Will Urban Agriculture Answer Our Demographic Question?

The Article: Can Urban Agriculture Feed a Hungry World? by Fabian Kretschmer and Malte E. Kollenberg in Der Spiegel.

The Text: Agricultural researchers believe that building indoor farms in the middle of cities could help solve the world’s hunger problem. Experts say that vertical farming could feed up to 10 billion people and make agriculture independent of the weather and the need for land. There’s only one snag: The urban farms need huge amounts of energy.

One day, Choi Kyu Hong might find himself in a vegetable garden on the 65th floor of a skyscraper. But, so far, his dream of picking fresh vegetables some 200 meters (655 feet) up has only been realized in hundreds of architectural designs.

In real life, the agricultural scientist remains far below such dizzying heights, conducting his work in a nondescript three-story building in the South Korean city of Suwon. The only thing that makes the squat structure stand out is the solar panels on its roof, which provide power for the prototype of a farm Choi is working on. If he and his colleagues succeed, their efforts may change the future of urban farming — and how the world gets its food.

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I Am A Man

Taken from the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Two Americas; or: Same Shit, Different Day

By the late great Theo Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) with more political cartoons by the good doctor.

A Country On The Edge: The Collapse Of Greece

I spent four months living in Athens from January 2011 to May 2011. Despite impressions to the contrary, Athens is not a beautiful European city. It was constructed predominantly in the 1950’s and 1960’s — an era that could not exactly be called the pinnacle of beauty in architecture. Many of the older buildings that weren’t destroyed by the Nazi’s in WWII were destroyed during the building boom that followed.

What it lacks in physical assets it makes up for in its history and the drama of the situation the country (of which Athens is overwhelmingly the most important part) faces. The astounding amount of debt they are responsible for poses a threat not just to the viability of the country, but of the entire Eurozone, and by extension the whole European Union project. The eyes of the world fall on this one tiny country with the power to break the most impressive and successful political and economic alliance potentially in all of history.

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Why Being Poor is More Expensive Than Being Rich

According to the Census Bureau, more than 37 million people in the country live below the poverty line.

1. Bank Fees

Some businesses don’t even accept paper money anymore. Renting an apartment? Don’t bring that shoebox full of dollar bills. Many places are now strictly debit or credit. And they don’t care whether it’s from a bank account that has actual funds, or one which is overdrawn and charging ridiculous fees every day that it has a negative balance. If you’re poor, you better be really good at budgeting — or begging that the bank kindly cancel your overdraft fees, which can be upwards of $35 per day. For some, that’s food for a week.

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