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Olga Bonfiglio is a Huffington Post contributor and author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. She has written for several magazines and newspapers on the subjects of food, social justice and religion. She currently volunteers on a small dairy farm in southwest Michigan.
(20 comments) SHARE Sunday, March 18, 2012 Some Sociological Explanations for Climate Change Denial
Talk about climate change seems to be a taboo subject in America today. As you may expect, it's about money, politics, culture and media bias. Sociologists have yet another explanation.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day 2009
To fully appreciate the new era we are entering with the inauguration of Barack Obama, let us reflect on where we have come from.
SHARE Sunday, August 8, 2010 How Music Helped Save New Orleans After Katrina
Even in the midst of their own gloom over Hurricane Katrina's destruction where homes and neighborhoods were crushed and where there was little infrastructure and not much support from state or federal government, music helped many evacuees rebuild their lives with a strong hope in the future and a deep connection to a place they loved.
(14 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Big Government and Big Corporations Befriend the Local Food Movement
The local food movement is one of the great trends to hit the country over the past decade. What isn't widely known is that the federal government, some big corporations and a variety of non-profit and small business organizations are stepping up to encourage the growth and viability of a local food system in order to give people of all income levels access to local food that is healthier, safer and fresher.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 18, 2010 Food Fight
So now the Right Wing Peanut Gallery has something to say about school gardening programs.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, August 5, 2011 Hiroshima Day Reflection on Nuclear Weapons
It's been 66 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and many people have been trying to rid the world of these viciously dangerous, exorbitantly expensive and wildly unnecessary weapons. Read why and how both peace activists and Cold War hawks are doing it.
(7 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Rwanda, a Light for the World
Seventeen years ago today began a 100-day genocide in Rwanda where a million people perished--and the world just sat and watched it happen.
SHARE Friday, March 5, 2010 Got Data and Regs!
Going organic is proving to be a good investment for small and medium-sized farmers--and they are receiving some government protection against Big Agriculture as well.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 5, 2010 The Economics of Organic Farming
Growing local organic food may be the best path toward economic recovery. It may also be key to building stronger and healthier communities.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, January 24, 2011 The Gutsy Food Sovereignty Movement Helps Shape Policy And to Rekindle and Model Democratic Principles at Work
Citizen participation is the key to establishing and keeping a democracy. As we watch our representative government crumble through corporate influence, political corruption and hate speech, we can look to the food sovereignty movement to remind us how democracy really works. Then, let's hope that spirit will spread.
(3 comments) SHARE Sunday, August 1, 2010 Climate Change Begets Delta Urbanism
The famous canals of The Netherlands are water control systems that help in the battle against the ever-encroaching North Sea. Now the Dutch are faced with rising seas due to climate change and seeking solutions through a prob.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 9, 2009 September 11 – An Opportunity to Evolve Our Humanity
We have still not faced the meaning or implications of 9/11 and this article suggests some reasons why. It also presents some actions peacemakers can take to remedy this avoidance.
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, July 23, 2010 Why I Garden
These days, whenever I introduce myself, I say I'm a professor, a freelance writer, and a volunteer on a non-commercial organic farm and goat dairy. That last identity is a new one since a year ago last April. Although my new venture is not a typical academic endeavor, learning how to garden and farm was a conscious and deliberate choice that came out of several considerations.
SHARE Saturday, August 1, 2009 Gardening Changes Fast Food Addict’s Life
A college senior and fast-food aficionado confronts environmental issues through urban gardening and learns the importance of "real" food.
(2 comments) SHARE Saturday, January 22, 2011 Women and the Arts Will Mostly Likely Change the World
Kurt Cobb wrote a suspense novel about peak oil especially for women because they generally make decisions for the household and because the book addresses one of the most serious problems in our world today that's not being talked about. Of course, men should read it as well.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, March 22, 2010 So What Passes for Food These Days?
The pervasiveness of genetically-engineered (GE) food in America provides a glimpse of the ethical lapse our corporations and government have come to in allowing such food on the market--without American consumers knowing it.
(6 comments) SHARE Saturday, October 31, 2009 Do We Know What We're Doing in Afghanistan?
