Bring the outliers inside
"Positive deviants" - innovative individuals who do things differently and succeed against the odds - can help communities solve seemingly intractable problems. Richard Pascale, Jerry Sternin and Monique Sternin | September 2010 issue In the Amazon delta of Brazil, cash crops now grow in tidal Read More...
Taking root in the city
How urban agriculture is changing our relationship with food - for good. Casey Miner | July/August 2010 Issue Dave Bell still remembers the tomatoes that changed his life—gorgeous, almost iridescent tomatoes glowing on a shelf at the Liberty Heights Fresh food market in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dave Read More...
Tasting is believing
Esoteric practises, like burying manure inside cows’ horns, has put many people off biodynamic agriculture. Now the sensational flavour—and ecological benefits—of biodynamic produce is winning them over. Jay Walljasper | May 2008 issue I know a thing or two about farms. My uncles raised Read More...
Not the same old drive-thru
The meat is raised naturally; the packaging is recycled; the ovens use renewable power. New green fast-food chains are serving up burgers and fries to feel good about. Mary Desmond Pinkowish| April 2008 issue It's really cold and windy in Manhattan. The Friday lunch crowds scurry in and out of Read More...
Give bees a chance
Reports of catastrophic declines in the bee population have scientists buzzing. Is it mites? GM crops? Mobile phones? Habitat loss? Here's what the plight of the humble bee says about our own relationship to nature. Pat Thomas | Jan/Feb 2008 issue Reports of catastrophic declines in the bee Read More...
Signor Slow
Ode dines with Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, who believes pleasure can save the world. Marco Visscher| September 2007 issue This is no ordinary chicken on the table. Two days earlier it was stuffed with fresh herbs and then cooked in a wood-fired oven for a half-hour and left to Read More...
Fertile soil, not ground-breaking
The efforts by Wes Jackson Jay Walljasper | November 2004 issue Wes Jackson is a visionary researcher who wants to rethink 10,000 years of agriculture from the roots up. You can call him a dreamer, you can call him radical, you can call him boldly original, but please don’t call him Read More...