Are we not peasant too? Land rights and women's claims in India.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Introduction In 1979, over two decades ago, a group of poor women from West Bengal made the following demand of their elected village council: "Please go and ask the government why, when it distributes land, we don't get a title. Are we not...

Business and Society; Reducing child labor.
Byline: Bernardo M. Villegas Out of the 100 children who start grade school, only about 40 will be able to continue after six years of elementary schooling. The remaining sixty will drop out mainly for financial reasons. It is not only because these twelve-or thirteen-year olds cannot...

Wal-Mart expansion plan draws opposition.
Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard COTTAGE GROVE - Wal-Mart will present a "supersize me" request to the Cottage Grove Planning Commission this month, seeking zoning code changes allowing it to nearly double in size and add a full-service grocery department. But the company will face...

Struggle for identity in the most Southern place on Earth: The Chinese in the Mississippi Delta.
The Mississippi Delta, an alluvial plain flanked by the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers in the northwest corner of the state, has been described by historian James Cobb as "the most Southern place on Earth." (1) It offers stark contrasts. Because of an economic heritage born out of cotton farming,...

Fresh vegetable harvesting: practices change to meet California's fresh-cut and food safety needs.
In the past few years there have been a number of changes in harvesting practices used in the fresh vegetable industry in California and Arizona. Several factors have led to these changes: an increased emphasis on food safety, the growth of the so-called fresh-cut, prepackaged salads and ready-to-use vegetable...

The beginning of slavery.
It would be unfair to follow them to Africa for this investigation. We will consider them here, on the same stage with whites, and where the facts are not apocryphal on which a judgment...

Organic panic: border closing chokes farms.
ORGANIC FARMER Dick Peixoto has already ripped out 30 acres of vegetables this year, and another 100 acres are on the verge of being overrun by weeds. According to the Associated Press, his losses so far total about $200,000. The cause: immigration policy. Recent crackdowns at the...

Learning to observe: the practice of natural agriculture.
[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Yasuo Tarumi will kneel by the computer when required, will sit at the dining table when politeness demands. But the truth is, he would rather be on his couch. As soon as allowed, he'll return to the indentation he has made in the flower-patterned cushion...

Tomato workers not loving McDonald's.
After declaring victory last year on Taco Bell for the treatment of Florida tomato pickers who supply the food chain, the Alliance for Fair Food, in association with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, are now going after McDonald's, the biggest fast food chain in...

The coolidge presidency: historians have rated Calvin Coolidge poorly among our nation's chief executives for being a "do-nothing president," but he should be rated highly for the very same reason.
Most Americans reserve their greatest praise for past presidents who were noted for their activity while in office. Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt immediately come to mind--the former for his aggressive extra-executive actions in putting down a "rebellion," and the latter for equally aggressive measures in reshaping American...