Food

Illustrations of Swiss chard, pomegranates, green beans, & cauliflower on a light blue background.

Feasting Sustainably, the Syrian Way

As a new Canadian, learning about sustainability inspired me to share recipes from my homeland.

Maya Kabbani

October 11, 2024 - 7 min read

A light tan-skinned hand holding a jar of mayonnaise showing the best before date.

Food Health

Are Best-Before Dates the Worst?

Meant to indicate freshness, these labels can lead to wasted food and money.

Ferrukh Faruqui

August 14, 2024 - 6 min read

Justice Moore, a young Gitxsan/Tsimshian man wearing a cap and hi-vis vest harvests kale at Tea Creek.

Art & Design BC

This BC Farm Grows Indigenous Food Sovereignty

The documentary Tea Creek spotlights the successes and challenges of a small farm with big ambitions.

Sun Woo Baik

May 03, 2024 - 5 min read

Emily Sproule puts her hand into a box of green beans in a grocery store, near boxes of rhubarb, eggplant, bananas, tomatoes.

Food Plastic & Pollution

Living the Package-Free Shopping Dream

A zero-waste pioneer shares thoughts on community-building, intentional shopping, and unsexy solutions.

Sun Woo Baik

July 31, 2023 - 5 min read

Art & Design Climate Change

Food Fight: A Q&A with Eleanor Boyle

Vancouver writer digs into Britain’s transformative WWII food policies to find guidance for our own war on climate change.

Jessie Johnston

June 23, 2023 - 7 min read

Silicone kitchen tools arranged in a fan shape sit on a blue background, with silicone cupcake liners scattered above them.

Food Plastic & Pollution

Is Your Silicone Spatula Sustainable?

The story of those colourful kitchen accessories starts in a surprising place: a sand mine.

Tina Knezevic

November 28, 2022 - 5 min read

6 soybean pods hang from their leafy stems in a golden sun-lit field.

Climate Change Food

Soy’s Rise is Causing Ecological Downfall

The story of soy and its current boom has little to do with tofu — or human food at all.

Kevin Jiang

April 21, 2022 - 7 min read

Kenyan farmer Ester Chebet walks through a field. She has dark skin, black hair, and wears a yellow skirt and blue shirt.

Climate Change Economy

Kisumu’s Climate-Smart Farmers

Kenya’s smallholder farmers are adapting to a new climate reality.

Kevin Lunzalu

November 23, 2021 - 5 min read

A woman scoops pooris, disks of puffed, fried dough, from a pot of oil with a steel ladle.

Food Voices

Global Diet Trends Keep Changing My Local Food Culture

When you think of ordering a healthy meal, what do you think of?

Anmol Irfan

August 23, 2022 - 8 min read

A vine with bright pink flowers and small green leaves hangs from the balcony of an apartment building in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Cities Food

When it Comes to Tiny Gardens, We Need to Think Big

Cities promote community gardens, but where's the support for those gardening on patios and balconies?

Erin Despard

August 20, 2021 - 7 min read

A person strains almond milk through a cloth into a glass bowl next to a jar of almonds, a metal bowl, & a mortar & pestle.

Food Start Small

The Decider: Plant-based Milks

Not all non-dairy milks are created equal, so which one is right for you and the planet?

Katharine Reid

July 30, 2021 - 7 min read

Awards Black Sheep Parent

Fixing Food Waste Starts at Home

While the statistics are alarming, families have more power to create change than we think.

Brianna Sharpe

July 16, 2021 - 6 min read

Corn, beans, and squash of various shapes in shades of yellow, orange and green in a circular pile on grass-covered ground.

Food Indigenous

Decolonizing What We Eat

Conversations with Indigenous farmers and thinkers about their pursuit of “honorable harvests.”

Katy Severson,

Rebecca Thomas

June 21, 2021 - 13 min read

Two cupped hands holding several earthworms in a handful of dirt.

Food Home & Garden

The Gus List: Apartment Composters

We’ve found 6 compact composting options for greener urban living.

Hana LaRock

June 08, 2021 - 7 min read

A small outdoor pantry with doors opened to show to a fridge and a shelf of canned goods.

BC Cities

Community Fridges Support Neighbours and Fight Food Waste

Volunteers are confronting food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rebecca Tucker

May 27, 2021 - 6 min read

Bees in and around their hive oozing with honey, visible through a rectangular hole in a wooden box.

Food Plants & Animals

Why the Downtown Eastside is Buzzing

Hives for Humanity is bringing bees—and community—to Vancouver’s most disadvantaged neighbourhood.

