After nine years working for a nonprofit organization, 41-year-old Erin Mattson was earning more seniority, more responsibility and more money than she ever thought possible. But she also experienced stress and anxiety levels that led to serious health problems. Her partner, Elissa Viscelli, 36, convinced her to quit her job because, far more than a
More
Before boarding a 12-foot Bevin’s Skiff on the reservoir at the Discovery Center at the end of last school year, Northeast High School student Christopher Medina had never been on the water. “I never realized how awkward it was to row, sitting with your back to the front. We did sometimes mess up and did
More
Yes, this is our food and farming issue, but it’s so much more. When we launched the 2030 Series in April, our goal was to focus each month on a single topic through the lens of sustainability. The themed issue is a tried and true convention for editorial, but when it comes to sustainability, the
More
When Kiera Thompson lost her job at a consignment store at the onset of the pandemic, she looked for something to occupy her time. She decided to invest in a candle making kit and try it out as a possible hobby. “This was literally just a little tiny kit, and I just found it really
More
On a rainy day in early October, clear water flows from the downspout draining the roof of Peter Zettlemoyer’s livestock corral, bound for Manor Creek just down the hill. Two black and white Holstein heifers that Zettlemoyer is raising for a nearby dairy farmer, amble over to the railing that pens them in to check
More
As Don Shump, the owner of the Philadelphia Bee Company, prepares to move a bald-faced hornet nest from the side of a large grave marker at Fernwood Cemetery in Lansdowne, he offers some advice. “These girls tend to run and gun. So when they’re mad, they tend to hit you and spin back off for
More
Convicted of attempted murder at age 17, Philly performing artist and musician Andre Simms, or DayOneNotDayTwo, his stage name, spent eight years in an adult prison. Released in 2021, he’s now the lead youth organizer with the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project (YASP), 924 Cherry Street, a group of young people working to reform the
More
One behemoth of a building in Eastwick looms large, both literally and in discussions about food recovery in Philadelphia. At 700,000 square feet — about 12 football fields — the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM) is the largest refrigerated structure in the world. Eighteen of the largest produce vendors in the Mid-Atlantic share warehouse space
More
Christa Barfield, the founder of FarmerJawn Agriculture, a multi-pronged organization that aims to feed wholesome food to marginalized communities while educating the next generation of Black and Brown farmers, will begin leasing the 123-acre farm at the Westtown School in Chester County. “This land is not a gift, it’s an opportunity,” Barfield says of her
More
When COVID-19 suddenly disrupted supply chains, leaving grocery shelves empty, local farmers joined the short list of essential workers. Yet, despite their critical importance, many farmers remain low-wage workers. A report recently released by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture revealed that farmers in our region earn about $10 per hour and family farm households struggle to reach
More