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Positive sustainability news Oct

This is The Climate Win, the most positive sustainability news around the world every week.

The lights continue to dim at coal-fired power plants in the United States. Two weeks ago, Oregon retired its last remaining active coal plant, 20 years ahead of schedule. Portland General Electric, which operated the coal plant, said it would replace the energy the plant produced with regionally sourced hydroelectric power and additional renewable energy projects developed in the coming years.

Further south, the Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) is using solar power to move away from coal. Last week, it broke ground on a new 50-megawatt solar field. Combined with other renewable energy projects, it will allow the City of Albuquerque to generate 88 percent of its power from renewable resources by the end of 2021. Dubbed PNM Solar Direct, the solar farm will also power Western New Mexico University and additional partnering facilities beyond the city itself.

The New Mexico utility also announced plans to develop another solar farm with similar production capacity in the coming years to offset the power lost when a major coal-fired power plant shuts down in 2022, according to a report in Smart Cities Dive.

What’s more, the new project is located on the land of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, making it the largest solar array on Native land in the US. The project was developed in conjunction with the Jicarilla Apache Nation and will provide two megawatts of power to the tribe, a massive step forward in its goal of controlling its own energy under the Jicarilla Apache Nation Power Authority (JANPA), established in 2014.

“PNM Solar Direct is an innovative project built in the roots of partnership and a common goal to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Kelly Renee Huber, senior communications representative from PNM, in a YouTube video.

Zoom out to the entire country and the picture is equally encouraging for the transition to renewable energy. In the first six months of 2020, US coal power production fell by an astonishing 30 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration. A separate report from the same agency found that as of August, over 100 coal-fired plants have been replaced or converted to natural gas since 2011. In 2020 alone, at least 15 coal plants were decommissioned or announced plans to close in the coming years.

Coal power is on the rise in China and to a lesser capacity, in India and elsewhere in Asia, leaving much work to be done in the global effort to meet the demands of the Paris Agreement and to decarbonize the global economy. But as of this year, only slightly more than 200 of nearly 10,000 power plants in the United States are coal-powered — meaning the US, the world’s largest consumer of energy, is on the right track.

To be sure, the US is still the world’s second-largest coal consumer. But as solar and wind farms are increasingly embraced by public utilities, driving the price down for solar power and boxing out less efficient energy sources, the curve is set to continue toward rapid declines in coal production and use.

More climate wins this week

Japan announced it would reach climate neutrality by 2050, a big pledge from the world’s third-largest economy. Critics point out that the country made this pledge despite having nearly 10 GW of coal-powered plants under construction or in planning — though Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country would consider reevaluating its reliance on coal power.

New York is finally enforcing its long-awaited plastic bag ban. Retailers caught handing out plastic bags could face a $500 fine. The move makes New York the fifth state in the country to outright ban plastic bags, with three states — Delaware, Maine, and Connecticut — joining the club in 2021.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is booting cars out of the center of Paris — by removing half of the city’s available parking spots. According to a report in Forbes, Paris will gut 70,000 of its 140,000 parking spaces in order to make its streets more accessible to bicycles and pedestrians.

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The post Solar farms will power Native American land as the US shutters coal plants appeared first on Matador Network.

Trump admin end gray wolf protection

The Trump administration is continuing its attack on environmental protections. The same week it announced that it would permit extensive logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the government is also stripping federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves in the contiguous United States — with the exception of a Mexican gray wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico.

A peer review commissioned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service expressed concern about the plan, and 100 scientists and 267 veterinary professionals were among those opposed to delisting gray wolves. The government is moving forward anyway.

The gray wolf population in the US has declined dramatically over the past few decades, with only 6,000 left in the lower 48. Yet, when gray wolves have been reintroduced, as in Yellowstone National Park, they’ve had a beneficial effect on the ecosystem, reducing deer overpopulation and allowing plant life to flourish again.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has not come up with any recovery plan for the wolves, which environmental groups say still need protection. And while delisting transfers authority from federal to state agencies, many of these have shown little interest in supporting gray wolf recovery. States like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have historically favored a kill-on-sight strategy to wolf management.

Conservationists worry that the species could again disappear from places where their numbers had only recently begun to rebound. Without ESA protections, however, these regions will likely suffer from reduced biological diversity and a diminished ecosystem. Now that this matter is left to states to handle, it could spell disaster for gray wolf populations.

