Civil Eats

MARCH 11, 2025

While the current administration may blame woke DEI environmentalists for the blazes, science shows that the climate crisis contributed to the severity of the damage. As Raj Patel, author and a Civil Eats advisor, points out on Fuel to Fork , fossil fuels enable certain kinds of large-scale industrial agriculture to be profitable.

Food 121

Food Pesticide Fertilizer Processing 121

Civil Eats

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

There, she’s using her vast ecological expertise to develop curriculum for the Indigenous Food Lab training center and lead community engagement programming. “As She mixes Indigenous traditional knowledge with modern science in a way that feels practical yet fun.” Black Elk’s efforts go beyond education. Let’s back up a bit.

Forage 141

Forage Food Ecology Pesticide 141

The Equation

MAY 11, 2023

Because like the Dust Bowl of so many decades ago, this tragedy stemmed from a collision of multiple systemic problems—in this case, unchecked climate change layered atop the excesses of industrial agriculture. Enter the Agriculture Resilience Act, or ARA. All the time.

Agriculture 131

Agriculture Agriculture Fertilizer Plowing 131

The Equation

MAY 15, 2023

Industrial agricultural practices such as tillage (plowing) and leaving fields bare between growing seasons degrade soil structure, reduce water infiltration, lower water storage capacity, and increase runoff (the flow of water across the soil’s surface).

Industrial Agriculture 96

Industrial Agriculture Crop Agriculture Agriculture 96

The Equation

APRIL 3, 2023

is the single most-asked question I hear as someone working daily with water science, advocacy, and policy in California. The ongoing megadrought that has afflicted California since 2000 has caused profound challenges for people, agriculture, and ecosystems throughout the state. “Is California still in a drought?”

Agriculture 105

Agriculture Agriculture Crop Food 105

Sustainable Harvest International

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

“ “My philosophy has always been that the health of soil, plants, animals, people, and the environment is one.” ” — Rattan Lal, professor of soil science + 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Conventional, or industrial, agriculture uses chemicals to defend crops from weeds, certain insect species, and diseases.

Compost 59

Compost Fertilizer Crop Food 59

ATTRA

JANUARY 30, 2024

So, it’s ecological or cybernetic or complexly interrelated, but it is not magic. A web is a serviceable metaphor for complex relationships, ecological and human, but I want to employ another connective metaphor. The fun stuff that can look so much like magic is that it’s not always clear what and where the connections are.

Ecology 40

Ecology Farming Farming Rural Development 40