The Food & Environment Reporting Network
@thefern.org
The Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) produces independent, non-profit journalism at the intersection of food, agriculture, and the environment.
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American food politics are a mess, and ordinary people are struggling to figure out who is in charge, what they’re up to, and why. Forked hosts Helena Bottemiller Evich and Theodore Ross cut through the confusion, providing context and analysis.
Americans now eat more farmed seafood than they do from the wild ocean. That’s turned farming fish into big business, one that consumers have benefited from. The U.S. imports most of that seafood, but that could change. And the Gulf of Mexico is where some of the early action is unfolding.
December 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Americans now eat more farmed seafood than they do from the wild ocean. That’s turned farming fish into big business, one that consumers have benefited from. The U.S. imports most of that seafood, but that could change. And the Gulf of Mexico is where some of the early action is unfolding.
“Inside, the migrants had grown desperate,” writes Elliott Woods. “Some clawed at the walls and tore out chunks of yellow foam insulation, a futile effort to reach fresh air. … One by one, they began to die.” ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-one-by-one-they-began-to-die/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-one-by-one-they-began-to-die/
December 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“Inside, the migrants had grown desperate,” writes Elliott Woods. “Some clawed at the walls and tore out chunks of yellow foam insulation, a futile effort to reach fresh air. … One by one, they began to die.” ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-one-by-one-they-began-to-die/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-one-by-one-they-began-to-die/
We know this: Demand for seafood is soaring. We won’t be able to sustainably meet that demand from wild-caught fisheries. And there’s a growing global movement to farm more and more of our seafood.
December 5, 2025 at 3:11 PM
We know this: Demand for seafood is soaring. We won’t be able to sustainably meet that demand from wild-caught fisheries. And there’s a growing global movement to farm more and more of our seafood.
“Inside the deadliest immigration-related disaster in U.S. history,” Elliott Wood's investigative story for FERN and Texas Monthly, took over two years to write.
December 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM
“Inside the deadliest immigration-related disaster in U.S. history,” Elliott Wood's investigative story for FERN and Texas Monthly, took over two years to write.
The catastrophe that unfolded on June 27, 2022 would result in the deadliest immigration-related disaster in modern American history, explains Elliott Woods in his investigative piece for FERN and Texas Monthly.
December 3, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The catastrophe that unfolded on June 27, 2022 would result in the deadliest immigration-related disaster in modern American history, explains Elliott Woods in his investigative piece for FERN and Texas Monthly.
There are a few more hours left! 👇
This Giving Tuesday, we’re celebrating the power of food and the power of you. And because generosity looks good on everyone … today only your gift of at least $50 comes with a limited-edition FERN winter hat! (Trust us, it’s fantastic. But you need to act fast. Supplies are limited.)
December 3, 2025 at 1:03 AM
There are a few more hours left! 👇
There are a few hours left! 👇
This Giving Tuesday, we’re celebrating the power of food and the power of you. And because generosity looks good on everyone … today only your gift of at least $50 comes with a limited-edition FERN winter hat! (Trust us, it’s fantastic. But you need to act fast. Supplies are limited.)
December 3, 2025 at 1:01 AM
There are a few hours left! 👇
Watch the full interview for this episode here: youtu.be/qHp4a7sRlsc
And subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
@foodfixco.bsky.social @hbottemiller.bsky.social @eathere2.bsky.social
And subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
@foodfixco.bsky.social @hbottemiller.bsky.social @eathere2.bsky.social
December 2, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Watch the full interview for this episode here: youtu.be/qHp4a7sRlsc
And subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
@foodfixco.bsky.social @hbottemiller.bsky.social @eathere2.bsky.social
And subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
@foodfixco.bsky.social @hbottemiller.bsky.social @eathere2.bsky.social
ICYMI: In FERN's latest story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, reporter Sean Patrick Cooper uncovers how Big Farm and Big Tech have supercharged a pollution problem related to chemicals in an Oregon farming community’s water supply. Link below ⬇️
December 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
ICYMI: In FERN's latest story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, reporter Sean Patrick Cooper uncovers how Big Farm and Big Tech have supercharged a pollution problem related to chemicals in an Oregon farming community’s water supply. Link below ⬇️
In this episode, Helena and Theodore take the show on the road, talking with Jerusha Klemperer from FoodPrint’s What You’re Eating podcast to figure out if MAHA is a political movement, whether it will last, and most importantly, is it doing any good?
December 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM
In this episode, Helena and Theodore take the show on the road, talking with Jerusha Klemperer from FoodPrint’s What You’re Eating podcast to figure out if MAHA is a political movement, whether it will last, and most importantly, is it doing any good?
This Giving Tuesday, we’re celebrating the power of food and the power of you. And because generosity looks good on everyone … today only your gift of at least $50 comes with a limited-edition FERN winter hat! (Trust us, it’s fantastic. But you need to act fast. Supplies are limited.)
December 2, 2025 at 1:13 PM
This Giving Tuesday, we’re celebrating the power of food and the power of you. And because generosity looks good on everyone … today only your gift of at least $50 comes with a limited-edition FERN winter hat! (Trust us, it’s fantastic. But you need to act fast. Supplies are limited.)
Read the full story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, at thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
@rollingstone.com
@rollingstone.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Read the full story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, at thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
@rollingstone.com
@rollingstone.com
Despite having the most prolific remaining wild salmon runs on Earth, Alaska leads the world in salmon hatchery production. But as Miranda Weiss and Rafael de la Uz explain in their video documentary for FERN and Alaska Public Media, this production comes at a cost.