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World's hardest mountains to climb

The world’s highest and most remote mountains inspire awe in all of us, but few are aware how truly dangerous they can be. The fact is that any time experienced climbers and mountaineers put crampons to ice, they will confront some degree of danger. Accidents can occur even at relatively benign roadside crags. Still, there are certain mountains that command respect from even the most experienced climbers — dangerous mountains that continue to cause fear and anxiety decades after their first ascents. And while it may be the most famous, Mt. Everest is not the deadliest mountain. From K2 to Mt. Denali, these are the 11 hardest mountains to climb in the world.

1. Annapurna

Photo: Shutterstock/My Good Images

Where: Himalayas, north-central Nepal

Elevation: 8,091 m (26,545 ft) 

Since its first ascent on the 1950 expedition led by Maurice Herzog, Annapurna Massif in Nepal has been climbed by more than almost 300 people, but at least 73 have died trying. This high fatality rate makes Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world, the most statistically dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks. Trekking the Annapurna circuit is possible with lots of preparation and training, but more novice hikers would be better suited to summiting less dangerous peaks within the Annapurna Conservation Area, visiting teahouses in Nepal in the Khopra Ridge, or heading to the Mardi Himal Base Camp.

2. K2

Photo: 1008950077/Shutterstock

Where: Karakoram range, China-Pakistan border

Elevation: 8,611 m (28,251 ft)

K2, the world’s second-highest mountain is known among climbers as one of the most technically difficult in the world. Ascents of even the easiest route require crossing a complicated glacier, ascending steep sections of rock, and negotiating a path around a series of ice pillars, called seracs, which are prone to collapse without warning. The technical difficulty of this mountain makes it one of the most committing and dangerous in the world. In 2020, Viridinia Álvarez Chávez became the first Latina to summit K2, pressing her ascent even after watching another climber fall to his death. There is also a recent K2 documentary worth watching, which follows a group’s attempt to summit K2 without supplemental oxygen.

3. Nanga Parbat

Photo: Shutterstock/Lukas Bischoff Photograph

Where: Himalayas, Pakistan

Elevation: 8,126 m (26,660 ft)

The world’s ninth highest peak, Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, competes with K2 in terms of technical difficulty. The route of the first ascent follows a narrow ridge to the summit. On the southern side is the largest mountain face on earth, the 15,000 foot Rupal Face. Although the name Nanga Parbat comes from Sanskrit for “naked mountain,” and the peak is known locally as Diamir, “king of the mountains,” the climbers have another name for it: “The Man Eater.”

4. Kangchenjunga

Photo: Shutterstock/Szerkach Viktar

Where: Himalayas, Nepal-India border

Elevation:8.568 m (28,169 ft)

When you look at the fatality rates on the world’s most dangerous mountains, you’ll see that most decrease as time goes on. One notable exception is Kangchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world. Death rates averaged over 20 percent, a reflection of the avalanche and and weather hazards that plague this dangerous mountain. With climate change causing yet more unstable snow conditions and extreme weather, death rates for the Kangchenjunga ascension could yet worsen.

5. The Eiger

Photo: Shutterstock/Jan Zahula

Where: Bernese Alps, Switzerland

Elevation: 3,967 m (13,015 ft)

The Nordwand, or north face, of this peak in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland is an objective legendary among mountaineers for its danger. Reaching nearly 6000 feet, it is the longest north face in the Alps. Though it was first climbed in 1938, the north face of the Eiger continues to challenge climbers of all abilities with both its technical difficulties and the heavy rockfall that rakes the face. The difficulty and hazards have earned the Eiger’s north face the nickname Mordwand, or Murder Wall. The mountain was made famous in the 1975 film The Eiger Sanction in which Clint Eastwood plays an assassin who joins a climbing team on an ascent of the Eiger north face to avenge the murder of a friend.

6. The Matterhorn

Photo: Shutterstock/Olga Danylenko

Where: Alps, Switzerland

Elevation: 4,478 m (14,692 ft)

This iconic mountain, which looks like a horn rising out of the surrounding valleys, has one of the highest fatality rates of any peak in the Alps. This is caused by a wide range of factors, including technical difficulty, the prevalence of avalanches and rockfall, and severe overcrowding on routes during peak climbing seasons. An easier way to see the Matterhorn would be at a safe distance by train, gondola, or helicopter. You can even ski with stunning views of Zermatt.

