"The great concerns of our time … boil down to the condition of the soil."

–Isabella Tree, Wilding

"What we do to the soil, we do to ourselves."

–Regenerative Organic Alliance

As we prepare to close the chapter of another year, it’s easy to define it by the bad things that happened, so instead, let’s bid 2023 farewell celebrating positive works in progress. Here are three stories of individuals and communities working together to seed hope and healing for people and the planet.

Our modern farming system has replaced prairie grasslands with large swaths of genetically modified (GM) corn, soybeans, and other crops, in the name of progress.^{1 2 3} The fields are sprayed with increasingly more herbicides, and the yields are boosted with more synthetic fertilizers.^{4 5} Meanwhile, in a quiet corner of the country, far from the vast acres of farm

"Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake."

–Winnie the Pooh

"I would tell people … how we fight for our lives with strength and sweat."

–Excerpted from “Milked: Immigrant Dairy Farmworkers in New York State”¹

If industrial pollution in your neighborhood killed hundreds of fish in your river, tripled your water bills, was linked to an increased risk for congenital disabilities, bladder cancer, and hyperthyroidism, and spewed fine particulate matter (PM_2.5)—an air pollutant that can deposit deep in your lungs—would you demand change?¹ This is precisely what communities nearb

If we viewed our food choices as power, would it change the food that fills our plates? If we made it our business to understand the policies that shape our food system, would we demand something different?

If the dust from a feedlot packed with 45,000 cows isn’t seeping through your windows, and the stench of manure from swine farms crowded with 5,000-plus hogs isn’t overwhelming you when you step outside, perhaps how our industrialized farming system produces animal-based foods feels unimportant.^{1 2 3} But if that dust and manure fuel a crisis of drug-resistant superbugs, does it

Editor’s note: The problems with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are many and multifaceted, ranging from animal and worker welfare to antibiotic resistance and environmental damage. This is the first in a monthly series that will take a closer look at some of these specific issues, beginning with the impact CAFOs have on the people who live near them.

Dear Neighbors,

Happy spring! We hope you’re finding the time to step outside and relax in the flower-scented embrace of an April afternoon. And as we imagine each of us finding a spot in the sunshine to sit and read for a moment, we’d like to share a wish for this Earth Month.

It’s everywhere—in parks and playgrounds, in cereal and crackers, in 75 percent of rainwater samples taken from midwestern states.