Latest Articles
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Americans eat more processed food than, well, anyone
The New York Times had a small article and a big graphic recently on America’s love affair with processed, packaged food: Americans eat 31 percent more packaged food than fresh food, and they consume more packaged food per person than their counterparts in nearly all other countries. A sizable part of the American diet is […]
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Imaginary, underwater subway lines are always the most convenient route
Transit Authority FiguresFor publicly transitive folks like myself, why does it seem that the fastest way between two points is an imaginary subway line? And a watery one, to boot! If I were an East Coaster, I’d definitely submerse myself in these non-existent, though wish-listily handy transit routes, even if their actual construction would be […]
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Larry Summers serves up compelling economic case for comprehensive energy and climate legislation
Larry Summers, the Director of the National Economic Council, used his luncheon speech at today’s Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook Conference to lay out a compelling case for comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The text of his remarks should be posted on the conference website soon and will be worth a read as he […]
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Haiti, U.S. ag policy reform, and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton speaks at the UN. What lessons has he learned about agriculture? Photo: United Nations Development ProgrammeWhat have Haiti’s recent calamities taught U.S. decision makers about foreign policy with regard to agriculture? Haiti imports nearly half of the food consumed there–and 80 percent of its rice, the national staple. In the past two years, […]
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Making my neighborhood more walkable, sociable, sustainable, and safe
This weekend, I wrote a somewhat abstract post about how America’s built spaces prevent many Americans from connecting with the supportive social networks essential to health and happiness. Let’s zoom from the lofty down to the concrete. Let’s talk about my neighborhood. I live in the Bitter Lake area of Seattle. (In the early 20th […]
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Farm saved by community featured on CNN
In “Chewing the Scenery,” we round up interesting food-related video from around the Web. ——— Back in November, Grist’s own Bonnie Powell wrote a piece for the Ethicurean about the plight of Soul Food Farm, a Bay Area farm destroyed by a wildfire: Around 1:30 a.m. on the night of September 3, engineer-turned-chicken farmer Eric […]
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Why even the childless should care about school lunch
PB&J as metaphor: a subsidized lunch served in an Illinois school. Photo: Mrs. Q Regular readers will have noticed a certain emphasis on school lunch in the Grist food section lately. Veteran journalist Ed Bruske has been doing superb on-the-ground reporting on the topic; I’ve been obsessing about the anonymous teacher blogger Mrs. Q, and […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: Is eating animals eating you?
Dearest readers, Great thread yesterday on the varying viewpoints surrounding issues of independence, financial culpability, the 9-to-5 rat race, and being possessed by our possessions—all inspired by Dolly Freed’s Possum Living circa 1978. For today’s starting point, I thought we’d delve into the blood and guts—literally—as in raising, killing, cleaning, and eating your own meat […]
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America’s most bike-friendly cities and big green pledges
Bicycling Magazine released its annual list of America’s most bike-friendly cities today, and Grist’s hometown Seattle comes in at No. 4. Great, right? Well, sort of: The mag bases its praise on the city’s 10-year, $240-million bike master plan, which is intended to triple the number of journeys made by bike and add 450 miles […]
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Fire ants, poison ivy, deer ticks: Global warming’s big winners
HEAR the buzz of dread! FEEL the rash of terror! SEE the creatures of despair! WATCH … They Came From Climate Change! The National Wildlife Federation created the Climate Invaders report & accompanying video to bring attention to a very real problem — global warming is giving a boost to some very unsavory critters, helping […]
