Climate Food and Agriculture

The Counter
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Climate + Food and Agriculture

EDITOR’S NOTE

Grist has acquired the archive and brand assets of The Counter, a decorated nonprofit food and agriculture publication that we long admired, but that sadly ceased publishing in May of 2022.

The Counter had hit on a rich vein to report on, and we’re excited to not only ensure the work of the staffers and contractors of that publication is available for posterity, but to build on it. So we’re relaunching The Counter as a food and agriculture vertical within Grist, continuing their smart and provocative reporting on food systems, specifically where it intersects with climate and environmental issues. We’ve also hired two amazing new reporters to make our plan a reality.

Being back on the food and agriculture beat in a big way is critical to Grist’s mission to lead the conversation, highlight climate solutions, and uncover environmental injustices. What we eat and how it’s produced is one of the easiest entry points into the wider climate conversation. And from this point of view, climate change literally transforms into a kitchen table issue.

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Featured

Grist / Eva Marie Uzcategui / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Getty Images
Grist / Eva Marie Uzcategui / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Getty Images

The people who feed America are going hungry

Climate change is escalating a national crisis, leaving farmworkers with empty plates and mounting costs.

Ayurella Horn-Muller Staff Writer

Latest Articles

  • Who Needs Aspirin?

    Study finds organic tomatoes contain more heart-healthy antioxidants Could organic fruits and veggies be better for you? A study of samples collected over 10 years found that organic tomatoes contained […]

    Grist staff Food

  • Why we may one day bitterly regret GM crops

    Edible Media takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism on the web. I spent the weekend in Atlanta at the first-ever U.S. Social Forum — an extremely […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sink

    Wilderness is pretty much a thing of the past, says report Regardless of whether humankind was given dominion over the earth, we’ve most certainly taken it. A new report in […]

    Grist staff Food

  • Some good news and some bad news

    First up is an interview with Jack Ewing, owner of an eco-lodge in Costa Rica. I must admit that writing checks to conservation organizations is about as pleasurable as a trip to the dentist. Spending a week in a place like Hacienda Barú also supports conservation and is a hell of a lot more fun. I managed to photograph about half of the wildlife I saw while staying less than a week in Costa Rica. Best vacation I've ever had. I might put the video (much more interesting than photos) on YouTube one of these days.

    After reading that upbeat article, grit your teeth and click on the one about the eminent extinction of the orangutan and understand that palm biodiesel will play a large role in it.

    Biodiversivist Climate & Energy

  • Helping U.S. farmers transition to organic

    Organic food has take criticism lately, because a portion is flowing from overseas. (All those food miles, all that lost support for American farmers.) Well, there's a reason that trend is underway: Not enough American farms are growing organic crops and fewer still are converting, so demand is exceeding supply. With the Farm Bill, attempts are underway to address that problem.

    Samuel Fromartz Food

  • PETA announces sexiest veggie celebs of 2007

    PETA has announced this year’s winners of their annual “Sexiest Vegetarian” contest. This year’s hottest plant-eaters? Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks and American Idol-crooner-turned Grammy-winner Carrie Underwood (who won […]

    Kate Sheppard Food

  • Moscow on the Cud Sign

    Russian capital introduces label for GM-free food Now you can have your GM-free borscht and read it, too: next week, the city of Moscow will debut a groundbreaking label for […]

    Grist staff Food

  • Orange You Glad We Didn’t Say Switchgrass?

    Fruit may be the latest source for biofuel madness Could your kumquat power your Kia? A team of U.S. scientists has made a low-carbon fuel from fructose, the sugar in […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • Don’t blame farmers for the farm-subsidy mess

    Agricultural and food products are not like other commodities. Their price is that of life, and below a certain threshold, that of death.— Marcel Mazoyer and Laurence Roudart, A History […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Arguments supporting government subsidies of agrofuels are getting polished

    This is my formal rebuttal to David Morris's "case for corn-based fuel." I'm using my access to the bully pulpit to pull it out of the comments field.

    How did the use of ethanol end up alongside tyranny and torture as an evil to be conquered?

    That's easy. A whole lot of real smart people have been giving corn ethanol a lot of thought and have found that "an evil to be conquered" isn't a bad description. In smaller quantities, it does smaller amounts of damage, but as quantities increase, so does the damage. I mean, what's not to like about a fuel that milks billions from taxpayers, increases the cost of food all around the world, exacerbates the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, and returns no more energy than it produces?

    Biodiversivist Climate & Energy