Carolyn B. Heller

March 25, 2021 - 5 min read

A pile of dry lentils appear in various shades of reddish brown.

Climate Change Economy

Lentils Could be Part of Canada’s Green Recovery

Prairie provinces are primed to cash in on the thriving plant-based food industry.

Shreya Kalra

March 18, 2021 - 7 min read

A grey cat with yellow eyes and a red bowtie with white stars licks its nose.

Food Plants & Animals

Lab-Grown Meat is Coming… to the Pet Food Aisle

Your kitty could soon enjoy meat without harming the environment.

Kevin Jiang

February 10, 2021 - 6 min read

Illustration—crusty purple-black lumps of chaga mushrooms and yellow-green leaves grow from the trunks of white-barked trees.

Food Health

Can Canada Keep its Chaga Boom from Going Bust?

The health food world’s enthusiasm for this ugly fungus has put it under threat.

Amir Aziz

January 28, 2021 - 11 min read

A pair of hands stained with purple berry juice cupped together holding a handful of small, dark blue berries.

Climate Change Food

Protect the Amazon Rainforest by Eating These 5 Foods

Cattle ranchers keep burning the Amazon, but supporting sustainable food producers can help conserve it.

Catherine Balston

October 01, 2020 - 10 min read

Five clear glass bottles of golden kombucha with paper labels, sitting on a wooden surface surrounded by big green leaves.

First Voice Food

Kombucha as Treaty

As I tend my scoby, I reflect on the ethics of relationships between people and the land.

Jessica Johns

September 18, 2020 - 5 min read

3 avocados on a wooden table. In the foreground, a cut avocado half shows light yellow-green flesh and a round, brown pit.

Food Start Small

Who’s Really Paying for Your Avocado?

Served with deforestation, toxic chemicals, and water waste, the story of avocado could leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Lauren Kaljur

September 15, 2020 - 7 min read

Two brown cows graze on a vast grassy field.

Food Plants & Animals

The BC Dairy Where Cows are in Charge

Vancouver Island’s Morningstar Farm prioritizes a happy herd and a healthy ecosystem.

Linda Barnard

September 01, 2020 - 6 min read

A fridge door shelf holding three large, brown glass bottles of beer, staggered with two tall beer cans.

Food Plastic & Pollution

The Decider: Cans or Glass Bottles

Does it matter to the planet how your beer or soda is stored?

Francesca Fionda

August 12, 2020 - 6 min read

A little free library: a small, house-shaped box usually full of books. A sign on its door says it’s closed due to Covid-19.

Environmentalist from Hell Food

Is Zero-Waste Possible During a Pandemic?

The Environmentalist From Hell ponders the newly bright future of single-use items.

Sara Bynoe

June 17, 2020 - 7 min read

A group of students tend to the soil in the middle of a sunflower field, under a blue sky with clouds.

Food Kids & Parenting

When School is on the Farm

How a creative high school connects teens with their local food system.

Shelley Tomlinson

June 10, 2020 - 5 min read

3 cows and 3 calves grazing on a pasture covered in dry-looking golden grass.

BC California

Could Cows Combat Climate Change?

Small-scale ranchers say livestock, not veganism, has the potential to save the planet.

Katy Severson

April 22, 2020 - 9 min read

A hand holding three carrots, just plucked, covered in dirt.

Climate Change Food

From Cattle Farmer to Vegan

In the face of mounting concerns about climate change, one farmer turns vegan. Will others do the same?

Ben Sledge

January 22, 2020 - 7 min read

Stacked cans of Gold Seal wild sockeye salmon. Each can has a blue MSC label bearing a small white emblem of a fish.

Food Know Logo

Choosing Sustainable Seafood Amid a Sea of Eco-Labels

Know Logo navigates our greenwashed marketplace, one logo at a time. Next up: the Marine Stewardship Council.

Francesca Fionda

January 09, 2020 - 6 min read

Two glasses of white wine are lit up by lights in the background.

Climate Change Food

Six Ways to Buy Wine Sustainably

This holiday season, drink green and be merry!

Rebecca Gao

December 23, 2019 - 6 min read

Three people sit at bar seating in a dimly-lit , modern restaurant.

Food Start Small

This Seattle Restaurant Makes Filipino Food with Local Ingredients

A commitment to sustainability led Archipelago to replace SE Asian staples with NW Coast stand-ins.

Megan Hill

September 10, 2019 - 6 min read

5 palm fruits. They’re oval with a red-to-black gradient peel. One is cut, showing a orange flesh with a waxy white core.

