Valcent's vertical farm has hundreds of clear plastic sheets holding pockets of plants. These hang from moving racks. (Photo courtesy of Valcent)
It takes a lot of land to grow
crops. There are concerns there won’t
be enough land to grow all the needed
food for the rapidly growing population.
That’s why some researchers and business
people are creating what they call
vertical farms. Julie Grant reports:
Transcript
It takes a lot of land to grow
crops. There are concerns there won’t
be enough land to grow all the needed
food for the rapidly growing population.
That’s why some researchers and business
people are creating what they call
vertical farms. Julie Grant reports:
On the outside, it looks like a big green house. Inside,
there’s an overhead conveyer system.
It looks kind of like a dry cleaner. Hanging from the moving
racks are hundreds of clear plastic sheets. Each has rows of
pockets. In each pocket, there’s a vegetable plant.
The conveyor moves them around to make sure the plants
get enough light, nutrients and water.
Glen Kertz is president of Valcent Products, which is building
its first commercial-scale vertical farm in Alberta, Canada –
where it can be expensive to truck in fresh produce.
“A couple of hundred years ago, they couldn’t get fresh
lettuce in the dead of winter. But do they want it today?
Yes.”
Kertz and others think we could vertical farm in cities in
skyscrapers.
But Kurtz says the farm’s heat, lighting and conveyor system
all run on fossil fuels and he wants to switch to renewable
energy.
Multinational corporations started taking control of seeds around thirty
years ago. Now, ten corporations own over half the world’s commodity seed
supply.
(Photo by Scott Bauer, courtesy of the USDA Agricultural Research Service)
Some small gardening businesses
are noticing more customers want organic
and heirloom seeds. Experts think that
trend might be important for the world.
Kinna Ohman reports they believe
those seeds might be the hope of future
food supplies:
Transcript
Some small gardening businesses
are noticing more customers want organic
and heirloom seeds. Experts think that
trend might be important for the world.
Kinna Ohman reports they believe
those seeds might be the hope of future
food supplies:
John Meshna points to a half empty rack of vegetable and flower seed packets in his
store.
“We’ve emptied this thing at least a half a dozen times this year. I thought maybe
we’d have a rush in the spring and that’d be the end of it. And it looks like it’s
going to be going through the winter.”
Meshna owns and runs DirtWorks – a green garden supply business in New Haven,
Vermont. He’s been selling organic and heirloom garden seeds for more than twenty
years. Heirloom seeds come from vegetables that have almost disappeared. And Meshna
thinks people want those types of seeds more and more because they’re worried about our
food supply.
“People call us just to make sure sometimes before they order, now, ‘these are really
organic seeds, right?’ Yeah, it says it right on the label. It’s gonna make you very
happy when you get that package.”
And it’s making certain experts happy too.
Hope Shand is the research director of Etcetera Group. It’s an organization that’s
concerned about corporate control of the food supply. Shand says when more home
gardeners and small farmers grow plants from organic and heirloom seeds, that helps
keep variety in the world’s food supply.
“This is an incredibly important service. People, gardeners, small farmers, urban
gardeners, are conserving, and saving seed diversity. No one else is really doing that
job.”
Hope Shand says multinational corporations started taking control of seeds around thirty
years ago. Now, Shand says, ten corporations own over half the world’s commodity seed
supply. And she thinks that’s risky.
“The seed is the first link in the food chain. Whoever controls the seed literally
controls the world’s food supply. We can’t afford to have the level of vulnerability
and dependence that that entails when we have a handful of multinational seed
companies controlling the world seed supply.”
(sound of watering)
“I’m growing greens without heat.”
At a small organic nursery in Hinesberg, Vermont, Julie Rubaud is one of those who
wants to get these seeds and plants to more people. For her, it’s not just preserving a
strain of a vegetable, it’s trying to match up those plants with the right gardener.
Rubaud grows close to eight hundred varieties of organic and heirloom plants for her
customers. She says that helps her connect people with the right plants for their gardens
and tastebuds.
