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Earth Food Life Project
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Earth Food Life Project
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We’re building a guide for everyday life, where experts will educate you about our world.
Author Spotlight
Irfan Shah is a writer, film historian, and researcher specializing in pre-cinema media archaeology and the origins of motion pictures.
Ashley Berke is co-executive director at Fair Start Movement.
Brian Jonathan Garrett is an instructor of philosophy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University whose research explores the history of biology and its connections to metaphysics.
Henry Giardina is a writer and critic whose work explores literature, film, culture, and intellectual history.
Alicia Graef is a guardian and dog meat campaigner at In Defense of Animals. A lifelong animal lover and freelance writer with a Bachelor’s degree in animal and veterinary science, Alicia has covered issues relating to animals for more than a decade.
Investigating historic and prehistoric mysteries together through crowdfunded research.
John J. Berger is an environmental science and policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist.
Elaine Siu is an author, activist, and innovator devoted to shifting the world away from animal agriculture.
Thea Applebaum Licht is a writer and researcher.
Carter Dillard is the policy adviser for the Fair Start Movement.
Guides
Why do some authors pretend to be someone they are not? Why do they claim experiences that they don’t have? What drives them to create texts and claim that they are ancient? By examining some examples of literary fraud from the modern era, we can gain insight not only into a fraudulent writer’s perspective, but also into readers’ expectations, publishing practices, and what kind of story a culture values.
editorKatherine Dolan
sourceThe Observatory
areaFood production shapes the health of ecosystems, communities, animals, and the climate. Yet many modern agricultural systems rely on practices that contribute to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and animal suffering. As concerns about the environmental and social costs of industrial agriculture continue to grow, farmers, researchers, Indigenous communities, and advocates are developing and refining alternative approaches.
This guide explores a range of alternatives to industrial agriculture, including organic farming, small-scale farming, regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, veganic farming, Indigenous land stewardship practices, and emerging innovations such as agrivoltaics. Together, these approaches offer different pathways toward producing food while protecting ecosystems, improving soil health, supporting biodiversity, reducing environmental impacts, and building more resilient agricultural systems for future generations.
editorReynard Loki
sourceEarth Food Life Project
areaWe use language every day—from spoken and signed words to written communication and body gestures—but how often do we pause to consider what drives it beneath the surface? Linguistics, the scientific study of language, seeks to answer this question by examining how language is acquired, how it functions, how it changes over time, and how it connects to both human evolution and society. Its insights reach far beyond the classroom, shaping our understanding of education, politics, technology, identity, and culture.
editorThis '''Guide to Linguistics: The Science of Language''' explores how language both shapes and is shaped by our experiences, values, and identities. Through a diverse collection of essays, it invites readers to rethink the language they use and the assumptions they make about others based on how they speak. It also examines the power dynamics embedded in language—how words can reflect, reinforce, or challenge social hierarchies.
As you move through the guide, consider the contexts in which language is used. Ask: Who is speaking? Where, when, and why? These questions open the door to a more nuanced understanding of what language is, how it functions, and how it continues to evolve. Whether you are a student, a lifelong learner, or simply curious about the forces shaping everyday communication, this guide offers a deeper look at the many dimensions of language.Danica Tomber and Madeline VanArsdale
sourceThe Observatory
areaA true republican political system operates without a monarchy or concentrated political power in any office, branch, or individual. And a thriving republic observes the fundamental principles of equality, consensus, transparency, and reform (rather than institutional abandonment). If a republic strays from these values, political collapse can occur. This guide compares past republics, including the Roman and Venetian Republics, to republican states of today. By examining the successes and failures of early republics, we can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges in our current political environment.
editorJohn P. Ruehl
sourceHuman Bridges Project
areaThe '''Guide to Factory-Farmed Animals''' examines the conditions, systems, and consequences of industrial animal agriculture. It explores how billions of chickens, pigs, and cows are raised in confined environments, often with minimal legal protection and significant welfare concerns. The guide connects animal suffering to broader impacts on human health, labor conditions, and the environment, including pollution and disease risk. It also addresses how cultural narratives and industry practices shape public perception of meat and dairy. By bringing together reporting, analysis, and ethical inquiry, this guide offers a clear, grounded understanding of factory farming and the forces sustaining it.
editorReynard Loki
sourceEarth Food Life Project
areaThis guide will take you through examples of the regenerative, moneyless economy that is sometimes called “collaborative consumption.” The moneyless, sharing-based economy creates the opportunity to opt out of the mentality of disposability and the idea that “more is better,” both of which many of us are bombarded with from birth. The regenerative, moneyless economy provides an avenue for anyone to move away from the hoarding nightmare that has led to over-full garages and seldom-visited storage sheds, continent-sized trash islands, and enormous heaps of human waste. It does this by way of peer-to-peer systems set up for people to rent or borrow goods rather than buy and own them individually. It involves collaborative systems that supply people with the things they need, when they need them.
editorApril M. Short
sourceLocal Peace Economy Project
areaWith new anthropological, biological and scientific findings, we are increasingly able to trace the outlines and fill in the blanks of our human evolutionary story. This can help us better understand the social and cultural processes that produced the world we live in now. This guide to Human Bridges explores the work of experts from the fields of human biology, human origins, and anthropology who want to contribute their individual expertise to a wider accessible body of information, and enlist in the cause to make this material a staple of education at all stages of life.
editorApril M. Short
sourceHuman Bridges Project
areaAs people live longer and face increasingly complex end-of-life decisions, understanding death and dying has never been more important. This guide explores the emerging movement of death literacy, offering practical tools, knowledge, and community resources to help individuals navigate mortality with clarity and confidence. From fostering open conversations about death to exploring near-death experiences and preparing for end-of-life care, these articles provide insights into how we can approach death as a natural, supported, and meaningful part of life.
