Climate Food and Agriculture

The Counter
Amelia K. Bates / Grist
Special Series

Climate + Food and Agriculture

EDITOR’S NOTE

Grist has acquired the archive and brand assets of The Counter, a decorated nonprofit food and agriculture publication that we long admired, but that sadly ceased publishing in May of 2022.

The Counter had hit on a rich vein to report on, and we’re excited to not only ensure the work of the staffers and contractors of that publication is available for posterity, but to build on it. So we’re relaunching The Counter as a food and agriculture vertical within Grist, continuing their smart and provocative reporting on food systems, specifically where it intersects with climate and environmental issues. We’ve also hired two amazing new reporters to make our plan a reality.

Being back on the food and agriculture beat in a big way is critical to Grist’s mission to lead the conversation, highlight climate solutions, and uncover environmental injustices. What we eat and how it’s produced is one of the easiest entry points into the wider climate conversation. And from this point of view, climate change literally transforms into a kitchen table issue.

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Featured

Grist / Eva Marie Uzcategui / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Getty Images
Grist / Eva Marie Uzcategui / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Getty Images

The people who feed America are going hungry

Climate change is escalating a national crisis, leaving farmworkers with empty plates and mounting costs.

Ayurella Horn-Muller Staff Writer

Latest Articles

  • A view into the U.S. diet

    The above chart, created by the USDA, compares the food consumed by the average U.S. citizen (using “loss-adjusted food availability” data as a proxy for consumption) to Federal dietary recommendations. In other words, what Americans eat vs. what the federal government thinks we should be eating. According to this analysis, we eat something like 30 […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • How to Annoy PETA and Monsanto, Part 2 of our Interview with Food, Inc Director (VIDEO)

    Robert Kenner may have annoyed Monsanto and the others in the food industry, but you may be surprised why PETA hates him. Kenner discusses who’s attacking him now in this interview with Planet Forward. How do you reduce food’s carbon footprint? The production, transportation and sale of food requires millions of barrels of oil and […]

    Frank Sesno Food

  • With a bit more cash and lots of ingenuity, school lunches could be much better

    Chef Allison Sosna: doing it right for the kids. This is the second of three articles detailing how food made from scratch using local ingredients is served to students at the Washington Jesuit Academy in Northeast Washington, D.C. The first is here. Allison Sosna is a young chef who fell in love with local produce. She remembers […]

    Ed Bruske Food

  • Why you should be afraid of huge cow manure bubbles

    Jessica Mullen via FlickrBecause if they explode (or are intentionally popped by dairy-bubble party poopers), you could be shit-out-of-muck, like this Indiana farmer. His dairy operation’s waste management system is suffering from indigestion the size of small houses. And while he plans to Pepto-Bismol the situation with a gas mask, a boat, and a pocket […]

    Ashley Braun Food

  • In a D.C. school, the simple power of a good breakfast

    This is the first of three articles on how food made from scratch using local ingredients is served to the students and staff at Washington Jesuit Academy, a free-tuition private school for at-risk kids. Duane Drake, head chef at Washington Jesuit Academy. Chef Duane Drake lines a dozen pie shells on sheet pans and begins […]

    Ed Bruske Food

  • The NYT highlights a key food-system gap: infrastucture

    When you’ve been in the trenches writing about a problem for a while, it’s good to see it finally getting traction in media and policy circles. That’s why I was thrilled to see Sunday’s New York Times piece on how a shortage of infrastructure is hampering the growth of local and regional food production. If […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Have Jesus’ disciples been overeating?

    Leonardo da Vinci’s 1498 painting of The Last Supper.Photo: Drewwiki via Wikimedia Commons In a strange study published this week by the International Journal of Obesity, professors found that portion sizes in artistic renditions of The Last Supper increased dramatically in the past 1,000 years, the L.A. Times reports. The study, conducted by brothers Brian […]

    Tyler Falk Food

  • Food, Inc Director says "It's not just about food, it's about our right to know" (VIDEO)

    Robert Kenner’s documentary about the industrialization of food got a plug from Oprah, was nominated for “Best Documentary” in this year’s Academy Awards and has its PBS premier on April 21st. He came to the Planet Forward studios to respond to questions posed by our members, including a fifth generation family farmer who’s intimately aware […]

    Frank Sesno Food

  • The health-care act requires calorie labeling at fast-food joints

      From Marion Nestle: The impossibly impenetrable health care bill that just passed the House has one little piece of good news buried in it: national calorie labeling. The provision covers chains with 20 outlets throughout the country and is supposed to go into effect in a year or so.  It also covers vending machines!  […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Halting tropical deforestation is in the U.S. interest

    Click to enlarge. “Want to Protect Farms and Ranches Here? Protect them there. Ending deforestation in the tropics isn’t just some tree-hugger’s cause.” Those are the opening lines of a new advertisement campaign run by the Ohio Corn Growers Association and Avoided Deforestation Partners which stresses the need to protect tropical forests in order to […]

    Jake Schmidt Climate & Energy