What's going on with vanilla?

Plus, a farm and a food bank working together, and how cities are fighting for food justice.

Author

Modern Farmer
November 09, 2024

Welcome to the Modern Farmer newsletter.

Featured this week: Climate change is coming for a favorite baking staple, but vanilla producers in Mexico are not giving up. Can a farm and a food bank work together to feed their community? And speaking of feeding communities, our new collection of stories from our archive looks at how cities across the US and Canada are fighting for food justice. From grassroots organizations to municipal efforts, these cities are making food access a priority.

Plus, what we’re reading from other outlets: In the wake of the election results, we’ve been looking at what a second Trump presidential term means for our food system. Our friends at Sentient Media have a comprehensive guide to what we might expect when it comes to factory farming, and over at Grist, you can read about how President-Elect Trump might approach climate change.

Vanilla production is threatened by climate change in Oaxaca, Mexico. If vanilla disappears, local culture is in danger too, say local Chinantec Indigenous people.

Local Indigenous Chinantes people found and named seven varieties of vanilla. Photo by Noel Rojo.

Also fresh this week

Community members visit Dig Deep Farms. Photo courtesy of Dig Deep Farms.

An unlikely partnership aims to strengthen the local food system in California’s Alameda County.

Photo: Emma Kazaryan for Modern Farmer

Think global, act local. These organizations and cities are working to make food more accessible at a large scale.