it’s a farm that has been maintained and thrived thanks to sustainable practices.

“i know that we (farmers) are an integral part of the ecosystem of the earth,” mcpheeters said. “we need to make it sustainable for everybody. we have to do it well and do it right.”

while major cities across america and the world grapple with ideas to make their cities more sustainable, farmers like mcpheeters seem to be ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability. it’s not a fad or trendy thing for rural farmers; sustainability means protecting the environment they exist in and improving the life of the farm and crops.

“when you take things from the earth and don’t give anything back, that’s just taking,” mcpheeters said.

tech advances improve sustainability

it’s no surprise that farmers want what’s best for their land — better crops bring better incomes, making sustainable farming practices crucial to farmers. over the past few years, agricultural technology such as temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, gps technologies and even robots have helped farmers produce better crop yields, limit overuse of water and pesticides — which help keep food prices low — and improve worker safety.

“we’ve made great strides thanks to technology,” mcpheeters said. “the monitoring of irrigation, we just know way more and it takes the guesswork out of things.”

controlling the irrigation of crops helps eliminate issues of overusing or wasting water. mcpheeters has heavily invested in implementing farming technologies to help track how much water the farm uses. agricultural tech firms have helped develop these tools for farmers, like the new lincoln, nebraska-based epicrop technologies, that use technology to improve plant yields and stress tolerances on crops like soybeans, corn, and wheat.

from farm to flex fuel

mcpheeters has heavily invested in growing corn. some of his corn goes to frito-lay, and some of the corn he produces has been used in ethanol fuel production. but as the business representative and vice chair for the nebraska ethanol board, mcpheeters has said ethanol is a “win for all parties. it’s good for farmers, livestock producers, consumers, and the environment,” according to a press release about his appointment.

nicknamed the “cornhusker state,” nebraska’s agricultural economy is largely dominated by corn. in 2014 alone, 8.95 million acres of nebraskan land were used to grow corn. outside of its use for cattle feed and livestock, corn is used to produce around 2 billion gallons of ethanol each year. the state’s mass production of the renewable fuel makes nebraska the second largest producer of ethanol in the u.s.

in other words, the relationship between the growth of corn and its use to produce ethanol is quite common in the state.

when i first met mcpheeters outside a flex-fuel gas station in gothenburg, nebraska, the rural farmer gushed about a brightly lit billboard that towered above the gas station; the colorful display was an ad for ethanol that he had helped create.

the nebraskan native has become a fierce advocate for ethanol due to how the fuel produces fewer emissions than fossil fuels, he said. he’s been sharing his beliefs of the positives of the alternative fuel from the small town of about 3,500 people to the halls of congress.

mcpheeters believes ethanol is cleaner in terms of air quality purposes — and growing corn for ethanol isn’t as environmentally costly either. but mcpheeters believes those opposed to ethanol gloss over the positives of using corn for fuel and said things that are propagated from ethanol opposition are not substantiated.

“i think that the people who are on the other side of the issue, i understand. they don’t want to lose market share and they have oil to sell and they need to sell it,” mcpheeters said.

those opposing ethanol believe ethanol hurts rather than helps the environment. c. ford runge, professor of applied economics and law at the university of minnesota, said in yale environment 360 that growing corn already has an environmental impact — and converting the corn to ethanol for fuel use only makes that impact worse.  

“higher-ethanol blends still produce significant levels of air pollution, reduce fuel efficiency, jack up corn and other food prices, and have been treated with skepticism by some car manufacturers for the damage they do to engines,” runge wrote. “e85 fuel in ‘flex-fuel’ vehicles may increase ozone-related mortality, asthma, and hospitalizations.”

but for scott, the fight to bring ethanol beyond his community is a fight he’s willing to continue with. after all, corn is his lifeline.

“i would love to have everyone have something to eat and have clean air,” mcpheeters said. “that’s what sustainability means to me.”

but first — as my stomach reminded me, grumbling in hunger — breakfast. after an employee directed me to the restaurant, filled with a buffet of local foods, i perused the offerings and, oddly, skipped over my go-to favorite (carbs), because something else caught my eye: fruit.

neatly arranged on silver platters in the middle of the buffet were fruits ranging from bright red watermelon to blood orange papayas to yellow honeydew, and all met my gaze as i crept around the fruit table like a jaguar circling its prey.

i paused. “since when have i ever been this intrigued by fruit?” i thought.

keeping an open mind, i stacked my plate with as much fruit as it could hold and walked over to a table, careful not to drop anything from my overflowing plate on the floor.

