Technology

Eating Green

• Vermont law banning food waste leads to more compost—and “separation” anxiety October 25, 2021
  There’s a community garden nestled at the outer edge of Ludlow, Vermont, behind the constellation of white barns that makes up a local craft school. In the summer, peach trees grow heavy with fruit and blueberries ripen on the bush while, nearby, in 10-foot by 10-foot plots, up to 50 gardeners plant tomatoes, peppers—“whatever you […]
  Katherine Cusumano
• The rise and folly of the refugee cookbook October 21, 2021
  I am a little tired of the common wisdom, often repeated by both food media’s glossiest and most progressive publications, that food has the power to unite us.  This sentimentality shows up frequently in English cookbooks about the diverse cuisines of the Arab world. Friends ask if I find the latest publications “interesting” and “authentic,” […]
  N.A. Mansour
• Conservationists see rare nature sanctuaries. Black farmers see a legacy bought out from under them. October 21, 2021
  The Sweet Fern Savanna Land and Water Reserve, in the heart of Pembroke Township, Illinois, offers a glimpse into what much of the area looked like before European settlers drained swamps and cleared forests to grow corn and soybeans. At least 18 threatened or endangered plant and animal species, including the ornate box turtle and […]
  Tony Briscoe, ProPublica and Rashod Taylor
• GRAPHIC: For family farms, most income comes from far afield October 20, 2021
  Off-farm income contributed an average of 82% of total income for family farms in 2019, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis.   Almost all farm households in 2019 derived some income from off-farm sources, such as pensions, investment income, or wages and salary from an off-farm job. But small family farms — defined in this […]
  Amanda Pérez Pintado, Investigate Midwest/Report for America
• Washington wineries considering dramatic changes for climate change October 19, 2021
  Dick Boushey has been growing wine grapes in Yakima and Benton counties for more than 40 years. The 70-year-old Boushey and his employees grow 23 grape varieties on vineyards stretching over 295 acres. Managing vineyards requires precision. Different varieties of grape have to be matched against the right temperatures, soils and moistures. Sugar and acidity […]
  John Stang/Crosscut
• I tried to prove that small family farms are the future. I couldn’t do it. October 19, 2021
  In the media, the small family farm has been on the brink of disaster since time immemorial. The story is an easy win—in part, because there’s no need to explain why it’s important.  In fact, in 2016, I landed a book deal on the topic, promising to explore why small family farms were at risk […]
  Sarah Mock
• In North Carolina, poultry workers are quitting in large numbers after an unknown chemical was introduced at their plant October 18, 2021
  Workers at the Mountaire Farms poultry plant in rural Robeson County, North Carolina, say that about four months ago, something changed. At the time, they couldn’t immediately identify the strange new chemical they’d begun to smell floating around the production lines. But one day things were running as expected, and the next there was a […]
  Tina Vasquez
• USDA flagged multiple fraudulent Covid-19 hunger relief deliveries. Then it paid millions for them anyway. October 14, 2021
  Under the former Trump administration, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) made millions of dollars in payments to unqualified hunger relief contractors despite multiple warnings of potential fraud, according to a new congressional report. The findings stem from a year-long investigation by the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis into the Farmers to Families […]
  Jessica Fu and H. Claire Brown
• Drought-stricken Western towns say no to developers October 14, 2021
  In the small city of Oakley, Utah, the drought conditions parching much of the West have depleted the natural springs that supply water to the community. During each of the past several summers, local leaders worried that quenching any major fire might empty the city’s water tanks. The city issued water-use restrictions this past April […]
  Alex Brown
• Co-op restaurants: pipe-dream or practical solution? October 14, 2021
  “Should we lease out our kitchen?” There was no easy answer—and for workers at Red Emma’s in Baltimore, no boss to make the decision. Since opening in 2004, the restaurant-slash-radical bookshop has been cooperatively owned by its workers, who vote on the issues, big and small, that shape the way their business operates. And, for […]
  Matthew Sedacca