farmers
GRITtv: Wisconsin Farmers, Lena Taylor, and Susan Sarandon
Laura's back in Madison, Wisconsin, for our third special broadcast at the largest rally in Wisconsin history - more than 120,000 people are estimated to have descended on the capital. These protests mark the fourth weekend of protests and follow the action in the state house, as Wisconsin state senators forced through a bill stripping Wisconsin public unions of their collective bargaining rights. In this very special edition of GRITtv, we hear from Wisconsin farmers standing in solidarity with public workers, state senator Lena Taylor, actress and activist Susan Sarandon, and Will Williams of Veterans for Peace Madison. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Will Williams: Years of Struggle Gone
"Too much has been spent on defense and killing at the expense of people, of working class people," Will Williams, of Veterans for Peace Madison, said to Laura. "And I say that because, when you look at the statistics, it costs one million dollars a year to keep one troop in Iraq. Yet we talk about we can't balance the budget unless we do it on the backs of working class people. And it's wrong." Williams spoke with Laura from the streets of Madison during this weekend's protests. He pointed to the widening wealth gap and excessive military spending as evidence that the middle class is being forgotten. "This governor we have has taken away everything that working people had, what was built throughout years of struggle," Williams said. "He took it in the stroke of a pen." Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Susan Sarandon and Robert Turner
"We will not yield to the system where political power derives from wealth," said actress and activist Susan Sarandon as she spoke to the protesters in Madison. "This is a great opportunity to become more human human beings and base our politics on compassion and love and not economics." Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Lena Taylor: Awakening a Sleeping Giant
"They've awakened a sleeping giant. People who have never been engaged are engaged," Lena Taylor, Wisconsin state representative, told Laura Flanders from the streets of Madison. "900 million dollars, almost a billion dollars, out of education. How can we be prepared for our future?" Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Ryan Bingham: A Song for Wisconsin
"There's just no time for propaganda, or media filled with hate. No time for scripted messages that slither around like snakes in your brain," sang Ryan Bingham, of Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses, as he performed "Direction of the Wind," which he dedicated to all the people on the streets of Madison, WI. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Wisconsin Farmers Support Labor
Rolling down the streets of Madison in their tractors, Wisconsin's farmers joined the protests that rose throughout Madison this weekend. While in Madison, Laura spoke with Scott Schultz, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union, who spoke about the ripple effects of the anti-union bill that will be felt throughout their community. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Dec. 17, 2010
"We are heading toward a two-tiered food system in this country," notes David Kirby, author of Animal Factory.
The food safety bill that just passed Congress puts some safety standards back into the U.S. food system, but does it do anything to change the ability of poor folks to buy healthy food? Raj Patel points out that when wages are kept low and work is devalued, it doesn't matter how cheap food is; people won't be able to afford it.Raj and David join us for a special extended conversation about the state of food policy in the U.S.: safety, subsidies, wages and working conditions. Does bipartisan acknowledgement that there is a problem bode well for our food system, and what's going on with local activism toward sustainable food production?Kelly Anderson is a longtime Brooklyn resident, but when she found herself being priced out of neighborhoods, she decided to take a closer look at the forces of gentrification, and their impact on the city's race and class makeup. ; Zeroing in on the Fulton Mall, a historically black shopping district in Downtown Brooklyn being eyed by developers for a "renaissance," Anderson and her crew examine the forces reshaping the city.Who benefits when neighborhoods suddenly catch the eye of the money men? Lasting Scars
is a look at a complex issue that doesn't have all the answers, but certainly has some interesting questions.Finally, when we talk about food, we often talk about fat. But Marjorie Ingall wants us to remember that shaming fat people doesn't fix a broken food system.
GRITtv: Raj Patel & David Kirby: Fixing Food Policy
"We are heading toward a two-tiered food system in this country," notes David Kirby, author of Animal Factory. The food safety bill that just passed Congress puts some safety standards back into the U.S. food system, but does it do anything to change the ability of poor folks to buy healthy food? Raj Patel points out that when wages are kept low and work is devalued, it doesn't matter how cheap food is; people won't be able to afford it. Raj and David join us for a special extended conversation about the state of food policy in the U.S.: safety, subsidies, wages and working conditions. Does bipartisan acknowledgement that there is a problem bode well for our food system, and what's going on with local activism toward sustainable food production?
Meet the Farmer: Local Food Comes to U. of Virginia Hospital (2 of 4)
In this episode of Meet the Farmer TV, local food, and even a farmers market, comes to the University of Virginia hospital. Searching through the steps and the interactions of all the factors involved in bring food from the farm to the plate, Meet The Farmer hopes to show the deeper values and hidden benefits of supporting your local food systems.
GRITtv: Farmers’ Compensation Isn’t Reparation or Revenge
Once again, the Republicans—the Senate ones, in particular—wish to punish people of color for the good works of a few. The Obama administration said in February of this year that $1.25 billion would pay off the class-action lawsuits brought by Black and Native American farmers against the federal government. The House of Representative voted in favor of the farmers receiving their decades-long due.
