The ecological impact of raising cattle—and by extension, of eating beef—has become a fraught topic. One frequent concern is that meat production uses a lot of water and creates water pollution. What often gets lost, however, is that the impact varies greatly depending on how cattle are reared.

"To make all of America's waters fishable and swimmable again … and to eliminate all pollution" was the stated goal of the Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972.¹

It’s a small seal carrying a big promise: USDA Certified Organic. Most of us recognize it as a label that pledges better—for human health, animal welfare, and the planet. Yet, some will suggest that’s all it is… promises. So, is there proof? Yes.

Once, in a farmer's field, a billion tiny soil organisms were finally remembered, and the farmer's focus shifted from how much a crop could yield to how future harvests depended on the soil being healed. Once, in a neighborhood grocery store, the proprietors said, no more—our standards for food must place human and environmental health over profit.

According to consumer surveys, more than 80 percent of Americans are concerned about pesticide residue on the foods we eat;^{1 2} yet, how many of us contemplate the consequences for those who grow and harvest our food?

Dear park-goers, parents, gardeners, and eaters:

As the bees begin to buzz and the tulips bloom, it means that it’s the season of Ladybug Love at Natural Grocers^®. Let’s get outside and dig our hands in the dirt. Let’s connect with the land, where our children hunt dandelions and do summersaults in the grass.

When you walk through the forest, buried beneath every step you take, there are likely hundreds of miles of mycelium—tiny thread-like filaments intertwined throughout the roots of plants and trees.

2021 has been a doozy, but no matter how much bad news we are bombarded with, there is always good news to be found. As we draw closer to the end of this year, we’d like to celebrate research published throughout the past year that highlights the benefits of organic food and agriculture.

Ode To The Fourth Thursday In November:

May you wake us up gently, not in a rush of panic, tumbling into the kitchen already behind schedule. We want to open sleepy eyelids to the smell of freshly brewed coffee or perhaps a steaming cup of tea.

In 2016, professionals from prestigious universities and advocacy organizations across the U.S., the U.K., and Canada published a consensus statement of concern about the human health and environmental risks associated with glyphosate-based herbicides.¹ Yet, glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, remains the most used herbicide in the world.

As the apocalyptic red skies of fire season and the extremes of drought and flooding become increasingly commonplace, life as we know it is being threatened, and one industry in which we are seeing the real-time effects is agriculture.

Once upon a time, before Keto and Paleo and Non-GMO, before Earth Day and USDA Certified Organic, Margaret and Philip Isely were knocking on doors and lending out books on nutrition. They were passionate people, people whose values were rooted in something they actively believed in, something they lived.