Food and Farms News: State Wide

Up to $11,000,000 in funds is available to localities through the state's Climate Smart Communities Grant Program by July 26th to deal with existing environmental challenges like reducing food waste.

We analyze some of the policy responses that could together help solve the recycling crisis.

Last weekend, the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo finalized a progressive state budget for Fiscal Year 2020, establishing several important environmental policies including congestion pricing in Manhattan, a ban on carry-out plastic bags, and legislation to reduce food waste in New York.

New York is combating a food waste crisis, with many establishments throwing away countless tons of food each day. This issue is exacerbated during the holiday season. Fortunately, the restaurant industry is helping New Yorkers reduce this through a variety of practices.

With 400 breweries statewide, beer is a big business in the State of New York. However, climate change is already affecting brewers. The Oxford Companion to Beer notes that the price of ingredients is “beginning to rise as the agriculture industry is affected by changing weather patterns.” Some brewers have been fighting climate change for decades.

Permaculture, a compound of the words permanent and agriculture, is about melding sustainable production with sustainable consumption. Environmentalists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren created the concept in their 1978 book “Permaculture One,” as an alternative approach to agriculture and community design and this idea is taking root here in New York’s rural and urban centers