We've spent over eight years in Afghanistan with no prospect of leaving, no clear mission and no consistent strategy. Yet, we are poised to send more soldiers and pour billions more dollars into a place that has been called the “graveyard of empires.â€
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 19, 2010 Passenger Trains: Our Hope for a More Sustainable Future
President Obama's proposal to spend $50 billion on transportation infrastructure--including 4,000 miles of rail lines--couldn't be a better expenditure of our federal tax dollars.
(5 comments) SHARE Monday, March 7, 2011 Mardi Gras Reflection: Food's Impact on Re-Building New Orleans
In an odd sort of way, Hurricane Katrina helped to make New Orleans an incredible laboratory not only for understanding the role and importance of a city's food system but for recognizing the importance of food as an essential tool for community building.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, June 15, 2009 Urban Agriculture as a Career Path
Tom Howe, 19, a freshman at Wayne State University, wants to be an urban farmer. While this may seem an unusual career goal for a young man of the twenty-first century, let alone one from an upscale middle class suburb of Detroit, Howe is emblematic of a national trend of young people looking for sustainable ways to make a difference in their world.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, May 18, 2009 Back to the 'Old Normal' of Domesticity
My resolve to learn how to garden wasn't just a notion for a new pastime or a move toward hip liberalism. Rather, it was my response to global warming and in particular, the depletion of fossil fuels, which has a direct effect on our food system.
(10 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 5, 2011 Intentional Community Celebrates 40 Years
Lake Village (near Kalamazoo, Michigan) began as an experiment in "getting back to the Earth." Now in its 40th year, it sees no end in sight
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 16, 2011 Women's Eucharist Lives On Despite Rejection by Popes
On the second Sunday of each month, a group of six to fifteen women from the Detroit area meet to pray, sing, dance, reflect on the Sunday scriptures, and to break bread together--without a priest to officiate.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 22, 2011 The War in Iraq Is Over--Not
Members of the Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW) held their usual Sunday peace vigil in front of the Federal Building in downtown Kalamazoo as they have been doing since September 1, 2002. And, it doesn't look as though they are going away despite President Obama's declaration of the end of the war in Iraq.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 21, 2011 Book Review: Basics with a Twist
I'm not one for cookbooks but Basics with a Twist by Kim Sanwald has truly inspired me to transform my own cooking with the same zeal and enthusiasm as Julie when she went through Julia Child's classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, February 7, 2011 The Call of the Land: An Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century
Let's not confuse "agriculture" with "agrarianism" says Steven McFadden in his new book, The Call of the Land. Then we might think more deeply about our relationship to the earth.
(6 comments) SHARE Friday, November 4, 2011 Van Jones Has An Answer
Who can possibly muster hope in the face of the declining job market, an assault on the middle class, environmental degradation, financial ruination, dismemberment of public services and the high cost of education? After hearing Van Jones speak, I wish I were 20 again.
SHARE Saturday, September 5, 2009 Water, Water—Not Everywhere
This article discusses the water shortages in the arid and semi-arid West and the environmental effects they bring to the region and the whole country. Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of these problems and most Westerners seem to be in denial of them.
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 26, 2010 A Great Future Is in Store for Us When We Take the Power
Responding to peak oil gives us a lot of freedom to act rather than rely on someone else or some organization or government to solve our problems.
SHARE Sunday, October 18, 2009 These Weeds Aren't Made for Whacking
There's a lot more to know about weeds than most people expect. In fact, there are quite a few surprises there if you become familiar with the plant life growing in an uncultivated field—especially on a vacant city lot.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, December 5, 2008 The Black Swan Visits the Land of Smiles
Here is a reflection on Thailand's recent airport closings and their
effect on the country and the world using Nassim Taleb's Black Swan principle.
(3 comments) SHARE Sunday, October 19, 2008 Will Catholics Move On or Will They Cave to Same-O, Same-O?
Sarah Palin's large family, her cultural conservativism and her Down syndrome child that she chose not to abort clicked well among regular, church-going Catholics, especially women who were looking for someone who represented them. The question remains: how will the white, non-regular church-going Catholics respond?
