Recap: LiveWell for Low-Impact Food In Europe conference!
Last week, I turned down the possibility to attend a training on “How to Deal with Lobbyists” (so glamorous) to instead learn about the sustainable food policy agenda in Europe – and I have to say, I...
View ArticleOrganic Coffee in Costa Rica: A Battle of David vs. Goliath?
“To be honest, organic coffee could become a dying breed in Costa Rica.” Leland Westie and I stare at each other, neither of us quite sure how to continue the conversation. Westie seems startled by his...
View ArticlePhoto Story: The Chocolate Tale
Hi hi! So sorry to be out of commission for so long! It’s been a busy couple of weeks with applications and paper edits and work, but I’m back and all backed up with stories to write about! Here is one...
View ArticleA Transcontinental Farmers’ Market: Exclusive Interview with Kenneth Lander...
One of my favorite things about writing this blog is that it enables me to have really interesting conversations with really interesting people. Case in point: when I visited Monteverde, I knew that...
View ArticleCuba: Lessons to be Learned for Sustainable Living?
I can’t forget the wistful stares. “How lucky you are to come and visit us! We’d like to travel as well and see the world.” Legally, there is no problem anymore since the exit visa requirement was...
View ArticleFood In the Sustainable Development Goals: Great Ideas, But What About Demand?
The finalized text for the Sustainable Development Goals was published on August 1st. I was curious to see what it had to say on sustainable food and agricultural systems. I summarize my thoughts below...
View ArticleToo Strong Coffee? Concentration at the Top and Anti-Trust Concerns
The coffee supply chain is famously shaped like an hourglass (or, if you will, a drip coffee machine): the broad demand at the top is connected to the millions of small producers at the bottom by a...
View ArticleUrban Gardens and Lifestyle Choices
Aaand… back to regular scheduled programming. The past month has been pretty overwhelming with writing assignments, seminars, cross-Atlantic flights and the like. Now I’m back in my Costa Rican garden...
View ArticleFood: Wasted, Celebrated, Fought Over. A Cross-Section.
For cultures of the past facing the vagaries of an unpredictable environment, wastefulness was often dangerous. It invited death. Modernization has largely enabled us to turn our backs on that...
View ArticlePlease Don’t Stop the Moo-sic: Is Less Meat Still No Option?
As we are approaching our hottest year yet and historical climate talks, meat-free diets are still a political taboo. Even the official sustainable menu of COP21 has eschewed opening this Pandora’s...
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