10.7 Looking Ahead
There are interesting developments in sustainable and socially equitable agriculture today such as the vertical and urban gardening movement. Vertical and urban gardens bring hope that fresh, green, and healthy foods can be made more available to families in cities via smaller local gardens. In Figure 10.22, several vertical gardens are explored, including one that is feeding an entire group of children in their preschool in California.
Figure 10.22. Vertical Farming – TechKnow [YouTube Video]. In this six-minute video, solutions to finding usable farmland are described.
The U.S. Water Alliance provides the most comprehensive view of water access in the United States and is dedicated to valuing and managing this resource. Via listening sessions and collaborations with businesses, governments, non-profit organizations and individuals all over the country, they have developed a platform of seven big ideas to sustain water resources:
- Advance regional collaboration on water management
- Accelerate agriculture-utility partnerships to improve water quality
- Sustain adequate funding for water infrastructure
- Blend public and private expertise and investment to address water infrastructure needs
- Redefine affordability for the 21st century
- Reduce lead risks, and embrace the mission of protecting public health
- Accelerate technology adoption to build efficiency and improve water service.
Ideas and organizations such as this one provide leadership so that all families in the United States will have access to safe water and sanitation.
10.7.1 Want to Learn More?
- To learn more about food deserts, or to access an interactive map that displays different ways of viewing food deserts, read NPR’s article “How to find a food desert near you” and follow the link to the USDA’s Food Atlas.
- To learn more about the AAP’s recommendations for treating child obesity:
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- Listen to An Aggressive New Approach to Child Obesity from The Daily
- Read NPR’s Childhood obesity requires early, aggressive treatment, new guidelines say
- To read more about how to find lead in your home environment and the effects of lead on children, click here for the CDC’s infographic.
- To see additional perspective and proposed solutions to these social problems, watch LaToya Ruby Frazier detail the experiences of the low-income residents as well as a creative solution . She was hired to document the unfolding crisis in Flint and relates her history growing up with environmental racism in Philadelphia to the crisis.
10.7.2 Licenses and Attributions for Looking Ahead
10.7.2.1 Open Content, Original
“Looking Ahead” by Elizabeth B. Pearce is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
10.7.2.2 All Rights Reserved Content
Figure 10.22. Vertical Farming (c) TechKnow License Terms: Standard YouTube license.
Figure 10.23. A creative solution for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan| Latoya Ruby Frazier (c) Ted. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.