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Today's Stories February 11 - 13, 2011 Ramzy Baroud February 10, 2011 Kevin Gray Thomas H. Naylor Mike Whitney Marc H. Ellis Chase Madar James Ridgeway Dave Lindorff Jane Slaughter Salwa Ismail Gerald E. Scorse Paul Krassner Website of the Day February 9, 2011 Esam Al-Amin Vijay Prashad Chris Floyd Dean Baker Linn Washington, Jr. Mark Vorpahl David Macaray Steven Colatrella Roberto Rodriguez Andrew Taggart William A. Cook Charles R. Larson Website of the Day February 8, 2011 Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney Ralph Nader Gareth Porter Steve Breyman Surreal Politik: Arab Revolts and the Dream of Palestine Brett Warnke Ron Jacobs José Pertierra Tarecq M. Amer Mark Weisbrot Brian M. Downing Dennis Hans Linh Dinh Manuel Garcia, Jr. Website of the Day February 7, 2011 Tariq Ali Paul Craig Roberts John L. Esposito Bill Quigley Robert Fisk Barry M. Lando George Wuerthner Kara N. Tina José Pertierra Dennis Bernstein Russell Mokhiber Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day
February 4 - 6, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Esam Al-Amin Alison Weir Mike Whitney Paul Craig Roberts Jeffrey St. Clair Robert Alvarez Rannie Amiri William Blum Linda Greene Danny Glover / Robert Sandels Jean-Bertrand Aristide Will Parrish Peter Lee José Pertierra Ronnie Cummins Monsanto Nation: Exposing Monsanto's Minions James Ridgeway Laura Carlsen David Correia Steven Colatrella Michael Leonardi Michael Shane Boyle David Macaray Fred Gardner P. Sainath Louisa Willcox Christopher Brauchli David Ker Thomson Missy Beattie Walter Brasch Wallace Shawn Charles R. Larson Samer al Saber Hugh Iglarsh David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend February 3, 2011 David H. Price Mike Roselle Franklin Spinney Dean Baker Joshua Farouk Georgy José Pertierra Daniel Gross Fidel Castro Dyab Abou Jahjah Michael True Charles R. Larson Website of the Day February 2, 2011 Vijay Prashad Tariq Ali Peter Lee Feriel Bouhafa Suzy Kassem Clarence Lusane Ralph Nader José Pertierra Thomas Naylor Khristopher Flack Linh Dinh Nick Dearden Website of the Day February 1, 2011 Esam Al-Amin Lana Asfour Corinna Mullin Paul Craig Roberts Gareth Porter Israel Shamir Michael Brenner Pothik Ghosh David Macaray James R. King Andrew Levine Adam Federman Daniel Crawford Ahmad Barqawi Website of the Day January 31, 2011 Stephen Soldz Kathleen Christison Mike Whitney Liaquat Ali Khan Pothik Ghosh Ron Jacobs Nicola Nasser Franklin C. Spinney Jonathan Cook José Pertierra Lawrence Davidson P. Sainath Charles R. Larson Website of the Day January 28 - 30, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Gary Leupp Bill Quigley Mike Whitney Paul Craig Roberts Jeffrey St. Clair Saul Landau Ranni Amiri Franklin Lamb Hezbollah is the New Government of Lebanon. Now What? Conn Hallinan Graham MacPhee Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Anthony DiMaggio Rahul Mahajan José Pertierra Jim Haber Ronnie Cummins Ramzy Baroud Joshua Sperber Sara Mann David Rosen Russell Mokhiber Sherwood Ross Robert Jensen Binoy Kampmark Liam Hysjulien Devon G. Peña David Macaray Harry Clark Laura Flanders Sherwood Ross Christopher Brauchli David Ker Thomson Missy Beattie Charles R. Larson Salinger, Still Unknowable Ron Jacobs David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend January 27, 2011 Tariq Ali Andrew Bacevich Don Monkerud José Pertierra Deepak Tripathi Laura Flynn Laura Flanders Russell Mokhiber Harvey Wasserman Roberto Rodriguez Website of the Day January 26, 2011 Jonathan Cook Michael Neumann Thomas H. Naylor Mike Whitney David Correia José Pertierra Edward Herman / Dave Lindorff Sergio Ferrari Stewart J. Lawrence A Left / Tea Party Alliance? Website of the Day January 25, 2011 Kathleen Christison Fred Gardner Maureen Murphy Winslow T. Wheeler Ralph Nader José Pertierra David Macaray Boadiba Russell Mokhiber Sam Smith Website of the Day January 24, 2011 Joann Wypijewski Steve Breyman M. G. Piety Mike Whitney Clancy Sigal José Pertierra Linh Dinh Dean Baker Martha Rosenberg Dave Lindorff Bouthaina Shaaban Website of the Day January 21 - 23, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Steve Hendricks Jeffrey St. Clair Laura Carlsen Peter Lee Melissa Checker Saul Landau / Patrick Cockburn Conn Hallinan Will Parrish José Pertierra Rannie Amiri Ron Jacobs Michael Leonardi Mark Vorpahl Heather Gray Ramzy Baroud Nicola Nasser Manuel Garcia, Jr. Christopher Brauchli Michael Winship David Macaray David Zlutnick Joe Allen Fidel Castro Rupal Oza Stephen Fleischman David Ker Thomson Christopher Carrico Missy Beattie Farzana Versey Charles R. Larson Larry Portis Doug Loranger David Yearsley Poets' Basement January 20, 2011 Cecilia Zarate-Laun Vicente Navarro José Pertierra Patrick Cockburn Russell Mokhiber Denis O'Hearn Ira Chernus Mark Weisbrot Dave Lindorff Sam Smith Website of the Day January 19, 2011 Kathleen