Earth Food Life Project

From The Observatory
Environmental journalism that integrates the path for sustainable lifestyles and an ethical diet.
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Edited by Reynard Loki, Earth • Food • Life explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture, and nature/animal rights, and champions action—specifically, how responsible citizens, voters, and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home.

Earth • Food • Life emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.
Associated Authors
Elizabeth Henderson is an organic farmer. She is the co-chair of the Interstate Council policy committee of the Northeast Organic Farming Association and represents the Interstate Council on the Board of the Agricultural Justice Project.
Ann Leslie Davis is an award-winning freelance journalist.
Caroline Cox is a retired pesticide scientist. She was a staff scientist at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides from 1990 to 2006 and a research director and senior scientist at the Center for Environmental Health from 2006 to 2020.
Jimmy Videle is a farmer, naturalist, and researcher. He is the author of The Veganic Grower’s Handbook: Cultivating Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs from Urban Backyard to Rural Farmyard and the co-founder of NAVCS-Certified Veganic. His writing has appeared in CounterPunch, Countercurrents, and LA Progressive, among others.
Esther Afolaranmi is an attorney, humanitarian, researcher, and writer. She is co-executive director of the Fair Start Movement.
Brittany Michelson is an animal rights activist, writer and former teacher.
Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of Local Futures. She is the author of Ancient Futures (Chelsea Green, 2016) and the producer and director of the award-winning 2011 documentary “The Economics of Happiness.” Norberg-Hodge is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, the Goi Peace Prize, and the Arthur Morgan Award.
Nina Jackel is the founder of Lady Freethinker, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to exposing and stopping the suffering of animals, humans, and the planet. Find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
David Blanton is a writer, photographer, conservationist, and environmental activist. He is the founder of Friends of Serengeti.
Derek Gow is a farmer, nature conservationist, and author.
Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park.
John J. Berger is an environmental science and policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist.
Jennifer Barckley is the vice president of communications at The Humane League.
Mwesigye Robert is the founder of the Rejoice Africa Foundation.
Lisa Jones-Engel is a primatologist.
Kevin Fitzgerald is a veterinarian, author, educator, comedian, and television personality.
Reynard Loki is a co-founder of the Observatory, where he is the environment and animal rights editor.
L. Michelle Moore is the CEO of Groundswell, a nonprofit that builds community power by connecting solar and energy efficiency.
Alessandra Korap Munduruku is a Munduruku Indigenous woman leader from Indigenous Reserve Praia do Índio in the Brazilian Amazon. She is a member of Pariri, a local Munduruku association, as well as the Munduruku Wakoborûn Women’s Association. In 2020, Alessandra won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work defending the culture, livelihoods and rights of Indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Ashley Berke is co-executive director at Fair Start Movement.
Anita Krajnc is executive director of the Animal Save Movement and global coordinator of the Plant Based Treaty initiative.
Lydia Chodosh is a writer, designer, and fine artist based in Providence, Rhode Island.
Ginger Fedak is a lifelong animal welfare advocate and horse professional, having spent decades teaching about and advocating for domestic and wild horses.
Jonathan Sharp is the chief financial officer at Environmental Litigation Group, PC.
Suren Moodliar is the editor of the journal Socialism and Democracy and coordinator of encuentro5, a movement-building space in downtown Boston. He is the coauthor of Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It (Routledge, 2023).
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner is a writing fellow at Earth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, AlterNet, Architectural Digest, Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and other publications.
David Hastings is a marine scientist.
Carter Dillard is the policy adviser for the Fair Start Movement.
Charles Derber is a professor of sociology at Boston College and has written 25 books. Most recently, he coauthored Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It (Routledge, 2023).
Matthew Ponsford is a London-based journalist and producer who has written for Thomson Reuters, CNN International, Financial Times, the Guardian, the Independent and Vice. Follow him on Twitter @mjponsford.
Jenipher Changwanda is a Malawian journalist specializing in gender reporting for the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism.
Jairus James is an environmental and animal rights advocate.
Leslie Crawford is the author of Sprig the Rescue Pig and Gwen the Rescue Hen, both published by Stone Pier Press.
Mikhala Kaseweter, MSc, advances right relationships with nonhuman animals through her work at the Better Food Foundation.
Adam Frank is the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester and a winner of the Carl Sagan Medal.
Katie Schmidt is the associate director of the national dam removal program at American Rivers.
Teresa Coady is an award-winning architect, sustainability expert, and Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Vicky Bond is a veterinary surgeon, animal welfare scientist, and the former president of The Humane League.
Chris Smaje has co-worked on a small farm in Somerset, southwest England, since 2007. Smaje is the author of A Small Farm Future, writes a blog at about farming, ecology, and politics, and is a featured author at resilience.org.
For more than two decades, Darryl Knudsen has channeled the power of civil society movements to create enduring, positive change toward social and environmental justice for the underrepresented. Darryl holds a master’s degree from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College. He served as the executive director of International Rivers.
