Reading Time: 3 minutes Will rooftop farming address food insecurity? Likely not, but the trend continues to grow in large urban centres and land-starved countries as the cost of food skyrockets and accessibility declines. Fellow Nuffield Scholar Jodie Mitchell sent a post from a rooftop garden in Singapore that supplied food for the hotel it was built upon. This […] Read more
Schoepp: Tiny Singapore can teach Canada about food security
With almost no arable land, the country takes a high-tech approach to feeding its people
Schoepp: Farmers markets have become part of the community fabric
Regardless of farm size, there is an opportunity to connect with those who buy our food products
Reading Time: 3 minutes I recall the early days of the farmers market in our community as the leaders focused on untapped opportunities. It was the mid-1970s, and farmers markets were just beginning to revive. It was difficult to convince folks to go back to buying local produce and food. As the population shifted to buying in grocery stores, […] Read more
Schoepp: Misconceptions about manure fly in face of common sense
It is a valuable commodity and using it as an energy source offers a host of benefits
Reading Time: 3 minutes Last month, the Guardian had an article on biogas titled ‘Brown gold: The great American manure rush begins.’ It seems I am not the only one to believe our regenerative future rests in water and manure. The story was about California dairy farmers entering into long-term contracts to sell their manure to the energy industry […] Read more
Schoepp: With political will and good policy, you can accomplish a lot
The impressive growth in Quebec’s greenhouse sector is an example of what can be accomplished
Reading Time: 3 minutes This past year Quebec reached a milestone in being able to supply a full 50 per cent of greenhouse vegetables consumed in the province. The veggies that are widely grown in the province’s greenhouses are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce. I have been in vegetable fields and greenhouses throughout Canada and abroad, and the abundance […] Read more
Schoepp: Take a ‘man overboard’ approach to make your farm safer
Sailors don’t leave harbour without going over the safety plan for that day. It’s an approach farmers should also take
Reading Time: 3 minutes I learned a lot about farm safety while sailing this summer. We set off for a week of fair skies, light winds and glorious sunsets, which were delivered in breathtaking beauty. On our first day out, a Minke whale graced our port side, followed during the week by porpoises and four humpback whales. Eagles soared, […] Read more
Schoepp: There has been a big price to pay as farms expanded
Reading Time: 3 minutes The rapid expansion and increase in farm size have had a large societal cost as enterprises grew and the communities they once supported began to shrink. The demise of small towns is not so much from the past attrition of young people leaving for the city as from the lack of a nearby rural population […] Read more
Schoepp: When we put values ahead of winning, good things happen
Of course we play to win but those who dare to be different often reap exceptional rewards
Reading Time: 3 minutes I have found a cousin — or rather he found me. Years ago, I had placed a little post on Facebook with a short message in which I said I was looking for information on my maternal grandmother. I knew her name and when she passed, but that was nearly all. And I wanted to […] Read more
Schoepp: Fresh water a gift we can’t afford to take for granted
What falls from the sky gets most of our attention but the entire water supply should be our concern
Reading Time: 3 minutes Drop by precious drop we are celebrating rain in the dry areas — and cursing it on the flood plains. The weather patterns have been rather unpredictable with monumental hail in Mexico City to extreme heat in Europe and Saharan winds that are dropping sand in the most remote of locations. Putting seed in the […] Read more
Schoepp: Many popular foods have a long history — and an uncertain future
Reading Time: 3 minutes Lately I have been curious about lettuce. The plant has been traced back to Egypt some 6,000 years ago and is a member of the sunflower family. That may surprise you because we often think of sunflowers in terms of the flower and the oil. But lettuce was not grown for its leaves, it was […] Read more
Schoepp: More farms need to plant the seeds of financial literacy
Many operations, both new and old, pay a big price for not knowing the language of finance
Reading Time: 3 minutes British Columbia is a unique place in the world. The variety of food grown is astounding as is the diversity among its processed products. The landscape is home to tiny farms and large ranches, local processors and those who export worldwide. This is a province of mountains, islands, rivers, ocean, lakes, ports and flyways, valleys […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
