Rising Costs of Education Damper Future
Ellie Hurley reports

Taking a look at America today, one thing is clear about our economy: the cost of living is continuing to rise while the vast majority of the population is continually getting poorer. From gas to food to housing, Americans are able to afford less and less as survival necessities cost more and more.

To ease our worries we tell ourselves that soon things will change, the future will be brighter. Unfortunately the decreasing incomes coupled with the rising cost of living are causing irreparable damage to one of the most important factors in that brighter future … the education of our children. Because No Child Left Behind essentially left many children behind, America's schools are not only physically deteriorating (one in 10 reported that they had inadequate facilities for teaching) but due to lack of funds schools are not able to provides students with the resources they need to progress towards college. According to the Alliance for Excellence in Education, "Only 70 percent of freshman and barely half of the students of color finish high school with a regular diploma four years later." With the US ranking 18th among developed nations in its high school graduation rate, it is clear we have put enough hurdles in front of our primary educations system to guarantee many students won't succeed. Now there is a new hurdle, set in front of students who do graduate high school: the rising cost of college.

According to Campaign for America's Future, the cost of college rose 39 percent between 2001 and 2007 going from $3,501 for a four-year public institution to more $5,000 in 2006-07. The Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance estimates that the cost of college prevents 48 percent of eligible high school graduates from attending. For those who are fortunate enough to attend college, The Project on Student Debt states that nearly two-thirds of four-year college and university students will graduate with debt. In 1993, less than half of these students graduated with loans to pay off.

There are areas where the job market, globally, is growing. In the areas of science and math new jobs are being created all the time as the world becomes increasingly more technologically advanced. Unfortunately, the American education system is not set up to let our youth compete for these jobs. The Alliance for Excellence in Education states that an estimated 85 percent of current jobs require some post-secondary education. So not only are many of our students not qualified to compete for jobs in the global market, those with a college or university education are less likely to go on to graduate school because they are left with such high student loans to pay off. This means that Americans aren't working in the highest paid fields.

If we want to turn our economy around, we need to support our children and educate them no matter the cost. U.S. Pirg states that "Higher education is associated with better health, greater wealth and more vibrant civic participation, as well as national economic competitiveness in today’s global environment." These are things that we want our children to have and we want our nation to have. Until we make college accessible and affordable to everyone we will continue to lag behind other nations, who have already seen the benefits of nurturing their youth and encouraging academic excellence among all.

Community Food Security Equals Food Quality
Ellie Hurley reports

Almost two years ago, Americans got a good hard look at one of the hidden costs of industrial agriculture. Not the cost we see in our paychecks as our taxes go to pad the pockets of corporate food producers, not the cost we see as our family farmers file for bankruptcy, and not the cost we see on price tags in the supermarket. What we were exposed to was the cost it has on our health.

From late August to early September of 2006, E. coli bacteria was found in Dole brand baby spinach across the nation. The result was 205 related illnesses and three deaths. Americans were outraged and afraid and for the first time in a long time the debate between cheaper industrial foods vs. organic or local foods was front page news.

Now contaminated produce is making headlines once again. This time it's in the form of Salmonella and it's being found in tomatoes. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) "Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called Salmonella. Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment." While people rarely are in need of hospitalization, the disease can become serious especially when found in the elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems who are more likely to have a severe illness.

Unlike with the spinach, where the serial numbers on contaminated bags were used to track it to its source, it's unlikely we'll ever know exactly where the tomatoes came from. But one thing is for sure, they didn't come from your local farmer. So far the strain of Salmonella, known as Saint Paul, has been linked to some raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that 707 cases of Salmonella St. Paul have been reported in the US between mid-April and June 13, 2008. Some of the states with higher instances of outbreak are Arizona (36), California (10), Maryland (25), New Mexico (80), New York (18), and Virginia (22). Texas has been hit the hardest with a reported 293 illnesses. So far 73 people have been hospitalized; no related deaths have been identified.

That people's health is currently being threatened, once again, by food that was meant to nurture our bodies is cause for great concern. For years local food advocates, family farmers, environmentalists, and even the rare politician have extolled upon the public the virtues of eating locally grown produce. Eating locally promotes community food security and community food security means strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times. This means people are feeding themselves, feeding themselves well, feeding themselves in an affordable way.

