Coca "Carcinogenic" Cola

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/coca-cola-3.jpg

Many people in the United States, such as myself, have become adamant about reading the ingredients in the food we eat. Yet, perhaps this is not enough. Prompted by pressure from California health authorities, Coca-Cola is now changing the ingredient labeled as "caramel colouring" in their drinks. This "caramel colouring" is actually a "stew" containing 4-methylimidazole, which is known to the state of California as a carcinogen. Although the formula is being changed, there was a serious backlash from those in the beverage industry who proclaimed this was all just part of the "old cancer scam."

If we cannot even trust the labels we read, how are we to make proper judgments on the food we eat? Whether or not the beverage industry truly thinks their "caramel colouring" is a risk, the fact that they have simplified a chemical process into "caramel colouring" is enough to force a change. The public has a right to know exactly what it is they are putting into their bodies.This relates to environmental racism because low-income families are likely to be consuming Coca-Cola.

Whether or not companies believe the general public will understand the chemicals used in their products, it is imperative that they provide us with the information. To think that a known carcinogen is being labeled as simply "caramel colouring" is unacceptable and one that could likely leave Coca-Cola in court. Coca-Cola spans the globe, so this is a worldwide issue. The work done by California health officials in this case should be praised by all those who seek food justice.

Article here

by Chris Graham

Water Pollution in Kansas City

A group in Kansas City is seeking advice from local groups, individuals, and nonprofits on ways to deal with the stormwater runoff that is polluting the waters surrounding the city. There is a grant program in place that will help educate the public and also to put ideas for projects into action. The involvement of the community and local groups by the Mid-America Regional Council shows a commitment to respecting all forms of knowledge in the area.

We often think about stormwater runoff as a major source of pollution in cities on the coastal regions of America, but it is often the more dry areas that are affected most by runoff. Infrequent rains allow oil to build up on roads, and when it does rain, there is significantly more runoff. Areas in Mid-America, where water is more scarce and often directly next to farmland that uses pesticides face serious threats when it comes to water quality.

The fact that Mid-America Regional Council is seeking local opinions is encouraging. Rather than these local groups fighting for a voice, in some cases, they are now sought after and looked at as valuable knowledge-holders. Addressing the public with how to use these government grants is an excellent step being taken by this group. Water quality is a serious issue in Mid-America, but with bottom-up to bottom-down actions being taken, there is hope for the citizens that occupy the area.

Article here

by Chris Graham

    By Emma Vowels

       The Penobscot Tribe, residing in Old Town, Maine, has lived off of subsistence fishing in the Penobscot River for thousands of years. This river is extremely important to the community's well being. Subsistence fishing makes up a majority of the Penobscot tribe's diet. But the river also offers them much more than just necessities, a sense of cultural self and place. However, due to environmental degradation in their community, the Penobscot are watching their livelihood and lifestyle be stripped away. 

        Over many years, high levels of pollution have accumulated in the Penobscot river. Mainly responsible for this pollution are industries dumping their production by-products into the river, specifically pulp and paper companies and waste water treatment plants. The most prevalent chemicals that are a danger to those using the river are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and mercury. All of these contaminants are capable of bio-accumulating inside river species, mainly fish. This potential ecosystem effect makes eating fish from the river unsafe, and since as early as 1987, the Penobscot tribe was warned to limit their fish consumption. Currently, it is recommended that the tribe members eat no more than one serving of fish from the river per week or per month, depending the amount of toxins that accumulate in each particular fish species. The tribe wants the pollution addressed so that they can safely use the river for subsistence fishing again.  

       The Penobscot natives also feel they should have the sovereignty to decided how much pollution is acceptable in the river, and be able to manage the waters they rely on themselves. Little has been done to address this environmental racism issue so far. The courts have not sided with the tribe, and media has protrayed the tribe negatively, as being greedy for money. Since the tribe has lost in court, they are hoping that the EPA will give them a grant so that research can be done on the bio-accumulation of pollutants in the river fish species. In the mean time, the Penobscot have had their lifestyle taken away from them, and this case of environmental racism is swept under the rug. 

Reference from: https://wiki.colby.edu/display/es298b/Penobscot+Subsistence+
Image from: http://www.ec.gc.ca/mercure-mercury/default.asp?lang=en&n=d721ac1f-1

Start the Revolution

Ernesto Che Guevara, also known as El Che was one of the greatest revolutionary men of all time, fighting for the human rights of people of color. From huge political issues to helping men and women gain their rights in the work force. Things from cosecha (field work) to the workers in the factories he helped give these, often times illiterate people a voice. He did more than just speak and give hope through words, but what set this man apart from the rest was his willingness to be hands on involved with everything he spoke of changing. He was there working with all the people he spoke to and making the necessary moves to create a positive change.

Although, some of Che's actions could be perceived by some as "too much" or crossing certain moral lines, he never, till the day he was murdered, stopped fighting for what he believed in, and for that very reason his legacy lives on like many other men including; Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy. Though communism may have lost its fire, he remains the potent symbol of rebellion and the alluring zeal of revolution. 

Che made his mark in history fighting for fair labor for minorities and their rights to having a safe environment as well as making the most of the land the were equipped with. So the question I'm opposing is who will be the next person man or woman to help give a voice to the men and women who can't speak for themselves?

