Vera Chang

Vermont's Local Banquet — I’d never actually seen a sea buckthorn plant or eaten any of its berries until I moved to Vermont. Already familiar with sea buckthorn in my skincare products, I was inspired to learn more. And when I did: zing, zest, tang! I was struck by sea buckthorn berries’ complex, passionfruit, citrus-like flavor. It was like nothing I’ve tasted. This article talks about culinary and medicinal uses and ecological concerns of this rising Vermont crop.

civileats.com — While just one percent of Americans abstain from eating animal products, veganism is gaining ground in the U.S. Jay-Z announced recently that he'll go vegan for 22 days as "a spiritual and physical cleanse" and Al Gore recently decided to go vegan, which some speculate is a way to reduce his carbon footprint. These are just two examples of the personalities, products, and restaurants that are embracing plant-based diets, with health, animal welfare, and environmental concerns as common motivators.

Bitch Magazine — A self-described “critical food geographer,” Harper sees all these issues as related. What we eat is inextricably linked with race, class, health, sex, and sexual orientation, which in turn are tied to the environment, animal rights, social justice, spirituality, and freedom. How we choose to eat in- fluences our relationships with others in the food chain, with ecological landscapes, and, fundamentally, with ourselves.

Civil Eats — Crunchy and savory dulse flakes lend a taste and texture similar to bacon when sprinkled over artichoke croquettes. Kombu dissolves in chipotle black bean and mushroom chili, giving it a trace of saltiness before being finished with crème fraiche. Agar agar, a clear, tasteless alternative to chemical-based and animal gelatin, creates a thick, smooth base for dark chocolate orange pudding. These three ingredients share one thing in common: they are sea vegetables. Recently, at Passionate Nutrition 's Seaweed 101 Workshop in Washington's San Juan Islands, in between wild-harvesting and discussions about nutrition, every meal we ate incorporated seaweed.

www.bamco.com — Detailing the reality faced by the nation's 1.4 million crop farmworkers, this groundbreaking report compiled and analyzed data from multiple federal, state, and private sources to give the most comprehensive picture yet of the reality faced by America's least-valued but critically important workforce. The report was the first of its kind to detail the lack of laws and protections for crop farmworkers in the U.S., and it represented an important step toward addressing the issue of farmworker rights in our business and driving change in the food system. It laid the groundwork for the development of verifiable and enforceable standards for agricultural work that can be supported by both individual consumers and socially responsible corporations. Vera Chang managed, co-researched, and co-wrote the Inventory, published by Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation and the United Farm Workers, with support from Oxfam America.

www.triplepundit.com — A few months ago, a National Vice President of the United Farm Workers Union came to Bon Appétit’s office to discuss a potential collaboration between our organizations. In our conversation, we noted challenges we both face over the question: How can we institutionalize justice for farm workers? Vice President Erik Nicholson commented, only half jokingly, “Sometimes I wish farmworkers were salmon because then people might care enough to protect them.” His comment is worrisome because he may actually be right.

www.triplepundit.com — “We’re all going to lose our jobs if you don’t pick faster!” the foreman, in a plaid shirt and red trucker hat, shouts from the side of the field. He stands atop the produce truck bumper and hovers above a dozen or so farm workers. His body creates a shadow of shade in the strong afternoon sun. The workers are bent over, picking tomatoes, some of them so close to the ground they are practically kissing it. The farm workers pick quickly, their movements rapid and repetitive. These workers are truly like machines in the fields. I am standing next to the foreman, so I know that even though the workers do not respond to the yelling, his voice cuts through the air directly to the workers’ ears. Once each farm worker picks a certain quota of tomatoes, the foreman calls him or her over, one at a time for a water break. More shouts come from people standing around the foreman: “There’s a surplus of workers waiting in the parking lot ready to work!” “We can call I.C.E. [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] anytime!” The workers are told they are disposable, like the plastic cup they share. I have been buying tomatoes my whole life, but the fields are like nothing I have imagined. I am uncomfortable with the yelling and the work conditions, but I just stand there, shaken by a dose of reality.

www.triplepundit.com — On the website homepage of one of the largest fruit and vegetable producers and marketers in the world, a blond woman wearing a pink shirt appears, smoothie in one hand and bowl in the other. As the page loads, strawberries fall from the sky, landing effortlessly into her bowl. As the viewer, I wonder where I am to assume these strawberries came from. The strawberry-shaped hot air balloon overhead? Green rolling hills in the background?

civileats.com — Northfield has a rich agricultural history. The town's motto, "Cows, Colleges, and Contentment" evokes agriculture's influence on Northfield's fields, factories, and culture. Founded in 1855, the Minnesotan town was central to the wheat industry. A sawmill for processing lumber and a gristmill for processing flour were both powered by the Cannon River flowing through town. As the wheat frontier moved westward during the 1950s, diversified farms and dairy operations become the town's principal source of income. Today, large scale agriculture remains central to Northfield and the rest of the state.

civileats.com — People from all over the world travel to Namibia because it is rich in charismatic megafauna like elephants, lions, zebras, cheetah, kudu, oryx and springbok. Having grown up in New York City, I developed an insatiable desire to surround myself with wild, beautiful animals and landscapes. I was delighted to go to Damaraland in the Kunene Region of northwestern Namibia to join a team studying the nearly-extinct desert-dwelling black rhinoceros. Our research looked at the effects of livestock herding practices on rhinoceros habitat. Since rhinoceroses and livestock occupy the same region and utilize similar food and water resources, we wanted to know if the presence of livestock negatively affects the rhinoceros population.

bav.ibavi.org — This qualitative study examines people’s values and beliefs about nature and environmental conservation that connect with their background and experiences. Interviews with a small sample of local people and North Americans in the Kunene Region of Namibia, a remote area rich in wildlife, considers three aspects of environmental beliefs and values: (a) extrinsic and intrinsic valuing of nature, (b) environmental identity, and (c) inclusion of nature in the scope of justice.