editorReynard Loki
sourceThe Observatory
areaThis guide examines the challenges facing vulnerable youth in America and the role communities, institutions, and public systems play in protecting—or failing—them. Drawing on research into child welfare, poverty, health, justice, and systemic inequities, the series explores how overlapping crises—from hidden abuse and neglect to the criminalization of childhood and the long-term effects of economic instability—shape young lives and limit opportunity.
editorThe first article explores America’s hidden crisis in child welfare, revealing how children in foster care, detention, and institutional settings often experience neglect, exploitation, and harm. The second article examines how the justice system criminalizes rather than protects vulnerable youth through punitive detention, weakened labor protections, and systemic inequities that push children toward incarceration instead of opportunity. The third article focuses on the relationship between poverty and youth health, arguing that inadequate healthcare, pollution exposure, malnutrition, and environmental inequality undermine children’s ability to learn, grow, and participate fully in society.
The fourth article shifts from diagnosis to possibility, exploring how communities might coordinate education, healthcare, mentorship, enrichment, and meaningful work opportunities under a shared developmental framework. Drawing on existing civic-service and workforce-development models, it argues that resilience is not simply an individual trait, but the product of sustained social investment and consistent support.
The fifth article broadens the lens further, asking why societies so often normalize harm to children across war, poverty, environmental contamination, displacement, and public policy. Drawing on developmental science, civil rights history, and international child welfare, it argues that protecting children requires more than compassion or legal commitments. Instead, it calls for stronger accountability, sustained prevention, coordinated institutions, and renewed community responsibility at every level of society.
Future installments continue the series by turning from systems back to people, exploring the responsibilities of the adults who stand closest to children and the communities that support them. Taken together, the series asks readers to confront not only how children are harmed, but also what kinds of communities, institutions, and moral commitments are required to help them thrive. Readers are invited to reflect on a central question: Does your community care about children?Reynard Loki
sourceThe Observatory
area“It really is godlike,” says Geoffrey Hinton about artificial intelligence. He’s been called the “godfather of AI,” so he should know. “Magical intelligence in the sky” is how Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, regards AI, while Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, warns that AI could bring about the appearance of the Antichrist. In contrast, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts that AI will result in “the defeat of most diseases, the growth in biological and cognitive freedom, the lifting of billions of people out of poverty… a renaissance of liberal democracy and human rights.” Is AI really so transformative, or is it an evanescent trend whose importance has been overhyped?
This guide won’t give you the answers. It certainly won’t tell you whether AI is a harbinger of the Antichrist. What it can do, though, is explore AI’s unresolved issues, which will almost certainly be with us for years to come
editorLeslie Alan Horvitz
sourceThe Observatory
areaNew Additions
Long before modern science warned of global warming, the Founding Fathers believed human activity was reshaping the planet’s climate—and they set out to prove it.
By: Raphael Calel
In Georgian Britain, Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine sparked panic over “beastly” side effects, exposing how new science can collide with old beliefs.
By: Erica X Eisen
As consumers flock to “reef-safe” and “ocean-friendly” skincare, beauty brands are selling a vision of ocean purity that is more marketing-driven than science-based.
By: Kate Petty
Humanity’s evolution into a super predator has reshaped ecosystems and instilled a primal fear in much of the animal kingdom.
By: John Divinagracia
From cancer-resistant mole rats to 200-year-old whales, evolution has equipped long-lived species with unique biological strategies.
By: Leslie Alan Horvitz
From journaling to essay writing, the simple act of writing is one of the most powerful tools for improving clarity, creativity, and critical thinking.
By: Ellen Feld and Reynard Loki
Common sense is contested terrain.
By: Colin Greer and Eric Laursen
Despite significant advances in human-based research, millions of mice and rats are still used in U.S. laboratories each year—at immense ethical and scientific cost.
By: Reynard Loki
At the turn of the 20th century, mathematicians, mystics, and modernists blurred the line between physics and philosophy. Their search for a hidden spatial realm—the so-called “fourth dimension”—transformed art, inspired the occult, and reimagined the very structure of reality.
By: Jon Crabb
Responding to a population seeking practical knowledge and tools, the death literacy movement is filling a much-needed void by offering clarity, comfort, and confidence.
By: Caren Martineau and Sarah Parker Ward
Classics
This 1847 memoir was written by prominent activist and writer William Wells Brown to support the abolitionist movement. It chronicles Brown’s cruel treatment as an enslaved man, the horrors that he witnessed, and his multiple escape attempts for freedom.
''Note: This book is part of a historical collection and may include offensive language.''
By: William Wells Brown
From Wikipedia:
- “''Woman in the Nineteenth Century'' is a book by American journalist, editor, and women’s rights advocate Margaret Fuller. Originally published in July 1843 in The Dial magazine as ‘The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men. Woman versus Women,’ it was later expanded and republished in book form in 1845.”
- “The basis for Fuller’s essay is the idea that man will rightfully inherit the earth when he becomes an elevated being, understanding of divine love. There have been periods in time when the world was more awake to this love, but people are sleeping now; however, everyone has the power to become enlightened. Man cannot now find perfection because he is still burdened with selfish desires, but Fuller is optimistic and says that we are on the verge of a new awakening. She claims that in the past man, like Orpheus for Eurydice, has always called out for woman, but soon will come the time when women will call for men, when they will be equals and share divine love.”
By: S. Margaret Fuller