Food & Water

Democracy Now! coverage includes extensive interviews with Michael Pollan, Maude Barlow, and Raj Patel, among others.

November 17, 2009: Raj Patel on America’s Growing Hunger Crisis and the UN Summit to Fight Hunger in Rome
More than 49 million Americans—or one in seven—struggled to find enough to eat last year, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture released Monday. That’s the highest total since the federal government began keeping track of food insecurity. Meanwhile, leaders from most of the world are gathered in Rome to tackle hunger on a global scale at the UN World Food Summit, but leaders of the world’s richest countries were largely absent from the summit.

November 10, 2009: Watchdog: New York State Regulation of Natural Gas Wells Has Been “Woefully Insufficient for Decades.”
The New York-based Toxics Targeting went through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s own database of hazardous substances spills over the past thirty years. They found 270 cases documenting fires, explosions, wastewater spills, well contamination and ecological damage related to gas drilling. Many of the cases remain unresolved.

November 04, 2009: Blueberry Farming Giant Found to Use Child Labor at Michigan Fields
An ABC News investigation has exposed how one of the country’s largest blueberry growers uses child labor on its fields. Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing Company in South Haven, Michigan is at the center of this scandal. Wal-Mart and the Kroger supermarket chain were among Adkin’s high-profile customers that have now cut ties with the blueberry grower. We speak to ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross and Teresa Hendricks of Michigan Migrant Legal Aid.

October 22, 2009: Toxic Waters: Regulatory Absence Allows Chemical, Coal and Farm Industries to Pollute US Water Supplies
We speak to New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg about the latest in his investigative series “Toxic Waters,” which examines the worsening pollution in the nation’s water systems. Duhigg joined us last month to discuss how chemical companies have violated the Clean Water Act more than 500,000 times in the last five years, most without punishment.

October 14, 2009: As US and Other Wealthy Nations Slash Aid, UN Warns of “Silent Tsunami of Hunger” in Global Food Crisis
The UN World Food Program is calling the current global food crisis “a silent tsunami of hunger.” This week the WFP warned that more than 40 million people will have their food rations reduced or eliminated because of drastic aid cuts. We speak with award-winning Indian journalist, writer and activist Devinder Sharma.

October 06, 2009: Environmental Battle Brews in New York over Natural Gas Drilling
Last week, government regulators opened the door to natural gas drilling inside the Marcellus Shale watershed, which supplies drinking water to some 15 million people, including nine million New Yorkers. Stretching from New York to Kentucky, the shale is believed to hold some of the world’s largest deposits of natural gas.

September 14, 2009: NYT Investigation Exposes Severity of Nationwide Water Contamination, Corporations Violated Clean Water Act Over 500,000 Times in Last Five Years
An major investigation by the New York Times has found that chemical companies have violated the Clean Water Act more than 500,000 times in the last five years. Most of the violations have gone unpunished, with state regulators taking significant action in just three percent of all cases. An estimated one in ten Americans has been exposed to drinking water that has dangerous chemicals or falls short of federal standards. We speak with Charles Duhigg, the New York Times reporter who carried out the investigation.

September 03, 2009: Fracking and the Environment: Natural Gas Drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Contamination
Gas drilling companies such as Halliburton say the gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ is safe, but opponents contend it pollutes groundwater with dangerous substances. Now, new evidence has emerged possibly linking natural gas drilling to groundwater contamination. ProPublica journalist Abrahm Lustgarten reports federal officials in Wyoming have found that at least three water wells contain chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

September 03, 2009: ‘Spin the Bottle’–Expose Raises Alarming Questions About Fiji Water’s Ties to Military Junta, Environmental Record and Impact on Fijians
A new expose in Mother Jones magazine raises alarming questions about Fiji Water’s ties to Fiji’s military dictatorship, the company’s environmental record and its impact on the residents of Fiji. We speak with reporter Anna Lenzer about ‘Spin the Bottle.’

August 25, 2009: EPA Fails To Inform Public About Weed-Killer In Drinking Water, Huffington Post Investigation Reveals
An investigation by the Huffington Post reveals the Environmental Protection Agency knew that one of the country’s most widely-used herbicides exceeds federal safety limits in four states but failed to inform residents of the associated dangers.

August 03, 2009: Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler: ‘The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite’
In the midst of this national focus on obesity, today we’ll speak to David Kessler who has spent the last seven years trying to understand how the food industry has changed American eating habits, made certain foods difficult to resist, and helped create the country’s number one public health issue.

