food

In rural British Columbia, Catalyst Agri-Innovations Society is harnessing the power of poop. Abbotsford, BRITISH COLUMBIA— It takes no more than an Uber ride with the window down across Abbotsford, B.C. to notice that you are in Canada’s agricultural capital. The scent of Cedar and Spruce that envelops most of the Fraser Valley, the Southwestern region of British Columbia that neighbors Washington State, is overpowered by the farm smells of wheat, fresh grass and, especially, cow feed—in all parts of its cycle. The odor of cow manure grows faint to new visitors after a few days, and some locals don’t detect it at all, but, despite living in the area for years, Chris Bush couldn’t leave it alone. That odor was a sign of a problem with local agriculture; one he wondered if he could fix.&nbs...

Mangrove ecosystems provide community livelihoods, function as biodiversity hotspots, and help mitigate the effects of climate change, but efforts to protect them have been patchy and localized. A few organizations have banded together to change that. NAYARIT, Mexico— Oscar González Díaz takes a closer look at the mangroves surrounding a small patch of earth and vegetation, one of few remaining in this part of the lagoon. The leaves are sparse, but they will regenerate once the rains pick up and increase the ratio of freshwater to saltwater in the Chumbeño lagoon, connected to the ocean on Mexico’s Pacific coast. A fisherman from Francisco Villa, one of the villages along the lagoon, González Díaz is also a community monitor in this area of the Marismas Nacionales Nayarit biosphere reserve...

So much of American life can be improved by reducing food waste. ReFED can help. Top image: Dana Gunders, ReFED’s Executive Director, at a farmers market near her home in Truckee, California. TRUCKEE, California— Dana Gunders is groan-laughing, despite herself. For the last hour, the conversation in a Truckee, California, grocery store café lounge has focused on the impact of food waste on human beings and our environment, “food waste” appearing at first blush to be a mild, if approachable term for a few ingredients not making it into a dinner recipe at their peak. In fact, food waste refers to a massive systemic issue across every aspect of how we make, transport, buy, prepare, and dispose of food and its byproducts. Gunders, as executive director of ReFED, the leading nonprofit in this a...

The team behind the Consupedia app are on a mission to create a more transparent and sustainable food industry, armed with a database of 250,000 products. With only a barcode scan, it tells consumers how sustainable and ethical their food choices are. GOTLAND, Sweden— It’s early July on the vacation island of Gotland, in the Baltic sea between the coasts of Sweden and Latvia. The sun shines on rugged cliffs, white sailboats are packed tight in the marina, and a steady stream of people flock towards the center of its largest city, Visby. But its medieval squares and cobblestoned streets are full of people in suits, not summer dresses.  It’s Almedalsveckan—or Politician’s Week—and Gotland has been transformed into a camp for Sweden’s political elite. Every July, Sweden’s most influentia...

New Zealand startup BioLumic is producing radically healthier and more productive crops, simply by exposing them to novel “recipes” of UV light PALMERSTON NORTH, New Zealand— On four narrow shelves in a windowless room in a nondescript building in the New Zealand city of Palmerston North, eight dozen little cannabis clones are quietly and invisibly revolutionizing agriculture. Banks of LEDs sit above each row of plants, bathing them in purple light. Some of the tiny diodes are blue, some are red—standard grow lights that mimic sunlight and enable crops to be grown indoors. But other LEDs are ultraviolet, producing various wavelengths that can’t be seen by human eyes. They’ve been electronically programmed at certain intensities and frequencies, and to turn on and off at particular interval...

A Nigerian start-up takes on the problem of food spoilage at all steps of the production chain, one solar-powered cold room at a time. OBINZE, Nigeria— In the courtyard of Obinze Fruit & Vegetable market, haggling has peaked for the  morning. Retailers, drawn from far-flung villages and suburbs of Imo state, southeast Nigeria and neighboring city of Port Harcourt, crowd the contours of the market hunting for bargains and fresh fruits. On a wood-framed table, under a trading booth made of stilts, rusty zinc, and leaky tarpaulin, dozens of vendors display lettuce, Chinese cabbage, purple cabbage, green beans, onions, cauliflower, strawberries, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Three women form a semicircle—their waists draped in multicolored Ankara fabric with tiny square patterns—in...

Starting with the state’s beloved avocado, the California-based Apeel Sciences has found a natural way to extend the life of produce and reduce food waste. GOLETA, California — Balancing precariously on the 41st rung of a ladder propped on the bough of an avocado tree, an avocado picker extends a 12-foot (3.6 meter) pole and deftly strips the branches of their fruit. His right leg wrapped around two rungs, torso twisted 180 degrees, he works from branch to branch, filling the navy canvas pouch slung across his chest. He nimbly descends the ladder, which wobbles in the breeze providing fresh relief on the scorching mountainside, tugs on the cord to collapse the ladder, and maneuvers it to the next branch. He repeats the process again, and again, day after day, zigzagging across San Diego’s ...