Martin Smith’s class poses a simple question: Should I eat fish? But answering it sends students into murky waters. Originally published in Duke Magazine. ON THE FIRST DAY OF HIS MARINE CONSERVATION course this past January, Martin Smith told his eight undergraduates that they would play a game. One student would wait in the hallway. […]
The Organic Food Paradox
As consumers increasingly demand organic produce, and as massive industrial farms rise to meet their needs, will it spell the end of the family-run, lovingly tended, earth-friendly farm? Originally published in The Saturday Evening Post. THE TERRAIN SWOOPS AND RISES AS I DRIVE up North Carolina Route 86 toward the rural crossroads of Cedar Grove. […]
In Desperation, Seafood Workers Sign Away Their Rights
For many of Louisiana’s oyster shuckers, shrimp peelers, and deckhands, survival after the BP oil spill meant accepting one-time payments of $5,000 check and signing away the rest of their rights. Meet Tam Nguyen, who shucked oysters for 30 years before the disaster. Produced by Barry Yeoman and Richard Ziglar for KRVS, Lafayette, Louisiana, and […]
At the Edge of the Gulf, Dulac Re-learns Resilience
The Houma Indians and Cajuns who live in in this South Louisiana fishing village have watched its population drop by more than 50 percent since 1990. Now they’re calling upon their traditional survival skills to help them weather some 21st-century disasters. Produced by Barry Yeoman and Richard Ziglar for KRVS, Lafayette, Louisiana, and the Louisiana […]
MacArthur Genius Says the BP Disaster is Far from Over
The Guardian has described Louisiana chemist Wilma Subra as BP’s “worst nightmare.” A winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant, Subra has spent 30 years giving technical assistance to local groups dealing with environmental problems. She says there’s ample reason for concern about human health and seafood safety on the Gulf Coast. Told entirely in Subra’s […]
For One Cajun Shrimper, a Journey from Despair to Defiance
April 20, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, and it’s still too early to measure the complete cost of the ensuring disaster. But we do know that the BP oil spill upended lives in ways that defy quantification. Here’s the story of shrimper Darla Rooks, who lost everything but her fighting […]
Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid
When an American ex-diplomat decided to re-create an icon from Casablanca in Morocco, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A different version of this story was published in American Way. THE EVENING I LANDED IN CASABLANCA, Morocco, I decided to lose myself in the Ancienne Médina, the old walled quartier that butts up […]
Grand Bayou, Self-Sufficient and Shrinking, Prepares for a Fisheries Collapse
Members of the Atakapa-Ishak tribe have found a creative use for a high-tech fencing material that has protected soldiers in Iraq and strengthened levees outside New Orleans: They’re building gardens that will keep them fed in the event of a seafood shortage sparked by the BP oil spill. Produced by Barry Yeoman and Richard Ziglar […]
An Oystering Community Contemplates Life Without Oysters
In Pointe-a-la-Hache, Louisiana, the oyster harvest feeds widows, sustains relationships, and keeps the rural economy humming. But oysters can’t migrate, and they’ve been particularly vulnerable since the BP oil spill. Produced by Barry Yeoman and Richard Ziglar for KRVS, Lafayette, Louisiana, and the Louisiana Public Broadcasting “GulfWatch” series. Narrated by Barry Yeoman. Photo by Stanley […]
Fork in the Road
Today organic foods seem as mainstream as frozen waffles, but the United States still lags far behind Europe. It’s time for Washington to give the industry a jolt. Originally published in Audubon. THE CHUK-CHUK-CHUK OF AN OLD FORD DIESEL pierces the morning at Joseph Fields Farm on Johns Island, South Carolina. Eight farmworkers make their […]
