Farm Bill Fiasco: What Now?
By a vote of 15-5, the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee finally approved the 2013 Agricultural Reform Food and Jobs Act otherwise known as the farm bill. It will go to Congress for a vote as early as next week. After months of extensions and some breathtaking backdoor dealing, it's time to ask: What are we -- and our rapidly eroding farmlands -- getting out of the bargains being cut between a handful of legislators and the powerful agribusiness lobby?
Despite Historic Conviction, Genocide Continues in Guatemala
By Leonor Hurtado, Food First
(español abajo)
On May 10th, the Guatemalan Court of Justice convicted the ex-dictator General Ríos Montt to 80 years in prison for the massacres of indigenous people during the 1980s [1]. Many Guatemalans hope that the judicial process against the criminals of the country's "dirty war" will continue [2].
But while the Guatemalan people celebrate the conviction, the processes of genocide initiated 30 years ago by Ríos Montt's massacres still continue by other means.
A Closer Look At Obama’s “Comprehensive Immigration Reform"
By Eric Holt-Giménez and Leah Scrivener
A CALL FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
Today, April 10th, 2013, over 100 immigrants rights organizations have coordinated the “Time is Now” Day of Action in Washington, D.C., to counter the inadequate reform proposals set forth by the Obama Administration. Tens of thousands of immigrants, allies, faith leaders, and farm and food chain workers are rallying together on the lawn of the U.S. Capital Building, where they are calling on Congress to fix the broken immigration system in 2013.
The US Food Aid Industry: Food for Peace or Food for Profit?
by Brock Hicks