Most importantly when it comes to the issue of food quality community food security means that food should only travel as short a distance as possible from farm to plate. The food miles each item you consume has logged, have much to do with the amount of fossil fuels used in their transport (important for reducing global warming) and also with the freshness of the food you are consuming. According to Sustainable Table most Americans live about 60 miles from an apple orchard, yet the apples we typically buy at the grocery store travel 1,726 miles between the orchard and our home. As the website states, that's further than driving from Portland, ME to Miami, FL. Because food produced on large scale factory farms travels far and wide across the globe a batch of contaminated food has the ability to reach millions of people before it's even pulled from the shelves.

We are currently in the middle of a global food crisis, brought on by corporate control of our food system. As energy costs rise, so has the price of our food, and now the security of our health. Knowing where your food comes from not only increases the chances that it's good for you, it also increases money being spent within the community, which increases jobs in a time when unemployment is at an all time high. It reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions because it's not being transported as far, it reduces our reliance on industrial agriculture, and as of late it reduces our chances of becoming ill.

The Food Bill Battle: The Victories and Losses
by Ellie Hurley

The food crisis we are now living amidst only serves to further emphasize the importance and extreme impact of the farm bill recently passed in congress and the senate. First passed in 1949, the farm bill contains provisions regarding commodity subsidies, food assistance, conservation, agricultural trade, credit, rural development, research and other farm, food, and rural policies. This one bill decides the fate of our food stamp program, our family farmers, our environmental practices, and much more.

For those of us with a vested interest in honestly reducing poverty, increasing local food consumption, and ending world hunger (among other things), the passing of the 2008 Farm Bill was bitter sweet. The battle to pass the farm bill was long and hard fought, culminating in Bush's veto of the bill which was swiftly overturned. In an era where the current administration has pushed free trade, offered tax breaks to factory farmers, lowered environmental standards, and increased the number of people living in poverty passing a progressive and comprehensive farm bill was a priority for many. While there are wins within the current farm bill, it also leaves much to be desired. One look at this bill, what was improved and what wasn't, gives the reader a clear view of our fractured political system along with the misconceptions about the connections between poverty, food, and the economy.

In his statement when vetoing the bill Bush said, "Today's farm economy is very strong and that is something to celebrate. It is also an appropriate time to better target subsidies and put forth real reform. Farm income is expected to exceed the 10-year average by 50 percent this year, yet Congress' bill asks American taxpayers to subsidize the incomes of married farmers who earn $1.5 million per year. I believe doing so at a time of record farm income is irresponsible and jeopardizes America's support for necessary farm programs." Not only is this statement a gross misrepresentation of the true facts regarding our nations family farms but it also aims to focus the nations attention on the farming aspect of the farm bill and not the multiple other environmental and social aspects of the legislation.

There were disappointments in the farm bill that was passed. Unfortunately it does little to right the global agricultural market for which the agenda is largely laid out by powerful corporations. That being said, when Bush vetoed the bill, he wasn't doing anyone but his corporate friends a favor. If his veto had not been overturned, we would have continued using the 2002 farm bill, which just like the recently passed one hold no standards for how factory farming and corporate America affect the global food system.

However, the farm bill was not a total loss and had Bush's veto held it would have left many of America's poor in a dire situation.

The 2008 Farm Bill Provides around $50 million annually in loan guarantees for businesses in rural areas involved in local food distribution and marketing. This provision will strengthen local economies, create jobs in rural areas, and help low income communities better their diets. In the same vein it also provides $20.6 million per year for fresh fruits and vegetable vouchers to low-income seniors that can be used at participating farmers' markets. The bill also makes move to specifically fight childhood obesity, which is a growing problem particularly in low income communities. The bill gives $500 million over five years for selected low-income schools to purchase at least one daily fresh fruit or vegetable snack.

The Farm Bill also offers some much needed changes to our nation's Food Stamp program. Renaming the program SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), will hopefully combat the some of the social misconceptions about being on the Food Stamp program. Often, out of shame, people who qualify for food stamps don't apply. The 2008 Farm Bill also includes increased SNAP benefits, indexed to inflation. If the President's veto had stuck the benefits offered under the program would have remained the same as they were in 2002. A pilot program has been added to evaluate health and nutrition promotion in SNAP. The purpose of the program is to reduce obesity in the US among SNAP recipients, and will receive $20,000,000 in mandatory funding.

The victories in the 2008 Farm Bill are large victories, and hard fought victories. For many the passage of this bill has been a very hard battle. There is still much ground to cover, and unfortunately much of this bill was dictated by those that can line the politicians' pockets. But there are also significant gains and a true sense that there is a strong undercurrent moving us towards change and progressive politics that will actively combat the forces behind hunger and poverty in the world.