“I always start out asking, ‘how much room do you have?’ And then I ask them
how they like to eat tomatoes. It’s nice to be able to cater everyone’s garden plan to
their individual needs because we have so many varieties.”
And if next year’s anything like last year, Rubaud will have at least forty varieties of
organic tomato plants ready for new gardens by next spring.
She wonders – with the economy the way it’s been – if one plant might do exceptionally
well.
“There’s Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes. Have you heard of that
one?” (laughs)
Radiator Charlie’s tomato has been around since the 1940s. You probably won’t find it
at the big-box discount-store gardening department. It’s one of those colorful, hardy,
productive plants that many people think will help bring back variety to our food supply.
Chef Ben Bebenroth and his crew plate mushroom dishes
for their dinner guests.
(Photo by Julie Grant)
(Photo by Julie Grant)
Farm owner Tom Wiandt shows honey mushrooms
growing on a log.
(Photo by Julie Grant)
Mushroom cultivation at Killbuck Valley Farm.
(Photo by Julie Grant)
Most people don’t spend a lot of
time thinking about where their food was
grown. Even fewer actually go out and forage
in the woods for it. But that’s what one
chef is trying to get people to do. Julie
Grant reports this chef wants people to
connect the dots between the environment
and their food:
Transcript
Most people don’t spend a lot of
time thinking about where their food was
grown. Even fewer actually go out and forage
in the woods for it. But that’s what one
chef is trying to get people to do. Julie
Grant reports this chef wants people to
connect the dots between the environment
and their food:
(sound of gathering)
The threat of rain has passed. Cars are pulling in the grassy
drive at Killbuck Valley Mushroom Farm. And Chef Ben
Bebenroth cuts big leafy greens from the garden as a visiting
dog chases a chicken through the yard. He’s starting
preparations for a six course meal.
(sound of chopping and sizzling)
“The menu is going to be a loose guideline tonight, at best.”
Most of the guests have driven an hour from the city and the
suburbs of Cleveland. They’re dressed for a dinner party,
not for hiking. But, a hike in the woods is exactly where
some of them are going.
Tom Wiandt: “Anyone who wants to see wild mushrooms,
come hither.”
Guest: “Question – how far and how rough?”
Tom: “Not too rough. We’re just going along the bottom of
the hollow here.”
(sound of hiking)
Farm owners Tom and Wendy Wiandt show their 20 guests
honey mushrooms growing on a log. They stop to explain
the difference between puff balls – some are poisonous,
others delicious. Each person carries a paper lunch bag to
fill with fungus.
Guest: “It’s a gold mine up there.”
Tom: “Oh, did this big stump produce this year?”
Wendy: “Yeah.”
Tom: “Holy moley did it ever. That’s the great thing about
dead trees.”
Guest: “Look at that. Wow.”
Tom: “That’s dinner tonight.”
The guests carry their bounty back to the chef. They’re
rewarded with a glass of wine. And they learn a little more
about the Wiandt’s farm – how they cultivate bright yellow
oyster mushrooms, fuzzy lion’s manes, shitakes, and more.
(sound of kitchen)
Chef Bebenroth and his crew are at work in his outdoor
makeshift kitchen. He’s using the mushrooms in various
dishes.
Some of the guests are excited about getting involved in
finding food for the meal. Others are a little skeptical.
Guest: “This is really farm to table, literally. We’re a part of
that movement, right Tony?”
Guest: “I’m a Wendy’s kind of guy.”
But that Wendy’s guy was impressed once dinner was being
served.
“Your first course is going to be a shittake and truffle tea,
with antelope tartar.”
After courses of cooked greens and mushrooms, squash
with local goat cheese, steaks, desserts and lots of wine –
the party was down right festive.
(sound of laughing and music)
Guest: “It is surreal to be here, under the stars, the dog on
stage, the exquisite cuisine.”
Chef Bebenroth creates these dinners at farms around the
region through the summer and fall. And despite what
seems like a high price – this event was $150 a plate – it’s
still tough for him to break even on them. But it’s important
to him. It’s taking that idea of farm to table that guests say
they want to be involved in – and showing them what it really
means.
