
A Tiny Fish, a Big Story: a Preview for Sunday
We've got a big story coming.
Food as a verb thanks
for sponsoring this series

This morning, we're sending a special preview for Sunday's story.
Months in the making, it follows a team of local scientists as they work to save one of the most endangered fish in the US.
It's a minnow called the Laurel Dace.

And it's only found in one place on Earth.
Right here in east Tennessee.
Walden's Ridge, specifically.
In the race to save the Laurel Dace, some other precious things were discovered.
Like community. Resilient community.
What impacts the fish impacts the rest of us, too.
Our story began this spring, when we brainstormed with our friends from Thrive Regional Partnership about the land behind the land. Food as a Verb spotlights agriculture, but what of the larger land-water-scape behind the farms?
This led us on a search for this very tiny fish and the larger ways it impacts all of us. From Spring City to the caves beneath our feet, our Sunday feature presents a beautiful and vulnerable look at a fish whose population numbers so low, you can count them by hand.

A few things to remember:
- The plural of fish is ... fish. Right? Well, sort of.
"The plural of fish is 'fish' if all individuals are the same species [but] 'fishes' if the individuals represent two or more species," said Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, aquatic conservation biologist with the Tennessee Aquarium.
Outside the science community, nobody really says 'fishes', though, so for the sake of familiarity, we used the plural "fish" throughout.
- There's some confusion on whether Walden's Ridge is actually called Walden Ridge.
We've seen both. The Tennessee Encyclopedia uses Walden Ridge, while this history suggests Walling's Ridge, the original name, shifted to Walden's Ridge.
In our story, we're sticking again with the familiar: Walden's Ridge.
And this story?
It is one of our very favorites.

At one point, Sarah and I were deep in the Walden's Ridge woods with Bernie and his team, siene-netting for Laurel Dace.
Viola. They found one.
Holding in our hands one of the most vulnerable and endangered creatures in the US? It was unforgettable - both the awe, humility, vulnerability and ... joy.

Perhaps we'll say more about this later.
We're honored to publish this story for you, Food as a Verb community. We're planning a related event, too, in September. More soon.
Until then, have a wonderful Friday and Saturday.
We'll see you Sunday with a big story about a tiny fish.
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
This morning, we're sending a special preview for Sunday's story.
Months in the making, it follows a team of local scientists as they work to save one of the most endangered fish in the US.
It's a minnow called the Laurel Dace.

And it's only found in one place on Earth.
Right here in east Tennessee.
Walden's Ridge, specifically.
In the race to save the Laurel Dace, some other precious things were discovered.
Like community. Resilient community.
What impacts the fish impacts the rest of us, too.
Our story began this spring, when we brainstormed with our friends from Thrive Regional Partnership about the land behind the land. Food as a Verb spotlights agriculture, but what of the larger land-water-scape behind the farms?
This led us on a search for this very tiny fish and the larger ways it impacts all of us. From Spring City to the caves beneath our feet, our Sunday feature presents a beautiful and vulnerable look at a fish whose population numbers so low, you can count them by hand.

A few things to remember:
- The plural of fish is ... fish. Right? Well, sort of.
"The plural of fish is 'fish' if all individuals are the same species [but] 'fishes' if the individuals represent two or more species," said Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, aquatic conservation biologist with the Tennessee Aquarium.
Outside the science community, nobody really says 'fishes', though, so for the sake of familiarity, we used the plural "fish" throughout.
- There's some confusion on whether Walden's Ridge is actually called Walden Ridge.
We've seen both. The Tennessee Encyclopedia uses Walden Ridge, while this history suggests Walling's Ridge, the original name, shifted to Walden's Ridge.
In our story, we're sticking again with the familiar: Walden's Ridge.
And this story?
It is one of our very favorites.

At one point, Sarah and I were deep in the Walden's Ridge woods with Bernie and his team, siene-netting for Laurel Dace.
Viola. They found one.
Holding in our hands one of the most vulnerable and endangered creatures in the US? It was unforgettable - both the awe, humility, vulnerability and ... joy.

Perhaps we'll say more about this later.
We're honored to publish this story for you, Food as a Verb community. We're planning a related event, too, in September. More soon.
Until then, have a wonderful Friday and Saturday.
We'll see you Sunday with a big story about a tiny fish.
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.