What if we create a ‘Community Food Center’ in DeKalb County? What if we use local food production, processing, and distribution as an engine for economic and personal development? What if we used food as a way to not only feed people but also train and employ people? Use food for job readiness? The DeKalb County Community Food Center drawing on our agricultural heritage is an initiative that solves several problems. It address es the issues of lack of access to fresh healthy food options. It

When someone asks, “ what is your worth? ” -- do you think of money? Our sense of personal value is based on habits of mind absorbed from upbringing and values promoted by our culture. Many people feel useless unless they are doing practical things, preferably for money through work. American identities are strongly tied to this. At the same time, Americans are cultural inheritors of Emersonian self-reliance and individualism. We fashion personas that too exclusively value usefulness through

It’s clear that Wi-Fi has turned too many of us into internet junkies, no matter how old we are . T ime s pen t connect ed to the “24/7” internet swallows up a whole lot of what was once considered “free time” or even “working hours,” for some . Time spent surfing the web is really time spent disengag ing from our surroundings and the people around us. Instead of engag ing with our “real time” companions, we are wandering through the “web - o - sphere” where absolutely nothing seems impossible,

Typically, at milestone moments in life, Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is recited because it encourages us to take the one less traveled by, fully knowing this choice will change our lives forever. Not so long ago, I was struck by how limiting Frost's vision was when compared to an equally well-known poem in Spanish by Antonio Machado. Rather than presenting us with only two options, Machado clarifies that there are no paths except the ones we create by walking: Caminante , no hay camino ,

The seething anger between Americans frightens me. Pundits are saying we are as polarized as Americans before the Civil War. What would happen if we did something more radical than resist? Instead of staying with easy outrage, what if we mined for common ground? I’m not sure the powers that be want us to find it, so let’s resist them. How? Remember we are more than our politics. Pick who you want to talk with. Facebook arguments take up emotion and brain space. They enflame our outrage. But with

From the confusing debate over tariffs and‎ trade policy, four distinct, and distinctly different, conclusions emerge. First, China may present a special case. Employing a toxic mix of currency manipulation, wholesale appropriation of intellectual property, and high tariffs, the Chinese government appears to be constructing a mercantilist wall of protection economists call "beggar thy neighbor". Second, tariffs are not cost-free. A tariff is a tax. Many Americans will be taxed through higher

It was just another ordinary day. I came home from running errands, found the mail, opened, on the dining room table. I briefly glanced at it and continued with letting the dogs out, hanging up my keys and getting a drink of water, before sitting down. I picked up the letter and felt the hair on the back of my neck bristle as the words, “three Jews,” “a N…..” and “that dyke, Killary” jumped out at me. The person who sent the letter to “Occupants” decided to threaten me about the political signs

I begin today with the moral of the story: It’s not all about you. The story comes from David J. Flood. He’s a motivational speaker who takes his message to teen audiences. His story, though, should be heard by all ages. He talks about his son Justin, who has autism. Flood stands before his audiences and says, “ Justin looks like all of you guys, and he is just like all you guys. Not here (pointing to his head), here (touching his heart).” Justin struggles to fit in socially, but he is not

Several times during Bret Kavanaugh’s path to the Supreme Court, President Trump, Judge Kavanaugh, and others lamented how expressing allegations of sexual misconduct was “tearing down a good man,” a “hit job.” Mr. Trump declared “a man’s life is in tatters,” even though Kavanaugh’s approval was all but sealed. Well, Mr. Trump, Mr. Kavanaugh, welcome to the wonderful world of being Black in America. Cases in point of a long history: In addition to hundreds of lynchings, in 1913 the Scottsboro

On a recent boat tour aboard Pittsburgh ’ s Gateway Clipper, our guide told us that about 30 miles down the Ohio River lies what is reportedly the first human settlement in North America, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter . Archaeologists have dated it to some 16,000 years ago. I wasn ’ t able to visit in person but began imagining the first residents of this New World country. Yesterday some people celebrated Columbus ’ so-called discovery of America while others marked it as a day to recognize and