7. Vinson Massif

Photo: Shutterstock/Lua Carlos Martins

Where: Sentinel range, Antarctica

Elevation: 4,892 m (16,050 ft)

Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica, is not notable for its technical difficulty or fatality rate. However, Mount Vinson is over 16,000 feet high. That elevation, combined with the isolation, extreme cold and unpredictable weather of the Antarctic continent, makes Vinson a very serious undertaking. Even a small accident here could be disastrous.

8. Baintha Brakk

Photo: Shutterstock/Vasiq Eqbal

Where: Karakoram range, Pakistan

Elevation: 7,285 m (23,901 ft)

Commonly known as The Ogre, Baintha Brakk in Pakistan is considered one of the most difficult mountains to climb in the world. Though it saw its first ascent in 1971, The Ogre was not summited again until 2001. One of the first ascensionists, Doug Scott, broke both of his legs on the descent, forcing him to crawl through a major storm to the team’s base camp. This famous epic and more than 20 failed attempts on the peak have earned it a reputation as one of the most dangerous in the world.

9. Mt. Everest

Photo: Shutterstock/My Good Images

Where: Himalayas, China-Nepal border

Elevation: 8,848 m (29,029 ft)

More than 1,500 people have climbed Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, with as many as 50 people or more reaching the summit on a single day. This congestion, when combined with Everest’s extreme altitude, makes it an undeniably dangerous objective. While Everest regulations are now focused on cleaning up waste and preventing more pollution, it is still succumbing to climate change, which some climbers say is making it yet more dangerous. Congestion from too many climbers has also been a major risk factor, leading to multiple deaths in 2019. Everest Base Camp’s elevation is 5,600 meters, making that an achievement unto itself.

10. Mt. Denali

Photo: Shutterstock/Lijuan Guo

Where: Alaska Range, United States

Elevation: 6,190 m (20,310 ft)

Mt. Denali is located in Alaska and is the highest mountain in North America. It was officially known as Mt. McKinley from 1896 to 2015 when it was renamed back to its Indigenous name under President Obama. Though its altitude is only 20,320 feet, its high latitude means that the atmosphere is far thinner than it would be at the equator. For the many people who climb Denali each year, the altitude, weather, and extreme temperature pose a serious danger. For these reasons, the success rate on Denali is around 50 percent, and more than 100 climbers have died attempting the summit. The mountain towers over Denali National Park, with its admirers possibly unaware of its deadly statistics. In fact, 2018 was the first year in fifteen that no one died in the Denali range. You can see Mt. Denali from a distance on a bus tour of Denali National Park.

11. Fitz Roy

Photo: Shutterstock/Sophie Dover

Where: Andes, Argentina-Chile border

Elevation: 3,405 m (11,171 ft)

Cerro Chalten, or Mount Fitz Roy, is the tallest mountain in Patagonia‘s Los Glaciares National Park. Fitz Roy’s summit is guarded on all sides by steep rock faces requiring difficult, technical climbing to ascend. Because of this, it was considered one of the most difficult mountains in the world for decades. Even today, the region’s unpredictable weather and relative isolation make it extremely dangerous. Despite the number of people who may admire it on a trek through this stunning region, Fitz Roy may see only a single ascent in a year: truly the mark of a dangerous, difficult mountain.

A version of this article was previously published on October 24, 2008, and was updated on October 29, 2020, with more information.

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Small ski areas adapting to COVID

“We don’t have any high-speed quads; however, we’ve never had a lift line,” said Scott Curry, Director of Marketing at Utah’s Eagle Point Resort, explaining a predicament many small ski areas find themselves in.

Located in the FIshlake National Forest three-and-a-half hours south of Salt Lake City, Eagle Point offers 650 acres of skiable terrain accessed by five lifts. Like independent ski areas around the United States and Canada, Eagle Point is not part of the high-profile ski passes offered by Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Co., the country’s two major resort operators. This saves them the crowds but also prevents many who might love the place from ever visiting.

With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting everything about the travel and resort business, local, independent ski areas may actually be set for a rebirth this coming winter. Vail and Alterra have announced strict measures to minimize crowding and enhance social distancing in crowded base areas. Without massive hotels and condo properties, and lacking the lift lines and crowded slopes that conglomerate passes tend to bring, these small, independent hills find themselves at an advantage. But even as the coronavirus pandemic forces travelers to consider outdoor options, including skiing, for recreation, independent resorts need all the support they can get.

“It would be difficult to not acknowledge the conglomeration going on in the industry, and obviously that’s here to stay,” Curry said.

