"Using explosives is illegal, wasteful and devastating to marine life and people’s livelihoods. Yet in Sri Lanka and around the world it’s thriving as a quick and easy route to a lucrative haul".
"They are some of the most exclusive clubs in town. Some people wait up to two years to become dues-paying members. And no, it’s not the swanky Jonathan Club or hip SoHo House — it’s your local community garden."
A decade’s worth of government pesticide data — only available before through FOIA — has been made newly available. And, explains the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, it can lead to revealing environmental, public health and environmental justice stories. More on how the data came to be compiled and advice on using it smartly, along with some caveats.
What brought together two teams of student reporters, half a dozen states and 1,000 miles apart? For one, the high environmental cost of chemical fertilizer. For another, a pair of dedicated journalism teachers. Cynthia Barnett and Sara Shipley Hiles share how they took the project from daydream to reality, brought students into the field and got pickup from numerous news outlets, in the latest EJ Academy.
"Low water levels are critical for manoomin, a sacred crop for the Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region. But climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels is bringing more rain and flooding to Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, making harvests of wild rice less reliable."
"As the war in Ukraine disrupts the global grain market, a volatile climate leaves Kansas on track to harvest its smallest wheat crop in decades."
"As tortillas warm on the grill at Los Pookies – an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based food truck best known for its birria tacos – a swamp cooler blasts cool air and extractor fans try their best to suck the heat out of the metal trailer."
"Dune Lankard piloted the gleaming gill-net fishing boat to Simpson Bay, where eight buoys bobbed in the sunlight. The bright orange inflatables, connected by lines and spread out across five acres, provided the only indication of the ocean farm that lay beneath the water’s surface."
"These feral pigs cause billions of damage, but some chefs and meat purveyors are putting this pork on the map – and menus".
