Farming

Legislators in California are forming a special session to try to tackle the state's crippling water woes. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping they can hammer out a deal within the week.

Eating local is in vogue, as the environmental impacts of industrialized agriculture surface. But is eating local really the right response? One author says maybe not.

Growing populations and diminishing land will make feeding people a challenge in the near future. This piece from Popular Science looks at eight strategies to keep the world fed.

A small strip of land in Los Angeles is being used to grow vegetables for the cafe next door. But officials say the plot violates zoning rules.

Water policies in Syria and Turkey are draining the Euphrates River dry, and neighboring Iraq is feeling all the hurt from it.

Organic farms are increasingly being included in site plans for new subdivisions. And homebuyers seem to like them.

This piece from Scientific American looks at the jurisdictional challenge of conserving water in the cross-state Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest sources of freshwater and the backbone of the nation's farm economy.

California's Central Valley is one of the top agricultural sites in the world, but with low rainfall and cut-off irrigation supplies, farming towns and their citizens may face at least one tough year ahead.

Though the use of new portable greenhouse techniques, one farmer is looking to extend his local food growing season year-round -- in Northern Vermont.

As rural villagers abandon farms for the city, tropical lands are reverting to rainforests.

Degradation of soils has brought down many human civilizations. Our current industrial agriculture practices threaten the future of human existence. A 50-year farm bill is needed to guide policy on a more sustainable path, according to this oped.

The next president should take farming seriously and personally, according to Neal Pierce, who writes that rethinking the scale of food production is smart for regions, the environment and the economy.

Preserving farmland has always been a major issue in the U.S. But as Bill Fulton discusses, the local economic results don't quite justify the efforts.

Around Los Angeles' Skid Row, vertical farms have been installed on walls. Its project leaders note that it not only promotes locally grown foods, but it also beautifies areas that "would otherwise just be concrete and steel."

The suburbs of Tewksbury, MA, a quaint New England town, have developed uncomfortably close to one of the largest pig farms in the state.

What is your county doing to preserve open spaces important to your community? And is it effective? If the answers to those questions are "not enough" and "no", read on and take these effective strategies to your lawmakers.