Stories
Sean O’Donnell started growing grains about 10 years ago at Rusted Rooster Farm, 45 minutes north of Skowhegan on the border of Maine’s Somerset and Piscataquis counties. He began on a small scale, using grains as a cover crop planted in rotation with other crops to improve the health of the soil. He and his…
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On a foggy, wet evening at the end of March, more than 50 people gathered on a dirt road in Salisbury, Vt., with flashlights and rain gear. Everyone was there for the same thing. “I am here to help the salamanders,” said Rory Cate, a 10-year-old from Salisbury, who came with her dad and younger…
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The World Bank says the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global emissions, leading some brands to take stock of their outsized carbon footprints. New Balance Athletics operates three factories in Maine and has pledged to be net zero by 2050. The company’s factories churn out thousands of sneakers every day. An MIT…
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Sneezing. Scratchy eyes. Car windshields caked with yellow-green buildup. These are the signs of spring that New England allergy-sufferers (including this reporter) greet with disdain. Despite heralding the triumphant return of our local plant life, these gifts feel more like lumps of coal. We’re early in the pollen season here in the Northeast, with most trees…
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On a recent evening, Zainab Manahe was frying sambousas over a grill set up in the garage at her home in Gorham, Maine. The small, meat-filled pastries sizzling in the pan are a staple at her family’s dinner table during the month of Ramadan. Speaking in Arabic while her son Nasir interpreted, Zainab explained that…
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House hunting in Boston can often feel like one of those reality TV dating shows. There’s the first meeting, where you and a dozen or so other contestants circle the object of your desire. You fall in love, maybe make a proposal, and then more likely than not … you get rejected. This is the…
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Homeownership is the primary way most Americans build wealth. And for most people, buying a home doesn’t happen without a mortgage loan. Altogether, home loans amount to billions of dollars flowing into Boston every year. But this infusion of money doesn’t reach all parts of the city equally. A WBUR analysis finds lenders make a…
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Members of Vermont’s organic industry are celebrating after the U.S. Department of Agriculture closed a loophole in dairy standards. The USDA Origin of Livestock rule outlines how organic dairy farms can source the cows they use to produce milk. Generally, organic dairy farms can only transition cows from conventional care — using antibiotics and cheaper, non-organic feed…
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Owning a home is considered part of the so-called American dream. But for Black and Hispanic Bostonians, it is more often a dream denied. A new WBUR analysis of mortgage lending in Boston from 2015-2020 found lenders denied mortgages to Black applicants at three times the rate of white applicants. Hispanic applicants were twice as…
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On a cold, sunny day in a remote part of Vermont’s rugged Northeast Kingdom, Nick Fortin — Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s lead moose biologist — holds onto his snowmobile helmet as he gestures to some young trees. The new growth from logging at this spot, in addition to its remote and mountainous setting, makes for…
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