By Elizabeth Henderson For almost five decades, organic farming associations like the Northeast Organic Farming Association, the Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association and others across the country have been dedicated to supporting and expanding the community of farmers, homesteaders and conscious eaters who build their lives and livelihoods through agroecology — growing and consuming […]
By Rebecca Mackelprang A University of California, Berkeley professor stands at the front of the room, delivering her invited talk about the potential of genetic engineering. Her audience, full of organic farming advocates, listens uneasily. She notices a man get up from his seat and move toward the front of the room. Confused, the speaker […]
More than a third of Americans eat fast food on any given day. That’s the key finding of a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) that tracked the fast food consumption of Americans between 2013 and 2016. “On any given day in the […]
By Edward Davey The world is vastly underestimating the benefits of acting on climate change. Recent research from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate finds that bold climate action could deliver at least $26 trillion in economic benefits through 2030. This ground-breaking research, produced by the Global Commission and more than 200 experts, […]
By Reynard Loki Whole Foods bills itself as “America’s healthiest grocery store,” but what it’s doing to the environment is anything but healthy. According to a new report, the chain is helping to drive one of the nation’s worst human-made environmental disasters: the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. By not requiring environmental safeguards […]
By Courtney Lindwall A megamerger between two of the world’s biggest agricultural corporations looms on the horizon. The seed and pesticide giant Monsanto is inching closer to uniting with the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer—a consolidation that could spell disaster for farmers, pollinators, and affordable, healthy food. Here’s why the Monsanto-Bayer merger is a […]
By Scott Faber It’s not hard to see the differences between the terrible, partisan House farm bill and the bipartisan Senate farm bill. Here are eight ways the Senate version—which passed in the Senate last week—is better than the House bill: 1. Thanks to Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate bill finally denies farm subsidies to […]
By Wenonah Hauter In 2008, Cabot Oil and Gas started fracking operations in Dimock, Pennsylvania. It was around that time the community started noticing their water was turning brown and making people and animals sick. One woman’s water well exploded. Fracking had come to town. It’s a familiar story in other rural communities—from Pennsylvania to […]
By John R. Platt What do Rachel Carson, sea otters, toxic toads and the Gold King Mine disaster have in common? Easy: They’re all among the subjects of this month’s new environmentally themed books. The full list—an amazing 18 titles—includes books for just about everyone, from dedicated environmentalists to foodies to nature-friendly kids. You can […]