ENVIRONMENT

A grove of gridded fruit trees behind Utah State Highway 24 seen from the Rim Overlook trail in Capitol Reef National Park. When Fruita was first settled in 1880, State Route 24 was a gravel road that connected to a dusty dirt road leading to Fruita. The advent of the automobile era in the 1920s created a new market for tourism in the isolated reaches of Utah, and the National Park Service funded six miles of highway in 1962. State Route 24 (visible in the top left of the image) became the Scenic Drive within the park, while Utah State Highway 24 became the primary thoroughfare to Fruita.

Photo Essay: How Fruit Orchards Blossomed in a High Desert National Park

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05.31.19

Ron Hook, western district commissioner or Buchanan County, inspects the levee in Elwood, Kansas, March 22, 2019. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Patrick Evenson)

Climate Change Is Intensifying Food Shocks

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05.30.19

The Race to Produce a Slower-Growing Chicken

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05.28.19

people standing in line for food

Where Do Food Banks Fit in to the Fight for a Green New Deal?

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05.16.19

Chellie Pingree unveiled her five ag principles at Bumbleroot Organic Farm in Windham, Maine, in April. (Photo by Matthew Whalen Photography)

5 Ways Congress Can Support Farmers to Mitigate Climate Change

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05.08.19

Maria Payan recalls her struggles living next to a massive broiler chicken operation.

New Film Captures the Brutal Reality of Living Near Factory Farms

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05.02.19

dung beetle on top of a ball of dung in a field.

Dung Beetles Are Key to Healthy Pasture. Now They May Also Help Make Produce Safer

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04.30.19

hydroponic growing plants in a greenhouse

Can Hydroponic Farmers Spray Glyphosate Just Before Becoming Organic?

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04.23.19

What the ‘Insect Apocalypse’ Has to Do With the Food We Eat

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04.17.19

tractor spraying pesticides on a field

A Decade of Pesticides, GMOs, and Alternatives to Chemical-Intensive Farming

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04.10.19

A 2011 photo from the NASA Earth Observatory showing the blue green algae bloom.

Factory Farms are Polluting Lake Erie. Will the Lake’s New Legal Rights Help?

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04.09.19

Top photo: University of Missouri students produce maple syrup at Baskett Wildlife Research and Education Center. (Photo CC-licensed by the UM College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources.)

Could Maple Syrup Be a Climate Change Solution?

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04.03.19

farmer spraying pesticides on his farm with a safety mask on

California’s Pesticide Regulators Are Supposed to Consider Safer Alternatives. Many Don’t.

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03.20.19

At the Flying Deer Nature Center, the local forest is the playground for students. (Photo credit: Flying Deer Nature Center)

Foraging at Forest Schools, Where Nature is the Classroom

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03.18.19

art cullen and his brother john at the newspaper printing press

Art Cullen is Bringing Rural Farm Politics to the National Stage

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03.05.19

tractor

We Can’t Go On Like This: An Excerpt from ‘Storm Lake’

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03.05.19

Agriculture workers pick strawberries from a produce farm in Camarillo, Calif.

Farmworkers Are on the Frontlines of Climate Change. Can New Laws Protect Them?

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02.27.19

Turning Salt-Damaged Fields into Marshes Could Save Maryland Farmland—and The Chesapeake Bay

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02.20.19