These days, buying groceries feels a bit like an act of financial harakiri. It doesn’t help - no more than our somewhat messed-up geopolitical situation right now- that we’ve already blown past the 1.5°C global warming limit— affecting harvests and food markets.

You may be subscribed to receive, every week, a basket of fruits and vegetables provided directly by a farm in your area. Or, in any case, you have surely heard of this model, also called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which originated in Japan in the 1960s and has been in place for about thirty years in North America – see for example the network of family farmers in Quebec and New Brunswick.

SPIN Unit is a research and innovation practice dedicated to discovering urban values. In this piece they discuss the challenges of food production in a planetary city. In this case the term “planetary city” refers to a city that lives according to the “planetary diet,” one that would make it possible to respect the 1.5-degree target set in the Paris Agreement, i.e. much less meat and dairy, and a much greater focus on fruits, vegetables, and plant protein. The goal of the project was to look at the various challenges to the food supply chain in a changing climate and crumbling ecosystems.

Good piece at WIRED, on scientists investigating how designers and planners can ruralize cities, greening roofs, and empty lots. If we bring some of what we grow nearer to where we live, can we enhance our connection with food? Can we make food more accessible? Can we improve local ecosystems?

Some great things just go together, even if sometimes it takes a while before someone has the idea of trying the combination. That’s what Meg Backus, at the time Northern Onondaga Public Library’s (NOPL) adult programming director and public relations coordinator, proved. Backus saw empty land across the street from the library and pitched the idea of setting up a garden on the library’s land. Soon enough, 40 members were bringing “their own water, seeds, seedlings, and other growing provisions to investigate whether that land could produce.”