Climate Culture

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  • Save Bette Midler, er, Mother Nature! [VIDEO]

    I remember watching The Earth Day Special when I was 10 years old, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, with far too much enthusiasm. I had even set the VCR to tape it more than two weeks prior. I was such a nerd. Lucky for you guys, I still am, as is some other […]

    Jen Harper Culture

  • Mike Mathieu

    Art: Nat Damm Mike Mathieu Founder, Front Seat Seattle, Wash. After working at Microsoft and founding an internet publishing firm, Mike Mathieu, 41, decided to put his software smarts to work for the greater social good. Seattle-based Front Seat, which he founded and chairs, has launched “civic software” projects like Walk Score, which shows you […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Selim Sandoval

    Art: Nat Damm Selim Sandoval Founder, Growingreen Energy and EarthPlay Learning Adventures Ventura, Calif. Selim Sandoval, born in Guatemala and raised in South Central L.A., is hard at work creating green jobs in Southern California. His company Growingreen Energy installs renewable energy systems and trains workers to enter the field, while another venture, EarthPlay Learning Adventures, creates customized […]

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  • Benjamin Shute and Miriam Latzer

    Art: Nat Damm Benjamin Shute and Miriam Latzer Farmers, Hearty Roots Community Farm Tivoli, N.Y. In a shallow 2008 New York Times style-section article, Benjamin Shute was portrayed as a hipster farmer. But growing food is no trendy pastime for him and his business partner, Miriam Latzer, 35. Since 2004, they’ve run Hearty Roots Community Farm, […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr

    Art: Nat Damm Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr Founders, Architecture for Humanity Sausalito, Calif. Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, both 36, founded Architecture for Humanity in 1999 to promote architectural and design solutions to social and humanitarian crises. Their motto: “Design like you give a damn.” (That’s also the name of their book.) Since its […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Sammy Slade

    Art: Nat Damm Sammy Slade Member, Board of Aldermen Carrboro, N.C. Sammy Slade, 35, has a vision for Carrboro, N.C., a bustling, densely populated town that borders Chapel Hill. Where other people see a conventional burg with lots of single-family houses and lawns, Slade sees one big community farm for a post-oil era. Bikes, pedestrians, […]

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  • John and Julie Stehling

    Art: Nat Damm John and Julie Stehling Owners, Early Girl Eatery Asheville, N.C. In 2001, John and Julie Stehling, now 42 and 39, had a radical idea: Let’s start a restaurant that sources as much as possible from its foodshed, and let’s serve simple, diner-style fare at accessible prices. At that time, most local-minded restaurants […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Bryant Terry

    Art: Nat Damm Bryant Terry Eco-chef and Food-justice Activist Oakland, Calif. Chef and activist Bryant Terry, 36, works to make our food system just and sustainable, and, in his own words, “illuminate the intersections between poverty, structural racism, and food insecurity.” He’s reminded people of the healthy origins of African-American cuisine in Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, […]

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  • Severine von Tscharner Fleming

    Art by Nat Damm. Original photo by Anthony-Masterson. Severine von Tscharner Fleming Director and Founder, The Greenhorns Hudson Valley, N.Y. Severine von Tscharner Fleming, 28, is director of the forthcoming film The Greenhorns, about America’s young farmers, and founder of a group by the same name that recruits and supports “greenhorn” farmers. The group provides resources, puts on gatherings, hosts a […]

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  • Hai Vo

    Art: Nat Damm Hai Vo Food Activist and Farmer Davis, Calif. Five years ago, as he was about to head off to college, Hai Vo weighed in at 250 pounds. But at the University of California–Irvine, he underwent a double transformation: By embracing healthful food, he lost more than 100 pounds, and in an effort […]

    Grist staff Culture