Grist, an award-winning nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and exposing environmental injustices, has acquired nonprofit news site The Counter. Launched in 2015, The Counter investigated the forces shaping how and what America eats, and ceased publication in May 2022 due to a funding shortfall.
As part of the acquisition, Grist will maintain The Counter’s archives and take ownership of the organization’s brand assets. Grist will continue a large part of The Counter’s mission by continuing to explore “the forces that shape how and what America eats” and how those forces intersect with climate and the environment. To that end, today we are launching a food and agriculture vertical, which includes two new hires:
Ayurella Horn-Muller joined Grist in April as a food and agriculture staff writer. She is an award-winning Florida journalist who has covered climate, justice and food for Axios and Climate Central, and who has freelance bylines for The Guardian, CNN, National Geographic, USA Today, Forbes, and on NPR and PBS NewsHour. She is also the author of the book Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the Southwhich was published in March.
Frida Garza will also join Grist as a food and ag staff writer. She was the editor of The Guardian US’s environmental justice series, America’s Dirty Divide, and has also written stories about food culture in North America. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Jezebel, covering culture and politics. A native of El Paso, Texas, she recently completed a master’s degree in labor studies and is based in Brooklyn, New York. Garza starts on May 15.
Grist already has a decade-long track record covering the intersection of food, agriculture and climate. Recently, freelancer Julia O’Malley is a finalist for the James Beard Media Awards for her Grist story (in collaboration with Food & Environment Reporting Network) on Alaska’s missing snow crabsand former Grist fellow Max Graham won this year’s Alaska Press Club Award for Best Feature Film for his salmon cover. But the acquisition of The Counter represents a significant expansion of the news site’s coverage of this critical beat.
“Food is a unique entry point through which to enter the climate conversation – and it’s one that everyone around the world can easily grasp,” said Nikhil Swaminathan, Grist’s CEO. “We were big admirers of The Counter’s work, and when the opportunity came to breathe new life into a brand we thought so highly of, we jumped at it. This new vertical will allow Grist to very clearly transform coverage of climate from what it literally is: a kitchen table issue.”
“Nothing could be more satisfying than to see a publication of Grist’s caliber commit both to maintaining public access to The Counter’s award-winning archive, and to devote its energy and significant resources to its approach to food journalism re-launch and strengthen,” said Jeffrey Kittay, The Counter’s founder and publisher.
“As temperatures rise, global warming’s impact on food security, agricultural economies, labor justice and food culture comes into sharp relief,” said Grist’s executive editor, Katherine Bagley. “And unlike many climate risks, these changes are deeply personal, from the rising cost of your weekly grocery bill to disruptions in cultural traditions around food.”
To mark the moment, Grist put together a downloadable cookbook filled with climate-friendly recipes from our archives, as well as from partners Cool Beans and Pale Blue Tart. The cookbook has everything from appetizers to side dishes and desserts.
In addition to the new vertical, Grist is honored to ensure that the outstanding work done by The Counter staff remains accessible to the public. And this is not the first time that Grist has accepted that responsibility: In 2020, Grist Pacific Standard acquiredand continues to host its archives.