Food Plants & Animals

Palm Oil is in Everything, and It’s Hurting More than the Orangutans

Inexpensive, often-invisible, and the source of environmental destruction: this is the story of palm oil.

Helen A. Lee

August 22, 2019 - 7 min read

Cities Food

Make a Farmers Market Vendor Smile with these Five Questions

Five West Coast farmers market vendors told us which questions they love to be asked.

André LaRivière

July 26, 2019 - 4 min read

A large pile of red onions in a black plastic crate.

California Cities

Asparagus Magazine’s Guide to the Farmers Market

Freshly picked answers and questions to celebrate local bounty from the ground up.

André LaRivière

July 16, 2019 - 13 min read

Climate Change Food

Could GMO Crops Help Solve the Climate Crisis?

Genetically engineered cereals may hold the key to sustainable agriculture.

Elie Dolgin

May 16, 2019 - 11 min read

A beautiful mix of carrots, with colors ranging from deep purples to earthy yellow, is grown from open-source pledged seeds.

Food Home & Garden

Open-Source Seeds Keep Big Ag Out of Home Gardens

The open-source seed movement fights corporate overreach in our own backyards.

Marian Weidner

April 23, 2019 - 8 min read

Jagged chunks of chocolate on a white surface.

Food Start Small

The Decider: 5 Ways to Choose Sustainable Chocolate

The Decider looks beyond greenwashing to help you make sustainable decisions.

Alia Dharssi

December 13, 2018 - 8 min read

A burger made with a Beyond Meat plant-based patty cut in half to show a cross section with tomato, onion, and lettuce.

Environmentalist from Hell Food

I Tried the Much-Hyped Beyond Burger

The Environmentalist from Hell puts the vegan Beyond Burger to the test.

Sara Bynoe

October 23, 2018 - 7 min read

A huge flame rises from a frying pan held above a gas stove inside a restaurant kitchen.

Energy Food

Flaming out in the Kitchen

We’ve been cooking with fire since the dawn of time, but it’s time to embrace efficient alternatives.

André LaRivière

October 01, 2018 - 8 min read

An inside view of a bus turned into a mobile market, with shelves filled with ginger, broccoli, and onions.

Cities Food

Food Desert Residents find Relief at Mobile Markets

Grocers on wheels are bringing fresh food to the North American city-dwellers who need it most.

Ruth Seeley

August 14, 2018 - 7 min read

A person hands a bunch of tomatoes to another person at a vegetable stand full of assorted produce.

Economy Food

Are Co-ops the Future of Food?

Overt co-operation could future-proof your favourite food business.

André LaRivière

July 27, 2018 - 9 min read

A stack of golden, oval-shaped, crusty sourdough bread dusted with flour at Bread by Us bakery.

Economy Food

The True Price of Bread

A baker explores our unjust food system, and the ways a guaranteed basic income could repair it.

Jessica Carpinone

June 18, 2018 - 11 min read

Jarjeer salad—made with watercress topped with onion, cubes of cheese, and pomegranate.

Food Human Rights

Tayybeh’s Kind and Ambitious Cuisine

Meet the refugee women taking Vancouver by storm with their cooking, and try one of their Syrian recipes at home!

Lindsay Anderson

April 25, 2018 - 7 min read

A rubber stamp comprising a wooden block painted red topped with a bulbous black handle.

Food Plants & Animals

In Ecolabels we Trust?

Two recent investigations cast serious doubt on the value of sustainability certification programs.

Jessie Johnston

March 16, 2018 - 5 min read

A 4-member punk band wearing dark clothes perform on a stage lit by three orange spotlights. A big speaker hangs from above.

Art & Design Environmentalist from Hell

How a Punk Rap Turned Me Veg

Everything I needed to know about the politics of vegetarianism, I learned from a punk rock rap song.

Sara Bynoe

March 06, 2018 - 7 min read

A pile of several fish with shiny blue skin and yellow fins resting on ice inside a wooden crate.

California Food

San Diego-Area Chef Works to Turn the Tide for Local Seafood

Third in a series examining efforts to make California health care more environmentally friendly.

Sarah Kwon

February 28, 2018 - 5 min read

Two rows of glass jars containing dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, and grains on a red checkered tablecloth.

Food Plastic & Pollution

Zero-Waste Grocers Take Shopping Back to the Future

Vancouver’s Nada grocery eliminates waste by combining old-time shopping methods and up-to-the minute tech.

Lindsay Anderson

February 07, 2018 - 6 min read