Above the Waterline: Farmers on the frontline of climate change - Rough Draft Atlanta
Great write up about Georgia farmers in the aftermath of the deep, intense freeze we experienced in late December. As our friend Zac Harrison of Fresh Harvest summarized, “…no other weather event has impacted so many of his growers at the same time for so long.”
But this storm isn’t an isolated event. We’re all experiencing more extreme weather, longer periods of drought or heavy rain, and all of it means farmers have to adapt in order to put food on our tables.
With highlights from Drawdown Georgia, Georgia Organics, The Farmer Fund, and more, this article does a nice job of looking at the micro and macro climate issues Georgia farmers are dealing with.
Women are celebrating women who serve a common goal - KSBY
Shout out to Sagdrina Jalal! Sagdrina is a mover and shaker in Atlanta and beyond, who just won the Advocate Award from Community Farmers Markets.
Sagdrina always speaks truth to power – for example, the antiracist Farmers Market toolkit she created has been downloaded nearly 4,000 times in the last couple of years. We’re lucky to have her here in Atlanta.
VCs Plow Money Into Indoor Farming, But Open Fields Might Be More Ripe For Innovation - Crunchbase
Really appreciated this take on indoor farming, which is one of the few that actually addresses the limitations head-on.
Venture capitalists have decided that this is the future of farming, and they’re plowing (ahem) obscene amounts of money into it. The problem is, VCs don’t know anything about farming! I mean really, would you want the people running Silicon Valley Bank managing our food?
Yes, there are some great things about indoor agriculture, but the truth is we would be much better off investing in actual farmers growing food on actual farms.
A 9-year-old girl didn’t want her goat slaughtered. California fair officials sent deputies after it - LA Times
This story is so absurd and sad it borders on surreal.
The long and short of it is, a young girl in 4H – which is broadly a youth development program but it largely focuses on agriculture and culinary arts – was given a goat to raise with the end goal being that the goal would be slaughtered at the state fair. It’s designed to teach children about the work and difficulty that goes into raising meat.
But she couldn’t go through with it. She spent the entire night crying at the thought of losing her new friend, so her mom broke the goat out, left money to cover expenses, and a note apologizing and explaining what happened. In the last year, she’d lost three of her grandparents, and the heartbreak was just too much to take.
The next thing they knew, California sheriffs drove 500 miles to raid their house like they were doing a drug bust, found the goat and slaughtered it.
Way to go guys. I’m sure that little girl really learned her lesson. I hope all of you are fined for wasting taxpayer money and fired for complete and total incompetence.