HIDDEN VARIABLES: Local & Organic Produce

Simple fact: Fresh produce loses nutritional value after it’s harvested.

Time matters. From the moment fruits and vegetable are picked their nutrients start to break down. According to a study by UC Davis, fresh produce grown within the US can often spend up to 5 days in transit to reach a distribution center after harvesting (while food imported from the Southern hemisphere can take several weeks to reach the US by ship). Once at a grocery store, “fresh” fruits and vegetables can then typically sit on a shelf for another 1 to 3 days, and then in your refrigerator for another week. By the time an average consumer actually eats their “fresh” fruits or vegetables, there are significantly less nutrients to be had compared to when the produce was harvested.

Pesticide-free local greens by SweetWater Organics at the Milwaukee South Shore Farmers Market. Greens are delivered to their within a day of harvest.

During a conversation with Jesse Hull, Director of Horticulture at Sweetwater Organics, Milwaukee, I learned a really interesting statistic - leafy vegetables for example, lose 50

Milwaukee, SweetWater Organics, Photo Album

The trip to Milwaukee gave us an opportunity to witness and participate in a huge range of activities related to urban agriculture. We spent ten full days around the city, volunteering at urban farms, visiting local markets, interviewing the people behind the city's Good Food

GrowingCities Heads to Milwaukee

As part of a grant awarded to this project by the Green Builders at Columbia and GSAPP, Columbia University - we'll be off to work with Growing Power and Sweet Water Organics in Milwaukee.

We'll be spending a week in Milwaukee - a city that has become a national center for the development of new agricultural technologies. We plan to visit and document experimental farming practices at the Growing Power institute (run by MacArthur Foundation fellow Will