Eric Holt-Giménez
May 15, 2013

Over a hundred years ago, my family lost their coffee farm in Puerto Rico when Hurricane San Ciriaco destroyed the crop and the bank refused an extension on our production loan. On the heels of the U.S. military occupation, it was a land grab (like the ones tearing up the continent today) and it eventually drove my young grandmother to immigrate to New York City. She was part of a large, painful agrarian transition that transformed Puerto Rico—an island of rich soil, abundant water and a 12-month growing season—into a food-dependent nation.

by Brock Hicks
December 2012

Shyaam M. Shabaka, the founder and director of EcoVillage, has a wealth of knowledge about how to work collaboratively in the Bay Area. EcoVillage Farm, located in Richmond, has created many successful collaborations. EcoVillage Farm is a place where people with a wide range of skills and interests can get involved in food justice and community work. They work with a great variety of people, and attempt to broaden the base of the food justice movement as a means to strengthen the movement.

The arguments against a raised minimum wage are rooted in corporate interest that seeks to put profit over people, and are devoid of any concern for low-income Americans. These carefully designed arguments are scare tactics to intimidate, divert, and confuse the American public, who may not yet see how the corporatocracy drives the widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country.

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

The federal minimum wage has remained stagnant at $7.25 per hour since 2009. President Obama had promised to raise it to $9.50 by 2011. November’s elections saw several important local successes in the fight for an increased minimum wage, as voters in Albuquerque, San Jose, and Long Beach pushed forward measures that will have a positive impact on low-wage workers in those communities.