Simple living

Gift wrapping

The science of gift wrapping explains why sloppy is better

Lifestyle & Belief

Americans spend a lot of money on gift wrapping supplies and a lot of time of carefully wrapping their gifts. Science says we probably don’t need to.

An H&M store in New York.

Why ‘fast fashion’ might need to slow down

Fracking arrives in Amish Country

Jobs scarce, more Italians volunteering on organic farms

What the Amish can teach us about technology

Environment

Don’t Pass The Salt Please

In Mexico City, health officials are trying something new. They're asking restaurants to put away the salt shakers and urging residents to cut back on salt.

Fracking on Amish Land

Fracking has brought financial rewards to many landowners. Among them, the simplicity-oriented Amish in Southeastern Ohio whose farms lie above the Utica Shale where rich gas fields are being developed.

Unemployed Italians Try Organic Farming

Environment

Some of Italy’s unemployed have taken up an offer of free room and board in exchange for doing volunteer work – on organic farms. Reporter Christopher Livesay explains why thousands of Italians have signed up to be farmers.

The World

Kenyan Start-Up Offers Farm in a Backpack

Millions of farmers in East Africa not only want to be better farmers, but also have the money to invest in technologies to help them do that. A Kenyan start-up called “Backpack Farm” wants to tap into that market.

THE AMISH: FLOURISHING LAND OWNERS

Much of the country’s farmland is disappearing to development, and in Lancaster County in eastern Pennsylvania lies some of the country’s best growing and dairy farming land. While conservationists have been struggling to establish legal and bureaucratic ways of preserving the best of what farmland is left, old order Amish farmers in Lancaster County seem […]