Leo Kirts

New York

Contributor at Them

columnist @them // writer from Indiana based in New York covering food, queer politics, ecofeminism & veganism. they/them [email protected]

Articles

Meet the Nonbinary Food Writer Reimagining Restaurant Criticism

Jul 19, 2024 | them.us | Leo Kirts

“Tender” is a column about all of the beautiful, delicious, and liberating ways that LGBTQ+ people work with food. From production to preparation, local farms to reimaginings of the restaurant, our community is at the forefront of what it means to nourish and be nourished today. Read more from the series here.
Chef Marcelle Afram on Palestinian Cuisine, Gender Liberation, and Pickles

Apr 1, 2024 | them.us | Leo Kirts

“Tender” is a column about all of the beautiful, delicious, and liberating ways that LGBTQ+ people work with food. From production to preparation, local farms to reimaginings of the restaurant, our community is at the forefront of what it means to nourish and be nourished today. Read more from the series here. Marcelle Afram has a knack for preservation.
Inside the Historic Lesbian Cafes That Fed the Feminist Movement

Feb 6, 2024 | cntraveler.com | Leo Kirts

“Tender” is Them's column about all of the beautiful, delicious, and liberating ways that LGBTQ+ people work with food. From production to preparation, local farms to reimaginings of the restaurant, our community is at the forefront of what it means to nourish and be nourished today. Read more from the series here. In the spring of 1972, the first known feminist restaurant in the United States opened its doors in Greenwich Village.
Can contract livestock farmers find a second act?

Jan 24, 2024 | foodprint.org | Kristen Link |Leo Kirts

After two decades of contract chicken farming, Tom Lim was left with four empty chicken houses and a mountain of debt. A Khmer refugee who immigrated to the U.S. from Cambodia, Lim got into contract farming on the recommendation of a friend, and purchased a chicken farm with his siblings in 1999 for $660,000. It had four sheds for concentrated animal feeding operations (or CAFOs) but no equipment.
A Short History of the Lesbian Cafes That Fed the Feminist Movement

Nov 22, 2023 | them.us | Leo Kirts

“Tender” is a column about all of the beautiful, delicious, and liberating ways that LGBTQ+ people work with food. From production to preparation, local farms to reimaginings of the restaurant, our community is at the forefront of what it means to nourish and be nourished today. Read more from the series here. In the spring of 1972, the first known feminist restaurant in the U.S. opened its doors in Greenwich Village.
This QTBIPOC-Centered Farm Is Inviting Queer and Trans Youth Into the Garden

Aug 25, 2023 | them.us | Leo Kirts |James Factora |Jennifer Culp

Michaela Hayes-Hodge is meditating on weeds. It’s summer in the Black Dirt region of New York’s Orange County, an area known for super fertile inky-black soil that makes all plants grow well. A glacial lake bed melted here 12,000 years ago, causing the soil’s unusually high concentration of organic matter. When it rains, weeds can grow up to a foot in one day, “and that’s not an exaggeration,” they grin assuringly, tucking a strand of cropped blonde hair behind their ear.
Rise & Root Farm Is Inviting Queer and Trans Youth Into the Garden

Aug 24, 2023 | cityfarmer.info | Leo Kirts |Michael Levenston

It’s a space where the community can come together to dream up new ways of caring for each other and the land. By Leah KirtsThemAugust 25, 2023Excerpt:Michaela Hayes-Hodge is meditating on weeds. It’s summer in the Black Dirt region of New York’s Orange County, an area known for super fertile inky-black soil that makes all plants grow well. A glacial lake bed melted here 12,000 years ago, causing the soil’s unusually high concentration of organic matter.
How to build a raised garden bed, according to master gardeners | CNN Underscored

Aug 17, 2023 | cnn.com | Leo Kirts

Getty Images/iStockphoto There has never been a better time to start growing your own food. Whether you start small with a few seedlings or transform every square foot of outdoor space into edible foliage, planting your own edible garden can help offset rising food costs, benefit the environment and improve mental health.
“Under the Henfluence” Urges Us to See Hens as Complex Beings

May 10, 2023 | foodprint.org | Kristen Link |Leo Kirts

Initially, Danovich started raising hens for the same reasons that many other people do, to source eggs outside of the poultry industry and enjoy the companionship of feathered backyard pets. Since the early 2000s, backyard coops have expanded as an urban and suburban trend. Keeping backyard chickens is now a with more than 10 million American households raising chickens as quasi-pets who produce food.
“Under the Henfluence” Urges Us to See Hens’ Humanity

May 10, 2023 | foodprint.org | Kristen Link |Leo Kirts

Initially, Danovich started raising hens for the same reasons that many other people do, to source eggs outside of the poultry industry and enjoy the companionship of feathered backyard pets. Since the early 2000s, backyard coops have expanded as an urban and suburban trend. Keeping backyard chickens is now a with more than 10 million American households raising chickens as quasi-pets who produce food.