Editor’s Note: This post is by Erich Rettstadt, a student at New York University who attended The People Speak College Tour event on his campus last week.

A rainy mid-November day in Manhattan did not deter the NYU masses from attending the latest stop on The People Speak college tour. Lines of students buzzing with anticipation wrapped around The Cooper Union’s historic Great Hall hours before the 2PM event began, braving the wet and windy weather to see the headlining mega-celebrity. Matt Damon, you ask? Oh no. None other than Mr. Howard Zinn himself. After Damon’s passionate reading of an excerpt from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the crowd’s cheers were overwhelmed by the standing ovation Mr. Zinn received upon entering the stage moments later. Handling himself with grace, dignity and unmatched wit, Mr. Zinn encouraged the largely college-aged audience to push and prod our government until we get the change that we wanted to see. And to never give up.

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Editor’s Note: This guest post is written by Kristin Schafer, Senior Policy Analyst at the Pesticide Action Network.

I like my cranberries and pumpkin pie chemical-free.

It’s not that you can taste or smell pesticides on food–the levels are much too low for that. It’s just that I sleep better knowing I’ve done all I can to minimize the number of chemicals I put into my body and feed to my kids.

I’ve been a mom for 15 years and a pesticide reform advocate for almost as long. I’ve organized around international treaties, lobbied government officials, and cheered at a lot of swim meets and baseball games. For me, these two worlds come together most clearly around food–in our backyard garden, in the produce aisle and at the dinner table.

So I buy organic and local whenever I can manage it. This keeps pesticides off our plates and helps small organic farmers. My family’s demand for organic sweet potatoes helps spur supply, building a market for produce that doesn’t put farmers, farmworkers and rural families in harm’s way.

But sometimes organic just isn’t available, and that’s where WhatsOnMyFood? comes in. Pesticide Action Network just released a new iPhone App that makes the invisible problem of pesticides more visible to food shoppers. The tool shows which pesticides are found on what foods, and how those chemicals can harm human health. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Scott Fifer, Founder and Executive Director of GO Campaign, a nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for orphans and vulnerable children around the world.

With our 2nd Annual GO GO Gala to benefit orphans and vulnerable children around the world coming up in Hollywood this Friday, I find my days filled with an odd mix of conversations in Swahili, celebrity seating requests, tax receipts, Spanish lessons, ego-massaging, party planning, and trying to find a place to polish my shoes. A former attorney and screenwriter, it’s not exactly the life I would have envisioned 20, 10, or even five years ago. And I rarely give thought to how it happened. Instead of focusing on how I got here, I generally would rather focus on getting things done now that I’m here. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Jerusha Klemperer, program manager at Slow Food USA, where she is also the editor of the blog. In addition she blogs for Civil Eats and The Huffington Post.

On Labor Day 2009, in all 50 states, 20,000 people sat down together at public potlucks in support of updating our nation’s school lunch program.

At these picnics-held in parks, on farms, in backyards and school yards-communities came together in celebratory protest of a school lunch program that is broken. They eat real, home-cooked food as a demonstration of the delicious, wholesome food they believe should be a part of the lunch served in public schools around the country. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s note: This guest post is written by Adam Lowry, the co-founder and Chief Greenskeeper of Method Products, Inc.

There’s an old saying that there are two things you never want to see being made: laws and sausage. For certain, one thing that the Information Age has done is expose the inner workings of our political process, and it ain’t pretty. It’s also shown us that our leaders are just as human and just as flawed as the rest of us. Perhaps as a result, millions of Americans have become disenchanted, or at least apathetic, to the civic engagement that has been America’s hallmark.

I’ve had my own personal experience with this type of disillusionment. After working on climate change at the Carnegie Institution, where my group contributed work to the formation of the Kyoto Protocol. I watched as this work died on the vine, and the U.S. did nothing. I decided there was a better way. I created a business, Method, geared to creating positive change by celebrating creativity, ingenuity, and a positive point of view while making homes healthier; showing people that living pleasurably and living more sustainably were not mutually exclusive. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This post is by Simon Han, a Communication Studies Major at Northwestern University who attended The People Speak College tour event on his campus last week.

