Social Justice

One of the top strategies for boosting mental health is also one of the most often ignored: food. Food doesn’t just shape your physical body. It also shapes your emotions, mental clarity, and how you feel about and respond to life. Find out more about the food and mood connection.

More and more people are interested in a whole foods, plant-based diet. Some are motivated by specific health concerns. Others by an interest in disease prevention, peak performance, sustainability, or ethical concerns. Documentary films are playing a huge part in fueling this growing movement. They’re a great way to learn, get inspired, and to help spread the word to friends, coworkers, classmates, and even family! Discover the power of plant-based food documentaries and find out 10 of our favorites.

Once a self-reliant agriculture-dependent economy, Puerto Rico now imports the majority of its food (including, unfortunately, fast food). But some residents in a rural Puerto Rican community are reviving a historic botanical garden to serve as an example of and inspiration for bringing back local and sustainable farming — and for the purposes of cultural and historical preservation.

Although the U.S. food system is plagued with problems, heroic people have devoted themselves to improving the quality and accessibility of good, healthy food. Among these changemakers are a group of African American female entrepreneurs whose initiatives are inspiring examples of hope in action.

For many people, chocolate is one of the special pleasures in life. It tastes delicious, it’s connected to many favorite holidays, and it can immediately lift your mood. But what are the health effects (positive and negative) of chocolate? And can you enjoy it without contributing to slave labor and environmental degradation on cacao plantations? In this article, we’ll share the research on chocolate’s surprising health benefits, and how you can partake ethically and healthfully.

Fish and seafood are often recommended as good sources of healthy nutrients like protein and essential fatty acids. Some research even suggests that fish may help you live longer, with a lower risk for disease. But how much truth is there to these claims? What about contamination with mercury and other heavy metals? And what about the ethical and sustainability concerns?

Lawns may look pretty, and they can impress the neighbors. But are their benefits really worth their costs? They can be bad for the environment, and the pesticides sprayed on them can be bad for your health, too. Have you ever wondered what would happen if we turned all our lawns into edible gardens, filled with fruits, vegetables, and herbs?

School lunches programs provide critical nutrition for more than 30 million children in the United States and hundreds of millions worldwide. Yet they face deep challenges, and often set children on a path of lifelong addiction to unhealthy foods. Want to know the whole story, and find out how you can protect your family, and the next generation? Read on!

School lunches don’t exactly have the best reputation. But for millions of kids, they are a critical source of nutrition and sometimes the only truly reliable meal of the day. And while there are some subsidy programs in place, many poor families are winding up in ever-deepening cycles of school lunch debt. Why is this happening? And what can we do about it?

Pesticides on food are being monitored — but see why some pesticide risks are being missed.

Our connection, or disconnection, with soil matters more than you may think.

See the realities and potential solutions for producing more food in cities.