WELCOME
I’m a writer with a taste for good food and a passion for sustainable food systems. In short, I like to eat right, and write about all the things that make food good — and explore the myriad ways in which we grow, source, purvey, prepare, and consume the things that nurture us.
Bon appétit and bonne lecture (happy reading)!
Look What Nicola Twilley Found in the Fridge
In an interview, Nicola Twilley traces the rise of refrigeration and its immense impacts on our food system and beyond.
Can Mushrooms Help Extinguish Toxic Waste?
Fungi can safely digest and transform toxins into mycomaterials.
Cultivating Profits in a Compact Crop
Microgreens are helping farmers reap greener returns without many of the challenges of agriculture.
Cultivating Resilience
In fire-stricken Maui, sustainable land management is key to avoiding future disasters.
California Leads the Way in Low-Carbon School Lunches
Public schools in the Golden State are encouraging climate-conscious consumption.
What Climate Change Means For California Dairy
Epic flooding in the Central Valley exposes the nation’s largest dairy region’s vulnerability to climate change.
Reaping Efficiency from Above
The newest crop of drones promises farmers greater sustainability and autonomy, while drawing interested newcomers into the field.
Shaking up the Spice Trade
A former chef is heating up the Anderson Valley by growing Espelette peppers — a rarity in the typically large-scale, commodity spice trade.
Squeezing the Most Out of California’s Water Supply
As agriculture withers amid an ever-warming climate, a flexible approach to water management may help cushion the blow.
Could e-Tractors Revolutionize Farming?
An emerging fleet of whisper-silent and emissions-free tractors promises to unhitch growers from the burdens of conventional farming, far beyond its reliance on fossil fuels.
Calculating New Options for Shrinking Rice Fields
Calculating New Options for Shrinking Rice Fields
One City’s Waste Is Also Its Lifeline
Healdsburg, in the heart of Northern California’s wine country, recycles 350 million gallons of effluent annually and gives it away for free.
Tamping Down on the Dust
Farm fallowing to save water can result in a host of unintended consequences, but the right kind of crop management can build in climate resilience.
Farming, on the Spectrum
With a new photovoltaic panel, farmers may no longer have to choose between crops and solar panels. New research is shedding light on harnessing sunshine to harvest energy and food together, taking advantage of the full light spectrum.
Milking More Value Out of Deer
From luscious desserts to high-end nutraceuticals, this novel product is helping New Zealand venison farmers squeeze a premium from their herds, while treading lightly on the land.
Harnessing the Wind, Sun and Sea for Salt
From its provenance and harvest to the hands that craft it, everything about this mineral-rich sea salt seems rooted in its Marin, California surroundings — including the artisanal price point.
Cowless Milk Is About to Get Real
By milking microbes instead of udders, precision fermentation creates the same dairy proteins produced by cows to make cheese, ice cream, and other treats that are indistinguishable from their conventional counterparts.
Stretching California’s Rice Belt
To cope with water restrictions in a drought-stricken state, the rice industry is looking to other regions to plant their future fields.
Rice Farming for Peat’s Sake
In California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, farmers are converting corn fields to rice in an effort to stop subsidence and reduce carbon emissions.
Beefing Up the Community
An innovative program at the Redwood Empire Food Bank is helping to nourish both land and community.