Insight / Politics & Economics
Like many Americans, I depend on the U.S. Postal Service to meet everyday needs and participate in society. I never thought I’d have to make a case to defend it. Back in August, when I was running out of my blood pressure medication, I remember checking the mailbox only to…
Insight / Land Rights
Having worked all my life in farming, agricultural development, education and social change, I know that land and water are the basis of life for communities everywhere. That’s why I am alarmed that the company running my retirement fund, TIAA, is proud to be both the world’s largest manager of…
Insight / Right to Food and Agriculture
Coronavirus didn’t break the U.S. meat supply chain, the big companies did. When it comes to meat, a few companies like Smithfield, Tysons, JBS, and the big box retailers have bound farmers, workers, and consumers in long food chains where the benefits flow to the top. Trump’s executive order that…
Insight / Right to Food and Agriculture
I have just returned from my family’s farm in Pennsylvania, where I was helping my retired parents avoid exposure to coronavirus. It’s impossible to go back to business-as-usual when we consider how this pandemic will affect the whole world and how we don’t yet understand its extent or which countries…
Insight / Land Rights
Part 1: TIAA’s “sustainability reports” can’t paper over the impacts of land grabbing Champaign County is the home of the University of Illinois and some of the richest farmland in the world. It is also home to Westchester Farm Services, the TIAA subsidiary that manages most of their farmland in…
Insight / Land Rights
With a client base surpassing 5 million people, TIAA is one of the largest retirement funds in the world. What most of us don’t realize is that TIAA is also the largest owner of farmland in the world – and it’s getting bigger. As a TIAA client who grew up…
Insight / Land Rights
Abelino Chub Caal, an indigenous Maya Q’eqchi teacher in Guatemala, was having lunch with his wife and young children when three policemen suddenly arrested him. He was put behind bars without trial, and more than two years passed before he had the chance to testify in court. After a recent…
Insight / Land Rights
In the coming weeks and months, a number of Guatemalan palm oil producers are expecting to receive memberships in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — a move that would secure them a certain green credibility and improve the reputation of Guatemalan palm oil production in the international market.…
Insight / Disaster Response / Land Rights
This week, many people in the United States were saddened and angered by the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, the seven-year-old Mayan girl from Guatemala detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. Few noticed, however, that on Tuesday the United States and Guatemala were two of only eight countries that voted…
Insight / Land Rights / Right to Food and Agriculture
What is a peasant? Many people in the United States think it’s a derogatory term referring to people ruled by feudal lords in the middle ages. But it really means a “person of the land or of the country” and in much of the world, family farmers and rural workers…
