Green Sense Radio

Growing a cure in the City

The Farm on Ogden, a multi-use facility in an underserved area on the west side of Chicago, supports and sustains a healthy urban community by bringing food, health, and jobs together in one location. The farm is run by Windy City Harvest, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban agriculture education and jobs-training initiative that offers the Veggie RX program, which provides a prescription of fresh produce (a weekly box of fresh greens) to food-insecure patients with diet-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes.

This week we spoke to two members of the Windy City Harvest Team, Brittany Calendo, the Program Director, and Ketaurah James, Veggie RX Manager, to learn more about how these programs are helping build a local food system, healthier communities, and a greener economy.

Ford F-150 Lightning sets the bar for manufacturers of EV pickup trucks

This week we spoke to the all-knowing Guru of Gears, Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive, to review our test drive of the Ford F-150 Lightening (I’m still smiling). We also discussed the load EVs put on the CA electrical grid to see if they are the reason for the brownouts and blackouts from the record-setting temperatures experienced throughout the state this summer.

The unintended consequences of lighting up indoor farms!

Feeding a growing global population using less land, water, and energy is a big
goal. It’s even more challenging when you are looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with rising input costs and supply chain shortages. This week we are joined by Chris Higgins, President and co-Founder of Hort Americas and founder of Urban Ag News. Chris gives us an update on new state legislation designed to regulate electricity use at indoor farms and the unintended consequences these policies can have on indoor vegetable grow operations.

Are climate scientists’ predictions finally coming true?

Historical climate data models are important for anticipating future risks, predicting the cause and effect, guiding adaptation decisions, and setting mitigation targets for now and future generations.

A Coronal Mass Ejection is coming; we just don’t know when!

Our guest this week is Geza Gyuk, Director of Astronomy at Chicago’s Adler
Planetarium. The 1859 Carrington Event, also known as the perfect solar superstorm, was the most intense Coronal Mass Ejection (large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun's corona) in recorded history. These fast-moving geomagnetic waves wreaked havoc with technology and telegraph communications worldwide. With current society so heavily dependent on technology and electricity, Geza discusses just how detrimental it would be if a similar storm hit Earth today, what systems are in place to detect these storms and how you can be prepared.

Battery life is the new odometer for EVs

Traditionally mileage has been a key factor in determining a car’s value, but that
is not the case for electric vehicles. This week we spoke to our Guru of Gears,
Tom Appel, the publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive and the host of the
podcast Car Stuff, to take a look at how EVs are valued and resold as they age.

Eco-tourism – greenwashing or a novel way to protect sensitive ecosystems?

Hidden Lemur is a sustainable travel website that aims to give travelers better
access to ethical travel experiences. We spoke with Hidden Lemur’s Founder
and CEO, Conor Armor, to discuss the growing interest in eco-tourism and if
these sustainable travel destinations are minimizing social, physical, and
economic impacts on these sensitive environments.

PFAs, forever chemicals - a forever threat to human health and the environment

The Environmental Working Group is on a mission to shine a light on outdated legislation, harmful agricultural practices, and industry loopholes that risk human health and the environment. This week we spoke to EWG’s Senior Scientist, Tasha Stoiber, to learn more about PFAs synthetic fluorine-based compounds that are everywhere and never break down! Hear Tasha's helpful tips on what you can do to avoid these chemicals.

The future of the Horticulture Industry

This week we are joined by Mary Beth Cowardin, the Vice President of Marketing and member engagement at AmericanHort, the organizers of Cultivate, the premier horticulture industry trade show. AmericanHort is on a mission to unite, promote, and advance the horticulture industry through advocacy, collaboration, connectivity, education, market development, and research. We spoke with Mary Beth about today’s current global supply chain issues, rising input costs, climate change, and its impact on the greenhouse and nursery ecosystem. 

Turning the Big Apple Green

This week we spoke to Bronx educator Stephen Ritz, who is on a mission to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development. Stephen discusses how he developed an incredibly successful indoor gardening curriculum in the Bronx that allows children to grow vegetables in the classroom, helping them eat better, be more engaged with school, and providing inner city kids with pathways for jobs in agriculture.