How Do We Protect Avocados From Drought, Deforestation, and Drug Cartels?
The avocado industry faces high water demand, deforestation, and violence as the fruit gains in popularity.
Deforestation
Why Is Palm Oil So Controversial?
Seeing deforestation, habitat loss, climate change, and land theft, experts are calling for sweeping changes to the palm oil industry.
What Are the Environmental and Economic Issues Facing Rubber Production?
Natural rubber is widely considered a more eco-friendly and better product than synthetic rubber, but it still presents some issues. Natural rubber contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution, and more. But climate change and disease also threaten natural rubber. And…
Climate Change Makes It Harder to Grow Coffee Beans, What Does That Mean for Us?
Coffee is a ridiculously sensitive plant, meaning even the tiniest changes in climate can eliminate many of the world’s current coffee growing regions and put farmers who often make as little as $2-3 per day in an even more difficult…
Orangutans: The “Gardeners of the Forest” Are Endangered
Today, orangutans are confined to just two islands in Indonesia and Malaysia, and due to forest loss, poaching, and climate change, they’re endangered. And although there’s tons of conservationists doing interesting work to protect orangutans, finding a long-term solution for…
How Can the Chocolate Industry Be Greener and More Humane?
The chocolate industry is under the control of three companies called the cocoa traders who essentially force the cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to sell their cocoa at ridiculously low prices. This setup pushes farmers into poverty, and…
Op-Ed: The Amazon, climate change, and the art of filmmaking
Sociologist and filmmaker Sabrina McCormick writes about her experiences filming SEQUESTRADA, a feature film set in the Brazilian Amazon.