“We’re so divorced from how our food becomes our food
anymore. You’re empowering people to say, ‘pick this,’ or
they’re watching me pick it. That, to me is really completing
that circle. And they’re starting to understand it does matter
what I put in the air, what I put in the ground, in the water.
This is going into my body, it’s going into my kids.”
Bebenroth hatched this whole plated landscape idea
because he wanted to be outdoors. Now, as his guests
drive back to the city and the suburbs, he hopes he’s made a
few converts – made people see small local farms and the
woods as essential to their dinner.
The veggies in your garden could have lead in them (Photo courtesy of the USDA)
More Americans have started
planting their own gardens in recent
years. But it turns out a lot of
urban gardens are contaminated with
lead. Julie Grant reports:
Transcript
More Americans have started
planting their own gardens in recent
years. But it turns out a lot of
urban gardens are contaminated with
lead. Julie Grant reports:
Last year 22% of Americans planted a garden.
Wendy Heiger-Bernays is professor of environmental health
at Boston University.
She says if you have an urban garden, she would expect to find heavy metals, especially lead, in the soil. It comes from old garbage, dripping oil, and peeling paint.
“Older homes have been demonstrated to leach lead from the home through the drip line and into the soil.”
Even small amounts of lead in the blood can cause learning disabilities in children.
Heiger-Bernays says you don’t have to throw away this year’s veggies. Just wash them well. And peel root vegetables.
And to get ready for next year, Heiger-Bernays says have your
soil tested. If there’s lead, add a foot of clean compost to the top of the garden bed. Next Spring plant only in that top layer.
The Food and Drug Administration has now approved irradiating
iceberg lettuce and spinach to kill the bacteria. (Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)
The government has cleared the way
to irradiate some produce. Lester Graham
reports if produce companies do use radiation,
it might reduce contamination of leafy greens:
Transcript
The government has cleared the way
to irradiate some produce. Lester Graham
reports if produce companies do use radiation,
it might reduce contamination of leafy greens:
The last few years a lot of people have gotten sick from salmonella and e.coli
contamination. The Food and Drug Administration has now approved irradiating
iceberg lettuce and spinach to kill the bacteria.
Dennis Olson is a scientist at Iowa State University. He says like irradiating meat,
people will accept this too.
“There are a lot of consumer activists groups that are opposed to the technology and
they get a lot of media attention that says consumers hate it or don’t want it. And yet, in
fact, when we’ve introduced the products – with some education – consumers are very
willing to accept it.”
Olson says the FDA should okay irradiating other produce too. It’s expensive, but it
might mean fewer costly recalls for produce companies, and means longer shelf life for
lettuce and spinach.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
Aileen Eilert and her plastic wagon loaded with
tomato and pepper starter plants, headed for the subdivision one block over to campaign (Photo by Ashley Gross)
Many environmentalists knock the suburbs. They don’t like how
dependent suburbs are on cars. They don’t like the sprawl, the large
houses and huge lawns. They think it’s a waste of land. Ashley Gross
reports… one woman is on a campaign to see some of those expansive
lawns turned into something a little more productive:
Transcript
Many environmentalists knock the suburbs. They don’t like how
dependent suburbs are on cars. They don’t like the sprawl, the large
houses and huge lawns. They think it’s a waste of land. Ashley Gross
reports… one woman is on a campaign to see some of those expansive
lawns turned into something a little more productive:
(sound of movie music)
Ever since soldiers returned from World War II, the suburbs have been portrayed as
the family-friendly ‘good life.’
“And so they joined the stream of family life in the suburbs. Soon to become part of
its familiar sights. Soon to absorb its familiar sounds.”
One of the most constant of those familiar sounds is a lawnmower.
(sound of lawnmower)
That noise just grates on Aileen Eilert’s nerves. Her goal is to live a more
environmentally-friendly life in the suburbs.
(sound of opening door and walking outside)
She does have a lawn. But she and her husband are converting much of it to
vegetable garden plots.
