Venkatesh Kulkarni - Mango, Cashew Nut
Abhay Mutalik Desai - Sugarcane
Frits Ringma - Water
Birke Baehr - 11-year-old Organic Food Activist
Vandana Shiva - the Future of Food and Seed
Jeffrey Smith - the Dangers of GMO FoodFeed aggregator
Rise Up or Die
Joe Sacco and I spent two years reporting from the poorest pockets of the United States for our book "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt." We went into our nation's impoverished "sacrifice zones"-the first areas forced to kneel before the dictates of the marketplace-to show what happens when unfettered corporate capitalism and ceaseless economic expansion no longer have external impediments.
Geoengineering: Can We Save the Planet by Messing with Nature?
As the carbon dioxide in the air hits 400 parts per million for the first time in human history, some are arguing that the best way address climate change is to use the controversial practice of geoengineering - the deliberate altering of the Earth's ecological and climate systems to counter the effects of global warming.
For Climate Solution, Look to the Ground
Soil, that humble brown stuff we call dirt, is part of the answer to saving our future
The Goodman Affair: Monsanto Targets the Heart of Science
Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal, has jested that instead of scientific peer review, its rival The Lancet had a system of throwing a pile of papers down the stairs and publishing those that reached the bottom.
Is Raw Grass-Fed Milk Safer Than Pasteurized?
As you're probably aware of by now, there's a war being waged against raw milk. While raw milk sales or distribution are legal in many US states, and progress has been made toward improving access, there's strong opposition to this trend. Each victory is hard-won.
Vilsack Promises to Grow U.S. Organic Industry
At its recent policy conference in Washington, D.C., the Organic Trade Association (OTA) heard from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the future of organic farming.
How a Radical Group of American Nuns Shook Up the Vatican to Better the World
How did American nuns move from the traditional confines of convent life to the social activism that has them under Vatican investigation for being too radical and feminist? Blame (or credit) Vatican II in the early 1960s, which instructed Catholics to take their religion out into the world and make it relevant. According to Mary Fishman’s new documentary, Band of Sisters, American nuns eagerly took up the call to serve where there is greatest need. That work led them to seeing the causes, not just the symptoms, of injustice.
Going out into the world brought more than just a change from the black and white nun’s habit to ordinary clothing. There were intellectual, emotional, and spiritual transformations too, as the numerous sisters interviewed in the film explain. Many of the interviewees are old enough to have experienced the changes of role and attitude over the decades since Vatican II. Their testimony gives this film authenticity and gentle authority.
The work of Sisters Pat Murphy and JoAnn Persh is one example. Fishman shows them as they prepare to go out into a dark Chicago winter morning to hold a vigil outside an immigrant deportation center. They want the authorities to let them inside to bring support and comfort to the deportees. In successive scenes, we see that they eventually do get inside the center, even though it takes time, organized lobbying, and a change in state law. Their determined action achieves results.
The radicalizing effect of focusing on the physical world and the equality of all humans is most obvious in the scenes where we see nuns running an organic farm and environmental center, or presenting a cosmology that is as much indigenous as Genesis. No wonder they’re in trouble with the church’s patriarchy, even under a new pope. But you can’t put this genie back in the bottle—or the Sister of Mercy back in the cloister.
Valerie Schloredt wrote this article for Love and the Apocalypse, the Summer 2013 issue of YES! Magazine. Valerie is associate editor of YES!
Interested?
- No Room at the Inn? How Occupy Won Over Religion
Religion is the means by which many imagine and work for a world more just than this one. Last year, Wall Street’s Trinity Church refused to shelter the movement; this year, churches and Occupiers are sharing a very different kind of Advent season. - A Pastor, a Rabbi, and an Imam Walk Into a Book ...
In "Religion Gone Astray," three leaders—and friends—from different religions take on violence, exclusivity, gender inequality, and homophobia in some of their scriptures' most controversial verses. What they discovered surprised them. - Radical Relgion, an American Tradition
Book Review: “Prophetic Encounters” reminds us that we are part of a long and rich tradition that is more than simply a series of isolated movements for social change.
What Comes After Hope
Too Soon to Tell: The Case for Hope, Continued
Enabling Greed Makes US Sick
At the end of a week that reminds us to be ever vigilant about the dangers of government overreaching its authority, whether by the long arm of the IRS or the Justice Department, we should pause to think about another threat - from too much private power obnoxiously intruding into public life.