By: Heidi Nunez

The Forgotten African American Farmers

One might often think of White or Mexican farmers when they think of our food system as it operates today. Yet, African Americans obviously have a long history in farming, due in large part to slavery. However, after slavery was abolished, African American involvement in farming continued. Rightfully feeling entitled to own a part of the land they had cultivated under opression and exploitation for generations, the motto of black former slaves became "forty acres and a mule." For a short time during the Reconstruction after the Civil War, Blacks were allowed to purchase land at reduced prices. However, the majority of the recently freed slaves still did not have enough capital or access to resources to take advantage of even this half-hearted offer. Sharecropping came into widespread use, in which the White farm owners allowed Black farmers to live on the farm and take control of a part of it. In exchange, the Black farmer would share part of the crop with the landowner. Still, this system perpetuated economic and political power in the hands of whites.

After the Reconstruction and moving through the 20th century, those African Americans who did own land suffered just as most other farmers did with the industrialization and consolidation of farming. Many lost their land and their livelihood, but minorities gave up an unequal share. Between 1900 and 1997, there was an estimated 98% loss of farmland ownership for blacks, versus only 66% loss for white farmers (Cultivating Food Justice, 2011). In recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been accused of racial discrimination in its dissemination of Agricultural support funds. Therefore, there has been a class-action lawsuit against the USDA on the table for a long time. Finally, after nearly a decade of court proceedings, a settlement has been reached for African American farmers. Yet this victory falls far short of equating a fair repayment to the history of loss, oppression, exploitation, and abuse of Black farmers.

http://www.americanblackfarmersproject.com/


http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-28/us/us_black-farmers_1_african-american-farmers-national-black-farmers-association-racial-bias?_s=PM:US

-Brandon Alborg

Duwamish River Pollution and Poor Neighborhoods

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Is-Seattle-creating-ghettos-of-povery-and-2179942.php

Looking at data from the years 1990-2000 in Seattle, the American Journal of Public Health found that there was an increased stratification between rich and poor neighborhoods in relation to income inequality, property values, and pollution. Neighborhoods such as Ballard which previously were more industrial have become richer and more popular places to live, and thus the pollution sources have been moved to poorer, already toxin affected neighborhoods such as South Park and Georgetown, which are situated along the Duwamish River.

The Duwamish river and the communities surrounding it have a history of receiving an unequal share of pollution runoff from businesses such as Boeing and the Port of Seattle, among other factory operations located on the river. Residents of these neighborhoods already experience inequalities in health, such as increased asthma, diabetes, and colorectal cancer. Babies born to parents living on the Duwamish are more likely die as infants and also have a shorter life expectancy than the rest of King County. These health injustices are not getting better, but only beginning to be addressed by public health agencies. There exists a great deal of data detailing the environmental contamination which has been literally dumped in and around Duwamish river for years. The Duwamish is listed on the Superfund list, which is a record of the most toxic environmental areas in the United States. Yet, there is still work to be done to fully asses the extent of the damage, who is responsible, and how to clean it up.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Should-Duwamish-cleanup-also-focus-on-improving-1306234.php#page-1

The pollution of the Duwamish not only affects those in close proximity to the river itself. The toxins in the river affect the salmon and other sea life in the river. When those sea foods are eaten by those who have traditionally depended on the Duwamish for their food supply, such as the Native American inhabitants of the Seattle area, they ingest harmful chemicals. The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition states that "PCBs are found in nearly all salmon in the river," and that the pollutants concentrated in the fish and shellfish can also be spread to other wildlife such as birds, which further distributes the toxins in the surrounding environment to other predators.

http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/index.html

The Cleanup Coalition has plans to clean up the river while supplying quality living-wage jobs, but there is much organization to be done.

-Brandon Alborg

BP's Bullying

Take a moment to watch this short clip about BP dumping oil-spill waste in Mississippi.

  

          Disparities in exposure to environmental toxins continue to become evermore prevalent, especially with the 2010 BP oil spill in the gulf.  To the privileged public, BP was doing an amazing cleanup job and the waste seemed to just disappear.  What a perfect and fair world we would live in if that were true.  However, 61 percent of the waste was dumped in communities of color.  I’ll admit that I too assumed the oil had miraculously vanished and everything had been restored to how it was before the accident.  The majority of the oil did vanish from the gulf, but it reappeared in the backyards of people of color.  These are the same communities that were hit the hardest by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and that live in poverty—there are no resources available to them to reconstruct their shattered lives.

            Conclusions of possible health effects that may result from the waste of the oil spill can be drawn, but there is little data to support these conclusions because the companies that are responsible for the oil spill have been allowed to keep that information private.  However, it is thought that exposure to benzene and other oil chemicals can create many risks to reproductive and maternal health. 

            Three out of the five approved dumpsites in Louisiana for the oil waste are located in primarily black communities.  The African American communities located along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast were some of the communities that were hardest hit by hurricane Katrina, and dumping the highly venomous waste from the oil will only add more hardships in their recovery efforts.  It’s pretty obvious that there is a blatant disregard of concern for the health and recovery of these impoverished communities.  The billion-dollar company, BP, sure can afford to clean up their mess without dumping their waste on those who are given no voice.  

Article referenced:  http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/08/environmental_racism_surfacing_in_bp_spill_waste_management.html

Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD2gJSM_sLY 

~Eve Hansen