All FERN Articles
India is awash in palm oil, and health takes a hit
Dr. Anoop Misra drew back the flimsy curtain in his office, and the patient stepped down from the exam table, gently tugging the bottom of his shirt so as to obscure a considerable midsection. “I’m not here to give you sweet words,” said the soft-spoken endocrinologist, who, in addition to seeing patients six days a… » Read More
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1.3 million monthly readersThe Nation
After a century’s absence, a glimmer of possibility for a native New York salmon
Fishing is all about longing. The angler wading into the center of the Fisherman’s Pool in the town of Willsboro expressed that longing again and again, fishless cast after fishless cast. But Zach Eisenhauer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was methodically dragging a net around that same pool from the stern of… » Read More
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40,000 print circulationAdirondack Life
What is the farm bill and why does it matter?
Every five years or so, Congress takes up a massive piece of legislation known as the farm bill, which covers everything from supporting farmers to ensuring that those short of food don’t go hungry. The cost of the bill is nearly $100 billion a year. Right now, Congress is in the middle of the farm-bill… » Read More
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Drinking problems: A Kansas farm town confronts a tap-water crisis
The friendly waitress at the Pretty Prairie Steak House delivers tumblers of tap water as soon as diners take their seats. Across Main Street, the Wagon Wheel Café offers the same courtesy. Customers may also order coffee or iced tea, but it all starts at the same tap, and everyone is fine with that. This… » Read More
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563K Monthly ReadershipHarper's Magazine
How’s organic farming faring in the farm bill?
In 2009, Clay Smith retired from his job running a Methodist non-profit in Southern Appalachia and returned to the family farm where he grew up outside Burlington, North Carolina. He divided the 130 acres with his brother and got his half certified organic. Now, along with traditional crops like tomatoes and zinnias, he grows edible… » Read More
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Some food stamp recipients may soon lose access to farmers market benefits
On Saturday morning, Ludy Arnold arrived at the H Street farmers market in Northeast Washington just minutes after it opened. Arnold is 70 and lives in nearby public housing for seniors. She comes every week, and has for the past four years, to buy fruit, greens and summer tomatoes with benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition… » Read More
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90.2 million audienceThe Washington Post
This little piggy went to market … and everything changed
Arkansas Highway 155 branches of Arkansas 7 just south of Dardanelle. The flat two-lane features a couple of curves and long, straight stretches with cattle pasture and cropland on both sides. Just a couple of miles east of the intersection sits Balloun Farms. If the wind is right and your windows are down, you’ll instantly… » Read More
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30,000 monthly print circulationArkansas Life
This mine threatens America’s largest wild salmon run
July 4 marks the peak of the largest, most valuable wild salmon run left in America. The sockeye salmon migration into Bristol Bay, Alaska, can exceed 40 million fish. As they charge into the Kvichak and Nushagak rivers and fan out across myriad tributaries, the sockeye and four other species of Pacific salmon are pursued… » Read More
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Mother Jones8 million monthly readers
Toxic oversight
For years, government regulators and academic researchers have been at an impasse over the safety of bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used to make some plastics. Academic researchers have repeatedly found that BPA and other hormone-disrupting chemicals, which can contaminate foods and drinks, may contribute to problems such as early puberty, obesity, diabetes, developmental… » Read More
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170 million monthly unique viewers globallyHuffPost