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This one here is a good laugh for all of us who may or may not be the black sheep of the family. (My grandma clipped the above cartoon out of the New Yorker and promptly sent it to me without any card when I started farming six years ago. I like to think she was smiling […]

The little pond the keeps on giving, what we can learn about climate change from Walden 163 years after Thoreau.

The case for regenerative farming over industrial farming.

A lesson in keystone species and biodiversity. When wolves are reintroduced to Yellowstone, incredible changes occur.

This seems like a combo we could use more of: according to Ecowatch, "this hospital prescribes fresh food from its own organic farm." The reporting in the linked article accurately articulates a move we hope to see more of in Western Medicine: a holistic approach that recognizes patients as members of large societal systems in […]

With a Trump administration looming in 2017, the best course of action for progressives and left-leaning individuals in this country may be at the local level. Although Trump grabbed headlines with an anti-globalization platform, proponents of localism are understandably skeptical of his motives, especially considering his recent cabinet appointees. Enter Richard Heinberg's recent article at resilience.org. […]

Thanks be to High Country News for this latest piece that brings us back to a much-needed review of the ins-and-outs of our representative federal form of government as they relate to the latest events at Standing Rock. Have you found yourself wondering over the past few months, how did we get here, why can this happen […]

Coverage of The New Farmer's Almanac on Takepart: The Greenhorns, a nonprofit dedicated to young agrarians, is updating one of America’s oldest ag publications. (Photo: Getty Images) Long before Martha Stewart printed her seasonal gardening chores on the first pages in each issue of Martha Stewart Living, The Old Farmer’s Almanac outlined the farm-related tasks […]

You may have missed this in the swamp of election news last week: In These Times published this excellent run-down of Agrarian Trust, the recent symposium, and the land use problems that challenge regional food systems. “Increasingly, communities recognize that a regional farm economy is more responsive, adaptive, resilient and culturally satisfying,” says von Tscharner Fleming. “We want more […]

Every other Tuesday, High Country News's Laura Jean Schneider publishes a new essay on her experience as new cattle rancher in New Mexico. In her pieces, we've found the most compassionate and insightful commentary on the Malheur Occupation to date, well-articulated thoughts on "The Era of the Landless Agrarian," and scores of compelling personal insights. Schneider and her […]

Oh man, we just love this: Seven Lessons for Leaders in Systems Change. Great for educators, activists, community leaders, farmers, and-- generally-- everyone who gives a damn. Here's a taste, but please click-through to read the full piece at at the Center for Ecoliteracy. Lesson #1:  To promote systems change, foster community and cultivate networks. […]

This recently made its way into the Greenhorns inbox, and boy! Doesn't it just hit home for all of us? We love this! And we think that you'll enjoy it too. The author, Jeffery Davis, is a consultant, speaker, and author of the poetry collection Coat Thief  (Saint Julian Press) and The Journey from the Center of the […]

I know there are some serious DYIers in the audience-- and I bet that if I were to draw a ven diagram with DIY folks in one circle and who would rather walk around naked than put chemical dyes close to their skin, those two circles might just have some overlap... Those in this middle area of […]

http://www.the-scientist.com/images/News/January2014/310_Ichip.jpg Many of the most widely used antibiotics have come out of the dirt. Penicillin came from Penicillium, a fungus found in soil, and vancomycin came from a bacterium found in dirt. Last year, researchers from Northeastern University and NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals and their colleagues identified a new Gram-positive bacteria-targeting antibiotic from a soil sample collected […]

In a recent ECONOMIST article, the future of agriculture is controlled by computers, genetic manipulation, big data, and the assumption that we humans know what is going on with soil-plant relationships (*sarcasm*). This article reads scarily of science fiction. http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/external/tq2016/images/tq2.jpg "Farms, then, are becoming more like factories: tightly controlled operations for turning out reliable products, […]

Photo by Preston Schlebusch for The New York Times  STONE RIDGE, N.Y. — Apple trees have blossomed, and soon fruit will begin emerging at Elizabeth Ryan’s orchard in the Hudson Valley. Before long, her harvest will head south to Manhattan, where Miro Uskokovic, the pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, will use it to create an […]

“We have the wrong world view here in the West, the idea of unlimited expansion, and it just doesn’t work,” she says. “I think land-based people who generally live on a small scale know that there’s a limited good. The basic idea is that shortages are shared.” -Sylvia Rodriguez, professor emerita of anthropology at UNM Photo credit […]

Where you live should not determine how long you live. New research shows it does. Americans have enjoyed increasingly longer lives over time. Advances in medicine, a decline in fatal car accidents, and falling violent crime rates mean we are living longer. But new research shows a reversal of this trend for some. If you are […]

The EDDYs celebrates editorial excellence among nearly 90 publishers of Edible Communities covering the local food landscape across the US and Canada. A panel of 50+ esteemed judges selected the finalists, and now it's up to you to pick the Readers’ Choice winners.  Vote daily in each category through June 8! To vote, Click HERE!

