Foreign Students in Exchange Program Walk Out of American Jobs amid Claims of Labor Exploitation

  

  

Hundreds of foreign students taking part in a U.S. State Department cultural exchange summer program walked out of their job at a Hershey’s chocolate plant in Pennsylvania. The students said their jobs are exploitative and in many cases grossly failed to cover the costs they spent on visas in their home countries. The students have reportedly been required to lift heavy boxes, work eight-hour shifts beginning at 11 p.m., and stand for long periods of time while packing Reese’s candies, Kit-Kats and Almond Joys on a fast-moving production line.

Student's Garden

Student's Garden

Drought 2011: Texas Agriculture Losses Could Set New Record

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Randy McGee spent $28,000 in one month pumping water onto about 500 acres in West Texas before he decided to give up irrigating 75 acres of corn and focus on other crops that stood a better chance in the drought.

He thought rain might come and save those 75 acres, but it didn't and days of triple-digit heat sucked the remaining moisture from the soil. McGee walked recently through rows of sunbaked and stunted stalks, one of thousands of farmers counting his losses amid record heat and drought this year.

The drought has spread over much of the southern U.S., leaving Oklahoma the driest it has been since the 1930s and setting records from Louisiana to New Mexico. But the situation is especially severe in Texas, which trails only California in agricultural productivity.

Greening the Food Deserts

Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that SUPERVALU, Walgreens and Walmart committed to open or expand 1500 supermarkets across America’s food deserts - low-income areas without easy access to a supermarket. But while improving food access is a noble goal, the announcement merits a closer look.

Critics of the program note that health disparities are more strongly related to poverty than location of grocery stores. In fact, a recently published study in a top medical journal found that “greater supermarket availability was generally unrelated to diet quality…” Responding to the announcement, Joe Hansen, of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), pointed out that “Walmart is more responsible than any other private employer in our country for creating poverty-level jobs that leave workers unable to purchase healthy food.”

U.N.: Horn of Africa Crisis Threatens 12.4 Million

The United Nations is warning the food crisis in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa has grown to threaten more than 12.4 million people. Aid groups continue to plead for donations as funding continues to lag. Less than half of a $2.5 billion U.N. appeal has been met. On Tuesday, a UNICEF spokesperson urged international airlines to help carry aid to starving children.

Marixie Mercadi: "The funding situation is dire for the Horn of Africa. UNICEF has a funding gap of over $200 million out of a $314 million appeal. There are over 2.3 million acutely malnourished children in the Horn of Africa. More than half a million will die if they do not get help within weeks. With therapeutic feeding, a child can recuperate in a matter of 4 to 6 weeks. We are appealing to the airline industry for free or heavily discounted airline cargo space to transport this therapeutic food to children who will die without it."