Christison Esam Al-Amin José Pertierra Dean Baker John Walsh Laura Flanders Joe Mowrey Stewart J. Lawrence Mickey Z. Carl Finamore Website of the Day January 18, 2011 Michael Hudson Mark Rudd Sasan Fayazmanesh Gareth Porter Jonathan Cook Ralph Nader Russell Mokhiber Mike Whitney Steve Breyman Clancy Sigal Website of the Day January 17, 2011 Frank Bardacke Andrew Cockburn Jason Hribal Bill Quigley Max Ajl William Loren Katz Andrew Levine Monica Lewinsky, Where Are You Now That We Need You ... Again? Max Kantar Yvonne Ridley B. R. Gowani Alan Farago Website of the Day January 14 -16, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Petra Bartosiewicz Jeffrey St. Clair Walden Bello Yvonne Ridley Thomas H. Naylor Rannie Amiri Jennifer Van Bergen Jonathan Feldman Alison Weir Conn Hallinan Saul Landau Fawzia Afzal-Khan Dead in My Tracks: Salmaan Taseer, the Mullah of Bourbon St and Freud's Uncanny Beatrice Lindstrom Stewart J. Lawrence Christopher Brauchli Sheldon Richman Richard Ward Ann Jones Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero Alan Farago Jonathan W. Martin David Macaray Daniel Gross Kieran Manjarrez Laura Flanders David Ker Thomson Linh Dinh Yves Engler M. Shahid Alam Dr. Susan Block Ramzy Baroud Billy Wharton Ron Jacobs Eric Walberg Charles R. Larson Mark Scaramella David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend January 13, 2011 Neve Gordon Franklin Lamb Linn Washington, Jr. Rob Prince Sasha Kramer Joel Olson Dean Baker Nicola Nasser Russell Mokhiber Stephen Lendman Charles R. Larson Website of the Day January 12, 2011 Franklin Spinney Paul Craig Roberts Jennifer Loewenstein Vijay Prashad Tanya Golash-Boza Diane Shammas Manuel Garcia, Jr. Ralph Nader John V. Walsh Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day January 11, 2011 Alan Nasser / William D. Hartung Mike Whitney Israel Shamir Anthony DiMaggio Bill Quigley / Sam Smith Joseph Massad Randall Amster Laura Flanders Bouthaina Shaaban Website of the Day January 10, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Bill Quigley Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Andrew Levine Shared Delusions: Obama Apologists and Tea Partiers Lawrence Davidson The New Radicals in Congress: Show Trials for American Muslims? Dave Lindorff Yvonne Ridley Fidel Castro Paul Hillier Carl Finamore Website of the Day January 7 - 9, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Helen Thomas David Rosen Kevin Alexander Gray Franklin Lamb Mike Whitney Will Parrish Chase Madar Christophe Wargny Ron Jacobs Murtaza Razvi Ramzy Baroud William Astore Raymond J. Lawrence Saul Landau Col. Douglas MacGregor Firmin DeBrabander Missy Beattie David Ker Thomson Fred Gardner Devon G. Peña Christopher Brauchli Walter Brasch John Blair Paul Hillier Tom H. Hastings Gerald E. Scorse Carla Blank Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend January 6, 2011 James Bovard Mike Whitney Dean Baker Yvonne Ridley Tom Engelhardt Michael Winship Russell Mokhiber Laura Flanders Website of the Day January 5, 2011 Richard Neville Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Israel Shamir Steve Breyman Ralph Nader Farzana Versey Martha Rosenberg Mike Roselle Dave Lindorff Danny Lucia Website of the Day January 4, 2011 Mike Whitney Ralph Nader Gareth Porter Lawrence Wittner After START: Where Does Nuclear Disarmament Go From Here? Christophe Ventura Russell Mokhiber Ray McGovern David Macaray Sheldon Richman Michael Simmons Website of the Day January 3, 2011 Eric Toussaint Patrick Cockburn Ann Robertson / William Blum Jean Casella / Harry Targ Linn Washington, Jr. Fred Gardner Lawrence Davidson Bouthaina Shaaban Website of the Day December 31, 2010 - January 2, 2011 Alexander Cockburn Goodbye to 2010, Year of the Tiger, Hello to 2011, Year of the Rabbit Jeffrey St. Clair Behzad Yaghmaian Thomas Naylor Christopher Brauchli Robert Bryce Joanne Mariner Will Parrish / Mike Whitney Ramzy Baroud Rannie Amiri Alan Farago Linh Dinh Martha Rosenberg Drug Industry: Interests in Conflict Franklin Lamb Ron Jacobs Brian Tierney Israel Shamir Jess Guh David Ker Thomson Missy Beattie Dan Bacher David Macaray Shepherd Bliss Charles R. Larson Dan White Joshua Sperber Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend December 30, 2010 Michael Teitelman Jennifer Van Bergen Douglas Valentine Jorge Mariscal Denis G. Rancourt Paul Craig Roberts Dave Lindorff Mary Lynn Cramer Anthony Papa Website of the Day