Factor in reduced travel due to the pandemic and climate change threatening to make seasons progressively shorter, and it’s on us as skiers and snowboarders to frequent our local hills to keep them a part of our communities.

Local ski hills are important to their communities

Photo: Gunstock Mountain Resort

Recent data compiled by Snowbrains shows that the vast majority of skiers visit the resorts operated by Vail and Alterra, as each of the 10 most visited resorts in the US is operated by one or the other. But the economic impact of smaller ski areas is undeniable in the communities in which they operate.

“The resort is the second largest employer in the area having created about 25 full-time year-round jobs and over 100 seasonal jobs,” Curry said. “We work with the Beaver County Travel Council and other government entities regularly. Resort ownership’s real estate development activities have created over 50 new tax parcels, which has contributed over six figures in new tax revenue to Beaver County.”

That impact is felt not just in Eagle Point’s coffers but throughout the surrounding community and county, which has a full-time population of just over 6,500. Eagle Point’s season pass and lodging sales are up over last season.

“The resort’s draw of out-of-state visitation is an extremely important contributor to sales tax revenues for the County,” Curry said. “Local businesses including restaurants and hotels in Beaver have all benefited significantly, especially now that we are more of an all-season destination.”

It’s important that the crucial role of these resorts continues. Environmental advocacy organization Protect Our Winters has compiled data showing that skier visits on high-snow years increase by 3.8 million per year across the United States versus low snow years between 2001 and 2016, with those visitors spending $692.9 million and supporting an additional 11,800.

That’s a lot of money and a lot of jobs, albeit seasonal ones in many cases. And as the conglomeration of major ski resorts continues, drawing increasing numbers of skier visits to fewer resorts, it threatens the jobs that still exist at many independent ski areas and which are vital to their communities. Many of these ski hills were born from community ski clubs, foundation grants, or other concepts intended to stimulate an area’s recreation economy while offering a safe place for local families.

Gunstock Mountain Resort in western New Hampshire is one such ski area. “Gunstock Mountain Resort was initially conceived as a way to create jobs and stimulate the economy with money from the Works Progress Administration,” said the ski area’s marketing director, Kristen Lodge. “At our roots, we’re an entity of this community, and as we grow and improve, so does the Lakes Region in both the economy and the overall quality of life.”

It should be noted that, as climate change brings fewer cold days, ski areas are becoming more dependent on snowmaking. While a warming planet poses a major threat to the ski industry as a whole, by spending money at independent ski areas, you’re increasing their ability to invest in their own snow-making capabilities — and helping them combat corporate conglomeration and cope with warmer winters.

Smaller ski areas are a safer choice for families

Photo: FashionStock.com/Shutterstock

COVID-19 has upended what ski travel looked like in the past. But smaller ski areas have one big thing going for them — their smaller operations and fewer crowds, meaning their guests are at a lower risk of major outbreaks. At Eagle Point, 95 percent of available on-mountain lodging is ski-in/ski-out, with each unit having a private entrance.

“Guests can stay at the resort steps from the slopes, return to their cabin or condo to use the restroom or enjoy takeout from our restaurant, and hop right back on the slopes,” Curry said. He then touched on how open terrain and lack of crowds can feel safer for family skiers.

“And, for someone who hasn’t been on the mountain in a number of years or has little kids, the ability to go down the trail and to see and anticipate everything in front of you — groomed white — and not have other people clamoring into a base area, is a very freeing experience. I’ve witnessed people fall in love, or re-fall in love, with the sport, because they’re able to experience the mountain without that anxiety level.”

Gunstock has adapted their lift access to be touch-free, on top of direct-to-lift access from the ski area’s parking lot rather than having to hop onto a bus or pass through a crowded lobby.

“One of the benefits of being a medium-sized resort is that our parking lot is located right at the base, so guests are able to walk right up to the summit lift, or to the terrain park,” said Lodge. “With our new winter operating procedures, all of our guests will boot up in their car. And, since they purchased their lift tickets in advance, they can go directly to the lift with our RFID technology.”

Lodge added that once guests are on the mountain they can order food with their phones and pick it up when they’re ready using a touchless payment option the resort is adding this year at its shops and restaurants.

