Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 104 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Large food companies are looking to lock carbon in soil as a way to meet ambitious emissions goals

Meg Wilcox

February 09, 2021 |

Ensia |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fairfield, Maine

Stonyfield, an organic dairy company, is working with six of its suppliers to pilot how farms can measure the amount of carbon it’s trapping in soil through regenerative farming practices as a way for the company to achieve its goals to cut carbon emissions. The OpenTEAM initiative is working to demonstrate how a dairy farm could improve its soil health to reach carbon net zero and, eventually, have food companies pay its farmers to adopt the new practices.

Read More
Go to Original Story
With Centuries-Old Techniques, This Farm Is Preparing for the Future

Klaus Sieg

December 18, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: France, Normandy

An unusually robust crop yield is stunning scientists at a small family farm where traditional farming techniques have replaced machinery, pesticides, and fertilizers. The French farmers implemented tips and tricks from cultures around the world and they now produce organic produce at much higher rates per square feet than conventional farms. Their methods have also bolstered the farm against extreme weather patterns, making it a model worth replicating.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A grassroots push to save disappearing birds and bees forces change in Germany

Bridget Huber

December 03, 2020 |

National Geographic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Bavaria

Environmental advocates got 1.75 million signatures to change Bavarian farming laws to protect biodiversity. The Save the Bees Campaign calls for using subsidies to nearly triple the amount of organic farming, creating a network of wildlife corridors, and other actions to protect bird and insect life. Initial results show that, since the law took effect, the share of organic farmland increased and thousands of more acres of forest have been protected. Farmers have also adjusted their view of productivity, including protecting nature as a way to be productive. Similar efforts are happening across Europe.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Addressing organic farming's climate-change problem

Jenny Splitter

November 10, 2020 |

Hothouse Solutions |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Paxton, Illinois

On his organic farm in Illinois, Will Glazik is experimenting with different types of agricultural methods to increase his crop yield while also avoiding the harmful impacts of industrial farming. He’s part of a growing movement called “sustainable intensification,” which combines both conventional and organic farming techniques. While there are challenges with this approach and what works in one place might not work in another, combining these types of farming could help feed a growing global population.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Urban farmers in Richmond are helping in the fight against food insecurity

Cameron Nielsen

November 05, 2020 |

Richmond Confidential |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

Urban Tilth, an urban farm in California, is providing food directly to communities in need and upending the traditional food supply chain so they can help people access healthy and sustainably-grown food. They have been providing local organic food to 190 families financially impacted by COVID-19, almost six times more food they’ve distributed since the pandemic began.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Pee fanatics want to feed the world with your liquid gold

Katy Lee

October 07, 2020 |

Wired |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Bordeaux

A French startup is turning urine into an environmentally-friendly fertilizer that could replace chemical products. Early tests suggest that the urine mixture created by Toopi Organics can compete with synthetic fertilizers, which end up in waterways and can alter lake and river ecosystems. While the organic fertilizer requires a significant amount of urine to make, it could be a viable alternative to grow crops.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The remarkable floating gardens of Bangladesh

Kalpana Sunder

September 10, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Bangladesh, Gopalganj, Bihar

Bangladeshi communities are reviving a traditional method of crop cultivation known as floating vegetable gardens to grow food during monsoon season. On these floating organic beds, farmers can grow vegetables like okra, spinach, and snake gourd. They can supply enough food to feed their family and be a source of income. While scaling this approach to other parts of the country can be difficult, many see this practice as a way to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Creative programs help dairy farmers transition to plant-based milks

Jodi Helmer

August 28, 2020 |

Ensia |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hoosick, New York

Some food producers are helping dairy farmers transition away from animal agriculture and into growing crops for plant milk. For example, Hälsa Foods, makers of plant-based milk products, contracted with an organic farm in New York State where he grows 20 acres of oats for them. While plant milks have their own environmental impacts, these partnerships can offer farmers a guaranteed market for their new crops.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Organic fertilizers to lift African farmers out of poverty

Morgane le Cam

August 27, 2020 |

Heidi.news |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Burkina Faso, Koubri

After realizing that chemical fertilizer was doing more harm to the land than good in Burkina Faso, a Burkinese agronomist created a fertilizer from organic waste that has allowed the land to once again become fertile. Although the organic fertilizer promises a much higher increase in yields, chemical fertilizer is still widely used in the region.

Read More
Go to Original Story
In syntropic agriculture, farmers stop fighting nature and learn to embrace it

Sandra Weiss

July 30, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Gandú, Bahia

Ernst Götsch, an agronomist and cocoa farmer in Brazil, uses a different method of agriculture that could be more beneficial to small farmers. His method, known as syntropic agriculture, is an agroforestry system where different plants interact with each other to create more complex ecosystems and more fertile soils. While the method involves more labor and observation, it doesn’t use pesticides or fertilizers and has resulted in larger crop yields and more income on his own farm. He is sharing his process with other farmers looking to improve their farms.

Read More
Go to Original Story