“So I have some snow peas growing here and here’s you know four tomato plants
and Bruce planted some peppers all the way down here.”
Eilert says gardening means she drives less often to the grocery store – and she’s
not buying produce shipped in from a different continent.
That’s important to her. Eilert says she decided to use less oil after her nephew was
killed in Iraq in 2005.
“You know, we’re fighting over there and it was about oil, and so I just thought I’ve
got to do something. I mean, it’s too late for me to do anything about my nephew,
and he was such a good kid. I’d like it to be where people – oh we don’t need to buy
oil from countries that may not be friendly to us or may not be stable.”
Eilert is not alone. People in the suburbs are beginning to think about their lifestyles
in a different way.
Evan McKenzie is a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago He researches the
politics of suburbia.
“The stuff that was planned and put in place in the 60s and 70s and even the 80s, I
think in some cases is giving way to new ideas. I mean they’re selling and giving
away rain barrels in the suburbs so people collect rainwater to water their plants
with. I never heard of that before.”
Not everyone is onboard with the environmental movement in the suburbs yet. Last
year Americans spent almost 11 billion dollars on do-it-yourself lawn care just to
keep the grass green.
Aileen Eilert wants to change that. She calls her new campaign “Grow Food, Not
Lawns.”
Her approach is one-on-one. Today she’s pulling a plastic wagon loaded with
tomato and pepper starter plants. She’s headed for the subdivision one block over.
(sound of wagon)
Eilert approaches Tim Lakis as he mows his lawn. He gives him a pepper plant.
Then comes the pitch.
Eilert: “Lawns actually use a lot of chemicals if you put chemicals on your lawn and
that gets into the water system.”
Lakis: “Okay.”
Eilert: “And then also your lawn mower has way more emissions than a car would,
not that I’m saying that…”
Lakis: “Okay, I’ll look it over.”
Aside from some strange looks, that went pretty well.
But Eilert learns pretty quickly there’s way more gardening going on here in this
neighborhood she thought. She’d pegged it as a lawn-addicted wasteland. But this
subdivision’s residents are kinda green.
Eilert: “I assume you use a gas mower?”
Man: “No. Electric.”
Eilert: “Do you? Oh you are just the perfect person to talk to today.”
Woman: “I mean, every year I grow my tomatoes and peppers and zucchinis.”
Second Man: “Every year I try to get rid of more grass and put in more plants.”
Eilert even gets a recipe for cooking dandelions. She leaves the subdivision
encouraged.
“People were concerned and people did think it was a good idea to have gardens
and they’d be willing to make a little more of a sacrifice to make the earth a little bit
better.”
She’ll be visiting more subdivisions soon, trying to get more people to turn those
suburban lawns into gardens. And maybe get them thinking, just a little about other
things they could do.
A team at Tufts University is working on sensors that could change color to
tell you if a bag of lettuce has dangerous bacteria in it.
(Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)
Researchers are working on a tool
that could tell you if your food is safe
to eat before you break open the bag.
Rebecca Williams has more:
Transcript
Researchers are working on a tool
that could tell you if your food is safe
to eat before you break open the bag.
Rebecca Williams has more:
A team at Tufts University is working on sensors that could change color to
tell you if a bag of lettuce has dangerous bacteria in it.
The special ingredient is silk. They boiled silkworm cocoons. And made a
thin silk film out of the proteins. The silk film has color changing properties
– like a butterfly’s wing.
Fio Omenetto is the lead researcher. He says it could be possible to activate
the film so it detects the presence of E. coli. Then the film could be put in a
bag of spinach.
“So immediately by looking at color change you will be able to tell whether
the spinach is good to eat or not.”
Omenetto says this is still pretty futuristic at this point. He says it’ll
probably be at least five years before you might see this at the grocery store.
Bob Gavlak and his partners organize freshly-harvested produce in
their cooling truck. (Photo by Julie Grant)
Deli owner Donna Chriszt is pleased with the quality of the beans
and other produce. (Photo by Julie Grant)
Most twenty year olds use online
networking sites. But most farmers don’t.