August 03, 2009: "‘Bacon As A Weapon of Mass Destruction’
From the McDonalds McGriddle to Wendy’s “Baconnator" to “baconnaise" to bacon-infused vodka, bacon has become a ubiquitous ingredient many diets in this era of extreme food combinations. Arun Gupta of the Indypendent writes “Behind the proliferation of bacon offerings is a confluence of government policy, factory farming, the boom in fast food and manipulation of consumer taste that has turned bacon into a weapon of mass destruction.”

May 14, 2009: ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ Author Michael Pollan’s New Advice on Buying Food: ‘Don’t Buy Any Food You’ve Ever Seen Advertised’
Michael Pollan is one of the nation’s leading writers and thinkers in this country on the issue of food. In light of what he calls the processed food industry’s co-option of “sustainability” and its vast spending on marketing, Pollan advises to be wary of any food that’s advertised.

January 29, 2009: Food Safety: Georgia Plant Knowingly Shipped Contaminated Peanuts; Study Links Corn Syrup to Toxic Mercury
We look at two stories on food safety: The FDA has
issued one of the largest food recalls in history after eight people died of salmonella poisoning. A Georgia peanut plant knowingly shipped products contaminated with salmonella on a dozen occasions over the past two years. And a pair of new studies has revealed traces of toxic mercury can be found in many popular food items containing high fructose corn syrup.

October 17, 2008: World Food Day a Reminder of a Global Crisis Further Sidelined by Campaign Frenzy, Financial Woes
As the financial crisis dominates the attention of the news media and the presidential campaign, a global food crisis continues to affect millions of people around the world. Last night, a group of farmers and food policy experts gathered in New York for an event to mark World Food Day. We speak to Raj Patel, author of “Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System”, and Ben Burkett, president of the National Family Farm Coalition.

September 12, 2008: FLOW: For Love of Water…New Film Examines Global Water Crisis
FLOW: For Love of Water is a new documentary premiering in New York and Los Angeles today that takes on the global water crisis. We speak with filmmaker Irena Salina and water rights activist, Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, founder of the Blue Planet Project and author of several books, including Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

July 31, 2008: Raj Patel on the Collapse of the World Trade Organization Talks
Talks to expand the World Trade Organization have collapsed after a week of negotiations. The talks broke down in part because India and other developing nations demanded the right to protect their farming sectors against heavily subsidized imports. The US refused to accept the protections and insisted on giving US corporations greater access to markets in India, China and other nations.

July 15, 2008: With Crises in Fuel, Food, Housing and Banking, What Gvt. Policies Are Being Pushed Through? Naomi Klein Reexamines ‘The Shock Doctrine’
As the country and the world reel from crises ranging from skyrocketing oil prices and global food shortages to housing and climate change, how best to understand the government policies being pushed through? We spend the hour with Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Klein also discusses Barack Obama’s economic advisory team, whom she calls “Obama’s Chicago Boys”; why she’s suing the US government for spying on journalists like her; as well as her recent trip to China, where she says the government is building a high-tech police state with the help of US military contractors.

July 09, 2008: The Fruit Hunters: Author Adam Leith Gollner on the Politics of Fruit and the Secret History of the ‘Miracle Berry’
We speak with Montreal-based writer Adam Leith Gollner about his new book, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession. Gollner traveled around the world in search of what he calls the forgotten histories of fruit. Among his discoveries: the “miracle berry,” a cranberry-like fruit that turns sour into sweet, but for questionable reasons—including possible conflicts with corporate interests—has yet to reach American consumers.

July 09, 2008: As Global Food Crisis Tops G8 Summit Agenda, World Leaders Enjoy Lavish 18-Course Banquet
Shortly after saying they were “deeply concerned” about soaring global food prices and supply shortages, world leaders attending the G8 summit in Hokkaido sat down to an eighteen-course gastronomic extravaganza, courtesy of the Japanese government. We take a look at the global food crisis, food independence and real democracy with bestselling author, Frances Moore Lappé.

