You likely associate food policy with the federal government, but on July 8th, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom demonstrated what local governments can do to promote local, sustainable, and healthy food initiatives. Speaking at the West Oakland Woods Urban Garden (one of several farms operated by City Slicker Farms), Newsom outlined new policies aimed at “…form[ing] a comprehensive and strategic approach to addressing pressing needs in all sectors of the food system.”

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Gardening’s all the rage now — even the Obamas have gotten in on the game. Growing your own food doesn’t just provide great-tasting produce and a sense of satisfaction, though: in a conversation in March, Ogden Publications publisher (and farmer) Bryan Welch noted that starting a garden may be the single best thing you can do to lighten your environmental impact… it’s likely even better than changing the light bulbs.

Gardening is challenging if you’re an urbanite. It’s not impossible, though… with a little creativity and elbow grease, even the smallest apartment dweller can enjoy fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs. Some ideas:

Do it upside down: Yep, those Topsy Turvy ads are annoying, but the concept is sound. If you don’t want to shell out $19.95, try out one of the numerous DIY approaches (I’m going to test out this version featuring reused plastic soda bottles).

Contain yourself: You can also grow many vegetables in pots, window boxes, and other more traditional containers.

Be a square: If you do have a little bit of yard space, Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening methods shows you how to make the most of it.

Go guerrilla: If you’re feeling adventurous, why not plant some vegetables on land you don’t own? Of course, there may be green spaces available in your neighborhood — check with your city government or neighborhood association.

There’s a ton of information available online — check out these resources from Chelsea Green Publishing, Earthfirst.com, and Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl. If you’re looking for awe and inspiration, visit Path to Freedom.

Got tips and tricks for growing food in small spaces? Share them with us…

Image credit: ewen and donabel at Flickr under a Creative Commons license

A German guy named Martin Lihs turned a Wii controller into a can of virtual
spray paint. Here’s video of a recent WiiSpray demo:

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

[via Daring Fireball.]

Grab your heftiest stuffed pillow tomorrow because Saturday, April 4 is World Pillow Fight Day! As well as the usual suspects like New York City (Wall St. and Broad St. at 3:00 PM) and London, participating cities include Guayaquil, Kuala Lumpur, and Miyazaki City, among many others!

Selfish (kidding!) San Francisco couldn’t wait and already held theirs on Valentine’s Day. Check out these fantastic photos from San Francisco’s 2009 massive public pillow fight. And here’s a video of the feathery madness:

If you do go, I recommend bringing these appropriate pillow cases.

[Via]

Update: New York shutterbug Jerome Shaw aka Jayev3eryday has a nice Flickr set of photographs from the New York event.

Against the background of UNKLE’s emotive song “Heaven,” directors Spike Jonze and Ty Evans film the Lakai skateboarding team navigating an explosive terrain. The video starts a little slow, but “explodes” around the 1:58 mark. If that didn’t sell you then, let me try this: three words, skateboarding, explosions, and slo-mo. ‘Nuff said.

[Via]

I like to think New York City’s unofficial slogan ought to be the capital of diversity. But then again, maybe it’s more homogeneous than we like to believe as artist Peter Funch suggests in the cleverly and subtly edited photos in his “Babel Tales” series. Many of the images implies a landscape of doppelgangers, and as any student of English literature knows, you MUST DESTROY YOUR DOPPELGANGER BEFORE IT DESTROYS YOU!

[Via]

In 2007 British artist Richard Wilson turned “a building in Liverpool’s city center literally inside out” as a portion of the building’s facade rotated around.

Via: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/turning-the-pla.html