“the pineapple,” i thought as i sat down. “i’ll try this first.”

my knife cut like butter through the slice of pineapple and i took a bite.  

i stopped chewing for a second. my eyes widened as the perfect, almost candylike sweetness of the pineapple struck my taste buds. it was the best damn pineapple i’d ever had. immediately i knew i could never go back to its american cousin; it doesn’t hold a candle to brazilian pineapple.

as i savored these fruits, i pondered: why is the fruit in brazil so good, and where does it come from? i knew i would have to do some research to learn more.

conveniently, i learned, my trip to brazil took me right to the source: the amazon rainforest. the rainforest, which is as big as the continental united states, harbors more than 10% of the world’s species and is home to 350 ethnic groups.

the rainforest also serves as a feeding ground for both humans and animals through its fruit production. boasting vast agricultural diversity, the amazon rainforest is the source of least 3,000 fruits, while only about 200 of those are consumed in the western world. it is home to fruits ranging from figs and lemons to bananas and guavas, the amazon provides the state of amazonas — and much of the world — with fruits created by mother nature herself.

josé luís camargo, a brazilian plant ecologist, researcher, and teacher who accompanied us on the trip to the amazon, said the fruits from the rainforest are among the most unique in the world. certain fruits like açaí — a highly nutritious purple berry — are special to the rainforest and are popular in not just brazil, but other parts of the world, including america.

“more of the local fruits are rich — very rich,” camargo said. “what happens for most of the people who live outside the amazon — most of the fruits you don’t find other places. only here.”

vegetables, however, are not as popular. camargo said there are some common vegetables used in meals, but joked that not a lot of brazilians eat “leaves” like americans do.

“vegetables are not a thing — it depends on the vegetables. some of them are very common, like tomate (tomato) … part of the regular food here doesn’t go with salad.”

being the third largest exporter of fruit, behind china and india, respectively, brazil also showcases the diversity of its fruits. from açaí, camu camu (a vitamin c-packed so-called “superfood”) to maracuyá (passionfruit) and aguaje (which has a high concentration of vitamin a, as well as vitamins e and c), brazil produces exotic fruits that make even the biggest foodies marvel at the uniqueness of the sweet delectables — and the nutritional impact they can provide both locals and consumers in other countries.

over the past several years, the fruit industry in brazil has risen 25%, dominating the country’s export economy, and provided 5.6 million jobs. about 35% of the world’s oranges come from brazil and more than half of the world’s orange juice is made there, too. in 2013, 14,598 tons of oranges were exported by brazil, serving countries like the united states, germany, uruguay, france and more.

beyond the economic and nutritional impact, camargo said the fruit is a big part of what makes the amazon special.

it’s what gives camargo a sense of home — no matter where he travels in brazil. for others in the city of manaus, it’s how they make a living — selling fruits in small shacks outside, under the blaze of the brazilian sun. for me? the fruit created a sense of comunidade.

“community” in portuguese, comunidade is what i felt as i turned every corner in brazil. i felt it from its people, its music, and, yes, its fruit.

in fact, it was the fruit that brought all of us together during our time at camp 41 — the home base for a series of scientific studies done deep in the amazon.

with no technology embedded in our hands — and little knowledge about each other — our gatherings at the seemingly out of place, red-checkered tablecloth-clad picnic tables in the middle of the rainforest, nibbling on the sweetest of fruits that came from the rainforest made me simply happy. it’s the comunidade that moves the planet forward.

while others marveled at the abundance of insect and animal life in the rainforest, i marveled at the fruit. the fruit was pure — it came from the heart of the amazon to the table. no factories involved. no planes. just forest to table.