May 06, 2008: Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics—ruthless legal battles against small farmers—is its decades-long history of toxic contamination. We speak to James Steele, contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

May 01, 2008: Back from Haiti, Rev. Jesse Jackson Calls for Emergency Food Aid to a Starving Nation Devastated by Longtime US-Led Interference, Subversion
Reverend Jesse Jackson has just returned from Haiti, where the World Food Program is warning of a “major crisis” if international donors fail to help feed Haiti’s poor. Prices of rice, beans and cooking oil have doubled in the past few months. The soaring food prices have had a devastating effect: two-thirds of Haitians live on less than a dollar a day, and 47 percent are undernourished. We speak to Rev. Jackson about the US responsibility to feed a nation long targeted by Western subversion. Rev. Jackson also shares his thoughts on the recent fallout between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

April 24, 2008: The US Role in Haiti’s Food Riots
As people around the world continue to protest the soaring prices of basic food items, the World Food Program has described the crisis as a silent tsunami. The head of the Food and Agriculture Organization blamed the current global food crisis on “inappropriate” policy decisions over the past two decades. Nowhere is this more clear than in Haiti, where hungry people are rioting in the streets because they cannot afford to buy rice. Haiti imports most of its rice from the United States, which in turn remains heavily subsidized. We speak with human rights lawyer, Bill Quigley.

April 16, 2008: Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe, Part II of Raj Patel on ‘The Hidden Battle for the World Food System’
The rise in global food prices has sparked a number of protests in recent weeks, highlighting the threat of worsening already dire levels of global hunger. The World Bank estimates world food prices have risen 80 percent over the past three years and that at least 33 countries face social unrest as a result. The World Food Program has issued a rare $500 million-dollar emergency appeal to deal with the growing crisis. We go to Part II of our conversation with Raj Patel, author of “Stuffed and Starved: the Hidden Battle for the World Food System.”

April 14, 2008: Did Burger King Target and Spy on Tomato Pickers Rights Groups?
In Florida, groups organizing for tomato pickers’ rights say they might have been spied on and vilified online by the fast-food conglomerate Burger King. The Fort Myers News-Press traced threatening emails directed at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Student/Farmworker Alliance to Burger King’s corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida. We speak with the reporter who broke the story and with the coordinator of the Student/Farmworker Alliance who says he received a call from the owner of a private security company posing as a student.

April 08, 2008: Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe, Raj Patel Details “The Hidden Battle for the World Food System”
Global food prices have risen dramatically, adding a new level of danger to the crisis of world hunger. In Africa, food riots have swept across the continent, with recent protests in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent——in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. In the United States there has been a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months. We speak with Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.”

April 02, 2008: Record Number of Food Stamp Recipients Projected
Government officials are projecting the number of Americans receiving food stamps will reach a record twenty-eight million later this year. Over the past year, more than forty states saw the number of food stamp recipients rise. A ten percent jump in food stamp recipients was recorded in six states: Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota and Rhode Island. In West Virginia, one-in-six residents now receive food stamps. We speak with Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center.

March 24, 2008: Anti-Epileptics, Sex Hormones, Mood Stabilizers, Antibiotics Among Array of Pharmaceuticals in US Water Supply
Anti-epileptics were found in the drinking water of Southern California; a sex hormone was found in San Francisco’s water; three medications and an antibiotic were found in the water supply of Tuscon, Arizona; and a mood stabilizer was found in the water of New Jersey. And that’s just to name a few. An exhaustive five-month investigation by Associated Press has found the drinking water in at least twenty-four major American cities across the country contains trace amounts of a wide array of pharmaceuticals. We speak with Associated Press national writer, Jeff Donn.

February 27, 2008: Blue Covenant: Maude Barlow on the Global Movement for Water Justice
Maude Barlow is the head of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization, and founder of the Blue Planet Project. Barlow is author of the new book Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

February 14, 2008: ‘Chocolate’s Bittersweet Economy’: Cocoa Industry Accused of Greed, Neglect for Labor Practices in Ivory Coast
On Valentine’s Day, we look into two of the luxury industries that have come to expect huge profits on this hyper-consumerized occasion. We begin with chocolate. A scathing new report by veteran journalist and author Christian Parenti says hardly any progress has been made in the cocoa industry’s pledges to address child labor. We host a debate between Parenti and William Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation.

February 14, 2008: Theo Chocolate Founder, CEO Joe Whinney on Fair Trade Cocoa
We speak to Joe Whinney, founder and CEO of Theo Chocolate, which describes itself as the only roaster of organic cocoa beans and the first roaster of Fair Trade certified cocoa beans in the United States.

