These days, it’s hard to trust that the food you’re eating was produced in a safe, humane and sustainable manner. But online tools like the Eat Well Guide make it easier to support local farmers, restaurateurs, and others who are doing good by their customers, their workers and the planet. The Guide’s thousands of listings include restaurants, farms, farmers’ markets, stores and more. Eat Well Guide Project Director Dawn Brighid shared with Rachel’s Network why initiatives like hers are needed as we build a better food system together.
It’s inspiring to see a woman-led business increasing livelihoods for women farmers and employees in parts of the world that markets struggle to reach. It’s even more powerful when that business does so while having a positive impact on the environment. Root Capital is investing in those kinds of businesses – high-impact, gender-inclusive, and focused on agriculture. Root Capital’s Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Operations Catherine Gill talks about ways we can encourage and support women farmers.
Here’s what we know about climate change: 97 percent of climate scientists are convinced, based upon the evidence, that human-caused global warming is happening. When they see no solution, people just don’t want to think about it. But when an effective solution is possible, opinions change quickly. Through Citizens Climate Lobby, Marianne Gabel is holding respectful discussions based on common values to help Congress find the way to a cooler, livable world.
In 2008, Portland Pipeline was quietly making plans to reverse the flow of their 236 mile long oil pipeline between Portland, Maine and Montreal, Canada. Few people in South Portland had heard of tar sands in 2008, but by 2014 that had changed. That’s because a group of citizens had formed “Protect South Portland,” going door-to-door to educate their neighbors about the threat of tar sands shipments in their community. Rachel’s Network Member Janet Miller talks about her involvement in the successful campaign to fight the project.
One-in-three foods on our plates rely on bees for pollination. But bee populations are in trouble. Mounting scientific evidence points to a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (“neonics” for short) as the culprit for honeybee decline. Executive Director of Environment America Margie Alt joined Rachel’s Network to explain what needs to be done to protect our pollinators, and what her organization is doing to advocate for this and other environmental causes.