December 29, 2010 Bill Quigley James Bovard Stewart J. Lawrence Yvonne Ridley David Swanson John V. Walsh Fidel Castro Julie Hilden Website of the Day December 28, 2010 P. Sainath Jonathan Cook Paul Craig Roberts Jennifer Van Bergen Ralph Nader David Macaray Bill Manson David Krieger Stephanie Van Hook / Michael Nagler Mitchel Cohen Website of the Day December 27, 2010 Bill Hatch Uri Avnery Lawrence Davidson Allen Mendenhall Fred Gardner Mark Weisbrot Sherwood Ross David Michael Green Eric Patton Mark Scaramella Website of the Day December 24-26, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Chellis Glendinning Eugene Coyle Will Parrish Joanne Mariner William Loren Katz Brian M. Downing Michael Leonardi Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Linn Washington Jr. Christopher Brauchli Rannie Amiri Ronnie Cummins Missy Beattie Linh Dinh Rev. William E. Alberts Harvey Wasserman Chris Genovali / David Ker Thomson Robert Roth Ron Jacobs Myles Hoenig Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend December 23, 2010 Bill Quigley / Peter Lee Gareth Porter Dean Baker Hayden Janssen Yves Engler Laura Flanders David Macaray Farzana Versey Website of the Day December 22, 2010 Joe Mangano Uri Avnery Jennifer Van Bergen Lawrence Wittner John V. Whitbeck Stewart J. Lawrence Linh Dinh Rebecca Solnit Franklin Lamb Sherwood Ross Website of the Day
December 21, 2010 Ralph Nader Larry Portis Sasan Fayazmanesh Sam Smith Sheldon Richman Alice Slater Julie Hilden Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Binoy Kampmark Laura Flanders Website of the Day
December 20, 2010 Pam Martens Patrick Cockburn Bill Quigley Bruce Jackson Max Blumenthal Mike Whitney Carl Finamore Greg Moses Fidel Castro Paul Craig Roberts John Severino Sama Adnan Website of the Day December 17 - 19, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Franklin Spinney Gareth Porter Clarence Lusane Eric Stoner John Carroll, MD Nick Dearden / Robert Alvarez Saul Landau Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud Chuck Collins Ron Jacobs Charlotte Dennett John Blair David Ker Thomson Sherry Wolf David Macaray Jennifer Van Bergen Martha Rosenberg Sam Smith Missy Beattie Harvey Wasserman Laura Flanders Randall Amster Ron Ridenour Dr. Suzy Block Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Day December 16, 2010 Alan Farago Dean Baker Peter Lee Jospeh Nevins Norman Girvan Michael Winship Robert Jensen Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day December 15, 2010 Diana Johnstone James Bovard Conn Hallinan Vijay Prashad Robert Weissman Stephan Salisbury Fred Gardner Joshua Frank Anthony Papa Steven Higgs Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers / Afghans for Peace Website of the Day
December 14, 2010 Norm Kent Mike Whitney Maximilian Forte Franklin C. Spinney Ralph Nader David Macaray Ali Khan / Lawrence Davidson Stewart J. Lawrence Cecil Brown
December 13, 2010 Patrick Cockburn Tariq Ali Jonathan Cook Israel's War on Children Uri Avnery Russell Mokhiber Patrick Bond David Smith-Ferri The December Review: Rubbish on Afghanistan Bob Sirois Danny Muller Randall Amster Website of the Day
December 10 - 12, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Peter Linebaugh Mike Whitney Thomas Volscho Joe Bageant John Barth, Jr. Jeffrey Sommers Jonathan Cook Robert Alvarez Rannie Amiri Franklin Lamb Dean Baker Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers Aurel / Pierre Daum Ramzy Baroud Michael Winship David Ker Thomson Ron Jacobs Christopher Brauchli Missy Beattie Dennis Loo Harvey Wasserman Ingmar Lee Thomas H. Naylor Farzana Versey Ronnie Cummins Sherwood Ross Don Monkerud Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson David Yearsley CP Newswire Poets' Basement Randall and Hahn Website of the Weekend December 9, 2010 Pam Martens Wajahat Ali Sasha Kramer Fatima Bhutto Jimmy Johnson Laura Carlsen Binoy Kampmark Anthony Papa Website of the Day December 8, 2010 Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Eric Walberg Mike Roselle Greg Moses Diane Christian Fidel Castro Linn Washington James McEnteer Website of the Day December 7, 2010 Chris Floyd Gareth Porter / Dean Baker Gregory Elich Ralph Nader M. Shahid Alam Dave Lindorff Information Terrorists? David Macaray Linda Ueki Absher Manuel Garcia, Jr. Website of the Day December 6, 2010 Michael Hudson Paul Craig Roberts The US Government's Frontal Assault on Freedom Mike Whitney Sasan Fayazmanesh Steve Breyman Davey D Neve Gordon Greg Moses Mark Weisbrot Ben Terrall Website of the Day December 3 -5, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Darwin Bond-Graham Andy Kroll William Blum Rannie Amiri Ray McGovern Saul Landau / Ramzy Baroud P. Sainath John Carroll, M.D. David Rosen Steven Colatrella Thomas I. Palley Francis Shor Russell Mokhiber Bank Power Mark Weisbrot John V. Whitbeck Sherry Wolf Ronnie Cummins Michael Winship Ron Jacobs Nilofar Suhrawardy Missy Beattie Bill Manson Linh Dinh Bruce E. Levine John Grant David Macaray Yves Engler / Charles R. Larson Scott Borchert Harry Clark David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend December 2, 2010 Michael W. Hudson Paul Craig Roberts Franklin C. Spinney Benjamin Dangl Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Russell Mokhiber David Macaray Ed Moloney Brian McKenna Website of the Day
