FERN’s Friday Feed: Fried fish and family affairs
Welcome to FERN’s Friday Feed (#FFF), where we share the stories from this week that made us stop and think.
When the way ahead isn’t clear, the solution, sometimes, is to eat
The Bitter Southerner
“The Eastern Shore of Virginia is the southern-most tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, a hunk of land under joint custody of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The Virginia portion is a serrated slice some 5 to 15 miles wide and 70 miles long. The bayside looks west across the Chesapeake Bay to mainland Virginia, while the seaside is shielded by barrier islands, the longest stretch of coastal wilderness on the East Coast. Known as ‘the Shore’ to those who either can’t wait to get back or are itching to leave, the area may be Virginia’s best kept secret — many maps of the state leave it off entirely,” writes Sarah Golibart Gorman. “It’s easy to pass through without a second thought, but if you slow down and look closely, you’ll find a tight-knit rural community rooted in aquaculture and agriculture, with a distinct culinary tradition featuring some of the best food you’ve never tasted — skillet fried clam fritters, Hayman sweet potato biscuits, and fried black drum ribs.”
Underage workers, millions of dollars, and trucks full of dead birds
Investigate Midwest
“As the [avian flu] virus spreads … bird disposal companies, environmental waste businesses and large poultry producers have received millions of federal dollars to kill flocks, compost their bodies and clean barns across the country. However, the scale and urgency of these recent depopulation events have left room for worker protections to fall through the cracks,” writes John McCracken. “A review of thousands of pages of state depopulation inspection records and conversations with dozens of people who work behind the scenes has revealed: Underage workers, in some cases, have been hired to kill poultry flocks, handle dead carcasses and clean industrial poultry farms. Workers sometimes lack personal protective equipment or receive damaged gear, despite the risk of the virus jumping from animals to people. Dealing with a federal backlog, some farms have used killing methods considered inhumane because it can be quicker and cheaper.”
Utah farmers signed up for federally funded therapy. Then the money ran out.
ProPublica and The Salt Lake Tribune
“Josh Dallin spends his workdays talking to Utahns who raise cattle and grow crops, and knew that many were in distress. Everyone from neighbors to fertilizer dealers to equipment suppliers were telling him they were worried that a farmer or rancher they knew was at risk of suicide. Then in 2023, with money allocated by Congress, Dallin had new help to offer: As executive director of an agriculture center at Utah State University Extension, he had scores of $2,000 vouchers that Utahns working in agriculture could use to get free therapy,” writes Jessica Schreifels. “Farmers and ranchers across Utah quickly accepted the money, which ran out in just four months — well before he expected — and his office had to start turning people away. It convinced Dallin of the deep need in the state’s agricultural communities, and people’s openness to getting help when cost is not a barrier … ‘It was heartbreaking,’ he said, to have to put ‘the brakes on the program.’”
In Mexico’s ‘avocado belt,’ villagers stand up to protect their land
Yale Environment 360
“The cultivation of avocados for American consumers is wrecking Mexico’s forests, as growers have illegally cleared the trees and drug cartels have moved in to launder their ill-gotten gains in this lucrative trade,” write Agustín del Castillo and Fred Pearce. “This dark underside of the avocado boom has received international attention in recent years. But it is not the whole truth. Some Indigenous communities in the state of Michoacán, the world’s largest producer of the crop, are finding ways to ward off the crime syndicates and grow avocados profitably while protecting their biodiverse forests of oak and pine, including vital hibernation habitat for the monarch butterfly overwintering from the United States.”
Israel’s war for land and water in Syria
New Lines Magazine
“Since the rapid collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December at the hands of opposition factions, Israel has moved swiftly to reshape the contours of power in Syria’s south,” writes Natacha Danon. “In the months since, Israeli forces have continued to make inroads into Quneitra and Daraa provinces, seizing strategic military points and building outposts. In Daraa, residents of Kawaya and Maariya have come into direct contact with the Israeli military, which has limited access to their lands and vital water resources by seizing a major dam. The Houran — a region stretching across northern Jordan and southern Syria — is known for its wheat; it was Syria’s breadbasket for centuries until being supplanted by northeastern Syria. Still an agricultural hub, it is now also a place where residents are struggling to survive.”