Field Notes

Farmers are making inroads supplying local food to hungry city foodies, but many producers are trying to grow more food in urban centers. City real estate is at a premium, so some producers are finding more space by using what’s called “vertical farming,” and going up rather than spreading out. Growers across the country are heading indoors, using greenhouses and hydroponics – growing plants in a water and nutrient solution instead of soil and using lamps to replace sunlight. Vertical farming

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. The Food and Drug Administration is establishing regulations aimed at protecting the U.S. food supply from terrorist acts. In the last episode of Field Notes , we explored some of the reasons why lawmakers view food terrorism as such a significant threat. In this week's episode, we look at the agency’s proposed remedy, which would require the nation’s largest

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. In the wake of 9/11, the U.S. government spent years and billions of dollars fortifying various industries against possible terrorist attacks. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is tackling the issue. The agency is currently crafting rules with the intent to strengthen vulnerable sections of the food system. But with few documented incidents of malicious

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. Farmers received some gloomy news from the US Department of Agriculture earlier this month. As Harvest Public Media’s Luke Runyon reports in this week's Field Notes, the USDA is predicting that lower corn prices are here to stay. The Department of Agriculture is also beginning to release figures from its 2012 Census of Agriculture. The latest census shows

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. For more than a decade, fans of documentary film have flocked to Columbia, Mo., for the annual True/False Film Fest . The screenings start on Thursday. Many of this year’s films are set in big cities -- like Cairo, Rome and New York. But several works also focus on rural life. " Rich Hill " follows three teenagers growing up in a small Missouri community

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. The U.S. dairy industry is changing. Dairy farmers are exporting more milk; they’re getting bigger and more efficient. But as I found out reporting this story , that has left some dairy families behind. In traditional milk producing states like Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Nebraska, meeting the growing global demand is tough going for smaller dairy

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. President Obama is scheduled to sign the long-overdue Agriculture Act of 2014, the new farm bill, into law on Friday afternoon. Many people will be sighing with relief. That includes farmers, of course, as well as advocates for food stamps. As Harvest Public Media’s Amy Mayer explains, these two groups have been wedded together politically to generate urban

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. As you may have already heard on KBIA, the U.S. House has passed the Agriculture Act of 2014, known to most of us as a new farm bill. The Senate is expected to take it up soon. Add President Obama’s signature shortly thereafter, and a new set of farm and nutrition policies for the next five years will finally be law. As Amy Mayer reports though, amid the

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. Since 2007, the US government has required fuel companies to add an increasing amount of ethanol to the gasoline supply each year. But now, the EPA is proposing a change in direction and suggesting a 3 billion gallon cut instead. Regulators want to match a drop in gasoline demand. But as Harvest Public Media's Grant Gerlock reports in this week's Field Notes,

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes , in which we talk about important issues related to food production. Retailers and restaurants like Whole Foods, Chipotle, Safeway, McDonald's and Wal-Mart are all providing information to consumers about how sustainably some of their foods were produced. But as I found doing this story, it's hard to know just what "sustainability" means and how to judge whether food was produced in a "sustainable" way.