December 1, 2010 Gareth Porter Wikileaks Exposes Complicity of the Press Paul Craig Roberts Russ Wellen Nikolas Kozloff Conn Hallinan Sheldon Richman Rich Broderick David Solnit Farzana Versey Charles M. Young Charles R. Larson Website of the Day November 30, 2010 Ralph Nader Paul Craig Roberts Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook Dean Baker James McEnteer Tom Engelhardt Sherwood Ross Gina Ulysse Bill Manson Website of the Day
November 29, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Israel Shamir Mike Whitney Lawrence Davidson Winslow Wheeler / John Carroll, MD P. Sainath Carl Finamore David Macaray Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
November 26 - 28, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler Ramzy Baroud Harry Browne Bill Quigley / Saul Landau Brian Cloughley Fidel Castro Francis Shor Steve Heilig Terrence Paupp Brenda Norrell Missy Beattie Linh Dinh Christopher Brauchli Eric Walberg Ellen Taylor Ron Jacobs Bill Manson Harvey Wasserman Walter Brasch Michael Dickinson Ingmar Lee Gwyneth Leech David Ker Thomson Charles R. Larson Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend November 25, 2010 Michael Hudson Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Sarah Anderson Karl Grossman David Ker Thomson Rajesh Makwana / Adam Parsons Charles R. Larson Website of the Day
November 24, 2010 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts James Ridgeway Invasion of the Body Scanners: Is TSA Spreading Cancer? Michael Scott Nick Dearden Russell Mokhiber Daniel Moss Farzana Versey Yasin Gaber Dan Beaton Website of the Day November 23, 2010 Pam Martens Patrick Cockburn Ben Rosenfeld / Franklin C. Spinney Dean Baker Ralph Nader Ray McGovern George Wuerthner Don Monkerud Clare Bayard Website of the Day
November 22, 2010 Michael Hudson James Abourezk Paul Craig Roberts Sasan Fayazmanesh Richard Forno Gary Leupp Martha Rosenberg Lawrence Davidson Patrick Bond Michael Dickinson Website of the Day November 19 - 21, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Mike Whitney Joanne Mariner Gareth Porter Karen Greenberg Thomas Christie, Pierre Sprey, Franklin Spinney et al. Rannie Amiri Dr. Jim Morgan Haiti's New Normal: Dispatch from Cite Soleil Lawrence Swaim Ramzy Baroud Ron Jacobs Robert Alvarez Russell Mokhiber P. Sainath David Macaray Carl Finamore Brian Tierney Franklin Lamb Gerald E. Scorse Joshua Brollier Missy Beattie Stewart J. Lawrence Brenda Norrell Christopher Brauchli Carol Polsgrove David Ker Thomson Dave Lindorff Jeff Deasy Bill Manson Clifton Ross Charles R. Larson Twain: the Last Word, One Hundred Years Later Richard Estes David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend November 18, 2010 Diana Johnstone Mike Whitney Behzad Yaghmaian Kenneth E. Hartman Norman Solomon Michael Winship Patrick Bond Joel S. Hirschhorn Website of the Day November 17, 2010 Vicente Navarro James Bovard Jonathan Cook Dean Baker Ralph Nader Nick Turse Sherry Wolf Alienation 101: the Online Learning Rip Off Judith Scherr Peter Certo Website of the Day
November 16, 2010 Pam Martens Richard Forno Gareth Porter Harry Browne Peter Lee Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Frank Green Sheldon Richman Thomas H. Naylor Website of the Day November 15, 2010 Michael Hudson Steve Hendricks Paul Craig Roberts Harvey Wasserman Lawrence Davidson Clancy Sigal David Macaray Tom Engelhardt Steven Fake Website of the Day November 12 - 14, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Dean Baker Gareth Porter William E. Alberts Bill Hatch Jonathan Cook Patrick Madden Mystifying the Crisis: Deadlock at the G20 Ramzy Baroud Rannie Amiri James Zogby Ron Jacobs Mark Weisbrot Tanya Golash-Boza Paul Wright Steve Early Martha Rosenberg Celia McAteer Larry Portis Michael Winship Brian McKenna Gerald E. Scorse Christopher Brauchli Roberto Rodriguez Dr. Susan Block J. T. Cassidy Linh Dinh Farzana Versey David Ker Thomson Phil Rockstroh Charles R. Larson David Swanson Saul Landau Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Day
November 11, 2010 Peter Linebaugh Paul Craig Roberts Licensed to Kill Bill Quigley David Macaray Dissing the Boss: the NLRB Files a Landmark Complaint on Free Expression in the Workplace Liaquat Ali Khan / Jasmine Abou-Kassem Dedrick Muhammad Robert Bryce Alan Farago Website of the Day November 10, 2010 Allan Nairn Dean Baker Nicola Nasser Missy Beattie Sergio Ferrari Patrick Cockburn Dave Lindorff Mumia: New Lawyer, New Round Sherwood Ross Joshua Frank Website of the Day November 9, 2010 Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Jordan Flaherty Afshin Rattansi Annie Gell Dean Baker Dave Lindorff Stewart J. Lawrence Walter Brasch Website of the Day November 8, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Thomas Healy David Swanson David Smith-Ferri Ralph Nader Ray McGovern Torture Sans Regrets: Bush's Confessions John Feffer Christopher Ketcham Website of the Day November 5 - 7, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Vijay Prashad Patrick Cockburn Darwin Bond-Graham
