Features

When you purchase one cup of coffee in a disposable container every day of the week you are contributing 22.75 pounds of waste per year. Is there an alternative?

Audubon Coffee, (800)829-1300, www.auduboncoffeeclub.com. Handled by the Rogers Family Company, Audubon-branded coffee is 100 percent organic, shade grown and habitat friendly. Café Canopy, (858)449-4033, www.shade-coffee.com. Offers shade-grown, organic coffees certified by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s standards. Café Campesino, (888)532-4728, www.cafecampesino.com. Specializes in organic, Fair Trade coffee directly imported from single locations, as opposed to […]

What do coffee and chocolate have in common besides caffeine, some reputed health benefits and a desirable flavor? They are both popular in developed countries but grown largely in the developing world. Both are derived from what are known as beans, and both are traditionally grown in the shady understory of tropical rainforests, sharing their homes with a plethora of wildlife, from howler monkeys to parrots.

From the nerve-jangled caffeine addict to those who have a mug about once a year, a lot of Americans drink coffee. But is it healthful?

Wausau, Wisconsin may seem like the furthest thing from a global mega-city, but the forces in play in this small city are echoes of the worldwide issues of population and immigration. Over the past decades Wausau has received a large influx of Hmong, a nomadic Laotian hill people who fought under the direction of CIA advisors during the Vietnam War era. After their communist enemies won control of Laos in that country’s civil war, the Hmong were largely abandoned by the international community, and many fled for fear of being killed in retribution of their pro-American efforts.

Today’s "Mega-cities" are Overcrowded and Environmentally Stressed Lagos, Nigeria In 1950, with just 288,000 people, Lagos wasn’t even a speck on the map of the largest urban centers. Today, the rapidly growing city of 14 million in Africa’s most populous country is on its way to becoming the third-largest city in the world. By 2015, […]

You’re selecting a dinner wine at your local liquor store. But when you reach for your old standby in the Chardonnay bin, you notice a new, official looking label affixed on it: "Organically Grown Wine, No Sulfites Added, California Organic Food Act of 1990." You’ve heard of organically grown produce. But an organically grown wine? Is it better healthwise? Is it more Earth-friendly? Are sulfites bad for you? If you’re thinking of turning to the government for answers think again.

Can’t sleep? Upset stomach? Need to warm up or cool down? Then do what half of America and 90 percent of the world does each day–have a cup of tea. Who can resist the whimsical packaging and names like Metabolic Frolic, Nighty-Night, Red Zinger, and Grandma’s Tummy Mint? Yet tea, innocuous as it seems, is steeped in controversy, government regulations, lawsuits and battles for the bucks.