Reasons to be Cheerful
1 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Bianco, Calabria, Italy
Italy's first tuition-free cooking school gives unemployed young people in the economically challenged region of Calabria a career path – and a culturally resonant alternative to working for the region's organized crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta. The school, Uno Chef per Elena e Pietro, surrounds cooking instruction with an appreciation for food culture and farming. Besides the extortion, kidnappings, and murder that the Calabrian Mafia uses, it also launders money by infiltrating farming and the food business.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/gang-violence-decline_n_6656840.html?cps=gravity_2659_7317138142693194709
Ann Brenoff
The Huffington Post
24 February 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
In the past, Los Angeles was a dangerous city fraught with gang wars. Lately, though, LA has become a safer city due to six changes enforced by the police cracking down on public violence and gangs.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/conquering-food-deserts-with-green-carts
David Bornstein
The New York Times
18 April 2012
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Programs to get fresh produce carts to areas with no access to healthy food work best when government and determined entrepreneurs team up. Success from this model is evident in New York City, where the city has incentivized the selling of fruits and vegetables by street vendors in areas that are in the most need of the produce.
http://civileats.com/2015/09/09/former-black-panther-launches-oakland-urban-farm-to-give-ex-prisoners-a-fresh-start
Sarah Henry
Civil Eats
9 September 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
After incarceration, Black men and women have a difficult time re-integrating into society without financial and educational resources. A former Black Panther activist has created the non-profit Oakland &the World Enterprises to offer an urban farm as a prisoner re-entry program and community center. The Oakland project supports self-sufficiency, self-determination, and empowerment for Black people.
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/06/growing-a-solution-to-californias-groundwater-crisis
Peyton Fleming
National Geographic
6 August 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
Due to drought and water shortage in California's Central Coast, community members collaborate with local government to create better water usage systems from runoff and to recycle waste water in order to irrigate crops.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/commonomics/boston-s-emerging-food-economy
Penn Loh
Yes! Magazine
7 November 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
By the 1980s, Roxbury and north Dorchester had been devastated by the disinvestment and white flight of the 1960s and 1970s. Racist banking and housing policies (“redlining”) had segregated people of color from opportunity, barring them from getting home loans except in certain neighborhoods. So the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) brought together residents to develop their own comprehensive plan to revitalize their community, building a community food system along the way.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/13/191427746/nudging-detroit-program-doubles-food-stamp-bucks-in-grocery-stores
Eliza Barclay
NPR
14 June 2013
Text / 800-1500 Words
Organizations in Detroit are piloting a program to apply food stamp credits in grocery stores towards the purchase of nutritious produce, in order to increase access to healthy items. The initiative can also help the local economy prosper through increased promotion of locally grown produce.
http://nextcity.org/features/view/how-the-local-food-economy-is-challenging-big-food
Tracie McMillan
Next City
14 April 2014
Text / Over 3000 Words
In an agricultural system designed for big-industrial growers, many farmers struggle to bridge the relationship between their produce and consumers, as well as strengthening local economies. The food hub is a collection of buildings that process and distribute the sale of local food. Eastern Market in Detroit is an example of a food hub that makes local produce accessible to low-income neighborhoods.
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/02/241897572/how-to-turn-adult-education-into-careers-quickly?sc=tw&cc=share
Kavitha Cardoza
NPR
2 November 2013
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
When adults want to return to school, they face many challenges including the experience of long waitlists for classes, and poor relevance to the job skills they need for future employment. The Washington state community college system has started a program known as Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) that instead teaches in two parts: academic content and basic soft skills.
http://www.pulitzer.org/files/2012/public_service/assault09.pdf
Kristen A. Graham
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network)
1 April 2011
Text / 800-1500 Words
Palm Beach County, Florida has many of the same social problems that Philadelphia has, including “gangs, drugs, and poverty.” However, their school system has managed to keep students safe by employing “safe-school case managers” who build relationships with students, and they offer a youth court that is a system run by students who peer-review cases of unrest. The initiatives in this county has prevented school violence from happening without metal detectors and just two police officers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/28/us-usa-immigration-nicaragua-idUSKBN0GS0AM20140828
Ivan Castro
Reuters
28 August 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
Crushing poverty and extreme violence - fueled by drug trafficking and police corruption - are behind a mass migration of Central American children to the United States in recent months that has overwhelmed U.S. border resources and driven illegal immigration to the fore in U.S. congressional elections. But the United Nations has praised Nicaragua's security model, which includes social services to help youths in gangs find jobs as well as sport programs like little-league baseball teams.
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