Security, Sovereignty, & Justice
Earlier this year, prices of food staples shot up 40 percent, marking the fastest rate of increase since 1990. The current recession is beginning to bear its weight on the spending choices of middle-class Americans, from big ticket items to weekly grocery lists. Twenty eight million citizens are now relying on food stamps to survive - a record high and a sure sign of increased poverty levels. Food riots have been increasingly occurring around the world due to the rising price of grain and fear of starvation. Our nation’s food security is already at risk, and while some people may be reluctant to come to terms with this reality, I think it’s time to take a more in-depth look into social food movements already battling these pressing sustenance issues. Read more
Buying Local Food: Pros and Cons
These days it seems, the hippest things a person can do is grab their made-from-recycled-materials-travel-mug, fill it up with the “fair trade” blend at the coffee shop, go pick up the new bamboo flooring, throw it in the back of the Prius and bring it to their new ecologically-sound condo. Which is a good thing, considering that some consumers still opt for the paper to-go cup while buying cherry wood panels, and zooming around in a hummer. Luckily, more often than not it’s pretty clear which products will cause a lesser amount of harm to the planet. However, with all of the conflicting agendas and information available, it can be hard to make a decision. Read more
The Freegans Among Us
The other day I listened to a customer in the coffee shop where I work complain about the cap Costco put on the amount of rice each customer can buy per visit. It occurred to me that this guy must not have heard about the world’s food crisis. I thought about suggesting to him that he try visiting Haiti, where a farmer can grow rice, but not actually afford to buy it.
The world’s poorest nations have been falling short of what many of us consider a basic right: to produce and reserve enough food to feed their own people. Now that this problem is hitting closer to home, I wonder how Americans will respond. Two recent articles in In These Times caught my attention on this subject. In David Moberg’s piece on the global food crisis he says, Read more
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