Mike Whitney Linn Washington, Jr. Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud Larry Portis Gary Leupp William Loren Katz Brian Cloughley Mark Weisbrot Rubén M. Lo Vuolo, Daniel Raventós / Pablo Yanes Joseph Nevins Neve Gordon Alan Farago Stewart J. Lawrence James R. King Ron Jacobs Franklin Lamb James McEnteer Richard Phelps Saul Landau David Ker Thomson The Long Argument Evelyn Pringle Joseph G. Ramsey Until Pigs Fly: the Morning After With Michael Moore Stanley Heller Missy Beattie Harvey Wasserman Billy Wharton Shamus Cooke Linh Dinh Windy Cooler Charles R. Larson Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Website of the Weekend November 4, 2010 Doug Peacock Andrew Cockburn Iain Boal Paul Craig Roberts Chase Madar Dave Lindorff Russell Mokhiber Laura Flanders Website of the Day November 3, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Franklin C. Spinney Chris Floyd Dissatisfied Mind: Flickers of Hope in a Deadly Political Cycle William Blum Sheldon Richman Stephen Soldz Mark Weisbrot Stewart J. Lawrence Manuel Garcia, Jr. Election Night in Oakland Norman Solomon Website of the Day November 2, 2010 Vincent Navarro Ishmael Reed Uri Avnery Mark Driscoll Mike Whitney Linh Dinh David Macaray Randall Amster Wikilessons: War is a Joke, But It Isn't Funny Betsy Ross Yves Engler Website of the Day
November 1, 2010 Ted Honderich Steven Higgs John Ross Dean Baker Ralph Nader Justin E. H. Smith Marjorie Cohn Scott Boehm Brian Tierney Trish Kahle Martha Rosenberg Bathrobe Erectus: Feting Hugh Hefner Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition Laying the Foundations for Sustainable Local Food SystemsLocal Harvest for an Urban LandscapeBy RANDEL HANSON How do you create a locally harvested food system for a city of 100,000? This question is being asked presently in a seminar, in Duluth, Minnesota and the broader western Lake Superior region, as well as in many other cities across the United States. It was also an urgent local question a century ago. Indeed, across the U.S. at the onset of the 20th century, public and private concerns were scrambling to get a handle on the haphazard 'system' that transformed nature into edible human culture within the rapidly urbanizing America. This was a chaotic, wasteful, and powerfully transformative period, with rural populations shifting into cities as the primary engine for economic activities turned from agrarianism to industrialization. The rapid growth of industrial cities forced an emerging 'municipal responsibility' for the various inputs and outputs of urban life. Public and private city planners in the late 19th century began to reflect upon and intervene into this laissez faire urbanization, including how to procure ample food of adequate quality and cost to citizens. In short, it became quite apparent that leaving the issue of food to the market was wholly inadequate to the demands of society from any number of perspectives. These histories of civic engagement with our food system by city governments, business organizations and citizen groups represent a fascinating window into our past just as they help us think about our challenges and barriers for creating more desirable food systems for contemporary society. While there were general issues that characterized the food challenges of early 20th century industrial cities, many communities faced unique problems. The challenges faced by Duluth fall primarily into the latter category, and form the basis for a closer study that illuminates a number of contemporary issues. Early 20th century Duluth found itself in a food systems quandary. Situated on the western tip of Lake Superior amid vast and thick northern forests, the city was growing rapidly amid the immense wealth accumulation of the region associated with exploiting its then abundant natural capital. Timber from surrounding forests was being clear cut and hacked into lumber to build the cities southward; the very rich and easy accessible iron ore of the Range was being gouged out and railroaded to Lake Superior docks in Duluth and elsewhere, filling ships and bank accounts; and grain from the newly ploughed Midwestern prairies and plains was being brought to port for shipping eastward, leveraging the ship canal and ever improving harbor facilities for this zenith point in North America for ocean going vessels. New steel plants were being built, and countless spin-off and allied manufacturing, supply, and production companies were proliferating in an urban-industrial frenzy. Nearly tripling in population across two decades, Duluth's phenomenal rate of population growth was greater than New York or Chicago in 1910, and local boosters fantasized that Duluth would become the North American hub as infrastructure developed. As a result of this abundant combination of raw material, labor, and natural amenities, Duluth hosted more millionaires per capita at this point than