Michelin Stars & Sustainability
What are Michelin Stars? Is it a coincidence that they have the same name as the tire company? And what do they have to do with sustainability?
Supporting the Ukrainian Food System
As you already know, in late February, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine that triggered the onset of an ongoing deadly war. All aspects of life in Ukraine have been affected by this war, and the country’s prolific food system has felt the pressure of a war-torn state as much as anything else. In this article we dive into these effects, and what you can do to help.
Teachings from Budget Bagels
This weekend, I learned to make bagels. Afterward, sitting with my freshly baked, steaming bagel sandwich, I started to wonder how much I might have just saved, what a DIY approach may have bought me, and what non-monetary costs I might have taken on as a result of all of this.
Spring 2022 Policy Updates
Back in January, we rounded up a lot of the issues in food and agriculture policy that we thought were relevant, and we found it was a great way to gather our thoughts around food policy and make things a little more “digestible.” We did it in March, April, May, and July as well, and now we’re back with some spring updates.
The “New Normal” in Wine
Climate change might not be anything new, but it’s impacting our food system in new ways every day. Be it changes in the growing season, unexpected hiccups during harvest, issues with drought, or even the impact of nearby wildfires on the flavor of grapes, growers all over the world are seeing dramatic changes to conditions they’ve been able to rely on for centuries. I spoke with my friend, Richard, who works at a winery in central California, to get a better idea of how these changes are affecting growers, producers, and ultimately, the wine on our tables.
Access to Land & Capital
While the sparkly vision of the pastoral family farm still dominates greenwashed grocery stores and idyllic political ads, across the country farmers are in crisis. The average age of a farmer continues to climb, and many do not have family interested in joining the difficult profession. At the same time, a new generation of young farmers (including many women and POC farming experts) are eager to grow food for their communities and cultivate land, but find access to land and funds exceedingly difficult.
Personalized Nutrition
We are beyond the “one size fits all” approach in so many parts of our lives. Nutrition is no exception, and Jenna Bensko — Grounded Grub staff writer and our go-to nutrition expert — writes about the increasing number of companies that have engineered algorithms which can suggest the best dietary plan to lower your glucose response to a meal, or analyze the makeup of your individual microbiome and can make dietary recommendations that boost the health of your gut microbiota.
Considering More Than Just Carbon
While the “carbon footprint” metric has been really valuable in communicating the impacts of actions on our environment to the general public, it also lacks the nuance that is required in decision-making around sustainable practices. Focusing on carbon is helpful for understanding how actions will effect global climate change, but we need a much more holistic approach to evaluating our impact if we hope to really understand the environmental, social, and economic impacts of our actions. When we focus too much on carbon, we risk losing focus on things like safe and clean water, food sovereignty, regional resilience to traumatic events, and other essential parts of how our food system interacts with our environment and people!
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
For one reason or another, we all sometimes stray from our personal status quo. But learning to balance our reality with our expectations can create a healthier, more sustainable relationship with sustainability.
Night Bees: An Introduction to Bat Pollination
Contributing writer, Xander Balwit, writes about the importance of bat pollination and all the other essential functions that bats serve in ecological and agricultural systems. Tequila, chocolate, bananas? All delicious results of bat pollination!
A Seed for Reimagining the World
Contributor Hanna Lilly explores the legacy of the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program and the Foxfire Series—a catalogue of rich Appalachian cultural wisdom gathered and produced in the 70’s—to celebrate and reflect on themes of Earth-alignment, collective liberation, and the pattern of a seed.
Ginger
Spicy, warm, fresh, bright… What other tuber can bring about so many different flavor profiles and act as such a versatile but bold ingredient? Whether it’s a big cup of tea for an upset stomach or a vibrant stir-fry on a Friday night, you may also find yourself turning to ginger quite often in your kitchen. But we rarely talk about it in the context of sustainability.
Winter 2022 Policy Updates
We’re back with another policy update! Every month or so we’re putting together some overarching coverage of issues around food and agriculture that we are watching surrounding issues in agriculture, climate change, migrant worker protections, food security, and more.
From the Pollyanna Professor
The patience of bulbs under the surface in the winter that reminds us to be optimistic. Back with some perspective as we enter a new year, this article comes from Hannah’s dad, a history professor, garden extraordinaire and 70s hippie kid. He writes about how easy it is to be pessimistic, but how optimism is not ignorance, but rather something we all need. He criticizes his own generation’s lack of tangible action on many issues, and looks to the next generation for true change.
The Right to Organize
Across the globe and especially in the US we have seen a massive uptick in strikes, unionization, and outcries for labor reform. From a recent bid for unionization from several Starbucks locations in Buffalo, NY, to a massive simultaneous strike at four Kellogg plants across the country, food workers across the industry are organizing to demand better pay, safer working conditions, better benefits, and more, and it seems they’ve only just begun. Why is this all happening now? What is the historical context for these movements? Why is it so difficult for food workers to organize? What can you do to help? Read on!
Frozen Foods in a Volatile World
Especially in the United States, we channel a lot of our personal identity and our feelings about the world into the things we buy. From clothes to cars, we believe our purchases reflect who we are. In the case of food, we have the opportunity three times a day to either use food purchasing or consumption to signal who we are, or to reflect how we feel about the world. In a volatile changing world due to the pandemic, it makes sense that frozen food purchasing is on the rise!
Beyond the Hawaiian Decor and Smiling Employees
Staff writer Jenna Bensko took some time to investigate a grocery chain near and dear to so many of our hearts -- Trader Joes. After exploring the Corporate Social Responsibility report for Chipotle, we were full of questions and curiosity around so many other consumer staples and how they stack up. In her investigation, Jenna explores why TJs has become such a “thing,” what information they make available to us as consumers, where they’re killing it & where they can improve, and what we can do to push chains like them in the right direction!
Getting Grounded This Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is around the corner, and for those of us feeling alienated from the roots of this holiday and many of the themes and practices that persist, we’ve put together a short list of ways you can ground yourself this year, make a more sustainable meal, give back to those without, and support the Indigenous communities fighting for their own food sovereignty.
Abundant Winter Squash
Winter squash are a sign of fall for many of us, and while they serve as beautiful decorations for holiday tables or on porches, they are also a delicious part of fall cooking with lots of variation and room to explore! A lot of the variety of cooking with squash comes from the varieties of squash themselves. Winter squash come in a wide range of colors, patterns, shapes, sizes and flavors.
Microgreenery
Staff writer and resident urban farmer, Oksana Bihun, is giving us the lowdown on the crop she specializes in, Microgreens! You may have heard about them, seen them a few times, or even incorporated them into your daily diet, but wherever you are in your personal microgreens-journey, Oksana is here to give you the inside scoop from someone who works with them daily.