Smaller ski areas are uniting to attract new skiers

Photo: Shutterstock/Alisha Bube

“Most of our locals learn to ski and snowboard here and they grow up on the mountain,” Lodge said. “They run and hike here year-round and play at the Adventure Park in the summer, so even though we cater to tourists and visitors from all over, we take the most pride in serving our residents and providing them with a place to breathe deep and enjoy the outdoors as they recreate on our trails.”

Without national and international tourists coming in droves, independent resorts must depend on these local skiers and small alliances formed amongst themselves. The rise of the mega-passes stands to benefit many of these ski areas in an unforeseen way — by bringing them together into their own unions to encourage travel amongst themselves.

Nineteen independent ski areas have banded together for the 2020/21 Powder Alliance which, like the Ikon and Epic passes, allows skiers days at each of the participating resorts. Even beyond organized coops, the purchase of a season pass at most ski areas earns you a few days at a handful of others.

Eagle Point offers its pass holders limited access to other ski areas in Colorado, California, and Utah. More experienced skiers and riders can also take solace in the ample snowfall at many smaller resorts and the lack of people there to track it out.

“There’s also the opportunity for untracked powder,” Curry said. You can be up to your neck in powder and still find untracked lines hours later.”

“We think it’s important for the independent resorts to band together,” Curry said. “We tend to think of ourselves as the heart and soul of skiing still. We serve a regional role in growing the sport, as many of the major resorts have outpriced many families.”

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The post Small independent ski areas are the place to ski this year appeared first on Matador Network.

The last lesbian bars in the US

While gay bars might be relatively prevalent in cities throughout the United States, lesbian-specific bars are dwindling. There are only 15 known lesbian bars left in the whole country and as COVID-19 ravages small businesses, a fundraising campaign is underway to protect them from dying out. The Lesbian Bar Project launched a 30-day initiative in partnership with the Fractured Atlas arts organization and Jägermeister’s ongoing #SaveTheNight campaign.

Photo: The Lesbian Bar Project

On the importance of preserving lesbian bars, the project’s website says, “We believe what makes a bar uniquely Lesbian is its prioritization of creating space for people of marginalized genders; including women, non-binary folks, and trans men. As these spaces aim to be inclusive of all individuals across the diverse LGBTQIA+ community, the label Lesbian belongs to all people who feel it empowers them.”

In the late 1980s, there were an estimated 200 lesbian bars in the US, according to the project’s mission statement. Now there are just 15.

You can learn all about the remaining lesbian bars, view photos, and read quotes from the owners about their venue’s significance on the project website. Donations received through the site will be split evenly between participating bars, with donations being accepted through November 26.

Participating bars include A League of Her Own in Washington, DC; Blush & Blu in Denver, CO; Cubbyhole and Henrietta Hudson in New York, NY; Herz in Mobile, AL; Ginger’s in Brooklyn, NY; Gossip Grill in San Diego, CA; Lipstick Lounge in Nashville, TN; My Sister’s Room in Atlanta, GA; Pearl Bar in Houston, TX; Slammers in Columbus, OH; Toasted Walnut in Philadelphia, PA; Walker’s Pint in Milwaukee, WI; and Wildrose in Seattle, WA. Sue Ellen’s in Dallas is also highlighted on the website, but opted out of the donation pool in order to direct money to the other bars that are more in need.

Photo: The Lesbian Bar Project/

The campaign launch was accompanied by a PSA video co-directed by Erica Rose and Elina Street. “As a proudly OUT filmmaker who has made it my mission to tell andd promote queer stories,” Street said, “I want to use the power of filmmaking to illuminate the rich history of these 15 spaces and provide an opportunity for lesbian bars to tell their stories.”

Hopefully the project will lead not only to the salvation of the 15 remaining lesbian bars, but their proliferation around the country.

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Google map historical neighborhoods

Now more than ever, many of us wish we could go back to a simpler time. Raimondas Kiveris, a software engineer at Google Research, decided to make this possible (at least virtually). He knew his neighborhood had changed dramatically over time, but lacked a way to actually visualize it. “There’s really no easy way to find that information in any organized way,” he told Fast Company, “so I was starting to think, can we somehow enable this kind of virtual time travel?”

That’s why Kiveris created an open-source map that shows both a bird’s-eye view and street-level view of neighborhoods around the country. A slider allows you to control the year, and you can see how the streetscapes evolved over time. You can use the map to view a historically accurately 3D representation of how US cities changed since 1800.

