Danielle Pycior

Monteverde has a new member of the community. With her, she brought a deep love and knowledge of bread, and a passion for food and the communal opportunity its creation brings.

Soraia Costa comes from Figueira da Foz, a small coastal town in central Portugal. Since childhood, she’s lived all over the world working a variety of trades, preferring to participate in community-centered environments where she can use her hands and create.

“As soon as I graduated I left the country to explore the wo

Up a small hill in Cerro Plano, shaded by tall trees, sit three buildings: El Banco Costa Rica, an abandoned bar and La Tilichera in the right back corner. A sign blinks abierto, or open, in little red dots in the front window, and there’s a welcoming feeling that spreads from the warm smiles of the women who run the shop. The store is filled with an assortment of daily life belongings — jeans, shirts, tiny human shoes, books — all cast-out items awaiting a new home. For the last two years, a gr

This story was co-published with the Columbia Missourian.

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. — In January 2020, a pork corporation came knocking in Livingston County.

United Hog Systems notified nearby landowners that they were filing an application for a 5,700-hog operation.

It was the first permit for a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) issued for the northwest Missouri County in more than two decades.

The timing was no accident. State lawmakers had recently passed legislation that would wipe a 1