Emilia A. Leese is an author, re-wilder, podcast host, public speaker, and magazine editor.
Nital Jethalal is a policy analyst and economist.  He currently serves as strategist and policy advisor for the Plant Based Treaty and also oversees economics and policy research for Plant Based Data. Nital is also the president of  VegTO and a director at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank.
Debra Merskin, PhD, is a professor of media studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon and is a co-founder of Animals and Media.
Peter Christie is a science journalist and author who writes frequently about conservation.
Eugene Simonov is the international coordinator of the Rivers without Boundaries Coalition.
Jim Cubie, JD, is a consultant to the Muhlenberg College Center for Ornithology where he advises on bird safety and native plants.
Karen Davis, PhD, (1944–2023) was the president and founder of United Poultry Concerns. She was an award-winning animal rights activist and the author of numerous books.
Jenny Canham is a leading professional in the global animal protection sector. She is an experienced journalist and works with governments, corporations and the public to achieve critical changes for animals. She is the Director of Outreach and Engagement at Animal Outlook, a leading U.S. animal protection organization.
Danna Smith is the founder and executive director of Dogwood Alliance.
Freddie Clayton is an investigative journalist with the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, focusing on environmental themes, specifically water and sanitation issues worldwide.
Erica Cirino is a writer, artist, and author who explores the intersection of the human and more-than-human worlds.
Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and author of 31 books of nonfiction for adults and children. She is the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association.
Bill Wasik is the editorial director of the New York Times Magazine.
Dr. Stephen Buchmann is a pollination ecologist specializing in bees and an adjunct professor with the departments of entomology and of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.
Steve Taylor is a freelance journalist and the host of the podcast Breaking Green produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.
Eva J. Charalambides is a photographer and vegan advocate.
Josh Klemm is co-director of International Rivers.
Lorraine Chow is the stewardship and outreach coordinator at the Santa Fe Watershed Association.
Daniel Klem Jr. is the Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology and director of the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College.
Sam Davis is a staff scientist at the Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI), a nonprofit that uses science, litigation, policy analysis, and strategic communications to promote policies that protect climate, ecosystems, and people.
Robin Scher is a freelance writer and journalist based in South Africa.
Lucy Goodchild van Hilten is a writing fellow at Earth • Food • Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute. She has served as assistant editor of Microbiology Today and senior marketing communications manager for Life Sciences at Elsevier. She holds an MSc degree in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from Imperial College London.
Katherine Dolan is a writer, editor, and researcher at the Independent Media Institute from Dunedin, New Zealand. She has held previous posts as a senior writer for Fairfax Media Custom Publishing in New Zealand and Lifestyle Magazine in Moscow, and as a copy editor for the U.S. news site NSFW Corp.
Sonja Smith is an award-winning journalist based in Namibia. She is a member of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism and a correspondent for the Associated Press. Smith has worked for various Namibian media outlets, including Confidente, the Windhoek Observer, and the Namibian.
Laura Lee Cascada is the campaigns director for the Better Food Foundation and the founder of the Every Animal Project, a collection of true tales reshaping our relationship with animals.
Emma Rae Lierley is a senior communications manager at Rainforest Action Network. A lifelong writer and environmentalist, she works to harness the power of storytelling for social change.
Laurel Sutherlin is the senior communications strategist for Rainforest Action Network. He is a lifelong environmental and human rights campaigner as well as a naturalist and outdoor educator with a passion for birds and wild places. Follow him on Twitter @laurelsutherlin.
Mary Mazzoni is the senior editor of TriplePundit and director of TriplePundit’s Brand Studio.
Beatrix Homler is an animal and human rights activist.
Tia Schwab is a former news fellow for Stone Pier Press, a San Francisco-based environmental publishing company with a food focus. She is a graduate of Stanford University, where she studied human biology with a concentration in food systems and public health. Tia was born and raised in Austin, Texas, and she is passionate about using storytelling to create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system.
Carrie P. Freeman, PhD, is a professor of communication at Georgia State University and is a co-founder of Animals and Media.
Tina Casey has been writing about sustainability, the global energy transition, and related matters since 2009. She is a regular contributor to CleanTechnica and TriplePundit, where she also focuses on corporate social responsibility and social issues.
Marc Bekoff is an ethologist, behavioral ecologist, compassionate conservationist, and author. He is professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Gary Belan is the senior director of clean water supply at American Rivers.
Orin Langelle is the director of Langelle Photography and co-founder of Global Justice Ecology Project.
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.
Irikefe V. Dafe has advocated for river protections in Nigeria and throughout Africa for three decades. Much of his work has focused on protecting the River Ethiope and the rights of communities who rely upon the river for food, water and their livelihoods. He is a lead organizer of the First National Dialogue on Rights of Nature in Nigeria. He is also the founder and CEO of River Ethiope Trust Foundation and an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature Initiative.
Anne Petermann is the executive director of Global Justice Ecology Project.