The “rǝ” map is still in its very early form, and it’s more filled out in New York City than some other locations, but it’s still sophisticated enough to show what someone’s cityscape might have seen 100 years ago. Kiveris created the map using historical fire insurance maps and wants to add the capability for librarians and map enthusiasts to add their own historical sources as well.

His ultimate goal is to create lifelike representations of full neighborhoods that are accurate and detailed enough that they could be used as the setting for a video game or movie. That will require a much higher level of detail, but if accomplished, would provide a fascinating insight into how our world looked hundreds of years ago.

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Lifted protections on Tongass forest

The Trump administration is rolling back key environmental protections, allowing logging companies to build roads through more than nine million acres of Alaska’s untouched wilderness. Starting Thursday, it will be legal for loggers to cut and remove timber throughout the Tongass National Forest, which covers much of southeast Alaska.

It’s the largest national forest in the country, home to the native old-growth red and yellow cedar, Sitka spruce, and western hemlock. For nearly 20 years it’s been one of the world’s most intact temperate rainforests, and its trees — some up to a thousand years old — absorb far more carbon than any other national forest.

The new policy reverses protections put in place by President Clinton.

According to a notice posted by the Department of Agriculture, a significant percentage of the Tongass National Forest remains undeveloped, providing for large, extensive tracts of undeveloped land. The final rule will make an additional 188,000 forested acres available for timber harvest with the majority characterized as old-growth timber.

Reports indicate logging in the forest in recent years has actually cost taxpayers money since it costs the US Forest Service more to administer than the timber nets in sales. Moreover, according to the Forest Service, 96 percent of public comments received on the government’s proposal last fall were negative, and opposed to the removal of these protections.

The tribal nations of Alaska have spoken out against this move, withdrawing from negotiations two weeks ago when the Forest Service revealed its plans for opening up the forest to development.

In an October 13 letter to agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue, tribal leaders wrote, “We refuse to endow legitimacy upon a process that has disregarded our input at every turn. It became clear at the very end that the game had already been fixed.”

The lifting of protections will also likely affect tourism to the area, as the pristine nature of the forest — which was attractive to tourists — is now in jeopardy.

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Cranberry sauce, relish, and jellied

Cranberries hold a special place among the set of traditional sides served on Thanksgiving. The tart red berries only grow in five states — Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington — yet various preparations are centered on the table across the country. For many homes, it’s not a question of if there will be a cranberry side, it’s what kind: cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, or jellied cranberry sauce plopped on a plate straight from the can.

In the most pared down definition, cranberry sauce (whether homemade or from a can) is cooked, whereas cranberry relish is made of raw blended cranberries. Fresh or frozen cranberries are used for both homemade versions, while the canned version is available around the holidays pretty much anywhere there’s a canned goods section at the grocery store.

Adding cranberries to anything, let alone making an entire cranberry side dish, was historically restricted to the Northeast and upper Midwest before it was introduced to parts of the Pacific Northwest. Indigenous peoples made a hearty dish called pemmican with cranberries and dried meat during the September through November harvest season. They introduced cranberry preparations to colonists, and the berries were an important ingredient in the colonial diet — one reason for the historical connection to early Thanksgiving celebrations.

Cranberries grow in cold weather bogs, which limits farming considerably. According to the University of Vermont, Massachusetts grows about half of the total crop in the United States, particularly around Cape Cod. Marcus L. Urann is credited with turning cranberries into a nationwide favorite after he popularized preservation methods like canning, freezing, and juicing the berries, according to Smithsonian Magazine. He also introduced the now-classic cranberry jelly in 1941, which catapulted the Thanksgiving cranberry side dish into the mainstream. His company, Ocean Spray, is still the company Americans see most on supermarket shelves.

Today, Americans eat more than 400 million pounds of cranberries every year, according to Ocean Spray — 20 percent of which is eaten around Thanksgiving. It’s safe to say that what was once an ingredient limited to the north and northeast has become as American as pumpkin pie.

Here’s the difference between the country’s favorite ways to put cranberries on the Thanksgiving table.

Cranberry relish

Photo: Rebecca Fondren Photo/Shutterstock

What sets cranberry relish apart from cranberry sauce is that all the ingredients are raw. It’s also usually a little less sweet. In a basic recipe from Anthony Bourdain, cranberry relish is made by blending cranberries, a little bit of sugar, and orange peel for a zesty topping that can fix up dry slices of turkey. Various types of nuts are often thrown into the mix as well.

