Crowd Cow, the Seattle-based startup that set out to change the way people think about, order and consume beef, is now setting its sights on sustainable pork, promising a new line of meats to online customers across the United States.

A new credit union is hoping to fill a funding gap in Maine for small scale, sustainable farming and food production.

Called Maine Harvest, the credit union is in a final fundraising push to reach a $2.4 million capitalization, at which point it can apply for a charter. It is expected to open in early 2019.

To the pressing worldwide challenge of restoring soil carbon and rebuilding topsoil, the Australian soil ecologist Dr. Christine Jones offers an accessible, revolutionary perspective for improving landscape health and farm productivity. For several decades, Jones has helped innovative farmers and ranchers implement regenerative agricultural systems that provide remarkable benefits for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water management, and productivity. After a highly respected career in public sector research and extension, in 2001 Jones received a Community Fellowship Award from Land and Water Australia for “mobilizing the community to better manage their land, water, and vegetation.” 

Even from a distance, the pigs looked odd. It was hard to see them clearly at first; heavy rains had carved ruts into the dirt road that led into the pasture, and every time the Jeep hit bottom, my glasses slid down my nose. But as we jolted forward, the mass of dark bodies crowding the fence and pressing against the wires came into focus.

They weren’t like any pigs I’d seen before.