any other city in the U.S. Although the city was rapidly growing, the 80+ thousand Duluthians lived for the most part on the narrow 24 mile strip of land hugging the western Lake Superior shore. The surrounding region was very sparsely populated save for the booming and bustling mining and timber towns spread across the hinterlands. Duluth State Normal School Geographer Eugene Van Cleef worried in an article published in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society in 1912 that the 'permanence' of Duluth was threatened by the lack of an agrarian base, warning that "mineral resources alone do not invite a large population; they must be accompanied by food to support the people who market them." More to the point, business leaders of Duluth were worried about attracting the important middlemen and women to run the businesses that were proliferating: poor food was feared to hinder their importation. And they were worried as well about the prices of food, which around the U.S. were reaching all time peaks, often taking between 40-60% of an average family's income. Riots were sparked by this situation in New York and elsewhere, and the strong Duluth Labor community was seen by industry captains as a potential environment for fomenting local protest around food prices. Given the lack of any local food supply, availability and price of food in Duluth was indeed problematic. The Duluth Commercial Club was at this point a powerful civic and political organ that assembled and channeled the business interests of Duluth, and its members began to consider the necessity of proactively building a local food supply. At the turn of the century, some of the wealthy members of the Club had purchased clear cut land for their summer homes and they began to dabble in agriculture and animal husbandry. As these 'city fathers' carried out their projects, they realized both the potential of agriculture in the region but also the difficulties, including removing the stumps of clear cut trees and the new secondary growth that quickly sprouted up and the rising prices of arable land in the area. Taking all of these issues into account, Duluth Commercial Club members sketched out a plan to jump start a food system from scratch, including production and distribution components, to supply fresh produce to area restaurants, grocers and households. One of their first actions was to hire Mr. A. B. Hostetter, a lifelong farmer and long term teacher of farmers in the agricultural institutes of Illinois. Hostetter was turned loose with his considerable experience and sufficient Club resources to pull together the educational, public relations and networking elements to spark a local food system. After sizing up the situation, Hostetter approached the Duluth Public Schools to embrace agricultural education, but they demurred. Undaunted, Hostetter approached the YMCA, which began offering classes in poultry production in 1910; by 1911 the 'Y' added gardening classes, integrating a teacher for each of the 20 public schools in the city. Hostetter also worked with the Duluth Homecroft Association (DHA), a local arm of the national Homecroft movement designed to encourage local self sufficiency and healthy living. As a 'model city' in this movement, Duluth boasted the founding in 1909 of Homecroft Park, which sold one acre lots to area residents for a back to the land urban lifestyle. Hostetter harnessed the energy of this movement by partnering with the DHA, which began to offer courses in cooking local produce, preserving foods, and the vagaries of managing such enterprises. Various churches, fairs and community gatherings were encouraged to hold friendly competitions over the fruits and vegetables of these labors to generate greater interest. And the prized specimens were also brought to State Fairs in St. Paul, New York City, and other places to boost the image of agriculture in the region. Mr. Hostetter and other Duluth Commercial Club members also leveraged their networks and the growing food needs of US Steel and its employees by partnering with the various railroad companies in the region, each of which had excess lands adjacent to their tracks. Together they crafted plans to create farms along the tracks, bunched into groups that would become small towns connected to the nearest train stop, which could serve as portals for produce gathered by the trains for urban destinations. To help grow these small centers for agricultural production, Hostetter created 'educational trains' in which agronomic experts in seeds, produce varieties, production methods, management expertise, etc., would travel on appointed days, stopping at each town to dispense their knowledge, praise, encouragement and institutional support. Free seeds were distributed to town children, who were encouraged to compete with each other for growing the best produce, the winners of which would garner prizes that the Club