California regulators adopt unprecedented water restrictions
Eyder Peralta (@eyderp) provides an excellent summary of the latest development in California’s drought story for NPR’s The Two-Way. Saying that state officials and residents haven’t done enough to curb …
A conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Diana Marcum
For many Californians – and many people around the nation – Diana Marcum has emerged as one of the key voices talking about the state’s punishing drought. A writer for …
Calculating your water footprint
The California drought is dominating the news. Washington and Oregon have also declared drought emergencies. The list goes on. And the water situation is not likely to get better: “water …
Fears for olive crop force Brussels to tackle spread of leaf scorch
Olive producers in Italy are facing a serious outbreak of a deadly plant disease – olive quick decline syndrome, also called leaf scorch. Its symptoms including leaf scorching, twig and branch die …
Protein consumption considered
Americans eat more meat per capita than any other country in the world. We buy high-protein products of all kinds: bars, cereals, and even drinks. Many of us eat animal …
Earth Day 2015: tackling food waste
On the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, tackling food waste is a key topic of discussion. And it should be: it is both an ethical and an environmental concern. How …
European Union threatens Thailand with trade ban
The European Union (EU) has told Thailand – the globe’s third-largest seafood exporter – that it has six months to “crack down on illegal fishing”…or face a trade ban. If …
The Johnny Appleseed of no-till farming
Across dusty roads and the course of nearly two decades, a University of California researcher named Jeff Mitchell has encouraged an increasing number of producers to develop farm systems that …
Conflict over nitrates in water, soil puts Iowa “nice” to a test
Des Moines Water Works, which provides drinking water to nearly 500,000 Iowa residents, has sued three adjacent rural Iowa counties over a nitrates issue. The suit alleges that nitrate runoff …
Near groundwater zero, a farmer draws on his resolve
From all the day’s news about California’s drought, this emerges: a deeply moving piece about Adam Toledo, a young farmer from near Terra Bella, in California’s Central Valley. His well …