The UC Food Observer chooses some important stories for you to read each work day.
On today’s menu, in no particular order:
1. A global food revolution: How do you make sure billions of people around the world have access to food? You start a revolution. At least that’s what two leading U.S. scientists argue in a new report. Feeding people will require cleaner energy, smarter farming and women’s rights, but also a “fundamental cultural change,” according to Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University and John Harte of UC Berkeley. Read Brian Bienkowski’s (@BrianBienkowski) story for Environmental Health News. Another report highlights the importance of water security for global food security – read more in Danielle Nierenberg’s (@DaniNierenberg) story for Food Tank. Technology also will play an important role, Steve Lohr (@SteveLohr) writes for The New York Times.
2. Focus on fertilizer: Why has farm productivity in Africa lagged so far behind the rest of the developing world? A new study suggests part of the reason is that the planting materials available to African farmers are just terrible. The study suggests that good quality fertilizer is more important than agricultural education or micro credit for improving food security in Uganda. Read more in The Guardian.
3. Urban farm transforms youth: Appetite for Change is showing the power of food to not only nourish but also offer opportunity. The nonprofit trains north Minneapolis youth in the food industry and provides jobs in farming, facilities and service to north siders. Check out this inspiring story from Minnesota Public Radio.
4. Welcome to the agrihood: Modern Farmer takes a look at planned agricultural communities: where utopia meets suburbia. For more on this trend, read our recent Q&A with Mary Kimball of the Center for Land-Based Learning, which is working with a new farm-to-table development in Davis called The Cannery, and a 2014 piece in The New York Times.
5. How YouTube became the new Food Network: YouTube isn’t just for cute cat videos. It’s also a major hub for food content, with an estimated 800,000 cooking videos with more than 11.5 billion views across approximately 118,000 channels. Neal Ungerleider (@nealunger) writes in Fast Company about how Internet cooking shows are big business.
6. Gather Journal: Get the scoop on art-driven food magazine Gather Journal in Kerry Diamond’s (@kerrydiamond) story for Yahoo.