health
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A conversation with Michael Pollan
In his 1996 book Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom, the great food anthropologist Sidney Mintz concluded that the United States had no cuisine. Interestingly, Mintz’s definition of cuisine came down to conversation. For Mintz, Americans just didn’t engage in passionate talk about food. Unlike the southwest French and their cassoulet, most Americans don’t obsess and […]
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My brush with medical reality, on a bike
My fella and I have been living a one-car life for the last year, and overall it’s going pretty well. Helps that I’m a telecommuter, and helps that we have made the choice to live near a commuter rail and a small but semi-useful downtown. I also succeeded in finding a doctor and a dentist […]
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A Grist special series on food and farming
You know where babies come from, sure — but do you know where Tater Tots come from? In this two-week series, we’ll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of your very own diet. Everybody eats, every day, but we tend to gloss over the details. Things like the work that really goes into putting food […]
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Research funded by seafood industry concludes that moms should eat fish
A group of scientists affiliated with the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) announced conclusions yesterday that new moms and moms-to-be should eat at least 12 ounces of seafood per week to encourage wee ones’ brain development. Federal agencies, which advise moms to consume no more than 12 ounces of seafood per week to […]
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Inspired by the spinach scare, new California rules could wilt small farmers
This is a guest essay by Judith Redmond, co-owner of Northern California’s legendary Full Belly Farm and president of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. California is on the verge of adopting a policy that would regulate all of the state’s salad greens-producing farms — including ones that sell to a local market — as […]
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Umbra on household help and homemade cleansers
Dear Umbra, I recently moved in with my investment-banker boyfriend. So far, my efforts to teach him to have more fun with less stuff have been largely successful; however, I’ve hit a roadblock when it comes to his cleaning lady. My first question, Umbra, is this: what are the social and ecological implications of hiring […]
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Thoughts on surviving life after Brood Awakenings
The perfect ending is a gorgeous thing, all the loose ends neatly knotted, all the confusion gone. It’s a motionless bird on a wire — calm, brightly plumed, contented, with no need to fly off or find a worm or do anything but sit in the sun and enjoy the day. Illustration: Keri Rosebraugh If […]
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On climate nightmares, the Ursula problem, and planning ahead
A couple of weeks ago, Wroth — as we affectionately call our story editor and chief punster — gave me a call. “Sonja, I’d like some pictures of your kids for our parenting series slideshow.” Not skipping a beat, I replied, “Piercings and all?” I wasn’t sure my two teenagers quite fit […]
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Be kind to your parents
The parenting series ends today. Which might mean the Pete Seeger song will stop going through my head (“Be kind to your parents, though they don’t deserve it. Remember that parenthood is a difficult stage of life …”). Or not. We heard from a lot of you during the past two weeks, and we know […]
