Climate Food and Agriculture
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.
Featured
The people who feed America are going hungry
Climate change is escalating a national crisis, leaving farmworkers with empty plates and mounting costs.
Latest Articles
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![The Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell]()
![The Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell]()
As Lake Powell dries up, the US turns to creative accounting for a short-term fix
A new agreement calls for Western states to leave their drinking water in the reservoir — and act as if they didn't.
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![An aerial view of the AltEn facility, surrounded by green fields.]()
![An aerial view of the AltEn facility, surrounded by green fields.]()
How a Nebraska ethanol plant turned seeds into toxic waste
State regulators shuttered the AltEn plant in 2021 after years of environmental violations. Residents are just beginning to grapple with its toxic legacy.
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![A man walks toward a solar panel in Illinois.]()
![A man walks toward a solar panel in Illinois.]()
As utility-scale renewables expand, some Midwest farmers are pushing back
Rural communities are concerned about losing agricultural land in a region long-defined by its farming roots.
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![A tank of produced water used for farming. For decades, Kern County has used oil field wastewater, known as]()
![A tank of produced water used for farming. For decades, Kern County has used oil field wastewater, known as]()
A California water board assured the public that oil wastewater is safe for irrigation. Experts say evidence is flimsy.
Studies in Kern County, performed by oil industry consultants, cannot answer fundamental safety questions about irrigating crops with “produced water,” the board’s own panel of experts conceded.
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![Silhouette of Michigan with mining photo and ocean surface on top]()
![Silhouette of Michigan with mining photo and ocean surface on top]()
The country’s largest potash mine is coming to Michigan. Here’s why locals are worried.
The war in Ukraine has the U.S. looking for fertilizer at home. But at what cost?
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![A field of corn in front of an ethanol plant in Illinois.]()
![A field of corn in front of an ethanol plant in Illinois.]()
Midwestern lawmakers are trying to replace Russian oil with ethanol
Advocates of increased ethanol sales argue that it could lower fuel prices and help the climate. Both counts are hotly contested.
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![Saguaros are seen in the Hummingbird Springs Wilderness Area on Bureau of Land Management land on January 31, 2021 in Quartzsite, Arizona.]()
![Saguaros are seen in the Hummingbird Springs Wilderness Area on Bureau of Land Management land on January 31, 2021 in Quartzsite, Arizona.]()
There are millions of acres of ‘failing’ rangelands, data shows
54 million acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management aren’t meeting the agency’s own land-health standards.
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Peak cherry blossom season in Washington, D.C. is early again
The harbinger of spring brings joy, but also growing unease over climate change
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![A BQ-100 Beechcraft aircraft fitted with canisters containing Silver Iodide, Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride on its wings takes off during the cloud seeding experiment Project Varshadhari at Jakkur Airport in the Indian city of Bangalore on August 21, 2017.]()
![A BQ-100 Beechcraft aircraft fitted with canisters containing Silver Iodide, Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride on its wings takes off during the cloud seeding experiment Project Varshadhari at Jakkur Airport in the Indian city of Bangalore on August 21, 2017.]()
Can cloud seeding help quench the thirst of the US West?
In the midst of a historic megadrought, states in the American West are embracing cloud seeding to increase snow and rainfall.
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![Two men in white hazmat suits water a bare plot of soil.]()
![Two men in white hazmat suits water a bare plot of soil.]()
A tribe in Maine is using hemp to remove ‘forever chemicals’ from the soil
Can it work for PFAS-contaminated farms?
