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LinkedInPosts Tagged: agriculture
Los Angeles Fire Disaster: 'Bee Platoon' to Help the Beekeepers and the Bees
First responders are fiercely battling five raging wildfires in Los Angeles County, wildfires fueled by dry conditions and the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds. The most extensive: the Palisades Fire. The toll, as of tonight (Jan. 9): 10 people dead, more than 10,000 structures destroyed, and...
Bees are classified by the federal government as livestock government because products from apiculture enter the human food chain. These include honey, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Of Human-Modified Environments and Cabbage White Butterflies
You won't want to miss this UC Davis Entomology and Nematology seminar by postdoctoral scholar Angie Lenard of the University of Nevada, Reno. She'll speak on "Insects in Human-Modified Environments" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set for 4:10 p.m.,...
Two cabbage white butterflies, Pieris rapae, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Renewing Memories of the UC Davis Bee Haven
It's like “Old Home Week” or “Old Home Day” when Michelle Monheit visits the UC Davis Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road. “I visit the garden whenever I'm in the area,” she said, as she headed over to the six-foot-long ceramic-mosaic bee sculpture, “Miss Bee...
Michelle Monheit of Woodland stands by "Miss Bee Haven," sculpted by Donna Billick. Michelle has visited the garden since childhood when her mother was working on bee research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen and researcher Susan Monheit work in the beginning stages of the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Urban Agriculture in Rural Places
The cultural divide between city folk and country folk has been the basis of stories – from literature to sitcoms – throughout our country's history. It seems like rural and urban communities (and people from them) are as different as night and day, but wanting good food is something we all have in common. Farmers in these communities are finding out that they can learn a lot from each other, and by working together, they are learning to feed their communities more efficiently.
What is “rural”?
The definition of “rural” varies widely depending on whether you consult the US Census, USDA's Economic Research Service, research institutions, or community members. One way to define “rural” is by defining what it isn't: it isn't metropolitan or suburban and it isn't part of a center of population or commerce where transportation and other resources may be accessible but land is at a premium. Even though residents of rural communities are surrounded by different kinds of agriculture, they must often travel tens of miles to buy their food, which was produced hundreds or thousands of miles away.
What's it like to farm or garden in rural communities?
While a farmer in a rural neighborhood may not receive many complaints about their roosters crowing, small-scale farmers in rural communities have as many challenges as their urban counterparts.
A foremost concern is access to markets: while urban farmers in cities may have access to tens of thousands of potential customers within a few miles, rural areas are sparsely populated, so keeping food fresh and safe and bringing it to the folks who would love to buy it can involve lots of coordination and logistics. Many small-scale rural farmers sell through multiple channels: farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's), farmers markets, and food hubs reach consumers directly, and institutions like schools have the capacity and motivation to purchase fresh local food in quantities that allow rural farmers to reach profitability. Increasing numbers of rural farmers are shoring up their incomes and reducing waste by developing value-added products like seasoning mixes and freeze-dried fruit which can be stored and transported (or mailed) and provide important off-season income.
An urban farmer in a city who starts growing on a new piece of land may have to think about industrial chemicals or waste in the soil, access to affordable, good-quality water, and the shadows of nearby buildings interfering with their crops. These concerns are not typically foremost in a rural small farmer's mind; rather, they may think about the encroachment of hungry wildlife (deer, birds, rabbits, squirrels, grasshoppers, and more). The methods a rural farmer must employ to protect their crops may include tall fences, scarecrows, motion-sensitive sprinklers, netting, and electrified barriers - many of these are adaptations from time-honored strategies on large-scale rural farms.
Making difference a strength
Farmers are great at building local professional networks. Whether they are meeting for coffee at the local volunteer fire department or gathering at the neighborhood community center, farmers know the value of sharing knowledge, practices, and experiences that can help improve their livelihoods, increase their sustainability, and build personal and community resilience. Urban and rural small farmers can learn a great deal from each other by expanding these networks to include their colleagues with vastly different perspectives and challenges, whose creative solutions may find applications in their own operations.
Some examples of this “cross pollination” may include “country-to-city” knowledge transfers like cover cropping and soil health strategies, community-based cooperatives and innovative product and marketing strategies; “city-to-country” transfers like extreme space and water efficiency, the benefits of on-farm gatherings and events, and digital tools like online sales platforms, farm management apps, and effective use of social media. Many small-scale urban agriculture projects in cities include public and professional training and education in their mission, and rural farmers can access these and become inspired to develop their own programs like workshops, educational resources, and production-related events or celebrations. 
Perhaps the greatest benefit of bridging the urban-rural divide in the small-scale farming community is the development of an appreciation for each other's work, and the transfer of that appreciation to their local communities. Jason Mark wrote in his essay “What's Growing On” in Gastronomica over ten years ago: “Spend a few months taking a broccoli from seed to harvest, and you'll soon have a much deeper appreciation for the natural systems on which we depend. Our connection to the earth becomes gobsmackingly obvious when you watch the crops grow (or fail). The garden produces a harvest of teachable moments about what it means to live in an environment.” Not everyone can grow their own broccoli, but maybe knowing a neighborhood farmer and their farm, seeing the work they put in and the progress of their food from seed to table, can be almost as important for all of us: urban, rural, or in-between.
A few references from this post:
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban Agriculture in California, https://youtu.be/Q1pwSAEJ-bI
Santo, Raychel & Palmer, Anne & Kim, Brent. (2016). Vacant lots to vibrant plots: A review of the benefits and limitations of urban agriculture. 10.13140/RG.2.2.25283.91682.
Jason Mark, What's Growing on, Gastronomica (2013) 13 (2): 73–76.
Hear That Buzz? Long-Awaited UC Davis Bee Genetics Book Updated
Hear that buzz? The long-awaited update of the landmark UC Davis-authored book, Queen Bee Rearing and Bee Breeding by Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. (1907-2003), “the father of bee genetics,” and his former doctoral research mentee Robert E. Page Jr., now an...
UC Davis professor Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. with then graduate student Robert E. Page Jr., circa 1980.
A sign in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Faciility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
