Earth Day 2011: Greening Transport

More than ever these days, the way we get around - whether by car, bus, train or airplane - has been in the daily news. Here in the United States, gas prices have now risen to $4 a gallon, with no sight of the prices going down anytime soon. Also, with the recent near airplane catastrophes due to sleeping air traffic controllers along with the ongoing worries about terrorism and TSA searches, air travel has become less pleasant as well.

The bottom line: Americans need to reduce their dependency on fuel for these modes of transportation not only because of the many battles in the Middle East, because also because of the growing global climate problem. Each year cars emit more than 300 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere in the United States alone. Aviation accounts for three percent of carbon emissions globally and rising.

With all this said, it is time to rethink alternative transportation methods. Of course, I am not advocating not taking a plane at all, but maybe limiting air travel to when it is absolutely necessary. I have to travel long distance a great deal for business, but in recent years I have embraced web conferencing tools like Skype to connect with business associates around the world. Not only is this better for the planet, but also on the wallet.

For everyday travel, there are also many great alternatives that I embrace. I don't own a car for both health and environmental reasons. By not having a car, it forces me to be more physically active and walk (or in some cases run) to catch a bus or train or just do stuff in my neighborhood. Not having a car and walking and taking public transit also allows me to be better acquainted with my surroundings and the people around you. Whereas if I had a car, I would feel more isolated because of the lack of interactions.

Furthermore, it makes no sense to own a car if you primarily live and work in a major city with decent public transportation like I do. Recently my city implemented a bike share program, which is also a great transport alternative. I am also a big fan of Amtrak and the growing light rail movement.

But even if you don't live in a big city, there are many ways to reduce your carbon impact. For example, if you live in the suburbs, instead of traveling in a car, why not use a bike or take the commuter rail for part of or for the whole trip. Also ask your employer if you can telecommute on some days.

Every little step makes a difference in every one's lives!

Innovations in Farmers' Markets

So it is that time of year again when the local farmers share their bounty of fresh foods directly with community members. Farmers' markets are beneficial for the health of humans and the earth. Recently, I saw a couple of videos on CNN discussing new ways of making healthy foods accessible to all.

(In this video, they actually talk about callaloo!)



Carrotmobs!

Earth Day: Food Injustices on Celluloid

Earth Day turns 40 years old today. In today's post, I want to focus on various food injustices happening right here in the United States. While there have been many great food films recently making their way into mainstream cinemas like Food Inc and Super Size Me, there are other lesser known films and short videos on the topic you should know about, such as a couple of films from the YouTube Project:Report initiative.

Take a look at this film about the "modern day slavery" of undocumented Haitian immigrants in Florida. It is reminiscent of Stephanie Black's H-2 Worker.




Then I found this great short video on metal-contaminated waters in a rural Michigan town caused by food processing factory runoff.



Finally, another great film explores food insecurity in New York City.

Natural Disasters and Food Security

The Icelandic volcano eruption has wreaked havoc on the worldwide air traffic system. Not only are airline travelers throughout Europe grounded, but food and other basic essentials are not being flown in, highlighting why we need to seriously rethink the local food idea.

From the Guardian:

Britain's supermarkets could soon run short of perishable goods including exotic fruits and Kenyan roses as the ongoing ban on UK air travel brought Britain's largest perishable air freight handling centre to a standstill today...

The UK imports about 90% of its fruit and 60% of its vegetables. While the vast majority come by sea – Fair Trade bananas from the West Indies, for instance, are regularly delivered to Southampton and Portsmouth – some of the more exotic inhabitants of the UK's shops come by air. Air freight makes up about 25% of all British imports by value, but just 0.5% of all imports by weight.

It is quite disturbing that any country is so dependent on another country for its food security. Meanwhile in Kenya...

...Kenyan farms have laid off 5,000 staff, and growers have warned thousands more workers could be told to stay at home if flights did not resume by Tuesday, which would deal a serious blow to the country's economy...

...Kenya's flower council says the country is haemorrhaging $1.3m a day in lost shipments to Europe. Kenya normally exports up to 500 tonnes of flowers daily – 97% of which is delivered to Europe. Horticulture earned Kenya 71 billion shillings (£594m) in 2009 and is the country's top foreign exchange earner...

...Farmers say they have been able to avoid avoided major losses since flights from Kenya were suspended early Thursday morning. But if they can't start shipping in earnest in the next day or two, they will have to dump much of their product...

A question to the multinationals: How is that new African food colonialism going for you?

Mexico's Food War

Lately, Mexico has been in the news because of the violent drug wars. But there is another war going on south of the border not getting the same attention, and that is the war on food. IPS News recently did this great video on Mexico's food security problem. In the 16 years since NAFTA has been in effect, have the lives of Mexicans and Americans really improved?

Mexico: Food Emergency from IPS Inter Press Service on Vimeo.

Nestle Gets Crushed Online by Green Activists

Global food giant Nestlé has been under a critical spotlight for alleged poor corporate and social practices for many years. Recently, activists have accused the company of several problems, including only one percent of Nestlé cocoa products are FairTrade certified, continued child slavery in the cocoa supply chain, and its baby milk products not meeting international standards. The latest accusation of Nestlé's bad practices is now being seen loud and clear through a viral video, which is another great example of digital activism.

Greenpeace UK uploaded a video on Youtube, showing an office worker opening a Kit Kat and finding an orangutan's finger. Nestlé, which produces the popular chocolate bar, is being blamed by the green justice group of buying palm oil, which is used in many of its products, from Indonesian producer Sinar Mar. As a result, Greenpeace claims that this partnership has resulted in destroyed rainforests where Indonesia's last orangutans live and has created a devastating carbon footprint.

