, Pure Science | 3 Comments