Hydroponic Farm & Farm Land Decrease

Hydroponic Farm & Farm Land Decrease

Hydroponic Farm & Farm Land Decrease plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Hydroponic farming is nothing new but having it in the basement of a Seattle shelter is a novel approach. Chris Bajuk is the farm manager for the Millionair Club Charity and says the fresh produce will be used to help feed the homeless and jobless at the shelter. They also plan to donate some to other local charities as well. Bajuk says that they hope to expand the farming operation in order to teach others about hydroponic farming.

New numbers from an inventory of land uses show overall agricultural land decreased by 19,500 acres over a three year period ending in 2010. More than ten times as much land was lost between 1982 and 1987. Jim Johnson with the Oregon Department of Agriculture says the state's land use laws have been effective, but there is room for improvement.

JOHNSON:  While overall agricultural land loss– crop land, range land, pasture land– has slowed down very much, the agricultural land that we are losing is really focused on crop land, and within that is focused on prime crop land– the best of the best.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

The Daily Meal's list for the 50 most powerful people in food for 2014 includes those people that you would expect to see, such as celebrity chefs, restaurateurs, food journalists and food activists, but failed to even include those people that one would take for granted to be on a list about people who affect the food industry, the family farmer or rancher. Of course, as I have said in the past, this list is about what The Daily Meal considers the "most powerful" people in food, not necessarily the most important. USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack however did make the list. In fact, he took the number one spot. And it was no surprise to see that Michael Pollan, Michelle Obama and Ingrid Newkirk were all still on the list. The Daily Meal concludes that, ""In the food world, the people with power are the ones who affect what and how and where and why we eat, or could if they wanted to". So in that case, yes, most of the people listed do seem to have an inherent power to influence consumer food choices. Perhaps when someone creates a list of the most "important people" in food the family farmer and rancher will take their rightful place in the number one spot.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

Previous ReportHawks-Broncs 'N Hogs...& Farm Bill
Next ReportHouse Farm Bill & Going Rogue