“i grew up always hearing and seeing things about water issues,” larson said.

born and raised in arizona, larson’s fascination of water and water policy stayed with him throughout his academic life, and eventually led him to asu, where the sandra day o’connor college of law professor put his extensive water policy knowledge to use through a special project.

the usaid project titled, “holistic water solution for underserved and refugee host communities in lebanon and jordan,” has been funded a two-year, $1.95 million grant to asu and its partners to help bring portable and clean water solutions to the middle east.

“every day it feels like there are more questions and challenges and that’s what make it fun,” said larson.

the role of larson’s asu team is to help local refugee host communities in jordan and lebanon adapt to the influx of refugees by providing clean and sustainable solutions. they are identifying communities that host large refugee populations and developing ways to make sure they have enough water capacity to assist with their swelling populations.

“most refugees aren’t in camps, they just find some place where they can settle and they do this best they can,” larson said. “issues with communities hosting refugees has been around for the long time.” 

along with larson’s knowledge of water and water policy, other partners around the world have joined in on the project to help aid with the creation, cultivation, and retention of water solutions. partners like green co. water, bring ideas regarding water storage through a collapsible water storage system; another partner, zero mass water, uses a process involving solar energy that converts water vapor into water. other partners include h20 for humanity, mercy corps, and the rene moawad foundation, which is a foundation based in right in the line of larson’s work, in lebanon.

issues surrounding water doesn’t always stem from a single environmental issue—water problems can also originate from political battles as well.

iraq, jordan, and other middle eastern countries have had issues for years surrounding the limited water resources in their areas. having little water creates sources of conflict, and when more people are added to the population, the scarcity of water gets even worse. larson said problems surrounding the relationship between water and refugees didn’t start with the recent news of the syrian refugee crisis. 

“water can be a source of great communication or a source of conflict,” larson said.

larson added that he wanted the access to water to be the least of refugee’s concerns when they come to a new country. his idea is to remove water as a challenge, and use it instead to help the people of these communities.

larson has traveled to the areas of impact frequently, recently taking a trip this past january to find selection sites for the project in lebanon and jordan. along with the rene moawad foundation and mercy core, larson met with the un high commissioner for refugees, who helped give sense of context of the issues that were present and why they came to be. larson also worked closely with non-governmental organizations and even the host refugee communities, where focus groups were used to see where were the best places for the locals to get water and how the water is treated.

although the project is still in it’s beginning stages, larson is already looking ahead. when asked about the next 5-10 years, larson said he’d love to see the program expand outside their current areas, and serve host communities in palestine, iraq and turkey.

joan mcgregor, senior sustainability scientist at the julie ann wrigley global institute of sustainability at arizona state university wanted to solve problems of food justice and food deserts through a conversation around the dinner table. dinner 2040 seeks to explore the “future of food,” integrating sustainable practices into food production and distribution all while respecting health, culture and ecological integrity.

mcgregor said the idea of dinner 2040 came to be after she realized there was a lot of knowledge surrounding food sustainability and there were voices that needed to come together and share their problems and solutions.

“to solve food sustainability, we really needed to have a space to bring together all these expertise,” mcgregor said.

in november 2016, the idea of dinner 2040 came to life, when 90 people, ranging from experts to food bank workers to arizona state representatives, came together at a local phoenix farm to have the conversation about what the future of food would look like. phoenix-area chefs created dishes using local ingredients to highlight the availability and healthiness of foods around them.

the diverse groups of people not only dined together, but shared their opinions, ideas and experiences surrounding food and the environment. together they examined food challenges, envisioned the future and created timelines to prepare for the future. 

“we wanted to have this event to bring everybody together,” mcgregor said. “people haven’t really thought about food as a sustainability problem.”

food is the problem that often goes ignored in the debates surrounding climate change and environmental justice.

according to the environmental protection agency, 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions came from mostly agricultural practices, like livestock and cultivation of crops. meaning, most that foods that end up at our dinner tables have somehow harmed the environment that we live in – simply by being made.

so if we’re producing such mass quantities of food, what about struggling access to these foods some communities face? the solution isn’t producing more food. mcgregor said the food we already have isn’t getting to the people who need it, leaving them either in poverty having little to no healthy options to survive off of.

mcgregor said food insecurity is often an issue people think about in third world countries; but food insecurity is happening in our own country – even in our own communities. having regular access to food is something that many americans, both adults and children, struggle with.