Various parts of the country enjoy cranberry relish over the sweeter cooked stuff. Colorado Public Radio put out a call to its readers and found most preferred relish. Still, fresh cranberries tend to work better, and those are typically found in the Northeast. The appeal is clear when you consider the heavy food on the rest of the Thanksgiving table. As the chef Matthew Jennings (a self-described “staunch New England cranberry relish guy”) wrote for Saveur, a proper relish “is tart and textured and bright, with just a touch of residual sweetness to tame the fruit’s wild puckering sharpness.”

Exactly what you put into your cranberry relish is up to you. One favorite that frequently pops up on NPR and elsewhere is a 1959 recipe by New York Times restaurant critic Craig Claiborne. The ingredients list is a little different than what you might expect from a holiday cranberry side: raw cranberries, onion, sour cream, sugar, and horseradish.

Cranberry sauce

Photo: MSPhotographic/Shutterstock

Homemade cranberry sauce is easy to make and typically sweeter than cranberry relish. The simplest recipes include a package of cranberries (fresh or frozen) that are cooked down for about half an hour with water and at least two cups of sugar.

It’s easy to customize homemade cranberry sauce to fit the other ingredients on the table or to your specific flavor preferences. Common additions include orange juice or orange peel, Grand Marnier and other liqueurs, and classic holiday spices like cinnamon, clove, and allspice.

Jellied cranberry sauce

Photo: Julie Vader/Shutterstock

Of all the types of Thanksgiving cranberry preparations, none are as divisive as jellied cranberry sauce from a can. Preferably dumped out of the can ridges and all, this side is simultaneously mocked and loved.

Amy Traverso, Yankee Magazine food editor, cookbook author, and TV host, grew up eating Ocean Spray’s jellied cranberry sauce in New England. Her dad made a simple homemade sauce with orange juice, but “I think the classic jellied cranberry sauce is still pretty dominant,” she tells me.

Traverso has data on her side: According to Ocean Spray, 76 percent of Americans opt for canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. Even many chefs go canned rather than homemade, according to Food & Wine. FiveThirtyEight dubbed the South the “home of canned cranberry sauce,” with people in the region more than 50 percent more likely to choose a can than homemade. A deep dive into jellied cranberry sauce in Vox found that Georgia is the biggest state for canned cranberry sauce.

Jellied cranberry sauce is about as removed from its natural properties as a cranberry product can get, but that’s part of what makes it great. According to Scientific American, the secret is pectin, a natural polymer in plant cells (including cranberries) that “glues” the cells together to form a jelly. Cranberries have plenty of natural pectin that is released as the berries are cooked, and the longer it’s cooked the more jelly-like it becomes.

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Machu Picchu is reopening next month

One of the most popular wonders of the world is reopening to visitors next month. After closing to the public in March due to the pandemic, Machu Picchu is finally reopening on November 1 at 30 percent capacity. The famous Inca archaeological site will admit a maximum of 675 people each day in groups of eight (seven guests plus one guide).

All visitors will have their temperatures checked upon entry, groups must stay six feet apart from one another, and masks will be required. Trains and buses to the entrance will also operate at just 50 percent capacity. Visitors must purchase tickets in advance, and they’re likely to sell quickly. Tickets through November 14 sold out in approximately two days.

To make it feasible for people to actually visit, Peru is planning to reestablish flight schedules from cities in the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. Only flights that are eight hours or shorter are permitted to land in Lima, so if you’re coming from the US you should probably expect a layover.

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Nuremberg Christmas market canceled

For the first time since World War II, Germany is canceling its famous Nuremberg Christmas Market. The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt has been running since 1628 and is one of Germany’s oldest Christmas markets. During the four weeks of Advent, the city’s market square turns into a village of wooden stalls decorated with red and white cloth. Each stall accommodates dozens of vendors selling handicrafts, grilling bratwursts, and serving glasses of delicious mulled wine.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the historic market is being canceled for the first time since WWII. Back then, the market was suspended until 1948. This year, city officials had hoped to move forward with the market, but the recent spike in COVID-19 cases has made it abundantly clear that that won’t be possible.

Marcus König, the mayor of Nuremberg, said in a statement, “This decision is very difficult for us. After much deliberation, and in order to protect the population, we have come to the conclusion that the Christmas market will not take place this year…We cannot justify an additional gathering of many thousands of people in the city center.”

When the market eventually resumed after WWII, it represented a new chapter in German life and hope for the future. Let’s hope the same is true this time.

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