Articles
These Montana ranchers are helping grizzlies, wolves and cattle coexist. Ensia. Range riders test novel strategies for keeping herds safe in the presence of threatened predators.
One of America's Biggest Food Banks Just Cut Junk Food by 84 Percent. NPR. A year ago, Washington D.C.'s Capital Area Food Bank decided to turn away junk food.
29 States Just Banned Laws About Seeds. Mother Jones. More than two dozen states have passed “seed-preemption laws” designed to block counties and cities from adopting their own rules on the use of seeds, including bans on GMOs.
NAFTA's 'Broken Promises': These Farmers Say They Got The Raw End Of Trade Deal. NPR's The Salt. Farmers bruised by NAFTA think it has favored agribusiness over small-scale farms.
How A Wild Berry Is Helping To Protect China's Giant Pandas And Its Countryside. NPR's The Salt. The schisandra berry is at the center of a dramatic new approach to conservation.
Bears Ears Monument Is A Win For Tribal Food Sovereignty. Will Trump Undo It? NPR's The Salt. Tribes called for a national monument to protect a landscape where they've gathered for for millennia. But what will happen under Trump?
Want to Start a New American Homestead? There's a School for That. Civil Eats. Forget law school. Sterling College teaches students how to steer a plow and ferment sauerkraut.
Before steroids, Russians secretly studied herbs. National Geographic. This Siberian plant was researched as a potential miracle-drug for Russia's Olympians and soldiers.
Seven ways climate change could kill you (really). The Guardian. Climate change is as bad for our health as it is for the planet's.
Death of a Family Farm. Fast Company. When things go wrong in a family business, they go really wrong.
Forget Tofurkey: Here's a New Batch of Meat Alternatives. Civil Eats. Veganism goes artisanal, with tuna made from tomatoes and wheat-based chorizo.
Want to Be an Artisan Cheesemaker. Here's where to start. Civil Eats. Warning: You better like dishsoap as much as lactose.
The Mother Orchard Project: A Gold Rush of Heirloom Fruit. Civil Eats. Can these stalwart old trees outside Nevada City, CA be the cure to what ails commercial fruit farming?
American Gaythic: LGBT Farmers Gain Visibility. Civil Eats. The national Rural Pride Campaign brings queer agrarians into the conversation about LGBT rights.
"Plan Global, Eat Local: U.C.'s Food Initiative Starts on Campus." Civil Eats. Dining Halls and Campus Farms under the U.C. Global Food Initiative.
"Grower Social: The Farmer's Guild" Civil Eats. Looking for a tractor — or a date? The Farmer's Guild is the "it" destination for agrarian socializing.
"The Good Meat Club: The Butcher's Guild." Civil Eats. A profile of the 200+ meat slingers who make up the bad ass membership of the Butcher's Guild.
"The Love Lives of Rural Farmers: How to Make Rural Romance Work." Civil Eats. Six months of talking to farmers about marriage and dating.
"Terra Firma: A Film about Women, War, and Healing on the Farm." Civil Eats. This new documentary is not another story about "messed up vets."
"Women-Run Meat Co-op Bands Ranchers Together." Civil Eats. Four female ranchers in Yolo County, CA challenge the assumption that going at it alone is always better.
"Organic Dairy Farmers Hit Hard by Drought." Medium.com (with FERN). CA's drought forces some farmers to give up their organic certification.
MUSINGS
I talk farmer romance with radio show host Michael Olson on the Food Chain.