also dispensed. But problems in boosting a food system also existed because of a lack of access to lands closer to the city that could be agriculturally productive and affordable. Indeed, given the rapid population growth and the craggy landscapes along Lake Superior, land was quite expensive and arable land was scarce. How could you justify farming on land close to the city that was so expensive? To address this problem, several Duluth Commercial Club members founded the Greysolon Farm Company in 1910. The Greysolon Farm Company (GFC) was a mile square area on Duluth's northern urban edge; the land was developed as small farms ranging from 1-15 acres for both rental and sale to workers, truck farmers, and existing distant farmers who might be coaxed from elsewhere to relocate. The plan devised long term financial terms amendable for people to both rent and purchase land from which stumps were removed, and they created another, less expensive track for those who were willing to remove such obstacles to farming themselves. And as part of the deal, the GFC would help people learn the skills of "intensive cultivation, market gardening, and dairy farming under the most modern scientific conditions" so they could make profits sufficient to justify purchasing the lands (and fulfill the food supply ends of the Club). The GFC quickly took off, renting and selling agricultural lands for home and market production. Educational courses were held on the GFC lands, organized by Hostetter, helping the farmer aspirants gain the necessary skill sets to produce for nearby markets. The creation of the GFC was also not coincidentally commercially successful, creating profits for investors by adding value to cut-over lands by removing stumps and getting the lands into cultivatable condition. The University of Minnesota was also interested in inserting itself into the formal development of an agricultural infrastructure in the western Lake Superior region as part of its broader 'Land Grant' mission. In 1911, the Minnesota State Legislature authorized the Board of Regents to come to Duluth to seek lands that could support an experimental station akin to others that it was creating around the state. The GFC lands were widely seen as the best farmland in the immediate Duluth area, enriched by the climate and geologic forces at the end of the last glacial period, which rushed topsoils toward Lake Superior from Lake Agassiz some 6000 years ago; reaching the ridge of the ancient volcano, the topsoils swept along by the glacial flows subsided, producing a relatively rich base that would become Duluth's 'breadbasket' in the decades to follow. The University negotiated hard with Greysolon's owners, the arguments drawing out for over a year, but eventually the University purchased some 240 acres at Greysolon's asking price and founded the Northeast Demonstration Farm and Experimental Station. By Spring,1913, Superintendent Mark J. Thompson was hired and the farm quickly developed as a combination dairy, poultry, and truck farm. Although the 'Great Fire of 1918′ burned this area, it was a temporary setback: the Northeast Experimental Station (which soon became its official name) became an important piece of the agricultural architecture of the region as a site for demonstration, production and education. Thompson remained a main force on the farm for several decades, contributing to the 'golden years' of extension services in the region. Seeding education and production lands were two key aspects of building a food system from scratch that were now set in motion, but distribution was also a problem. To address this problem, the Duluth Commercial Club worked with area farmers to found a Cooperative Produce Warehouse in west Duluth in 1910 to supply goods to city retailers. This experiment soon ran up against stubborn economic realities: there were not enough farmers bringing produce to the warehouse, and the Commercial Club which was underwriting the project soon grew dismayed with the ongoing financial losses, shutting the doors. In the wake of the closure, the Club worked with area farmers to create the Producer's Cooperative Market Association as a more diffuse organizational means to represent and boost the interests of area farmers in distribution issues. In addition, the City of Duluth founded the Duluth Farmers Market in 1912 to service private households. This first iteration of the Duluth Farmers Market, regulated by the City Council, opened up shop in the Armory, adding two additional satellite markets in other parts of the city. That first year 25 farmers used the market to sell produce, which was all locally harvested, and the Duluth Farmers Market has in one form or another remained a part of the city ever since. In sum, an amazing amount of energy and organization was brought to bear on the creation of a local food system for Duluth in the early part of the twentieth century. For