November 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Despite having the most prolific remaining wild salmon runs on Earth, Alaska leads the world in salmon hatchery production. But as Miranda Weiss and Rafael de la Uz explain in their video documentary for FERN and Alaska Public Media, this production comes at a cost.
In the latest FERN story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, a small-town county commissioner in Oregon named Jim Doherty discovered that industrial farming combined with a demand for data centers contributed to the presence of toxic nitrates in well water across the county. Link below ⬇️
November 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
In the latest FERN story, a collaboration with Rolling Stone, a small-town county commissioner in Oregon named Jim Doherty discovered that industrial farming combined with a demand for data centers contributed to the presence of toxic nitrates in well water across the county. Link below ⬇️
What if hatcheries—once thought of as the solution to dwindling salmon runs—are actually an ocean-wide ecological problem?
November 26, 2025 at 3:15 PM
What if hatcheries—once thought of as the solution to dwindling salmon runs—are actually an ocean-wide ecological problem?
In a part of rural Oregon in which large agricultural operations are a crucial driver of the economy, massive data center construction by Amazon has supercharged a pollution problem related to chemicals in the community’s water supply.
November 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In a part of rural Oregon in which large agricultural operations are a crucial driver of the economy, massive data center construction by Amazon has supercharged a pollution problem related to chemicals in the community’s water supply.
Reposted by The Food & Environment Reporting Network
What if hatcheries—once thought of as the solution to dwindling salmon runs—are actually an ocean-wide ecological problem?
Explore the ripple effects in Trouble at Sea (thefern.org & alaskapublic.org).
📺 Nov. 25, 7 p.m. on Alaska Public Media TV
📲 Nov. 26 PBS app | alaskapublic.org | YouTube
Explore the ripple effects in Trouble at Sea (thefern.org & alaskapublic.org).
📺 Nov. 25, 7 p.m. on Alaska Public Media TV
📲 Nov. 26 PBS app | alaskapublic.org | YouTube
November 25, 2025 at 12:30 AM
What if hatcheries—once thought of as the solution to dwindling salmon runs—are actually an ocean-wide ecological problem?
Explore the ripple effects in Trouble at Sea (thefern.org & alaskapublic.org).
📺 Nov. 25, 7 p.m. on Alaska Public Media TV
📲 Nov. 26 PBS app | alaskapublic.org | YouTube
Explore the ripple effects in Trouble at Sea (thefern.org & alaskapublic.org).
📺 Nov. 25, 7 p.m. on Alaska Public Media TV
📲 Nov. 26 PBS app | alaskapublic.org | YouTube
We wanted to reach out with a quick note and update. Due to this week's worldwide Cloudflare outage, FERN’s donation page wasn’t working. Many organizations across the globe were affected, and unfortunately our giving page was one of them.
November 21, 2025 at 8:51 PM
We wanted to reach out with a quick note and update. Due to this week's worldwide Cloudflare outage, FERN’s donation page wasn’t working. Many organizations across the globe were affected, and unfortunately our giving page was one of them.
Farmed seafood has become a massive business worldwide, and American consumers have benefitted from the cheap overseas prices.
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Farmed seafood has become a massive business worldwide, and American consumers have benefitted from the cheap overseas prices.
“The rising demand for pet African grey parrots and the price for a single bird — as much as $7,000 — drive rampant poaching in the forests of West and Central Africa.” ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-parrots-in-peril/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-parrots-in-peril/
November 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“The rising demand for pet African grey parrots and the price for a single bird — as much as $7,000 — drive rampant poaching in the forests of West and Central Africa.” ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-parrots-in-peril/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-parrots-in-peril/
The MAHA movement has had surprising success at the state level. Will that translate into federal change?
November 18, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The MAHA movement has had surprising success at the state level. Will that translate into federal change?
This episode of Forked explores whether MAHA momentum in the states translates into actual policy change nationwide. Helena and Theodore hosted the first-ever Forked live taping, with two special guests. ⬇️
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This episode of Forked explores whether MAHA momentum in the states translates into actual policy change nationwide. Helena and Theodore hosted the first-ever Forked live taping, with two special guests. ⬇️
“Each one of us has a unique scent profile, like a fingerprint. Everything from our personality type – such as extroversion, dominance and neuroticism – to our mood and health affects the way we smell,” writes Sofia Quaglia. ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-hot-food/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-hot-food/
November 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
“Each one of us has a unique scent profile, like a fingerprint. Everything from our personality type – such as extroversion, dominance and neuroticism – to our mood and health affects the way we smell,” writes Sofia Quaglia. ⬇️
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-hot-food/
https://thefern.org/blog_posts/ferns-friday-feed-hot-food/
FERN’s NewsMatch campaign is underway, our biggest fundraising effort of the year — and a moment when your support can make an even greater impact. We have $20,000 in matching funds waiting to be unlocked. But we only receive it if donors like you step up.
November 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
FERN’s NewsMatch campaign is underway, our biggest fundraising effort of the year — and a moment when your support can make an even greater impact. We have $20,000 in matching funds waiting to be unlocked. But we only receive it if donors like you step up.
In this postscript to FERN’s special issue of High Country News, Food and Power in the West, Mary-Charlotte Domandi, host of Radio Café’s Down to Earth podcast, goes deep with writers Rick Bass and Laureli Ivanoff about their essays in the special issue.
November 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
In this postscript to FERN’s special issue of High Country News, Food and Power in the West, Mary-Charlotte Domandi, host of Radio Café’s Down to Earth podcast, goes deep with writers Rick Bass and Laureli Ivanoff about their essays in the special issue.