Via Gusta

06/11/2014

Two of my loves, brought together on one website: food and maps. What a revealing look at the geography of our food in the U.S.!

Where our food comes from, how we eat it, and what we drink to wash it down

12/31/2013

A beautiful reminder of the importance of knowing where your food comes from--and a perfect start to a new year! Happy new year, everyone.

Innovative small-scale urban farmers all over the world are helping to ensure access to local, healthy food. From Harriet's backyard plot in Kampaala, Uganda...

12/03/2013

Hey folks, here's an interesting idea for ... Didn't like your alma mater? Give to Sterling College instead. This small liberal arts college in northern Vermont is dedicated to environmental stewardship and sustainable agriculture and food systems. And thanks to a generous challenge grant, every dollar you give will be matched one-for-one!

Today, Sterling College announced that it has received the largest challenge grant in its 55-year history. The challenge fund provides a dollar-for-dollar match for every gift made to the Annual Fund, up to $150,000. Once the challenge is met, it will provide $300,000 to the College. The challenge g...

09/13/2013

The UN has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming. (With half a billion small farmers out there, providing for half the planet, you'd think that would be every year!) Here's a little introduction to OneAcre Fund, which is doing interesting work in subsaharan Africa to support the smallest farms.

One Acre Fund conducted a trial of low-cost and safe methods of maize storage for Kenyan farmers.

07/28/2013

A beautiful example of Big Business helping fight hunger by doing what it does best rather than just throwing money at the problem. Partnership at its best.

Toyota engineers brought kaizen, a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement,” to the Food Bank for New York City, cutting wait times at soup kitchens and streamlining procedures.

05/06/2013

FREE BOOK! Come join an event at LRN on May 23rd, when Mark Tercek--CEO of The Nature conservancy--will be speaking about his new book, Nature's Fortune. In it, he makes a great case for why the corporate world needs to care about the environment. Music to my ears! RSVP to [email protected].

http://www.lrn.com/speaking-appearances/lrn-speaking-values-conversation-mark-tercek-president-ceo-nature-conservancy

03/09/2013

A powerful look at how the holistic use of livestock grazing can reverse desertification, reduce carbon emissions, and sequester carbon--while feeding the hungry and potentially stopping wars. Counterintuitive and important! Thanks for finding this, Casey. Ike and Sarah, would love your thoughts.

“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it's happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has de...

03/05/2013

How many people would guess that the majority of the world's farmers are women? This short op-ed is a great introduction to the topic and why it should matter to all of us. A must-read.

Women are producing ever more food, but not reaping enough gains.

02/12/2013

A phenomenal story, and a fascinating character!

Hercules was the greatest chef our infant nation knew. And he was Washington’s slave

12/10/2012

A "farm cliff" looms. How do we inspire young people to become farmers? And how to help inspired youth to make it work? http://ow.ly/fZ73P

The Agricultural Cliff: Farmers Are Aging, and Young People Have to Step In

12/10/2012

Restaurants that insult customers behind their backs are discovering the power of today's hyperconnected world. http://ow.ly/fZ6ez

09/07/2012

I'm shocked to read a report by the Sustainable Ag Coalition this morning that no progress has been made on the Farm Bill since the recess began. Shocked.

Seriously, though: with hundreds of millions of dollars spent on lobbying efforts, you'd think the lobbyists would at least pressure our representatives to start negotiating in earnest. FWW did some solid analysis of the money going into the last Farm Bill, and what they found is TRULY shocking.

During every day that the 110th Congress was in session in 2007 and 2008, special interests spent an average of $539,000 lobbying on issues covered by the Farm Bill.