Tag: <span>agriculture</span>

A legacy of waste, a lifetime on our plates: “Forever chemicals” in the food system

Springtime in Maine is a beautiful thing. The morning air still holds the chill of winter. The faint scent of green and growing life tiptoes around your nose, suddenly bursting into fullness where a patch of afternoon sun has warmed a budding tree branch. When I lived there, I loved …

Silvopasture: Happier Animals, Happier Ecosystem!

Pictured here are two groups of relatively similar cattle who are experiencing drastically different living situations. Briefly imagine life as one of the cows pictured here—where would you rather be living? If you are a beef-consuming individual, which of these sets of cows would you rather eat, or drink milk …

Seeding a Revolution: Sovereignty and Connection in the Food System

“Seeds are living things…intimately connected and intertwined with story, and lineage and place and people”  – Rowan White, Sierra Seeds Can you remember the last time you held a seed? We all have ancestors who carried seeds, yet today we have little relationship with the food we eat and the …

What Can I Do About the Palm Oil In My Food?

  Have you ever been grocery shopping when you were in a rush or hungry–or both? When that happens, we tend to throw items in our cart quickly, without checking their ingredients. We can end up buying items that contain ingredients that we’d typically try to avoid. Palm oil is …

Farms, Food Pantries, and Food Policy: Internship Lessons

My internship with Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County’s (CCEOC) Gleaning Program came to a close at the end of December. In the five months I spent working for the Glean Team, I learned A LOT about the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that grow here in the Hudson Valley. …

Biblical Practice Serves Modern Needs

“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow…” –Deuteronomy 24:19-21 With 40 million Americans currently dealing with food insecurity and 30-40% …

Living at Sophia Farm Community: Farming and Learning

By Yuxuan Zhan This May, I was fortunate enough to be selected to participate in the Bard-Japan Farm Exchange program in Honbetsu, Hokkaido, Japan and receive a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. As a student currently studying Philosophy and Music, I never thought that I would have the opportunity …

Influential Fijian Women, Coconuts, and Me

In the South Pacific, it’s no surprise that coconuts are a big deal. Their usage is endless!–from a building material, to a source of healthy fat, to handmade virgin coconut oil that is used to prevent the spread of common skin disease such as scabies.   The complimentary phrase “vanka …

A Changing Scene for New York Wine and Cider

Where are your Malbecs? I don’t know anything about wine, but I know I like “Sancerre”s. I cut my teeth in the beverage industry in 2014, working part time at a small wine and spirits shop.  Over the years, my colleagues and I have worked hard to expand palates and …

Balancing the greenhouse gas emissions budget: it’s not just carbon!–by Emma Elbaum

Imagine, for a moment, a seesaw. On one side, put volcanoes, fires, and decomposing plants. On the other side, put trees, oceans, crops, and gardens. This seesaw represents how carbon dioxide enters and leaves the atmosphere. Trees, oceans, soil, and living organisms remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, …