Ancient heritage is made modern. Most people think of hops as a bittering and aromatic ingredient in beer, but its original use was probably as a healing and preservative agent. Various sources document written evidence of hops for medicinal and other purposes at least by Roman times: Pliny the Elder (23-79 O.C.E.) describes hops as…
edible stories
By Anne Dropick
Connecticut Hops
By Sarah Hagaman and Jill Melton
Counting Sheep
One Tennessee farm is bringing lamb into the mainstream. Farmers Elaine and Howard Dustin are animal people. That much is clear immediately as we meet them at their farm, Belfair Farms in Lawrenceburg, 90 minutes south of Nashville. Along with their 138 sheep, they have 10 dogs, 50 chickens, and eight horses. Having grown up…
Farmland for the Future: Preservation Programs Help Farmers Continue to Own and Access Viable Land
The U.S. is losing farmland at record rates. Agricultural conservation easements can ensure farmland is protected forever and accessible to the next generation for farming into the future. SPONSORED Amid a nationwide land run on rural, recreational property that’s inflated land values, sending many existing farmers packing and limiting the accessibility of farmland to the…
Grass-fed Beef at Scale: Montana’s Matador Ranch Partners with Grass Fed Foods
Matador Ranch is committed to a sustainable ranching model that is an archetype of regeneratively raising grass-fed beef. Its partnership with Grass Fed Foods—the largest grass-fed platform in the United States—aims to bring better and healthier beef to more consumers. In an irrigated field framed by the gentle rise of Montana’s Blacktail Mountains and the…
By Lisa Held
Agroforestry: Can Farming with Trees Save the Food System?
Unprecedented funding is flowing into a broad range of agroforestry practices, which can pull carbon out of the atmosphere and build farm resilience as the climate changes. This article was produced in partnership with Civil Eats. Fiddle Creek Dairy sits at the top of one of the endless rolling hills in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. On the…
In Harmony with Nature
Sustainable food garden program takes root at Interlochen. “It was the summer of 2016, and the Board of Trustees wanted us to do things more sustainably on campus. The initial idea was to put in a school garden, that summer,” Emily Umbarger tells me. “I said, ‘Let’s slow down. Let me give you a 12-month…