Until now. A team of recent college grads
is using their internet savvy to connect
farms and restaurants. Julie Grant reports:
Transcript
Most twenty year olds use online
networking sites. But most farmers don’t.
Until now. A team of recent college grads
is using their internet savvy to connect
farms and restaurants. Julie Grant reports:
Last summer Matt Szugye entered a college business school
competition. His team needed to make a plan for a new
business. They started throwing around ideas.
“It just happened, that the night before I was at a restaurant
talking with an owner, and they were telling me about the
trials and tribulations of starting their restaurant with the idea
that they would serve seasonal, local produce.”
But the restaurant owner couldn’t get food like onions,
zucchini or tomatoes directly from local farms. Szugye’s
team studied the idea. Lots of people in the food business
were saying the same things. Things like this:
“So I’m getting things shipped in from other states.”
That’s Donna Chriszt. She’s the owner and chef at Dish Deli
and Catering. It’s a small, gourmet deli in a downtown
Cleveland neighborhood.
“And the amount of fossil fuels that are coming out of that,
we hated. So, it’s not what I wanted to do for my
community.”
So now that the college team knew there was demand for a
product, they contacted farmers. Eureka. There was also a
supply. Lots of farmers wanted new ways to sell their fruits
and vegetables locally.
The team put together a plan for a distribution business – to
pickup produce from farms and deliver it to nearby
restaurants.
They decided they could use the internet.
It would work a little like an online dating service. Each
farmer could list what’s available and set the price. The
restaurant owners could browse through the list and place
their orders. The college students’ business plan would be
the match-maker.
The team won their business school contest.
After graduation this Spring, they launched an actual
business based on their model.
They call it Fresh Fork.
Donna Chriszt was thrilled.
“I was like hallelujah. Thank God someone will be able to
help a small place like me by doing all the foot work.”
(sound of a factory)
After picking up produce from farmers, Fresh Fork Team
member Bob Gavlak is finally getting back to the distribution
center. It’s 10 p.m. It could have gone a lot sooner, but he
got caught up talking with the farmers about what they’re
growing and how their kids are doing, you know, forging
relationships.
(sound of a cooling truck)
The team now has to move racks of produce in a cooling
truck. Then they organize it all.
“This is where we’re going tomorrow, is Dish Deli and
Catering. And you can see Knoble Farms. They have some
corn.”
When Gavlak and his partners started planning this
business, they didn’t quite get why there was such a fuss
about local food.
They were still college students fueled by Ramen and fast
food.
So they spent some time on the food prep line at an upscale
local restaurant – cutting onions, stirring soup – for hours.
Not pouring soup out of a bag like a lot of places. Gavlak
says he started to understand.
“I would go to the store and I’d have strawberries, and I’d be
like, ‘oh, these are so good’. But then, when we had
strawberries here in the spring and early summer, it’s like I’d
never had a strawberry before. It’s just seeing the difference
that happens between a product that’s fresh and homegrown
and the product that isn’t.”
The team finishes sorting all their fresh produce at midnight.
They’ve got to get up at the crack of dawn to deliver to 8
restaurants, a grocery store, and a hospital.
(sound of Dish Deli)
When Gavlak brings her order, deli owner Donna Chriszt
inspects the cucumbers, rhubarb, and red skin potatoes.
“And our big bushel of corn. And everything looks great. It’s
always exciting when it comes in, because we’re like, ‘what
are we going to do with this?’”
This week, they’re planning rhubarb cobbler, potato salad
and fresh pickles for a neighborhood festival.
Gavlak smiles. He’s says it makes him feel good that the
business he and his college buddies designed, Fresh Fork,
is connecting farms and restaurants and getting people
fresh, locally grown food.
He finishes the order, and then walks into Chriszt’s deli to
have some lunch.
The "Great Plate" - a 10-inch plate: half non-starchy vegetables, a
quarter lean protein, a quarter starchy vegetable or whole grains (Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan)
Lots of companies are starting new programs
that teach their employees how to eat healthier.
