Civil Eats
Featured Writers
Amy Mayer
Reporter, producer, writer, editorA teary-eyed farmer recalls his family's struggle to hold onto the farm in the 1980s. A biologist, disguised to hide her humanity, provides nutrition to an abandoned …
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Stephen Nett
Nonfiction writer, author and journalist, naturalist, photographer, public speaker and science editor.
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Nicole Rasul
I am a freelance writer and researcher with a background in public policy. My work covering in-depth policy analyses, news, profiles, Q&As; and general features on food, culture and the …
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Latest Articles
A US Court Found Chiquita Guilty of Murder in Colombia. What Does the Ruling Mean for Other U.S. Food Corporations Abroad?
There is no justice for the families of massacred banana workers in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Their deaths are only remembered by the massacre’s sole survivor, José Arcadio Segundo, who spends the rest of his life trying to convince others in his town of what he …
Oral History Project Preserves Black and Indigenous Food Traditions
U.C. Santa Barbara researcher Nivedita Biyani believes solutions start with the right data. A new tool uses machine learning to estimate how different policy interventions can reduce plastic pollution through 2050.
A Florida Immigration Law Is Turning Farm Towns Into ‘Ghost Towns’
Florida is one of a growing number of states threatening to use E-Verify as a way to intimidate and control farmworkers. As farmers face worker shortages and farm communities lose residents, are GOP lawmakers shooting themselves in the foot?
Nighttime Harvests Protect Farmworkers From Extreme Heat, but Bring Other Risks
Farmworkers are laboring in the dark more often due to climate change. Experts say more data, and more protections against new risks are needed.
How Crop Insurance Prevents Some Farmers From Adapting to Climate Change
The Federal Crop Insurance Program helps steer the direction of U.S. agriculture. But advocates and farmers say its policies have often failed to benefit the most climate-adaptive farms—and penalizes farmers for adopting some climate-friendly strategies.
A New Podcast Takes on Sugar Subsidies in the Farm Bill
Host Celeste Headlee wants the public to understand how decades-old subsidies for sugar companies benefit billionaires at the expense of the environment, farmworkers, and the nutrition of the nation.
What Cuts to the Food Safety Net Mean for People’s Lives
A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today and get the next issue directly in your inbox. This spring, the pandemic-era increases to benefits offered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ended in most states, substantially reducing the monthly …
What Cuts to the Food Safety Net Mean for People’s Lives
This spring, the pandemic-era increases to benefits offered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ended in most states, substantially reducing the monthly dollar amounts many food-insecure households receive to buy food. Together with inflated food costs, the end of the emergency allotments—and revised work requir...
Cheap Imports Leave US Shrimpers Struggling With 'Starvation Wages'
The majority of migrant farmworkers live below the federal poverty line, without easy access to healthy foods or affordable housing. To survive, many in this tight-knit community have found strategies for mutual aid and collaborative resilience.
Immokalee’s Farmworkers Strive for Food Sovereignty
Although Vasquez handled food every day for work, she couldn’t afford to buy groceries. Instead, she began exchanging food with friends and learning about Immokalee’s community-based resources through word of mouth.Immokalee is known as the tomato capital of the United States, yet 28 percent of the town’s 24,500 residents—the majority …
Immokalee’s Farmworkers Strive for Food Sovereignty
Although Vasquez handled food every day for work, she couldn’t afford to buy groceries. Instead, she began exchanging food with friends and learning about Immokalee’s community-based resources through word of mouth.Immokalee is known as the tomato capital of the United States, yet 28 percent of the town’s 24,500 residents—the majority …
Bringing Oats Back to American Farms
Adding oats to a farm’s rotation can improve soil health and reduce fossil fuels, but the crop has all but disappeared in the U.S. Now, a nascent movement fueled by oat milk’s popularity may help reverse the trend.
Paraquat, the Deadliest Chemical in US Agriculture, Goes on Trial
Amid lawsuits filed by thousands of farmers linking the herbicide to Parkinson’s disease, the EPA is reconsidering its analysis of paraquat’s risks.
A Contested Election Is Fracturing a Farmworkers’ Union
Baldemar Velasquez has presided over the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the nation’s second-largest farmworker union, for its entire 55-year history. This year, he faced a challenger in a contested election for the first time. Chaos ensued.
Inside the Brooklyn Packers’ Vision for a Community-Based Micro Food Hub
The worker-owned, Black-led food cooperative quickly shifted their operation to provide emergency food during the height of the pandemic.
Farmers Trial Climate-Friendly Chickpeas in Upstate New York
Only a third of factory farms have permits to discharge waste into water, soil, and air. A new legal effort from environmental groups seeks enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
In the Battle Over the Right to Repair, Open-Source Tractors Offer an Alternative
The cost of specialized farm equipment is one of the biggest barriers for small-scale and beginning farmers. Cooperatives are springing up around the nation to help bridge the gap.
NYC Community Gardeners Might Have New Protection in the Fight Against Development
“I’ve often said, ‘You bulldoze a community garden, you bulldoze a community,’” said Raymond Figueroa, Jr., a Bronx-based community organizer.
Beginning Farmers, Farmers of Color Outbid as Farmland Prices Soar
The pandemic-fueled land rush has brought wealthier buyers to rural areas, making land even harder to access—a crisis that has become especially acute in the Northeast.
Our 2021 Food and Farming Holiday Book Gift Guide
We read, reviewed, and recommend more than 40 food and farming books for your gift-giving pleasure.
The Resurgence of Waffle Gardens Is Helping Indigenous Farmers Grow Food with Less Water
In the face of climate change and persistent droughts, a growing number of people from Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico and elsewhere are adopting the traditional farming practice.
Don Lewis Is Reviving the Grain Economy in New York's Hudson Valley
Only a third of factory farms have permits to discharge waste into water, soil, and air. A new legal effort from environmental groups seeks enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
Could Climate Change Put an End to Arizona's Alfalfa Heyday?
As the Colorado River drops to new lows, the future of the water-intensive cattle feed crop in the state—and the dairy industry it makes possible—are in question.
As the Climate Emergency Grows, Farmworkers Lack Protection from Deadly Heat
A majority migrant and undocumented workforce, farmworkers are especially vulnerable to extreme heat, not only because of their direct exposure, but also because of a lack of other social and labor protections.
As the West Faces a Drought Emergency, Some Ranchers Are Restoring Grasslands to Build Water Reserves
Also in this week’s Field Report, a deeper look at the global fertilizer cartel, and the political battle over SNAP continues.
As Food Scrap Collection Peaks, NYC Community Compost Sites Face Evictions
Big questions remain about the future of food waste disposal in a city of 8 million that committed to sending zero waste to the landfill by 2030.
Questions Remain about Big Food's Influence on the New Dietary Guidelines
Advocates and experts point to a long-standing pattern of corporate influence on the nation’s ‘go-to source of nutrition advice.’