bm273 Spam Producers and Fishing Rights in West Africa

Pauline Bax joins me to talk about Mauritania, fishing, and spam in West Africa.

bm272 What Vermont Soy is all About

Vermont Soy is the topic today.

bm271 Planning Soy Shows and Housekeeping

More talk of soy and the soy industry.

bm270 Vancouver’s City Farmer in Your Backyard

The cityfarmer project in Vancouver began as a small group of people concerned with energy costs and reducing waste. 30 years later, those concerns have been amplified throughout the world, and cityfarmer is still there in the trenches. My guest, Michael Levenston, executive direction of cityfarmer, has been there since the beginning; in this interview we talk about how it developed.

Besides the link above, further info and resources are available on cityfarmer.org

We Discuss:

  • Starting it in 1978
  • The concerns at that time
  • Early source of funding
  • Profile of who is involved
  • The backyard
  • Reducing waste
  • Energy
  • Global urban farming
  • Being on the front page
  • and more

Music:

  • Aqueduct – The Suggestion Box
  • Eddie Vedder – Long Nights

bm269 Vertical Farming and the New Agricultural Revolution

There is more to urban farming than just growing crops on empty lots in cities. In fact, there is a type of urban farming that involves growing alot more food in tall buildings, making use of the latest innovations of crop growing and energy usage. My guest, Professor Dickson Despommier of Columbia Universty explains what vertical farming is why it is so important for the future of human existance.

The site for all information on Vertical Farming

We Discuss:

  • Types of crops that can be grown in vertical farms
  • Where would they be located
  • The costs
  • The end of flood or disease damage
  • Growing seasons in vertical farming
  • Funding and who is interested
  • Power and outside needs
  • Problem with regular urban farming

Music:

  • Tom Waits – Lost in the Harbor
  • Okkervil River – A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene

bm268 Teenagers and HIV-AIDS in Thailand

An interview recorded in Bangkok with an HIV-AIDS organization that works with children and teenagers.