[CPEO-BIF] Urban agriculture soil testing in Boston, Massachusetts

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Annual Soil Testing at City Farm Fest

Boston University Superfund Research Program
July 23, 2014

The BU SRP's Community Engagement Core partnered with The Food  
Project, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that runs youth development  
programs which promote sustainable agriculture and access to healthy  
food, to offer free soil lead testing at City Farm Fest on May 10th.  
City Farm Fest is an annual celebration held at the beginning of  
spring and the start of the growing season.  A team of several BU  
staff and students were on site to analyze garden soil samples for  
lead (Pb) with an X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer (XRF) and help  
interpret results for attendees.  The soil testing station was the  
latest outreach effort rooted in ongoing work led by Dr. Wendy Heiger- 
Bernays (BU SRP RTC) and collaborating organizations, including The  
Food Project, to educate gardeners about soil quality and best  
practices for safe urban agriculture in the metro Boston area.  For  
City Farm Fest, Dr. Heiger-Bernays and colleagues developed research- 
based educational materials for gardeners to guide interpretation of  
soil results and provide tips for risk management.  The materials  
have been developed by her group at BUSPH as part of a larger effort  
towards decreasing risks associated with growing food in soils known  
to be contaminated due to human activities. Several of her students  
were on hand at the event to discuss results and answer gardeners'  
questions.


...

For the entire article, see
http://busrp.org/news/380-annual-soil-testing-at-city-farm-fest

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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