The Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN)

The Food & Environment Reporting Network stands out as the only independent, non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth and investigative journalism focused on the often overlooked topics of food, agriculture, and environmental health. By collaborating with both local and national mainstream media, we aim to share stories that not only educate and inspire but also create a lasting difference.

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#2054696

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#580147

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Articles

FERN’s Friday Feed: Fried fish and family affairs

1 week ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“The Eastern Shore of Virginia is the southern-most tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, a hunk of land under joint custody of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The Virginia portion is a serrated slice some 5 to 15 miles wide and 70 miles long. The bayside looks west across the Chesapeake Bay to mainland Virginia, while the seaside is shielded by barrier islands, the longest stretch of coastal wilderness on the East Coast.
No matter who’s in the White House, the poultry-processing lines move ever faster

1 week ago | thefern.org | Bryce Covert

In one of the nation's chicken-producing hubs, immigrant workers say their employers offer Band-Aids, ice, and ibuprofen for injuries that are often life-altering By Photography by Shuran Huang The first time I met Alex Paul he wore a stylish patterned shirt and a wide smile.
Trouble On The Line

1 week ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

In December 2006, ICE agents raided six Swift & Company meatpacking plants in Texas, arresting 1,300 undocumented workers, a pivotal but often overlooked event that forced the meatpacking industry to shift away from undocumented labor. Although anti-immigrant crackdowns have historically aimed to open jobs to American workers, these positions—especially in meatpacking—have not been reclaimed by native-born citizens.
FERN’s Friday Feed: Table to farm

2 weeks ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’n’wipe, the no-touch flush, the sanitisers and disinfectants. The compost pile stands in productive contrast to a domestic order founded on the concealment of waste. We so rarely have to deal with our own shit, and this avoidance extends beyond sewage.
FERN’s Friday Feed: Our well without water

3 weeks ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“It was easier to fret about the ongoing climate tragedy … than to let my attention lie fallow, occupied only by a hyperawareness of myself, in prison,” writes Michael Fischer. “I read about food waste and fracking, mountaintop removal, and the annual death toll from air pollution …. I read about animal agriculture and its impact on land use, animal welfare, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria ….
FERN’s Friday Feed: Know your burger

4 weeks ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“To eat in modern America is to participate in not-knowing. We encounter the meal on our plates, yet behind that, much is kept hidden from us: how the animals were treated, how the land was farmed, who processed the bodies, and who butchered them. Some 34 million cattle are slaughtered every year in the US, the conditions of the farm or feedlot or processing plant are obscured,” writes David Cook. “Answers are hidden because, too often, answers are vile and violent.
Editor’s Desk: A new approach to treating mental health in farm country

1 month ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

By Brent CunninghamU.S. farmers die by suicide at three and a half times the national rate. Their jobs are difficult, dangerous, and precarious, at the mercy of increasingly volatile weather and the whims of markets and politics. Addressing the problem of mental health in farm country has proven difficult, in part because many farmers are loath to acknowledge it, wary of the stigma and tied to a culture of quiet coping.
FERN’s Friday Feed: Using the land to heal farmers

1 month ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“Kaila Anderson stands in front of some photos in the farmhouse where she grew up, near the tiny town of Sabetha, in the northeast corner of Kansas. Outside, frozen February fields of wheat, hay and corn stubble repeat across the rolling hills. This agrarian landscape inspired a breakthrough she made four years ago that now promises to help farmers struggling with their mental health,” writes Dean Kuipers.
We’re running out of chances to stop bird flu

1 month ago | thefern.org | Maryn McKenna

The virus' largely unchecked spread creates opportunities for it to mutate and become a public health emergency By This Story’s Impact more than 11.4 million subscribers across platforms This article was produced in collaboration with The New York Times.
Welcoming Tanya Haider to FERN’s board

1 month ago | thefern.org | Tom Laskawy

By Tom LaskawyFERN is in a phase of growth and evolution to meet the changing media landscape for food and environmental journalism. We are fortunate to announce that Tanya Haider has agreed to join FERN’s Board of Directors, giving our organization the benefit of her years of business strategy experience in media, education, and nonprofits. Tanya comes to the board as the founder of Seaview Advisory, working with media and ed-tech start-ups to scale and grow their businesses.