“we [americans] spend less of our income on food proportionally than anyone else in the world,” mcgregor said.

meaning, americans as a whole spend their money on cheaper, unhealthier food options while investing other parts of their income on materials and new technologies, according to mcgregor. while fast food options expand in communities, grocery stores and farmer’s markets stay stagnant or disappear, leaving communities in food desserts – places in which there are little to no healthy food options for people.

“big corporations are pushing a lot of what’s in the food system,” mcgregor said. “a lot of this has only happened in the past 40-50 years.”

the issues surrounding food access in both rural and city communities inspired dinner 2040, mcgregor said. in addition to focusing on problems of food justice and access, mcgregor wanted to do an envisioning exercise on what we ought to be eating in 25 years.

the end of the dinner 2040 event brought diverse backgrounds together, opened community conversations on food systems, and allowed guests to observe where their community food systems might end up in a matter of two decades. mcgregor hopes the future of dinner 2040 will not only exist in phoenix, but also in cities and towns across the country, who can create solutions in their respected communities.

“food justice is a complex issue,” mcgregor said. “we’re hoping other communities take on this. get people together in your community.”

take a look at this video to see footage from dinner 2040.

the arizona-based start-up company tempe betr-blok is the for-profit arm of a non-profit organization that researches alternative materials for building. frettoloso said the idea of the betr-blok formed from an idea he and his partner developed after there was idea between the two of commercialization opportunity and mass production of a sustainable, affordable building material.

with a diy approach, betr-blok wanted to make the material not only easily accessible, but also easy to build for common hands.

“there is really a community of paper creators,” frettoloso said. “in general, you build a house out of paper and you’re using less labor and less materials.”

the betr-blok is made with paper — yes paper — like shaded paper, magazine, cardboard and regional material. the material of the block has other perks besides its friendly environmental properties — the block is also fire resistant, water resistant, termite resistant and, more importantly, it’s supportive to hold up structures.

“everyone has paper news print and cardboard but they have a unique form of delouse,” frettoloso said.

affordability is another concept frettoloso had in mind while creating the sustainable block. frettoloso said he wanted to highlight not only the environmental aspect of the building block, but also the cost and how it can help homes and businesses save on energy costs.

“lead with costs and those benefits and how people save money,” frettoloso said. “thirty-five percent of the energy that is lost through our house is through the walls.”

the concept over the cost of energy with the betr-blok has been tested by frettoloso and his team over the past several of years. the company recently received a grant from the salt river project, an energy supplier in arizona, to build a 500 square foot test structure of their innovative blocks.

in order to monitor the space, a weather stations and data acquisition was put in place to monitor the blocks. over the course of 3 years, the house was kept at a 76-degree temperature, for a total cost of 18 cents a day. the end of the month bill was 18 dollars. if the calculations of frettoloso’s project were applied to a bigger space, a 2,000 square foot space kept at the same temperature of 76 degrees would put energy costs at 75 dollars a month.

“with 500 square feet, you can easily multiply those numbers to larger houses,” frettoloso said.

the testing and approval of the buildings has been no easy process, with hurdles around each corner that frettoloso and his team have to pay attention to and overcome. fires testing, water penetration and other tests can often eat up a lot of time and money.

“there’s a lot of hoops you have to jump through when you’re dealing with municipalities,” frettoloso said. “it’s necessary, we get it. it’s just really expensive.”

as far the future of betr-blok, frettoloso said he’s optimistic for the next five to ten years, where he hopes his innovation will reach a mass audience who will not only want to welcome more sustainable products to build their spaces, but also save money on monthly and yearly energy costs.

“definitely making it a regional thing,” frettoloso said about the future. “replicate this across the country.”

the idea of taking and implementing the betr-blok across the country is entirely possible, according to frettoloso. by using the base of paper materials and using local materials from a specified place means the block can be recreated from san francisco to oklahoma city to philadelphia. instead of shipping in materials, local economies are able to be used and cultivated by using regional-specific products to contribute to the block.

“the idea is strategically to place this thing,” frettoloso said. “providing the country with different local building materials.”

to learn more about betr-blok, check out this video!