our favorite finds from the front lines of food
This week's Faves is all about innovation.
Lettuce in space! Astronauts at the International Space Station have grown their first crop in space (with a cool little video). (New York Times)
There's plenty of farming innovation happening down here on Earth too. As populations rise, arable land shrinks and the Earth grows warmer, we look at how technology and big data are coming deep into American farming. Link to full audio. (On Point/NPR)
There are even farming innovations going on under the sea as underwater pod farms off the coast of Italy experiment with growing strawberries, basil and lettuce. “That [meeting future food demands] is the aim, and it could be a sustainable way of agriculture,” he says. “Not just local businesses, but for large parts of the world. Starting from Middle Eastern and tropical countries such as the Maldives, where there is not much [suitable] soil or fresh water ... [to] southern California, which is experiencing droughts.” (Guardian)
A Spanish community innovation: To Cut Food Waste, Spain's Solidarity Fridge Supplies Endless Leftovers "Here, food is sacrosanct — it's something that's venerated. We have one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world...So we value eating well, and conserving food. It's part of our culture, and the Solidarity Fridge is part of that." (NPR)
Even sommeliers are getting bold and experimental. There is a conspiracy in London to get you drinking more interesting wines. (Bloomberg)
