Potent Profit
Farmers reap the benefits of cannabis cultivation. Of the many cannabis stereotypes that Aaron Keefer fights against, a predilection for cookie dough, Funyuns and Nutella-spooned-straight-from-the-jar may be the most stubborn. […]
Where We Belong
Pandora Thomas and the Promise of Earthseed Riding on a wicker throne, Frances Louise Thomas, 81 years of age, is carried out from beneath an unseasonably hot sun by four
Sustainable Slaughter
BAR-C Ranchers Co-op Takes the Reins. Until last year, Sarah Silva prided herself on raising animals who lived a good life, from start to finish. At Green Star Farm just
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Seed to Sauce
Deb Rock’s Fiery Enterprise Deb Rock likes it hot. But in October of 2017, with hundreds of pounds of freshly harvested chili peppers piled up in the back of her
Dwindling Dairies
How local farms adapt and persevere during tough times Nestled in a valley where vineyards and redwoods give way to green rolling hills is the tiny town of Freestone. While
The Hands that Feed Us
Things were finally back to normal for Jennifer Reichardt and her ducks. Last October’s Kincade fire, which scorched nearly 80,000 acres, thankfully never reached her family’s Petaluma farm. But the
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Locavortex: Small Farm Doesn’t Mean Low Tech
For many, the countryside of Sonoma County epitomizes a certain rustic chic, a nostalgic adventure through a bygone era conjuring up lopsided barns, rusted pitchforks, and apples overflowing from splintered
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Locavortex: A Green New Deal for Agriculture
One of America’s earliest nationwide ecological disasters unfolded a century ago. Urged by railroad companies, land speculators, and the U.S. government, farmers flooded the American West, bringing unsustainable practices to
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True Cost
Does cheap food cheat farmers and farmworkers out of a fair wage? Farmer Adam Davidoff never wanted to build his business on fancy lettuce. “The mission of New Family Farm
YIMBY
With Sonoma Compost’s imminent closure, clamoring for waste in our backyards. Feedlots, otherwise known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), are agricultural systems defined not simply by how many animals