"Does Food Tech Help Farmers?,"was the central question of a Civil Eats article from last week. Reporter Dave Holt spoke to several small scale CSA and market farmers about their experience with the recent glut of internet startups-- from Farmdingo to Good Eggs-- asking mainly if e-commerce was good for business. Some farmers said yes, […]

"Back in 2010, the city of Toronto (in Ontario, Canada) decided to launch a program that converts old unused metro buses into mobile grocery stores called Mobile Good Food Markets, and ever since, they've been traveling across the Toronto metropolitan area selling affordable fresh food. They have been especially successful (and helpful) in low income […]

We tend to take it for granted that nature—being basic to everything—is the place to begin when we try to understand regional economies. The given natural attributes of a region certainly do explain much about subsistence economies: why some people eat seals and caribou while others eat dates and goats; why herders in some places […]

  Emily Melvin has been selected as a finalist in the BARBRI Law Preview “ONE LAWYER CAN CHANGE THE WORLD” $10K scholarship opportunity.Only 20 future law students made it to the final round, and she was one of them. She wrote an essay about “How you hope to use your law degree to change our […]

Based in Beit Shemesh, Israel, Growing Greens is a blog by Binyamin Klempner. His posts explore Urban Agriculture, religious thought, and social justice through photos and essays.

We are so proud of this awesome collaboration. If you've been wondering how a maritime art stunt fits into the mission of an organization that supports farmers (I mean, talk about your landlubbers!), this publication is for you! Manifesta lays out the story, history, discourse, and activism behind the Maine Sail Freight project last summer! The un-monograph is a […]

New York's Newest Urban Farm Will Float Down The Hudson River New York City's newest urban farm will look a little different from most: instead of factory-like rows of plants growing in a warehouse, it will be a lush, natural-looking food forest that floats down the Hudson River in a barge. As it docks at […]

Greenhorns blogger Eliza Greenman is featured on NPR, the Weather Channel and Food&Wine this week in regards to her work on #eatuglyapples! Food&Wine: Bruised and scabbed apples have more antioxidants and sugars because they've fought off natural stressors. Grocery shoppers don't generally make a beeline to the scabbed and blemished apples. But maybe they should. […]

This week from the Huffington Post: "Millenial Farmers Fight an Uphill Battle. It's Time to Support Them." Probably nothing in the article is going to be groundbreaking for the greenhorns audience, but it's always nice to feel validated... and, possibly, to email the source of that validation to you parents.   Plus there are some great quotes […]

This great graphic and the following analysis is taken from Dave Pratt a really on-point blog post over at the Ranching for Profit blog about having boundaries between your home life and work life. We think it'll resonate with a lot of farmers and farm workers out there. Read the whole post! If you scored more […]

John Collins Food, safety, modernization—all good words. But the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) President Obama signed into law in 2011—giving the Food and Drug Administration new authority to regulate how food is grown, harvested and processed (i.e. produced)—places costly burdens on the small farmers who can least afford them. What is the FSMA? Prior […]

http://rsc.d-p-h.info/photos/PaysanDrapeau.jpg Sebastian Betancourt The history, philosophy, principles and methodology One of the lessons learnt by the Brazilian Landless Peoples’ Movement (MST) is that the claim to land is only meaningful if it is linked to all human and social rights, including the right to education. Starting in 1987, the MST therefore developed a specific strand […]

Food activism is core to the contemporary study of food - there are numerous foodscapes which exist within the umbrella definition of food activism from farmer's markets, organic food movements to Fair Trade. This highly original book focuses on one key emerging foodscape dominating the Italian alternative food network (AFN) scene: GAS (gruppi di acquisto […]

Nooooooo! Even the Germans, with their purity laws, are sipping the sweet swill of glyphosate in their beloved beers... Fourteen beers popular in Germany contain traces of glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer, a Munich, Germany environmental group has said. Agriculture Minister Schmidt has played down the risk for consumers. The highest glyphosate […]

While we're on the subject of oil, this past Sunday, the New York Times magazine re-ran Sebastiao Salgado's 1991 photo documentary of the burning of Saudi oil fields. And, holy crap, they are, without doubt or exaggeration, some of the most stunning photographs ever taken, highlighting both the unequivocal devastation of war and the abject threat posed by […]

"The Fish That Ate the Whale" is the fourth book on the banana barons to be published in English in the past five years, and even interested readers may by now be suffering banana fatigue. The industry developed in the final quarter of the 19th century as adventuresome Bostonians figured out how to get bananas […]

In the Spring of 1962, The New Yorker published Rachel Carson’s anti-pesticide manifesto, Silent Spring, in three installments. Carson’s message quickly transcended the magazine’s readership, eliciting a national response that would eventually lead to a federal ban on DDT for agricultural use and the creation of the EPA. In honor of Carson’s legacy and Women’s […]

Audiovox is an open source, volunteer-run podcast/audiobook service. People can sign up to read their favorite books in the public domain and anyone can listen for free! Check them out HERE!

Check out this timeline (found HERE) from the center for new economics. It's great!

Common mistakes made in social justice conversations and how to correct them. March 18, 2016, Yes Magazine By: Cody Charles Well-intentioned people make mistakes, lots of them. Mistakes must be expected and being held accountable has to be expected as well. The points below outline some of the common behaviors that show up often in […]

http://www.adkfigs.com/uploads/2/4/4/8/24482582/775342_orig.jpg The use of silvopasture systems on farms in the Northeastern United States has never been documented. Our objective was to gather baseline data to describe silvopasture practices and perspectives in the Northeastern United States. To accomplish this, we investigated the structure, management of, and reasons for use of silvopastures in New York state and […]