Food Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Food

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New Exposé Tracks ALEC-Private Prison Industry Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor

Many of the toughest sentencing laws responsible for the explosion of the U.S. prison population were drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which helps corporations write model legislation. Now a new exposé reveals ALEC has paved the way for states and corporations to replace unionized workers with prison labor. We speak with Mike Elk, contributing labor reporter at The Nation magazine. He says ALEC and private prison companies...
Aug 05, 2011 | Story
Famine in Somalia, Horn of Africa Described as "Worst Humanitarian Disaster in the World"

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued an urgent appeal over the crisis in Somalia, where more than 11 million people are in need of life-saving assistance as they face the worst drought in decades. The United Nations describes the Somali drought as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, and a top U.N. official, Valerie Amos, urged the world to make the link between climate change and the drought. The extended drought is forcing...
Jul 13, 2011 | Story
Feeding Resistance: Food Not Bombs Members Arrested in Orlando for Serving Meals Without a Permit

The City of Orlando, the home of Disney World in Florida, is being sued in court today over a city law that has effectively made it illegal for any group to feed more than 25 people at a time in downtown parks without a permit. It also limits groups to no more than two permits per park, per year. The group Food Not Bombs has refused to obey the new law—saying food is a right, not a privilege—and has continued to serve free meals to the poor...
Jun 24, 2011 | Story
Harvard, Vanderbilt, Spelman Exposed for Taking Part in “African Land Grab”

A new report raises questions about the connection of Harvard, Vanderbilt and other U.S. universities to European financial interests buying or leasing vast areas of African farmland. Called “Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa,” the report by the Oakland Institute claims farmers in Africa are being driven off their lands to make way for new industrial farming projects backed by hedge funds seeking profits and foreign countries looking...
Jun 20, 2011 | Story
"Darrell Issa, Step Away From the Corporations" By Amy Goodman

The new Republican majority threatens a barrage of investigations. California Republican Darrell Issa is the new chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and he has reportedly sent letters to 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks, seeking advice on which regulations to investigate.
Jan 05, 2011 | Columns & Articles
The Right to Food: Corporate, Foreign Gov't Land Grab Causing Hunger in Poor Countries

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, joins us to discuss his recent warning that some 500 million small farmers in poor countries are suffering from hunger, partly because foreign countries and corporations have bought up large tracts of land. We’re also joined by Smita Narula, author of a new study suggesting that many of the land deals in Africa and South Asia lack transparency and could threaten...
Oct 28, 2010 | Story
Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds

Gathered here in Bonn this week are some eighty Right Livelihood Award laureates, including the Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who has battled the biotech giant Monsanto for years. When Monsanto seeds blew into Schmeiser’s property, Monsanto accused him of illegally planting their crops and took him to court. Ultimately his case landed in the Canadian Supreme Court. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1997 for fighting to defend...
Sep 17, 2010 | Story
Raj Patel: Mozambique's Food Riots Are the True Face of Global Warming

Thirteen people died and hundreds were wounded last week in the African nation of Mozambique when police cracked down on a three-day protest over a 30 percent hike in the price of bread. The UN says the riots in Mozambique should be a wake-up call for governments that have ignored food security problems since the global food crisis of 2008, when countries around the world saw angry protests in the streets over the rising prices of basic food items....
Sep 08, 2010 | Story
"Rotten Eggs and Our Broken Democracy." By Amy Goodman

The salmonella outbreak is the most recent episode of many that point to a food industry run amok. Giant corporations, some with budgets larger than most nations, are controlling our health, our environment, our economy and increasingly, our elections.
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Aug 25, 2010 | Columns & Articles
Largest Egg Recall in US History Brings Renewed Attention to Dangers of Industrial Farming

The largest egg recall in US history is bringing renewed attention to the dangers of factory farming and to growing consolidation in the industries responsible for the food many Americans eat. Over half a billion eggs have been ordered off US shelves in the past two weeks following an outbreak of salmonella in the Midwest. Nearly 1,300 cases of people sickened by the eggs have been reported. Despite the size of the recall, responsibility falls...
Aug 24, 2010 | Story