(9 comments) SHARE Sunday, July 20, 2008 You Say You Want a Revolution?
The next American revolution will replace industrialization, "jobs", and the accumulation of things and instead emphasize relationships and communities working together. Check out what's going on in Detroit.
(5 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 6, 2009 The Oak Ridge Conundrum on War and Peace
In commemoration of Hiroshima Day, this article discusses the tensions and legacies Oak Ridgers face as "the city that made the atom bomb."
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 1, 2011 Frozen Assets
Southwestern Michigan caught winter's blast last week. It gave me an opportunity to consider some new meaning in the value of energy and its effect on life both at home and in my community.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, August 16, 2010 The Fate of New Orleans Hangs in an Uncomfortable Balance with Mother Nature
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the havoc Mother Nature can play on a modern city. It also brought to light the way our concerns about economics can compromise people's safety when we attempt to control Nature.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 5, 2011 How I Became a "Rail Fan"
Trains are a "green" way to travel and a key component of our public transportation system. They avoid the hassles of freeway driving and the expense of auto parking or the long waits and delays of the airport. And, they are just plain fun to ride.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 2, 2009 It's Human Security, Stupid, Not National Security
"Human security" is a more effective strategy for world peace than "national security," which is focused on building "the biggest, most muscular missiles and defense in the world," says Jody Williams. She received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in banning landmines.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, May 29, 2009 Who Wants to Be George W. Bush?
Private citizen George W. Bush poked his head out from his quiet, exclusive Dallas neighborhood last night to give his first major speech since leaving office. Quite a performance in revisionist history!
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, March 15, 2009 Hot, Flat and Bothered
Why is America willing to gamble on the possibility that we have more time rather than less time to take care of climate change but to curb our dependence on oil to fuel our economy?
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, May 21, 2010 Blue Bayou
The threat to the bayou didn't happen last month with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, October 25, 2009 Who Ya Gonna Call in an Environmental Disaster?
Nine out of ten Americans now live in places of significant risk due to climate change according to FEMA. A recent UN report concludes that the whole world is at risk due to climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and the expansion of poverty. FEMA's new director, Craig Fugate, plans to handle the increased risk of disaster in the US by relying on the American public.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, January 18, 2009 Down in the Dumps
I'm afraid I didn't share the same reaction Nicholas Kristof did after he visited a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the poorest of the poor live. Nor did I come to the same conclusion as he did in believing that sweatshops are an alternative for employment.
SHARE Monday, February 25, 2008 Fall of the House of Bush--A Book Review
Although most Americans regard September 11 as the single event that changed the world, journalist Craig Unger would argue that the 2000 presidential election served as a convergence of the Neoconservatives, Christian Fundamentalists and George W. Bush created "the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history."
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 19, 2008 A Place Where Beauty Matters
Beauty DOES make a difference in people's lives as Stratford, Ontario, illustrates.
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, April 18, 2008 The Way to Peace Can Be Paved With Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Negotiation
Peace activists' next challenge is to inspire others so deeply that they choose to form a movement for change from violence and war to peace; from hatred to love; from revenge and retaliation to forgiveness and reconciliation; from an obstinate refusal to communicate to negotiation.
Here are some recent examples of how the impossible changed everything.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 19, 2009 Our National Report Card on War
Today marks six years since the start of the Iraq War and six years and five months since troops invaded Afghanistan. So, how are we doing?
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, February 17, 2008 The Things They Do for Love
Americans are largely unaware of the vastness and lethality of U.S. nuclear weapons stockpiles, say Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson, the three nuns who did time in federal prison for breaking into the N-8 Minuteman missile site in October 2002.
Now that the sisters are all back from prison, they explain how their religious commitment and civic duty led them to become activists for nuclear disarmament.
SHARE Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Urban planting: Turning blight into bounty in the inner city
Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote about Catholic spirituality and urban gardens that was published as a cover story in US Catholic magazine. This illustrates the growing interest and importance of this grassroots movement that is transforming our overwrought national food system.
