Civil Eats

a man inspects a levee in kansas

Climate change is intensifying food shocks

From rain-soaked fields in the Corn Belt to drowned livestock, food shocks — abrupt disruptions to food production — are becoming more common as a result of extreme weather.

Climate change is intensifying food shocks
Richelle Van Dusen and her partner, Dallas Tate, are shown bent over working in a field of green vegetables.

Photo essay: Puerto Rico’s small farmers rebuild, with help from chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen

Photo essay: Puerto Rico’s small farmers rebuild, with help from chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen
A white woman wearing a white shirt and a cowgirl hat stands in a field in front of cows.

Montana ranchers are kicking up dust to bring back country of origin labels on meat

Montana ranchers are kicking up dust to bring back country of origin labels on meat
A man stands near a wooden bee hive on a rooftop

What the US could learn from Slovenia about protecting bees

What the US could learn from Slovenia about protecting bees
Campesinos working in Tlalquiltenango, Morelos, Mexico. 

Why food insecurity is a global farmworker issue

Why food insecurity is a global farmworker issue
A row of dairy cows

While small dairy farms close, this mega-dairy is shipping milk to China

Powdered milk production for the Chinese market is being marketed as a boon for rural areas, but many of the people who live nearby disagree.

While small dairy farms close, this mega-dairy is shipping milk to China
Close up of a grain.

Maine is scaling up its local grain economy

Craft brewing, artisanal baking and innovative mills and malthouses are reviving Maine's economic might.

Maine is scaling up its local grain economy
Olympia Auset looks up at the sky and smiles.

Olympia Auset is tackling systemic racism, one vegetable at a time

“Food is a tool that can be used either for oppression or liberation,” says Auset. SÜPRMARKT, a pop-up grocery store, offers low-cost organic foods in South Los Angeles, an underserved community where food access is deeply tied to structural racism.

Olympia Auset is tackling systemic racism, one vegetable at a time
Leensa Ahmed, CEO of Green Garden Bakery

Teen-run bakery brings healthy food and job training to Minneapolis

Green Garden Bakery offers delicious, plant-based treats, entrepreneurial skills and community support to an underserved neighborhood — all while the staff attends high school.

Teen-run bakery brings healthy food and job training to Minneapolis
young adults make hot sauce

In Camden, a hot sauce is helping young urban entrepreneurs fight poverty

Eco Interns, a teen-focused entrepreneurial program in New Jersey, offers job training and education in community gardens and farmers’ markets for an underserved urban community.

In Camden, a hot sauce is helping young urban entrepreneurs fight poverty
young people laugh around a table

Black churches, powerful cultural forces, set their sights on food security

The Baltimore-based Black Church Food Security Network is building a community-centered food system to combat "food apartheid" by connecting black farmers with historically African American churches.

Black churches, powerful cultural forces, set their sights on food security
Captain Christopher Brown sorts fish at the F/V Proud Mary’s conveyor, with the electronic monitoring cameras visible behind him.

The future of fishing is big data and artificial intelligence

Electronic surveillance of fishing vessels could help protect fisheries.

The future of fishing is big data and artificial intelligence
Will Allen of Growing Power.

Behind the rise and fall of Growing Power

The urban farming powerhouse had a global reputation. Then, it collapsed last year under mounting debt, prompting big questions about what happened and what comes next.

Behind the rise and fall of Growing Power