August 2011
1 post
The Farm as a Gathering Space
Vermont’s dairy market may be souring for many farmers — but it doesn’t mean the land is going bad.
This story about a family farm in transition aired on Vermont Public Radio’s Vermont Edition on August 18, 2011. To stream the story, click here.
Hundreds of people gather at Bread and Butter Farm’s Burger Nights for farm raised eats and live music.
July 2011
1 post
A New Direction for an Old Farm
“Get big or get out” is a common wisdom in the dairy industry. And many small-scale farms have gotten out. Northern New York has half the dairy farms it did 20 years ago, and the remaining farms are generally much bigger. Some are much, much bigger. In Vermont, the number of dairy farms dropped below 1,000 in May. But not everybody getting out of dairy is leaving farming altogether....
June 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Chasing Vermont`s Butterflies
The Vermont Center for Ecostudies has released the first comprehensive butterfly atlas for the state. It was almost ten years in the making, and long overdue. According to Kent McFarland, co-founder of VCE, the atlas will serve as a good reference point as climate change alters butterfly habitats and populations in the future.
Banded Hairstreak. Photo courtesy of Kevin Hemeon.
This story...
2 tags
Tracking the elusive West Virginia White
If you want to find a butterfly, look for its host plant — the place where it lays its eggs. Still need help? Ask Kevin Hemeon. They call him “Sweet Nectar.”
This story aired on North Country Public Radio’s Heard Up North series on May 27th. To stream the story, click here.
May 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Bikes Break Down Migrant Worker Barriers
It’s practically a given that you need a car if you want to live in a rural place. Not all towns have grocery stores or pharmacies. Work can be miles away. The distances and empty landscapes are particularly isolating for the hundreds of undocumented workers on dairy farms in the region. Undocumented migrant workers can’t drive - they’re not eligible for driver’s...
4 tags
Burlington Works Toward Inclusive Schools
Vermont’s Burlington school district is the most diverse in the state. More than 60 countries are represented in the student body, and 27% of the students are of color. It’s a multiracial, multicultural environment — and one that the district works hard to make inclusive.
This story aired on May 6, 2011 as part of Vermont Public Radio’s series, Vermont Reads: To Kill a...
March 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Barred Owls Where They Shouldn't Be
This winter’s record breaking snows have taken a toll on our roads, our roofs and our psyches. But we humans aren’t the only ones suffering. Vermont’s Barred Owls are struggling to hunt their prey under the deep snowpack. So the nocturnal creatures are getting creative - and showing up in unexpected places.
This story aired on Vermont Public Radio’s Vermont Edition on...
5 tags
The Spirit of a Mining Town
Sierra Crane-Murdoch and I co-produced this story for World Vision Report. It aired on NPR member stations across the country during the week of February 19, 2010.
“Americans around the country are struggling through this recession. But in southern West Virginia, coal-mining communities have been living with economic downturn for decades…Discouraged by the dangers of mining and...
February 2011
1 post
4 tags
WatchFaith & Environmentalism Catholic sisters have long been associated with activism - from fighting poverty to promoting education and social justice. Today, sisters around the country are uniting around a new cause: healing the earth. Sisters Gail Worcelo and Bernadette Bostwick have brought “green” Catholicism to a monastery in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
A version of...
January 2011
1 post
November 2010
1 post
5 tags
Whither Green Embalming? →
We’ve heard it all: Green jobs. Green energy. Green building.
But what about green embalming?
This story about an eco-hopeful funeral home in Randolph, Vermont aired on Vermont Public Radio on November 26th and November 27th.
October 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Watch
Greening the Afterlife Part IV Dick Bentley dealt with death on both sides of Lake Champlain. His mother died in Vermont; his father died in New York. In both cases, he wanted to keep things simple - and in the family. Turns out that different state laws made for very different experiences.
A version of this piece aired on North Country Public Radio on October 19, 2010.
4 tags
Moth Storytelling Inspires Students
The public radio show “The Moth” has inspired Vermonters to get up and tell their own stories. This story about a Moth event at Middlebury College aired on October 10, 2010 on Vermont Public Radio. To stream the story, click here.
September 2010
2 posts
5 tags
Watch
For the Love of the Fish Rich Greenough has been a full-time charter captain on Lake Champlain for almost thirty years. He knows where and when the fish will bite, and for a fee he’ll take you out there and share his secrets.
Rich is selling his operation this year and retiring, but that doesn’t mean his days on the water are over. If anything, he’ll have more time to...
3 tags
Gary King always knew that he was going to be...
August 2010
3 posts
5 tags
Watch
Greening the Afterlife Part II Richard Winter builds coffins, but he isn’t a morbid man. In his mind, death is just the part that comes before decomposition. That’s why everything he builds is completely biodegradable. It’s “back to land” brought to a new level - a philosophy his customers appreciate. Winter runs Vermont Coffins from his wood shop in Calais,...
5 tags
Watch
Greening the Afterlife Part I Elinor Randall isn’t planning on dying any time soon. But that hasn’t stopped her from establishing a private cemetery up the hill from her house in Plainfield, Vermont.
4 tags
Greening the Afterlife
There was a time in this country when natural home births were standard practice. Then came the rise of institutional medicine, and even though being pregnant is not always the same as being sick, hospitals became the site for all things reproductive. Today, less than 1% of all births in the U.S. take place in the home.
Interestingly, the same fate that befell those entering this life also...
July 2010
1 post
5 tags