Because healthier employees can save companies loads
of cash. Kyle Norris has more:
Transcript
Lots of companies are starting new programs
that teach their employees how to eat healthier.
Because healthier employees can save companies loads
of cash. Kyle Norris has more:
So, Stacy Witthoff is teaching people about healthy snacks.
“We have some 100 calorie packs. We have fresh fruit like bananas, peaches, pears,
apples, any kind of canned fruit is good too.”
Witthoff is a dietician with the Michigan Healthy Community – basically it’s a group that
does health education for University of Michigan employees.
The people at this expo are learning about how to eat healthier, and the idea is that they’ll
share this info with their co-workers.
Witthoff stands in front of a little booth and she’s all friendly. She snags people as they
walk by.
She’s just caught Jason Maynard. He’s a nursing administrator. And he goes to a lot of
meetings where there are a lot of snacks.
“So at meetings it’s probably donuts or bagels, cookies.”
But he thinks people would go for fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries, if they were
offered.
Stacy Witthoff is promoting a guide that helps people make better food choices.
It’s called the Great Plate. It’s a picture of a plate that’s divided into different sections.
“Basically you take a 10-inch plate and half of it should be non-starchy vegetables, a
quarter of it lean protein, and a quarter of it starchy vegetable or whole grains. So it’s just
an easier way to eat healthy without having to think about portions.”
Ok let’s recap.
Divide your plate in-half and fill that half with non-starchy veggies – carrots, broccoli,
cauliflower, green beans, asparagus and peppers. And aim for a variety of colors.
Then divide the other half of the plate into quarters. Fill one-quarter with grains &
starchy veggies – that’s things like brown rice and whole-wheat pastas and whole-wheat
bread. And starchy veggies are things like potatoes, corn, peas, and squash.
Then the last quarter of the plate should have meats and proteins. Things like grilled
or baked chicken, fish, turkey, lean cuts of meat. And non-meat options like tofu, beans,
and eggs.
And the Great Plate says go for way smaller serving sizes.
The Great Plate encourages people to eat what they call “whole
foods.” That means eat the food in its raw form and not it’s processed equivalent. So
like eat the apple – as opposed to apple juice. Or as opposed to the apple-flavored gummi
worms, if you were someone like me.
Steve Aldana helps companies start employee healthcare programs. He says that
culturally we eat pretty bad stuff. And that we’re way stressed-out.
And all that can affect an employer’s pocketbook, for real.
“So 2 things: poor behaviors are leading to onset of chronic diseases. And those chronic
diseases are costing an inordinate amount in health care. And it’s that cost alone that’s
driving most companies to start to look very, very intently at worksite wellness
programs.”
Businesses are starting to see healthy employees as a smart investment. Companies like
Johnson & Johnson, IBM, and Dow Chemical have all taken note.
They hope programs like this one will help shave-off millions of dollars from their
employee health care costs.
And these programs can also help save money in the long run – by boosting employee
morale and leading to fewer employee absences.
Vegetables in the produce section of a supermarket in VA. (Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)
During the past 35 years, people have been getting
sick from contaminated produce more often. That’s according
to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Rebecca Williams reports:
Transcript
During the past 35 years, people have been getting
sick from contaminated produce more often. That’s according
to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Rebecca Williams reports:
After hundreds of people got sick from contaminated spinach and
lettuce, researchers started looking back at three decades of disease
cases. They found that people are getting sick from contaminated produce
more often. Bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella are often the cause.
Michael Lynch is one of the study’s authors. He says Americans are eating
more salads, but that doesn’t totally explain why there are more disease
outbreaks.
“We were a little surprised that that didn’t entirely explain the increase
but what else is contributing to that is not clear.”
Lynch says contamination can happen anywhere between the farm and your salad
plate. He says it’s important to thoroughly wash lettuce before eating it.
But he says that might not be enough to avoid getting sick.
He says stronger controls are needed at every step to try to prevent
contamination.
Valcent's vertical farm has hundreds of clear plastic sheets holding pockets of plants. These hang from moving racks. (Photo courtesy of Valcent)
