Bronx-based Karen Washington fights injustice and inequalities in the US food system in various ways. An activist and urban farmer, Washington is also the co-founder of Garden of Happiness, Rise and Root farm, La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, Black Urban Growers and Black Farmer Fund. Coining the phrase “food apartheid” (as opposed to “food deserts”), she says that the country’s food system is designed to deny …
Apple Jack, a high-proof liquor distilled from apples and aged in American oak—predominantly former whiskey barrels—is one of a handful of spirits that can carry its name only if it has been produced in the US (like bourbon). Apple brandy, the broader category Apple Jack falls within, can be made the world over (with the most famous being Calvados from Normandy), but only Apple Jack …
Many people don’t know where natural indigo comes from or realize how few indigo farms are left in Japan—only five in Tokushima, the country’s traditional indigo farming region. Indigo is a green plant that has a higher percentage of blue than other green plants (though most have some). Traditional indigo dye in Japan is made from sukumo, which is what the harvested and fermented indigo …
