Last week, I attended an event at New York City's famous James Beard House that took me back to Yellowstone National Park.

Around this time last summer, I was on a tour boat on Lake Yellowstone with my family, where we learned that lake trout, a non-native species introduced...

Update: Just before today's scheduled rally, CFA supporters got word that the beloved school will remain open as a charter school. Congratulations to Miss Andrews, Nicole Conoway and all the students and supporters. More info here.

Once one of the wealthiest cities in the nation, today Detroit is...

Originally published at Ecocentric, as part of the Our Heroes series.

Like many of the women I admire most, Joan Gussow has a bit of an edge to her. One gets the impression that she doesn't gladly suffer fools. But as an avid gardener and longtime...

A few weeks ago, when President Obama gave his State of the Union Address, food issue analysts and activists livetweeted the event, hungry for a few crumbs by which to make out the President's thoughts on the state of food policy. The crumbs were few and far between and...

Originally published at Ecocentric.

Sustainable food advocates are still watching with bated breath to see whether the Food and Drug Administration will really push through the approval of AquAdvantage, a transgenic (read: genetically engineered) salmon for human consumption. Although industry - and the FDA, apparently - would have...

Originally published at Ecocentric.

Two weeks ago, my coworker Karen and I left the office a little early and walked across Manhattan to the Trader Joe's store in Chelsea, where a small group had gathered making signs and chatting. Among them were members of the...

Originally published at Ecocentric.

Let's try something. Picture for a moment, dear reader, a farmer. It doesn't have to be a farmer you know, assuming you are lucky enough to know a farmer. It could be a farmer you've seen on television, in a movie or read...

Originally published at Ecocentric.

Not many people would actually choose to get near a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO). In fact, lots of people spend lots of time trying to prevent such outfits from being built in their communities. But last fall, I jumped at the opportunity to...

Originally published at Ecocentric.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Eating local food is patriotic.

The nation seems to grow ever more deeply divided about what that means, especially this last year, with the tea partiers insisting that the so-called liberal elite are not patriotic...

Grown in Detroit screens tomorrow at 2:30 pm at the AFSCME Building (600 Lafayette) at the US Social Forum in Detroit, and at the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival this week. The USSF screening will be followed by a question-and-answer period with filmmakers Mascha and Manfred Poppenk, Catherine Ferguson...

Is it just me, or have the days since the Deepwater Horizon explosion blew a hole into a pipe deep in the Gulf of Mexico, a catastrophe that has since been confirmed the worst oil spill in US history, played out like an extra dark episode of that Amy...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

It's hard to believe it's been two years since we launched The Green Fork but there it is, 473 blog posts later. Two years ago today we...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

A while back, a friend posted on his Facebook profile that he was excited to embark on his yearly attempt to outshine his suburban neighbors with the lushness of his lawn. I pictured my friend pouring resources, including time, into the project....

Originally published on The Green Fork.

Monday, The New York Times' Charles Duhigg wrote about the Environmental Protection Agency's World Water Day announcement that it would monitor more chemicals (including the pesticide atrazine, rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate, copper, arsenic and lead - all...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

I've been working on a broad range of food and environmental issues since 2005, but food politics became especially personal for me came a few years ago, when I was helping a field producer for a popular comedy show...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

Today, Civil Eats editor Paula Crossfield sent word that Food, Inc. has officially earned itself an Oscar nomination. This is no major surprise -- it's an amazing film that caught fire upon release and is still burning bright,...

Last week, when a few news organizations ran away with the (non)-story of a "Danish text" supposedly leaked last week in Copenhagen that gave excess leniency to rich nations and too little support to poor ones, it was met with anguish by many, but not so much with...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

In one Brooklyn community, neighborhood residents are fighting to keep their farm. Bed-Stuy Farm, once a neighborhood garbage dump, was transformed into an urban oasis that produces over 7,000 lbs of fresh food every year, helping feed more than 4,000 people a...

Originally published on The Green Fork.

I must confess that before I traveled to Iowa earlier this month, I had rubbed elbows with quite a few farmers, but by and large, they were not typical. Many of them were organic producers. Many were young. Probably a statistically disproportionate number...

Earlier this week, the NY Times Freakonomics blog ran a guest post by author and historian James McWilliams, in which he attempts to weaken the case that the Times made in August regarding farmers' markets: namely, that they strengthen communities.

Before I start boring you with...