Four top pickers holding barrels of beans. Morrisvile. 1943.

The Brooklyn College Farm Labor Project of the 1940s

The coronavirus pandemic left farmers falling back on students to pick crops. But it certainly wasn’t the first time.
John Frost and daughter listening to radio in their home. Tehama County, California

The People Who Thought Farmers Without Radios Were Rubes

In the 1920s, some people thought that the new invention of radio would make American farmers less "backward."
A chicken surrounded by chicks

So You Want to Buy a Pet Chicken?

Looking for a sense of comfort and security by buying a chicken? You'll get more than you bargained for.
Two people gathering seeds

Can Crops’ Wild Relatives Save Troubled Agriculture?

Cultivating a limited number of crops reduced the genetic diversity of plants, endangering harvests. Seed collectors hope to fix it by finding the plants’ wild cousins.
Three reindeer running through snow

The Reindeer Games

In 1907, the U.S. Reindeer Service was organized as part of an effort to domesticate the animals...and Inupiat Eskimos.
A child on a farm looking at chickens

Why You Should Visit a Farm This Summer

Agritourism may sound like a hot new trend, but it's actually been helping farms stay in business for over a century.
Orphan asylum boys picking currants

When Foster Care Meant Farm Labor

Before current foster care programs were in place, Americans depended on farmers to take care of kids in exchange for hard labor.
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn, NY

How Urban Agriculture Can Meet Its Potential

New York City's urban agriculture has not been found to provide benefits to either hungry people or the environment. How could city farms work better?
Illustration of a wild boar, between 1868 and 1874

Denmark Builds a Wild Boar Wall

Is constructing a fence along the Denmark/Germany border really the best way to keep wild pigs away from domestic pigs?
A tractor spreads biosolids in a field

What To Do about Biosolids

People are understandably reluctant to make much use of sewer sludge. Can rebranding human waste as "biosolids" change the public's mind?