Sustainable food production needs to include fiber systems in order to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint and heal our planet. In this article, we discuss the link between climate change, agriculture, and food and fiber systems.
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Hopland Research and Extension Center’s Hedgerow
Written and Photographed by Karen Rifkin Before entering the fenced-in area of hedgerow plantings, a flock of friendly rams trot up, eagerly, to see if it’s feeding time. Realizing their exertion is for naught, they just as quickly disperse back into the field at the Hopland Research and Extension Center, a 5,358-acre working ranch and […]
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‘Sustainable’ Fashion Forgot Where It Came From
Written by Veronica Kassatly ( This is just a quick primer. Anyone looking for more in depth analysis will find it in “The Great Green Washing Machine Part 1:Back to the Roots of Sustainability.”) Defining Sustainability: Back to the Roots In fashion, sustainability appears to have become an elitist, even imperialistic concept in which the […]
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Approaching Life (and Wool) One Step at a Time at 5 Creek Farm
Written by Sasha Wirth and photographed by Noelle Gaberman As a little girl, Coleen Maloney was sure she’d found the perfect birthday present for her mother: a small brood of chicks. “My mother was born after the first day of Spring, and I was sure it was going to be the best gift ever,” she […]
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Raising Happy Animals at Integrity Alpacas
Written by Sasha Wirth and photographed by Paige Green The Irresistible Charm of Alpaca Fiber A baby blanket, crocheted from soft and cozy alpaca fiber, was Charlene Schmid’s first glimpse into a new world of fiber. She was making it for her daughter, and the experience of working with such a silky, luxurious fiber left […]
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Handcrafted at Ace ‘N The Hole Ranch
Written by Marie Hoff and photographed by Paige Green Ace Vandenack is a crafter. Together with his wife, Pam, the couple has crafted a farm, a fiber business, and a life for themselves in the verdant green hills of far Northern California, in conifer-treed Humboldt County. They have built everything from the ground up, including […]
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With Sincere Sheep, Change Begins One Skein at a Time
Written by Sasha Wirth and photographed by Noelle Gaberman While it is common for a sheep to be called mild, helpless, gentle, or wooly-minded, Lincoln wasn’t like the rest of the flock. Lincoln was “a sincere sheep,” wrote his owner. And it was this humble and candid description that stayed with Brooke Sinnes for a […]
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How Do Our Clothes Impact the SF Bay & Ocean Health? Experiential Learning with Materevolve
Written by Jess Daniels with photography by Paige Green Earlier this month, we set sail on the San Francisco Bay with a small group of textile industry experts and ocean health advocates to discuss how fibers and fashion are impacting two of our planet’s largest carbon pools: soil and sea. The trip was organized by […]
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Spinning the Structure of Life with Paleotechnics
Written & photographed by Koa Kalish If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting Tamara Wilder of Paleotechnics, you will know her by the gentle, kind, strong, and wise temperament that emits through her speech, hands, and entire being. When speaking with her, you might feel like you are speaking with a tree, a […]
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3 Ways the Fashion Revolution Can Support Healthy Soil & Healthy Seas
Written by Andrea Olmsted Over the last few decades, as the growth of the $900 billion dollar global fashion industry has skyrocketed, we’ve seen the greatest degradation of our soil and sea. Such impacts include market-driven agricultural practices contributing to the loss of viable soil carbon, while fast fashion’s reliance on fossil-fuel derived fibers — […]
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