Author Archives: admin

Organic food market booming

What continued to grow right through the recession? Local and organic foods, especially sold through farmers’ markets and traditional supermarkets.

Carol Hazard wrote in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 21, 2011, Organic, natural food catching on:

U.S. sales of organic foods and beverages grew from $1 billion in 1990 to $24.8 billion in 2009, according to the Organic Trade Association.

The sector saw double-digit growth — often more than 20 percent — every year over the past decade except 2009, at the tail-end of the recession. Even then, organic sales rose 5.9 percent from the previous year while total food sales increased only 1.6 percent.

The article didn’t link to the study, but here it is: Industry Statistics and Projected Growth.

Further from the Times-Dispatch article:

National grocers are pumping up their organic and natural food selections. Even Wal-Mart and its Sam’s Club warehouse division are paying attention.
Continue reading →

Kia and school unification in Troup County, Georgia: any connection?

The only example in Georgia that CUEE claimed of good effects of school unification was Troup County, Georgia, where a few people are convinced that the Kia plant would not have come to town if the schools hadn’t unified. That’s one county out of 159. And it’s hearsay anecdotal evidence. So let’s look for any actual evidence.

The county’s own announcement of the Kia plant opening says nothing about schools, much less unification. Troup County’s web page about their Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development does mention education, but says nothing about school unification. Their county history page mentions the Kia plant but nothing about education being a factor, much less school unification.

Even if that anecdotal connection between school unification and the Kia plant had some evidence behind it, that’s not an example of improved education!

-jsq

Private prisons illegal in Israel

I couldn’t find a U.S. Jewish statement on private prisons, but Tomer Zarchin published this in Haaretz in Israel 20 November 2009: International legal precedent: No private prisons in Israel
The High Court of Justice put an end to years of controversy Thursday by ruling that privately run prisons are unconstitutional.

Following the decision, the state is expected to have to pay hundreds of millions of shekels in compensation to a company that had already completed construction of the first private prison, near Be’er Sheva.

The panel of nine justices, presided over by Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, ruled that for the state to transfer authority for managing the prison to a private contractor whose aim is monetary profit would severely violate the prisoners’ basic human rights to dignity and freedom.

-jsq

How to power the world with Wind, Water, and Sun

…a new study just published in the journal Energy Policy states that the world can provide for all of its energy needs, including electric power, transportation, heating/cooling, etc using only wind, water, and solar (WWS) energy by the year 2030.
By water the study authors, Mark Z. Jacobson (pictured) Mark A. Delucch, mostly mean hydroelectric power, which would involve building more dams, with all their environmental problems. Still, it’s an interesting study demonstrating that true renewable energy could power the world: no coal, no oil, no nuclear.

-jsq

Solar is better than biomass because it doesn’t pollute –Jack Pruden @ VCC 24 March 2011

Jack Pruden’s hand-lettered sign says:
Ban the burn
Go 100% solar
Gretchen asked him about that and he said:


Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 24 March 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Angela Manning and her extended ovation @ VCC 24 March 2011

It’s Sunday, so let’s see what a local preacher thinks about the biomass plant. Mayor Fretti asked if there were any Citizens Wishing to be Heard, and a preacher said, “yes”. No, not Rev. Rose. He last spoke to the Valdosta City Council back on 10 February, and left in disgust. Besides, the Council thinks people are frightened of little old him.

This time, 24 March 2011, Angela Manning, minister of the 1500-member New Life Ministries in Valdosta near the proposed site for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant, read from the Valdosta City Council’s own mission statement and asked,

How do you adhere to your mission statement?
Here’s the video: Continue reading →

What do churches think of private prisons?

It’s Sunday, so let’s ask some churches what they think of private prisons.

Episcopal Church:

“The shipping of fathers and mothers to private prisons in far-flung states is guaranteeing a new generation of frightened, angry, disenfranchised children, who are future inmates,” she said, adding that “families who try to visit loved ones are treated as suspects in many prisons. The children cannot understand the lack of warmth and hospitality in the visiting rooms.”

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention is on record in opposition to private prisons.

Presbyterian Church: Continue reading →

Why school consolidation is useless: bright flight

What local county grew twice as fast as any of the others? If you guessed Lowndes, nope, no prize for you. The answer, according to the 2000 census, is Lanier County:

What school consolidation would get us is more of that. Not white flight, rather bright flight, to Lanier and other counties. Many of the leaders of the local African-American community already don’t live in Valdosta; they live in Lowndes County or even Berrien County. More of both black and white people will move out of a county with a consolidated school district, resulting in lower educational results not just for Valdosta but also for Lowndes schools. Is that what we want?

How about all the people who claim they know how to take our schools to “the next level” get on with doing that right now with the two existing school systems?

-jsq

Biomass protesters @ VCC 24 March 2011

Black and white, young and old, conservative and liberal, college professors and unemployed: dozens of them demonstrated against biomass outside the Valdosta City Council meeting, 24 March 2011:

As Dr. George said Continue reading →

Wiregrass Tech: fastest growing and award winning

According to Community College Week Magazine,
Valdosta Technical College (which is now Wiregrass Georgia Technical College) earned the honor as being the fastest-growing college in the nation among colleges with enrollments of equal size.
Its size range is enrollments 2,500 to 4,999 (see page 8.) Enrollment went up at Wiregrass Tech 45% between Fall 2008 and 2009.

Also, the Technical College System of Georgia named Wiregrass Tech Technical College of the Year for 2010.

-jsq