Civil Eats

“An average of 30 years ago there was probably 20 to 30 commercial harvesters,” said LeBaron. “Now there’s just a handful. It’s a dying thing.”

In early May, the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Urban Food Policy Institute Forum hosted a group discussion exploring the ways food activists and their allies could strengthen the food movement in New York City and elsewhere over the next four years. Here are eight ways food movements can create change in ways that could benefit everyone.

But this is planting time, so Burkett is home on the farm. He took a break to talk with us about spring at B & B Farm and how hard it’s gotten to get tractor parts.

Mr. President, poultry farmers desperately need your help. http://bit.ly/2qrOt1o

The clock is ticking on the 2018 Farm Bill.

Amidst the clam chowder bowls and t-shirt shops on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Giuseppe “Joe” Pennisi’s weathered trawl boat looks out of place. Stationed on his docked vessel, the third generation, Monterey-born fisherman has been working tirelessly to accomplish one goal—to reconnect this community with local fish.

Summer Rayne @homesteadbrooklyn and @sugardetoxme and is taking over our Instagram feed for the week. She’ll be posting some home gardening photos. Follow along at http://instagram.com/civileats

In New York City’s Washington Square Park, several hundred protesters—including street vendors, undocumented immigrant workers from Tom Cat Bakery, which was recently targeted by the Department of Homeland Security, and restaurant workers—were present. They held up signs that read “Produciendo Comida. Ganando Justice.” (“Producing Food. Winning Justice.”) and “Luchamos Por Nuestras Familias” (We Fight For Our Families).

This May Day, a proposed CA law promises to give home cooks the right to sell their food, but will they be the next generation of Uber drivers?

Energy and fossil fuel will be at the center of the dialogue, of course, but it’s also critical to address the reality that our industrial agriculture system—drenched in fossil fuels and sucking up energy, water, and other critical resources—is a leading climate change culprit.

The Global Seed Network, will be an online tool where small growers can “meet” to swap diverse, rare, and heirloom seeds, and in the process, propagate and expand seed diversity around the world.

Can the Perennial Plate change minds through Facebook newsfeeds?