Climate Food and Agriculture

All Stories

  • Three-acre organic farm appears in the middle of New York Harbor

    Could. Not. Resist. From NYT’s City Room Blog: The sustainable garden with the most exclusive real estate in Washington is no doubt the one at the White House. The sustainable farm with the most exclusive view in New York City is the one that opened on Governors Island last week. Oh. Yeah. Governors Island is […]

    Tom Laskawy Food

  • In which I go toe to toe with H. Clinton’s science czar over GMOs

    Seed blinded me with science. The questions were shamelessly loaded: Why do many environmentalists trust science when it comes to climate change but not when it comes to genetic engineering? Is the fear really about the technology itself or is it a mistrust of big agribusiness? When do you plan to stop beating your wife, […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Stand up for rural America while you still can

    The assault on rural America continues unabated. For the past six months dairy farmers across the country have suffered a historic drop in milk prices while operating costs remain high. Since December 2008, the price that farmers are paid for the milk they produce has plunged over 50 percent, the largest single drop since the […]

    Dave Murphy Food

  • NYC sends veggie carts to underserved areas — and they’re a hit

    New York City took a baby step recently towards a state role in distributing healthy food. It significantly expanded a program to bring fruit and vegetable “carts” to low-income neighborhoods that lack good food options — so-called “food deserts.” And if the early response as reported by the NYT is any indication, the program looks […]

    Tom Laskawy Food

  • Coleman’s elegant year-round vegetable production blueprint

    The June National Geographic features a story The End of Plenty which starts off saying that even though humans produced a record amount of grain last year, we still had to dip into stockpiles from past years to feed ourselves. Sobering stuff. But then for solutions it goes deep on the same tired green revolution […]

    Erik Hoffner Food

  • Time to save our nation’s dairy farmers

    This post orginally appeared on The Ethicurean. ——————— Did you see that movie Flash of Genius? It follows the unlucky Robert Kearns, played by Greg Kinnear, as he spends his life (and his savings) perfecting the intermittent windshield wiper, only to have his idea snared and used without credit by the Ford Motor Company. He […]

    Elanor Starmer Food

  • Food safety: How local can you go?

    Photo: Beth RankinThe Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (FSEA) draft, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Waxman on May 26, 2009 and is expected to move quickly through the House.  Consumers, farmers, and manufacturers alike all appear to be for a food safety bill, so the question is not whether a […]

    Robynn Shrader Food

  • Globesity: How climate change and obesity draw from the same roots

    Photo illustration by Tom Twigg/GristYou’ve heard all the reasons before: We drive too much. We eat too much meat and processed food. We spend too much time with plugged-in devices—computers, TVs, air conditioners. But what problem are we talking about–climate change, or the worldwide rise in obesity? Both, according to Globesity: A Planet Out of […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Climate & Energy

  • When it comes to food, we’re all in this together

    Declarations of sovereignty and independence are not uncommon as rites of passage both for countries and teenagers. But what we typically see and what we experience is altogether different, both at home and in the world. Dependency and interdependency are the norm, whether we look at human relations, commerce, or biology. As the conservationist John […]

    Cary Fowler Food

  • A climate policy for agriculture that works

    A proven climate solution. Not since Earl Butz’s famous “hedgerow to hedgerow” comment of the 1970s have America’s farmers been at such a turning point. Food and farming policy in the United States is largely determined by the Farm Bill, behemoth legislation that comes around once every five years.  Yet, the current climate legislation–The American […]

    Meredith Niles Climate & Energy