an interim period that lasted several decades, this bid to create a local food system worked: locally harvested produce began to flow into area outlets, people were turned into farmers, and other distant farmers relocated here. This local food system grew throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and vegetables like potatoes, brassicas, celery and lettuce became staples that were grown in large fields sufficient to to supply locally and to ship elsewhere. Small fruit production, particularly raspberries, was also robust enough to not only supply the region but also ship refrigerated train-car loads to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Omaha. Simply put, regional food production thrived. But as with so many aspects of U.S. society, the advent of World War II signaled a profound change for the Duluth local food system. For one thing, the war effort demanded as many people as possible to work in iron ore and steel related activities; and the wage-oriented consumer society that flourished after the war continued the movement away from agriculture in the region. Small farms developed over the previous several decades were abandoned, and today we see those overgrown places all around the area. By the 1950s, larger scale commercial farming began to edge out small scale producers en masse, and regional and international specialization and development created the basis for the global, industrial food system. Corporate farming became an increasing norm, as agriculture become vertically integrated into global food corporations. Farming in northern Minnesota ebbed steadily given the ever cheapening cost of industrial food produced by externalizing so many of the trust costs of both production and distribution methods. Suburban sprawl began to creep into the richer agricultural lands north of the city. By the mid 1970s, a regional food infrastructure seemed to many outmoded if not already disappeared, and the Northeast Agricultural Station was closed in 1976, signaling a tardy ceremony for the ending of a local food system. And if this dirge wasn't heard, the small farm crisis of the 1980s drove nails into the proverbial coffin of smaller scale farming in the region, the state and across the country. In the wake of this industrial onslaught into farming, nascent organizations designed to support small scale sustainable farming and gardening began to appear across the U.S., inspired by the resilient voices of people like Rachel Carson, Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, Barry Commoner and others. Community based gardening in Duluth began to take shape in the late 1970s, and in 1981 the Duluth Community Garden Program was formally founded. Food cooperatives appeared in the 1970s, including Duluth's Whole Foods Coop. The Land Stewardship project was created in Minnesota in 1982, and in 1988 the Sustainable Farming Association was created. These local and regional organizations have sought to continue a home garden and small scale agriculture practice amid a fast food and industrial agriculture that has systematically de-educated people of food, farming and gardening skills and knowledge. Now that the health, community and ecological bills of the externalizing system of industrial agriculture are coming due in ways they can no longer be ignored, these community and regional organizations resonate with greater authority and importance as we seek to bring their visions from the margins to the center. To paraphrase the English scholar and activist Stuart Hall, 'hegemony is hard work'. The hegemony of the global industrial food system is both powerful and rigid: we partake in its reproduction with an unnerving knowledge of its destructive wake. How can we use this knowledge to build a healthier food system for individuals, communities and the landscape? Looking back on this largely successful early 20th transformation of the Duluth food system, we see some intriguing pathways. They thought big and systemically, they integrated people and organizations across sectors, and they leveraged powers beyond Duluth that had interests in the city. How can we use their story as we wrestle with smart decline from an industrial paradigm with eyes wide open in optimism for the possibilities of a more sustainable future for ourselves and those who will find themselves on these same soils a hundred years hence? In short, how can we work for the 'permanence' of Duluth by laying the foundations for a sustainable food system? Time to put our shoulders to the wheel. Randel Hanson, Ph.D., is a professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where he is an expert on food systems planning and foodshed analysis. He is a leader in local foods issues in Duluth, convening the Superior Grown Food Summit and chairing the Zeppa Foundation's Green Jobs Action Planning Committee on Food Localization.
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