By Jeanne Storck

They’re trading lawns for lettuce, bringing hens into the family fold and harvesting honey just steps from their back door. They’re the new urban farmers, and they’re coming soon to a yard near you (if they’re not already there).

By Michael A. Stusser

By E.B. Boyd

By Jolia Sidona Allen


This summer, eco-minded music-lovers, musicians, and organizers are doing everything in their power to push for a truly green festival experience — right down to the dirty details like recycled toilet paper in the porta-potties.

By Alastair Bland

By Amelia Glynn

Photo at right: After saving his trash for a year, Berkeley caterer Ari Derfel can’t look at packaging the same way again. Image by Andy Isaacson

By Andy Anderson

By Jessica Ridenour 

"Why can't I have Lunchables?"

Even though my daughter is only 2 ½, I can almost hear the wailing begin. As a parent, trying to cut down on disposable packaging can be a trying task. With all the "cool" (read "wasteful, unhealthful") stuff on the grocery store shelves strategically aimed at kids, the teachable moments are many. A kid's desire and elemental reasoning can be mortal enemies.

Nestled among the psychiatrists who habitually prescribe prescription drugs to their depressed patients, are a few who believe that nutrition, not medication, is the key to mental wellbeing.

Whether it's in response to an increasing distrust of antidepressants or a natural follow-up to studies that have linked nutrients to the control and reversal of psychological disorders, nutritional therapy is becoming a legitimate field. "There have been huge advances over the past few years finding that nutritional intervention can treat many behavioral and mental conditions we used to think were untreatable," explains Lewis Mehl-Madrona, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.