From CNN:

In the last 50 years, an area more than twice the size of Germany has been logged, burned or otherwise degraded, with palm oil plantations being a major cause, according to Greenpeace.

On Wednesday, Nestlé released a statement denying it buys palm oil from Sinar Mar for any of its products, including Kit Kats.

"We do purchase palm oil from Cargill and we have sought assurances from them about their supply chain," it said.

"Cargill has informed us that Sinar Mas needs to answer Greenpeace's allegations by the end of April. They have indicated that they will de-list Sinar Mas if they do not take corrective action by then.

"Nestlé recently undertook a detailed review of its supply chain to establish the source of its palm oil supplies and we have made a commitment to using only 'Certified Sustainable Palm Oil' by 2015, when sufficient quantities should be available."

Greenpeace claims that Nestlé asked YouTube to remove the video citing copyright concerns. Specifically Nestlé was bothered by the twist on the Kit Kat's famous slogan used at the end of the video: "Have a break? Give orangutans a break." However, the video was reposted the next day. Greenpeace said the video being taken down was a censorship attempt, which was "a pretext for stopping the word being spread and an apparent attempt to silence us."

Elsewhere online, approximately 90,000 Nestle protesters have taken over the company's Facebook page, to make their grievances clear, creating possibly one of the largest digital protests since last summer's Iranian election protests. In the long run, the Nestle debacle might show other companies how not to deal with online crisis communications. While Greenpeace created a very effective and (very graphic) video, the question always remains: Will digital activists take their protests offline and actually stop eating Kit Kats in the long term? Only time will tell.

African Land: The New Colonialism

And you thought colonialism was over...

I just read a fascinating article that just about sums up everything that is wrong with globalization. Guardian environmental editor John Vidal recently wrote about how multinational companies, governments and rich individuals are acquiring every piece of available (and unavailable) land in Africa for their own food and biofuel production.

From The Guardian:

The land rush, which is still accelerating, has been triggered by the worldwide food shortages which followed the sharp oil price rises in 2008, growing water shortages and the European Union's insistence that 10% of all transport fuel must come from plant-based biofuels by 2015.

In many areas the deals have led to evictions, civil unrest and complaints of "land grabbing."

This article uses the example of the Ethiopian born, Saudi businessman Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi buying up land in his impoverished homeland, but here is the kicker.

Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.

According to the article, al-Amoundi's 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of greenhouses could potentially employ 10,000 Ethiopians. My concerns with this and other such agricultural ventures being made by "The Outsiders" are the following:

1. Sure, it is good to give jobs to poor people, but are they getting good jobs? Decent wage? What about worker exploitation?

2. Why isn't any of the food being produce in Africa not being resold in Africa?

3. There seems to be little concern about land rights for the indigenous populations...

4. Isn't anyone worried about the already sensitive problem of food security in Africa? With more biofuel production comes less food for Africans (and the rest of the world).

5. The environmental impact goes beyond water intensive farming. What about the carbon impact of flying food from Africa to another continent?

6.The new land grab doesn't look any different from the original Scramble for Africa?

Fall Into Bloom

Photos I took in Boston’s Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods the week of October 25, 2009.

Something Green is Growing Here

Finally, it's here. As you already know, I am a 2009 Urban Environmental Justice Fellow at the Institute for Justice and Journalism. Here are the first two components - one newspaper article and a photo slideshow - from my project on food as an environmental justice issue.

Article:Something Green is Growing Here: In Dorchester, residents of color take urban farming to new heights

Summer Book Reading List 2009

This is a long weekend for many of us, and there is no better time to enhance your intellectual curiosity than to take a good book with you on your summer vacations. Independence Day is also a celebration of our freedoms, including freedom of speech and press.

So, here are some books I hope to read in the next two months:

Of course, I have to read a book on food politics.

The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal

I'm attending the Harlem Book Fair in a couple of weeks, and what better way to celebrate black literature than a book about a Harlem legend.

Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism 1883-1918

I minored in Cold War and post colonial studies in college, and I always wanted to read a book on Krushchev. Before there was Kim Jong-Il, Krushchev was the resident nut of world politics, threathening America will missiles.

K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America's Most Unlikely Tourist

Any other recommendations? What are you reading?

Ethnic Media Fellowships Announced!

Congratulations are in order for myself and nine other enterprising journalists.

From McCormick Media Matters:

Ten journalists have been chosen by USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism (IJJ) to take part in an MF-funded fellowship program that will help them report on the complexities of urban environmental justice with clarity, depth and context.

The selected Fellows all work for ethnic media or are independent journalists who cover issued related to racial justice. The 10 Fellows are:

Edwin Buggage, editor-in-chief/writer, New Orleans Data News Weekly
Lori Edmo-Suppah, news editor, Sho-Ban News, Fort Hall, Idaho
Nadra Kareem, contributing writer, L.A. Watts Times, Los Angeles
Kari Lyderson, independent journalist, Chicago
Brentin Mock, writing fellow, The American Prospect, Washington, D.C.
Julio Cesar Ortiz, news reporter, KMEX-34 (Univision), Los Angeles
Fabiola Pomareda, reporter, La Raza newspaper, Chicago
Devin Robins, radio producer, Los Angeles
Huascar Robles, arts and culture editor, Metro San Juan, Puerto Rico
Talia Whyte, freelance journalist, Boston

The program will be divided into two parts: First the reporters and their editors will go through five days of intensive training and site visits in Los Angeles in May, to be followed by a similar segment in Chicago later this summer. The work they produce as a result of the fellowship will be posted on IJJ’s web site following the program at http://www.justicejournalism.org.