As CSA Orders Surge, a Farm Owner Reflects on Loss and Renewal in Rural California
Courtesy Eatwell Farm For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.Most of the country is on hold, but fortunately spring is still moving forward. In California, it’s a time of sweetening strawberries and the first tender stalks of asparagus. CSAs—community-supported-agriculture programs—deliver these fresh offerings straight from farm fields to home…
The Surprising History of the Wildlife Trade That May Have Sparked the Coronavirus
A rescued young Sunda pangolin takes his first tentative steps after being released back into the wild. ZUMA For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.This story was originally published by the Food and Environment Reporting Network. For the past 40 years, the Chinese government has promoted the wild…
“Without These Workers, Everything Ceases to Exist”: How Coronavirus Is Coming for Your Produce
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images Every year in mid-March, thousands of men from all over Mexico show up in downtown Monterrey, the country’s third-biggest city, with big, rolling suitcases and folders full of documents. They huddle in groups outside of cheap hotels, waiting on their appointments at the US consulate so they can get the stamp on their…
When Climate Change Drove All the Men Away
A woman removes weeds from a family farm plot of corn and beans in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.Bill Lambrecht/Zuma This piece was originally published in the National Observer and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. Miles short of the Mexico-US border, rough hands yanked Javier Hernandez from the trunk. They beat him,…
Car ‘Splatometer’ Tests Reveal Huge Decline in the Number of Insects
A truck driver cleans dead bugs off his windshield at a truck stop in Baytown, Texas. Brett Coomer/AP This piece was originally published in The Guardian and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites…
Trump Rescued a Nasty Pesticide from an EPA Ban. Now Corteva Will Stop Making It.
Pgiam/Getty Images Back in 2017, in the early days of the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency rejected a proposal by its own scientists to ban chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide suspected of causing to lower birth weights, lower IQs, attention deficit disorder and other developmental issues in children. The decision generated outrage and inspired several…