February 13, 2008: In Defense of Food: Author, Journalist Michael Pollan on Nutrition, Food Science and the American Diet
Acclaimed author and journalist Michael Pollan argues that what most Americans are consuming today is not food but “edible food-like substances.” His previous book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. His latest book, just published, is called In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

October 29, 2007: Costa Rican Banana Growers Form Fair Trade Cooperative
Yocser Carranza Godoy, president of the worker-controlled cooperative called Coopetrabasur and the cooperative’s attorney Carlos Eugenio Vargas join us in New York to discuss the banana cooperative.

August 01, 2007: The Bottled Water Lie: As Soft Drink Giant Admits Product is Tap Water, New Scrutiny Falls on the Economic and Environmental Costs of a Billion Dollar Industry
The soft drink giant Pepsi has been forced to make an embarrassing admission—its best-selling Aquafina bottled water is nothing more than tap water. Pepsi has agreed to change its label under pressure from the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International (CAI) which has been leading an increasingly successful campaign against bottled water. We look at the economic and environmental costs of the bottled water industry with CAI’s Gigi Kellett and freelance journalist Michael Blanding.

August 01, 2007: Stockton, California City Council Reverses Water Privatization It Passed Over Widespread Local Opposition
We end with a major victory for the opponents of water privatization. In 2003, the City Council of Stockton, California ignored overwhelming public opposition to approve a $600 million dollar, 20-year water privatization agreement. The deal gave a multinational consortium full control over the city’s water, sewage, and stormwater systems. But two weeks the council reversed the position and voted unanimously to resume control of its water utilities. We speak with Alan Snitow, co-director of an award-winning PBS documentary on water privatization and co-author of “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of our Water.”

July 20, 2007: Relatives of Colombia Death Squad Victims Sue U.S.-Based Fruit Giant Chiquita for Arming, Funding Their Killers
The Cincinnati-based fruit company Chiquita is being sued for funding, arming and supporting death squads in Colombia. The human rights group EarthRights International filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of six Colombians whose relatives had allegedly been murdered by a Colombian paramilitary group that was partially funded by Chiquita. The lawsuit alleges that the banana giant funneled money and guns to a rightwing death squad that murdered thousands of people and shipped untold amounts of cocaine to the United States.

April 27, 2007: Immokalee Tomato Pickers Win Campaign Against McDonalds, Set Sights on Burger King
We speak with Gerardo Reyes-Chavez, a farm worker and member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The coalition represents over 4,000 mostly immigrant workers who labor in the agricultural fields of Southwest Florida. The group recently waged a successful campaign against fastfood giant McDonalds over the price paid for tomatoes picked in Florida. In 2005, the group also won a campaign against Taco Bell.

March 23, 2007: Chiquita Admits to Paying Colombian Paramilitary Group on U.S. Terror List
The Cincinnati-based fruit company Chiquita has admitted to paying off the group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Chiquita has agreed to a $25 million fine on the condition that it doesn’t have to reveal the names of the executives involved. Chiquita says it fell victim to an extortion racket that threatened its employees. But Colombia’s attorney general has said he will seek the extradition of eight Chiquita employees over what he calls “a criminal relationship.”

February 14, 2007: Child Labor: The Hidden Ingredient to the Billion-Dollar Chocolate Industry?
On Valentine’s Day, chocolate is the currency in which people are supposed to trade their love. Little do they know that chocolate might have been made with slave labor. We speak with Brian Campbell, an attorney with the International Labor Rights Fund.

June 14, 2006: Police Forcibly Shut Down South Central L.A. Urban Farm, 40+ Protesters Arrested
Hundreds of police officers in riot gear shut down a fourteen-acre urban farm in South Central Los Angeles on Tuesday. More than 40 protesters, including actor Darryl Hannah were arrested as they staged an encampment to resist removal from what is considered the largest urban farm in the United States.

May 01, 2002: ‘Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water:’ Part Two of An Interview with Anti Corporate Globalization Activist Maude Barlow
The wars of the next century will be about water. That is what activist and author Maude Barlow warned on yesterday’s Democracy Now. Sitting in our firehouse studio, she explained that the consumption of water doubles every twenty years–more than twice the rate of the increase in human population. At the same time, she explained, transnational corporations are plotting to control the world’s dwindling water supply. In England and France, where water has already been privatized, rates have soared and water shortages have been severe. The major bottled water producers–Perrier, Evian, Naya, and now Coca-Cola and PepsiCo–are part of one of the fastest growing and least regulated industries, buying up freshwater rights and drying up crucial supplies. In the end, corporate giants act in their own interests and water flows only to the wealthy, who can afford it.