Can Urban Gardening Make Us Whole?
By Laurie Mazur / On October 23rd, 2017
An in-depth look at how urban gardening is hoping to heal divisions that have plagued Milwaukee—and our nation as a whole
agriculture
Size Does Matter: The Ecology of Organic Food
By Andy Dyer / On May 18th, 2016
The push for organic food to supplant conventionally produced food (i.e., produced with pesticides, supplements and artificial fertilizers) has always been hampered by the claim that the organic production style couldn’t provide the volume of food needed to supply the US population. That claim was not really based in reality so much as a number of predictions about production costs, food costs, and backlash from invested corporations. With 100 million acres of prime US farmland being used to produce field corn, a crop that is diverted almost entirely to animal feed and ethanol pro
Want to Raise Backyard Chickens in Nation’s Capital? You’re Out of Cluck
By Baylen J. Linnekin / On May 13th, 2016
Washington, DC attorneys Allison Sheedy and Daniel McInnis share their home in the city’s Chevy Chase neighborhood with their four children. They share their large yard with Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Minnie Mouse, India, and Red, their four egg-laying hens.
Federal Judge Rules Skim Milk Isn't 'Skim Milk'
By Baylen J. Linnekin / On May 11th, 2016
This is what happens when government regulators control definitions of words.
Wealthy Investors vs. the Land, Livelihoods, and Locals
By Michael Kugelman / On April 7th, 2016
Whenever we hear about stories like these, stories of such immense exploitation and predation, there is a tendency to think: How can this happen? How can obscenely rich investors run roughshod over the land, livelihoods, and rights of impoverished local communities, and with utterly no consequences?
Seedless bananas and monocultures: a perfectly bad combination
By Andy Dyer / On March 28th, 2016
The Cavendish banana was truly fortunate to have been discovered by humans. Without our adoption, this sweet and attractive—but seedless—banana would have disappeared into the jungle long ago because, as a genetic mistake, it was doomed to be an asexual and probably short-lived anomaly. Instead, like winning the big lottery, the Cavendish became the most famous of all bananas, despite having no evolutionary future whatsoever. However, the time has come, the course has been run, and the Cavendish is now likely to disappear, but only to be replaced in the grocery display by another genetic anomaly, another as-yet-unknown seedless banana.
Saved by Soils?
By Emily Monosson / On September 3rd, 2015
This post originally appeared at Emily Monosson's blog: Evolution in a Toxic World
We live in an age of pesticide and antibiotic overuse. One outcome is resistance, increasing pesticide use and contamination and fears that we are entering the “post-antibiotic era”. We are addicted to all sorts of commercial chemicals.
How Local Food Systems Build Resilience for Turbulent Times
By Laurie Mazur / On July 6th, 2015
Consider, for a moment, that lettuce leaf on your plate. It probably traveled a long way to get there—about 1,500 miles, on average.1 In fact, your dinner has probably seen more of the world than you have: the average American meal contains ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States.2
The complex, globalized system that puts food on our plates is a technical and logistical marvel, delivering unprecedented quantities of food at historically low prices.3,4
Organic Farming Is Not Alternative Farming
By Andy Dyer / On June 16th, 2015
The Biggest Source of Plastic Trash You’ve Never Heard Of
By [node:field_contributor] / On May 14th, 2015
From acres of sheeting to miles of twine, farms use billions of pounds of plastic each year.