Legislators Endorse GMO Labels for Maine Food
AUGUSTA - Despite concerns any law forcing food producers to label products containing genetically modified organisms could lead to a challenge in the courts, the Legislatures's Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee approved a labeling measure on an 8-3 vote Tuesday.
From Mexico to India: Monsanto is Killing More Than Just Biodiversity
In late April, world renowned Indian 'seed activist' Vandana Shiva travelled to the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to join a gathering of Mexican farmers, indigenous leaders and environmentalists, fighting to protect Mexico's native corn crops against the imposition of genetically modified alternatives.
Georgia Professors Teach Undocumented Students—for Free
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Photo by Derek Bruff.
Undocumented young people in Georgia are fighting for access to higher education with support from the ACLU and a group of professors who have volunteered to teach college-level courses for free.
Georgia’s Board of Regents adopted a policy in 2010 that prevents undocumented students from attending the state’s top five public universities. The policy “is based on a misunderstanding of federal immigration law,” according to a letter from the ACLU to the Board of Regents.
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Georgia is one of three states that exclude undocumented students from full access to higher education, even when the federal government recognizes the student’s right to be in the United States under Department of Homeland Security regulations. The other 47 states either apply no exclusion policies to such students or require them to pay out-of-state tuition.
Students and professors protested the state’s policy at a March 6 rally on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus. The rally was organized by Freedom University, which provides college-level classes for students who can’t enroll at UGA because of their undocumented status. Named after the “freedom schools” of the civil rights movement, Freedom University was started in 2011 by a group of professors at the request of undocumented students. It operates on the principle that “you can stop me from going to a UGA classroom, but you can’t stop a UGA professor from teaching me,” said Melissa Padilla, a 22-year-old Freedom University student who also serves as a representative on the organization’s board.
Freedom University doesn’t receive official funding, but donations of books and money poured in from all over the country when the group was launched. Every week, volunteers drive students to Freedom University classes. Padilla says that sort of support, and the determination of the students, makes her confident that Freedom University will keep going strong as the legal battle over education for the undocumented in Georgia continues.
Chris Francis wrote this article for Love and the Apocalypse, the Summer 2013 issue of YES! Magazine. Chris is an editorial intern at YES!
Interested?
- Housing Crisis on the Rez: Why Haul a Run-Down Shack from the Plains to DC?
Tribal leaders trucked the battered old home to Washington to show the nation’s leaders what the housing crisis on reservations looks like in person. - Why Sharing News About Solutions is a Revolutionary Act
Scary stories of kidnappings and explosions lead our news feeds, but it's the good news that helps break down the myth of our own powerlessness. - Marriage Equality Victories Show How Change Happens, One Step at a Time
Before 2004, no state allowed same-sex marriage. Today, it's legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia. If you want to see how political progress is made, look to the local level.
Chiefs Declare Keystone XL Consultation Meeting Invalid, Walk Out on State Department Officials
Elders and chiefs of at least 10 sovereign nations walked out of a meeting with U.S. State Department officials in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Thursday May 16 in which the government was attempting to engage in tribal consultation over the Keystone XL pipeline.
Pivotal Moment Hit in Battle Over Genetically Enhanced Food
The decades-old fight over genetically modified food has reached a fever pitch in Washington.
Elizabeth Warren Is Turning Out as Good as Promised
The Massachusetts senator is now championing legislation that would cut the student loan rate to the near zero that the big banks enjoy when borrowing money.
Fair Trade USA’s Draft Certification Policy Riles Organic Community
The Organic Consumer Association's Fair World Project opposes Fair Trade USA's draft policy for multi-ingredient products, which it says panders to big business and represents a step backward even from the group's previously contested standards. Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps is preparing to file a new complaint with the National Advertising Division.
How GMO Plants Harm Food Production and Your Health
Optimal health is one of my passions and nutrition is one of the best tools I know of on how to achieve it. But the key to getting healthy organic vegetables, of course, is the health of the soil in which it's grown.
Organic Food Industry Gains Clout On Capitol Hill, Causing Tensions Within Congress
WASHINGTON - The organic food industry is gaining influence on Capitol Hill, prompted by its entry into traditional farm states and by increasing consumer demand.
Hijacked Organic, Limited Local, Faulty Fair Trade
Organic farming has been hijacked by big business. Local food can have a larger carbon footprint than products shipped in from overseas. Fair trade doesn't address the real concerns of farmers in the global South.
