So you read the last piece about keeping food from being wasted through tech and thought “poof finally something that has nothing to do with water”…. wrong! Everything is always about water, my friends.
Jokes aside, we are living in certainly unprecedented times (words we don’t want to hear ever again smh). And hard times often come with recessions, financial hardship and a period of adjustment. What does that have to do with the environment and water, you may think? Well, in short, everything. In case you haven’t noticed the price of the food is going up, and this trend may stick for a bit. Vegan diets coming into the spotlight and the introduction of cheap printed meat is making organic produce a high demand and the same goes for sustainably sourced real grass fed meats. But this isn’t news, since it is harder to produce high quality organic foods (because of the no pesticides thing) and it is cheaper to have thousands of cows in the same space eating corn than giving each cow freedom to roam. And this makes you think of better farming practices and how to make the organic cost more affordable.
It’s no wonder Israel has been called the “Silicon Valley”of water tech. The country has effectively built enough reservoirs to raise it’s recycled water from 5% to 85%. They’re also the world’s leader in farming and irrigation practices and have developed technologies and methods to deal with an array of challenges facing farmers around the globe. One of its most remarkable achievements is drip irrigation, invented in 1959 by a Polish immigrant to Israel, Simcha Blass. Drip irrigation systems are pipes or hoses that are designed to distribute water while manipulating the flow so that the water slowly drips over time. The system allows for water to directly reach the root of plants for a sustained amount of time, saving water and increasing plant yield, a lifesaver for this country and others facing drought or arid conditions. Technologies like this have been applied all over the world and there must be a continuous watch because we never know what can surge next that will make sustainable living more affordable.
While we wait there’s no time to waste for better eating and food sourcing practices. This is the year to start that backyard garden, to compost, to save water.
