This Month’s Featured Articles…

Carbon neutrality sounds like an impossible goal, doesn’t it? The answer turns out to depend a great deal on where you live. It isn’t that hard if you happen to live in upstate New York. That’s because one of upstate New York’s best kept secrets is that it has the cleanest electrical grid in the nation, i.e., it emits the least carbon per kWh – about a quarter of the national average. It’s hugely cleaner than New York City’s grid, and even cleaner than California’s, [...]

The reviews are in. The critics have spoken. And, the crowds have responded by making their way to Le Gamin, the pleasant French restaurant in Sharon, CT. Robert Arbor … owner and chef at Le Gamin Studio Agraire could not be more pleased. “The customers have been most kind,” he says with a bit of a flourish. “We’re seeing customers we met in New York City 30 years ago make their way in for a café au lait, an afternoon croissant or an anniversary dinner.” [...]

I hope this finds you in a quiet place: the armchair by the window, a glass of cabernet at your elbow. Or under a baffle of comforters, with the bed stand lamp the only light on in the house. I’d even take a bathroom, so long as it isn’t too large, and the exhaust fan drowns out the sound of kids in the other room. Wherever you can find silence, allow yourself to read these lines about the song of a nightjar, or whip-poor-will, out [...]

In the January issue of Main Street Magazine Dutchess County Legislator, Gregg Pulver, indicated that the FFA organization (Future Farmers of America) played a crucial role in his development as a leader. We hear of the “farm-to-table” movement, the desire for fresh/local food and the need for local farms to flourish. In these pandemic times with supply chain snags, we see a renewed interest in home gardening and home food production generally. We observe the aging of our farmer population. Who will provide our food [...]

Hudson, NY, also renowned as “Upstate’s Favorite Downtown” is a riverside town that is home to 7,000 diverse residents. Its urban center boasts over 300 independently-owned shops, bars, bakeries, and restaurants. Its burgeoning new economy is rooted in food, the arts, and culture. In 2014, Letterbox Farm, a collectively-owned and operated commercial farm opened in Hudson. It was founded by farmer and researcher, Faith Gilbert, who is the author of free publications, Cooperative Farming, a how-to handbook on forming collaborative farm ventures and A Guide To [...]