Case Study: Urban gardening and food security during WWII by XU, ZHEHAI _ https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks Made with a curious mind en-us 2022-05-22 09:57:38 UTC 2022-05-25 10:24:59 UTC hello@padlet.com Food Security During WWII zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196026293 Singapore’s food import was being disrupted during the Japanese occupation. Whatever food was import was unevenly distributed. The existing food supply depleted quickly as demand outstripped supply. Food price skyrocketed.

]]> 2022-05-23 14:55:26 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196026293 Inflation zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196027525 Banana money was printed whenever Japanese needs more money. This resulted hyperinflation. The money become worthless and soon people find it hard to purchase food even with huge amount of banana money.

]]> 2022-05-23 14:56:10 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196027525 Food Ration zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196029646 Food shortage was so serious that local was given food rationing. Each household received a small unit of ration and the amount reduce over years. As a result, hunger became a norm.

]]> 2022-05-23 14:57:24 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196029646 Food Campaign zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196062900 School fields were turned into vegetable plots and schoolchildren had to spend part of the time tending their vegetable plots.
Building,16 which was turned into a tapioca field. Other common crops were sweet potatoes, various types of beans, kangkong (water convolvulus), bayam (spinach), mustard greens, and gourds such as bitter gourd and bottle gourd. 
There were several issues with developing food sufficiency in Singapore. Few people knew much about farming or keeping livestock and, to make matters worse, the island’s soil for the most part was not rich in nutrients. As chemical fertilisers were not available, some resorted to enriching the land with human faeces and urine, but this practice ran the risk of contamination and the spread of intestinal parasites such as tapeworms and food-borne diseases.]]> 2022-05-23 15:17:16 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196062900 Urban farms using hydroponics on parking structure roofs zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196080244 Using a custom-designed, modular hydroponic system, Citiponics can grow up to 25 different kinds of leafy vegetables and herbs without pesticides. According to Chan, the 1,800 square meter (0.5 acre) farm can grow up to 4 tons of food per month using the Citiponics system. The system consumes about 1% of water used in conventional farming, and 10% of water used in other hydroponic systems.

“Instead of going to the supermarket for vegetables, now we have residents that just open their window and can see the farm,” said Chan. “They get connected to their food source.” Citiponics encourages people without agricultural knowledge in Singapore to contribute to their food production process by helping with seeding, transplanting, and harvesting.]]> 2022-05-23 15:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196080244 Installing urban farms into existing buildings zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196164090 The Sustenir Agriculture system is designed to retrofit into any building in Singapore and beyond. 
Indoor farming requires creating a controlled environment, with completely different methods from outdoor farming. Controlling air quality, light, and plant nutrients is a sensitive balancing act. “Being able to control the environment in its totality and understanding that every single part of an ecosystem is working and functioning correctly on a daily basis is really critical to success
Sustenir Agriculture now sells its produce in multiple grocery stores at 30% the cost of imported produce, displacing those brands that were initial competitors.]]> 2022-05-23 16:21:49 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196164090 Building a better greenhouse for urban farms in tropical climates zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196176404 The greenhouse is custom designed for the tropical climate to allow for better air circulation. Yielding 60-80 kg of food per square meter, the greenhouse caters to a small local market.

]]> 2022-05-23 16:30:45 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196176404 Recommendation zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196204068 It is essential to meet our food security needs all the time. We need to fully utilise our free land such as carpark, community garden and farming technology to maximise our food production output. With this movement, it is possible for us to achieve sustainable food source. Therefore, I urge everyone to participate actively in farming!

]]> 2022-05-23 16:49:32 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196204068 Community Garden zhehaixu2020 https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196636661 Since the launch of the Gardening with Edibles initiative in June 2020, we distributed 860,000 free seed packets.  The programme was jointly funded by our Founding Partners DBS Bank and Tote Board through the Garden City Fund. 

This Gardening with Edibles initiative brings the community together in a national gardening movement to achieve the City in Nature vision and is aligned with Singapore’s national strategy to strengthen our food resilience. The “30 by 30” goal led by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) aims to produce 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs locally by the year 2030. These are key goals of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, our national sustainability movement.

community gardens may be able to reduce the impact of food deserts in low-income areas and allow residents greater access to nutritious food that is necessary to live a healthy life.

Community gardens:

  • Help improve air and soil quality [1]
  • Increase biodiversity of plants and animals
  • Reduce “food miles” that are required to transport nutritious food
  • Can replace impervious structures and improve water infiltration [2]
  • Can reduce neighborhood waste through composting [3]
  • Positively impact the urban micro-climate [4]
]]> 2022-05-24 00:00:45 UTC https://padlet.com/zhehaixu2020/Bookmarks/wish/2196636661