Smart Talk: Ireland U.N. Ambassador; Lancaster vertical greenhouse

Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Nations David Donoghue appears on Friday’s Smart Talk.  Donaghue has served in diplomatic postings that have allowed him to participate in some of the most pivotal events in modern history.  Donoghue served a diplomatic posting to the Holy See during the short reign of Pope John XXIII and the election of John Paul II.  He was instrumental in brokering the peace agreements ending hostilities between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and represented Ireland to the Russian Federation during Vladimir Putin’s rise to power.

In 2013, Donoghue was made the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations and has since been appointed to the UN Summit on Global Migration and Refugee Issues to address the growing problem of human displacement on a global scale.

Ambassador Donoghue will speak about the role of the United Nations in a time of a worldwide human rights crisis. The lecture will take place at Elizabethtown College on Monday, October 17^th in Gibble Auditorium, Esbenshade Hall. 

As the world’s population continues to increase, so do trends in global warming and increased land development which means agricultural production places increasing strain on communities.  The demand for higher food production has led to deforestation, costly irrigation in arid regions, toxic accumulations of fertilizer and pesticide runoff and an increased attention to industrial scale farming and crop modification.

The sprawl of urban development has provided an opportunity for progressive farming concepts to take root.  In Lancaster, the Urban Farming Initiative seeks to use existing infrastructure as platforms for growing  crops in the city.  Rooftops, abandoned properties and unused structures can be used to create locally produced organic produce as well as provide jobs.

The newest initiative from the UFI involves building a vertical greenhouse adjacent to the Prince Street Garage at West Orange Street.  Vegetables would be grown hydroponically, using no soil and a tenth of the water used in traditional methods.  Corey Fogarty, president of the Lancaster Urban Farming Initiative joins us to discuss this project and the implications vertical farming could have on future urban planning.  We’re joined by Nona Yehia, CEO and Co-Founder, Vertical Harvest, Jackson Hole, Wyoming where the first vertical greenhouse is located.

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on Ambassador David Donoghue:

Does your guest see any parallel between the reception that 19th century Irish immigrants faced in this country and the reception that modern day immigrants meet.    -Lee