By: Dan Burke-Perez Today, we largely rely on industrial agriculture to produce our food. Industrial agriculture relies heavily on chemical inputs and uses monoculture—dedicating huge areas to only one crop—to grow food. Today, most of the food in the world is produced, packaged, shipped, and sold through a global food system with industrial agriculture at … Continue reading Urban vs. Industrial Agriculture

By: Myles Banfield Green infrastructure refers to systems that provide various ecosystem services. There is a wide variety of strategies for implementing green infrastructure in the urban environment, including urban geometry, environmentally friendly building materials, and plant-based systems. Different strategies are designed to be applied to areas where they can have the greatest impact. Urban … Continue reading Green Infrastructure

By: Jacob Charest I have been working at Radix for three months. I have helped plant gardens to allow the community to pick vegetables so they could feed their families healthy meals. Often times, young children would stop by and learn about animals. Many had never seen a chicken or a goose. We taught them … Continue reading We Need More Inner-City Community Farms

By Andrew Poitras Airborne pollutants are the root of many serious health concerns, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthmatic and allergic symptoms, and respiratory infections which threaten at-risk populations such as children, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals4. In extreme cases, the inhalation of toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, and nickel has highly carcinogenic effects … Continue reading Reducing Health Risks and Assessing Major Urban Sources of Air Pollution

By: Dan Burke Perez In recent years, beautifying urban areas with trees, gardens, and parks has gained popularity as a way to improve the look of an area as well as the health and lives of residents. Urban vegetation serves a number of essential functions, from reducing concentrations of greenhouse gases to providing habitats for … Continue reading Reducing Pollution through Urban Greening