KPFA - Making Contact

We continue our series “How We Survive.”  The irony of food poverty in California’s agriculturally rich Central Valley and a look at community gardens popping up in food deserts. We also explore a project bringing healthy food to low income neighborhoods in Oakland, California.

Featuring: 
“Healthy & Affordable Food in Urban Areas”

Michelle Obama;

Erica Torrence, People’s Grocery Community Outreach Coordinator;

Nubia, Receives People’s Grocery “Grub Box”.

“Empty Breadbaskets in the Central Valley”

Rachel Klein, Fresno Community Food Bank Worker;

Evangelina Zaragoza, Needs Food Aid;

Nayamin Martinez, Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities Health Coordinator;

Richard Yanes, Fresno Metro Ministry Executive Director;

Tom Mattott, Fresno Metro Ministry Al-Radka Park Community Garden Manager.

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Immigrant detention is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in the U.S., with more than 30-thousand detainees behind bars on any given day.  Reports of rampant abuse and negligent medical care are widespread.  And once again politicians, lawyers and human rights groups are calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

On this edition, we hear the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona.  And we report on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

The first segment of this show is part of a special collaboration between “Feet in Two Worlds,” a project that brings the work of immigrant journalists to public radio and National Radio Project.

Much appreciation to the Omnia Foundation for funding for this program.

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Marine corporal Rick Reyes fought in Afghanistan, but now strongly opposes the war.  He and other anti-war activists traveled to Afghanistan, to meet with government officials, women’s rights activists and ordinary Afghans. They learned that despite a supposed change in policy, the US military continues to bomb civilians. Independent producer Reese Erlich accompanied the group, as they met critics of both the US government and the Karzai administration.

Featuring:

Marine Corporal Rick Reyes, Afghan War Veteran; Najibullah Sedeque, Journalist and Translator; Tawaz Khan, Refugee Headman; Khan, Helmand Province Farmer; Norman Solomon, Institute for Public Accuracy Executive Director (and one of the founders of Making Contact); Samun Tasmim, Abdul Mahmood, Abdul Tawab, Arif Hussein, Hosay Kasmi, Azila, Tavana, Students; Satwana Dasgupta, Afghans4Tomorrow Executive Director; Fatima Gailaini, Afghan Red Crescent Society and Woman’s Rights Activist; Ebadullah Ebad, Farmer; Jean Luc Lemahieu, UN Organization on Drugs and Crime in Kabul; Afzal Rashid, Afghan Finance Ministry Former Senior Advisor;

Reese Erlich’s book, "Conversations with Terrorists" is due in bookstores in 2010.

Special thanks to Najibullah Sedeque for translation. And to Dan Turner, Alfonso Hooker, Joe Pascual and Megan Martenyi.

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Across the U.S., virtually everyone is feeling the deepening economic crunch in one way or another.  Unemployment rates are soaring and homelessness is skyrocketing as the economy continues to sink. Millions of Americans are in dire straits… and stories of trying to survive the times are all too common.

On this edition, we visit with a family who lost their home and now lives inside their cramped trailer in a city parking lot.  And we’ll hear how two different communities are dealing with the economic crisis by taking matters into their own hands.

Featuring:  David Clements, homeless, lives in trailer with family; Jennifer, Chloe, Yanni, Enya, and Kierlan, David’s family; Nancy Kapp, New Beginnings Counseling Center homeless outreach coordinator; Max Rameau, Take Back The Land founder; Eric Evinowskis, Pinellas Hope facilities manager; Sheila Lopez, Pinellas Catholic Charities CEO and Pinellas Hope director; Rocco Mariano, Laura Letziati, James Stockstill, Pinellas Hope clients; Marie Nadine Pierre, Take Back the Land participant; Kelly Penton, City of Miami spokesperson.

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Freshwater is our most vital natural resource. It’s a finite one too, although we don’t always treat it that way.  Contamination, overconsumption, misuse and abuse have made freshwater increasingly scarce around the world. So how do we protect our water supply? Many say start at the source––take care of the rivers.

On this edition, we talk to river stewards across the U.S. working to protect, cleanup and restore our valuable fresh waterways.

 This program is made possible in part by The PARK Foundation.

Featuring:

Patrick Koepele, Tuolumne River Trust Deputy Executive Director; Alex Matthiesson, Riverkeeper Inc. President; Sharon Ruggi, CEASE member; Bonnie Smith, Croton Point Park beach-goer; Art Parola, University of Louisville Civil Engineering Professor and The Stream Institute Director; Cindy Harnett, University of Louisville Professor;

Dr. Dorothy Merritts, Franklin and Marshall College Geomorphology Professor.

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