SHARE Friday, March 12, 2010 Health Is the Tipping Point to Identify and Eliminate GMOs
Are Americans willing to jeopardize their health with GMO foods? Probably not. And it might take only 15 million Americans or 5 percent of the U.S. population to establish a tipping point for change
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 12, 2008 BTW, What Do the Iraqis Want?
"What three-quarters of the Iraqis want is a complete U.S. withdrawal," said Raed Jarrar. "No mercenaries. No permanent bases. No interference. Only complete withdrawal is the first step toward stabilizing Iraq. After that, we can start healing the wounds of this occupation."
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, July 14, 2008 Gardens Save the Day in 'WALL-E' and America's Cities
The feature film, "WALL-E," is a must-see for anyone who cares about cities because it reflects what can happen when citizens take control of their own lives - and plant gardens.
SHARE Sunday, May 30, 2010 A Sense of Home and a Sense of Place
This oil spill is a tragedy of ecology and culture that will surely mark this second decade of the 21st century. It also represents the consequences of our belief that we have no limits to growth and that consumerism is good. This is a hangover of 20th century industrialization that led us not only to build one of the world's great civilizations but now to oversee its very dismantling.
SHARE Tuesday, June 8, 2010 The Race to the Top
In a world full of unsettling and fast-paced change and uncertainty, one particularly bright light shined through last night: the 2010 graduating class of Kalamazoo Central High School.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Citizens Urge Congressman to Vote No on Health Care Repeal Bill
Activists in Michigan's Sixth District (Kalamazoo) expressed their opposition to the repeal of the Obama health care bill. They met outside Congressman Fred Upton's office on Tuesday afternoon urging a telephone campaign to get him to change his support for the repeal bill.
SHARE Saturday, November 21, 2009 Another Opportunity to Vote with Your Fork
Finding important news about how our food is grown or raised in the newspaper can be difficult. Enter Nicolette Hahn Niman and her new book, The Righteous Porkchop.
SHARE Sunday, March 21, 2010 One Town Helps Another in Iraq
Iraqi Health Now has brought together two communities half a world apart with aid, hope and smiles.
(8 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 20, 2008 See What the Young Are Saying...and Be Moved
Over the past six weeks the students in my peace class have looked at global warming, overpopulation, the "clash of civilizations", and resource depletion (i.e., oil). I feared depressing them and even apologized for presenting them with such a glum picture of the future. And then they surprised me.
SHARE Monday, June 2, 2008 Moving From the Margins to the Mainstream
Check out what veteran peace activist Tom Hayden has to say about ending the war in Iraq, social change and the "Obama Generation."
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, April 28, 2008 Real Women Don't Throw Bombs
After four months of presidential primaries, what a refreshing contrast to see a woman speak forthrightly about justice and peace-especially at a time when the United States is indulged in saber-rattling with Iran.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, January 14, 2008 Primary Blues in Michigan
The Michigan Presidential Primary may be emblematic of what is so disconcerting about this year's election. With our endless and expensive oil war in Iraq, global warming, peak oil, environmental degradation and the need for universal health care, what are the presidential candidates offering as solutions to these problems?
SHARE Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Overlooking the Elephants in the Room
Arguing about religion and politics has become pointless, especially when we refuse to deal with the "elephants in the room" like $4 per gallon oil, two wars we won't end and can't win, global warming, food shortages and price hikes, unprecedented species extinction, sub-prime mortgage failures, crumbling infrastructure, violent weather patterns and destructive earthquakes.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 9, 2008 What the Peace Movement Has Wrought and Opportunities for the Future
Millions of peace activists throughout the United States and the world were unable to prevent the Iraq War from starting and likewise, have been unsuccessful in stopping it. Some might say that the peace movement has been a failure. However, something has changed among peace activists over these past five years of war.
SHARE Monday, May 26, 2008 Memorial Day 2008
Vietnam War veterans reveal the meaning of war and military service.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 31, 2008 Space Heroes Revisited
In this year's presidential election we need to call forth a new kind of leader who is willing to confront not only our country's problems but those of "spaceship earth."
And we need someone who will inspire us to tackle these problems courageously and confidently with determination and focus.
I think Barak Obama might be the one we're looking foru