I had the opportunity last Wednesday to see hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, actor Michael Ealy, and writer Anthony Arnove when they came to Northwestern University to promote an upcoming History Channel documentary called The People Speak. Like the documentary, the event included dramatic performances of works from a range of Americans focusing especially on those left out of mainstream history books. In addition, the audience got a chance to see some clips from the movie and to participate in a Q&A session with the three guests.

I have to admit, I attended this event with mixed feelings. One word spoke to me, and it wasn’t “democracy” or “history” or “activism.” It was Lupe. A huge fan of his music, I jumped at the chance to see him in person and maybe even meet him. But I knew Lupe Fiasco wasn’t here to belt out “Superstar” to a throng of screaming, adoring fans. He was here to shine a light on the voices of everyday Americans. As he said before the event, “It’s learning about the other side of the story—the people’s side of the story.” And I didn’t know how to feel about that. These guys are celebrities. What’s really important here?

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Editor’s Note: Last year, this story was submitted as a comment to TakePart by Joshua Poulsen on Veteran’s Day. We are re-posting it a year later to remember his story and honor his service.

On the 11th Day of the 11th month each year, Americans come together to honor those in uniform, the ones who sacrificed for our nation, on Veterans Day. As a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan, War on Terror, I urge everyone to take this day to not just thank a veteran, but to talk with veterans. Learn about how our experiences have shaped our lives and what issues we face as we make our transitions back to civilian life. I would like to explain my side of the story, my own experience.

When I joined the military I was a young, confused kid who did not know much about life, due to being sheltered for most of my life by my over protective parents. I did not know much about the war, just that I was enraged at the hatred those terrorists had for all Americans and me. I wanted to help my country, to protect it at all cost, even giving up my life to do so. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s note: This guest post was written by Paul Shapiro, senior director of the Humane Society of the United States’ factory farming campaign.

Reducing our Global Food-Print
When we think about minimizing our contributions to climate change, we may consider switching our light bulbs, driving less, buying local, and more. These are all important and laudable ways to reduce our carbon footprint, but, as Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein notes, “there’s no reason to ignore the impact of what we put on our plates.”

In other words, changing these habits is no excuse for ignoring what’s arguably the most important lifestyle choice we can make: reducing our food-print simply by eating lower on the food chain.

Estimates vary, but raising and killing animals for food is clearly among the top contributors to climate change. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization asserts that animal agriculture generates 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases—more than all transportation combined. A recent Worldwatch report even claims that the FAO report “vastly underestimate[s]” the size of the problem, and that the percentage is actually closer to half of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This post is by Antonia Lassar, a student at Boston University who attended The People Speak College tour event on her campus last week.

To my right is a boy in the most vivid red denim shirt I have ever seen. (Confession: I have never actually seen a red denim shirt before, regardless of the color saturation.) In front of me is a man with spectacularly gray hair wearing a t-shirt with a tiny green stoplight on the upper right shoulder. Next to me is a woman wearing a headscarf singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The whole situation seems bizarrely symbolic.

The night hasn’t even started yet, but there is a haphazard air - a frenetic buzz- to the Tsai Performance Center and looks are exchanged between strangers all acknowledging our common purpose. I grew up in Newton, Mass- a city so homogenously white and Jewish we have nicknamed it Jewton. This room is one of the most culturally diverse rooms I’ve ever been in. While there are many academics, there are also low-income high school students, wealthy entrepreneurs, impoverished veterans, and giggly Matt Damon fans; those were just the people I spoke with after the show. That being said, we’re kind of a choir. As in, one to preach to. We all love Howard Zinn, and we all agree with him. Prediction: we will all leave here feeling just as socially conscious as we did when we entered.

We start with a video clip, and the woman next to me is still humming. I learn to measure her response to things by the amount of time she is silent. By the time Howard Zinn climbs on stage, the battle march is dwindling. By the end of his raucous applause, either the war is over or her side has lost. While simultaneously listening to her and cheering far too loudly for Howard Zinn, I notice an interesting coincidence. Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is widely touted as one of those few books that increases in popularity as times progresses. Like the book, the audience’s applause grows, building in intensity like some ritual only familiar to cave men and college students. Zinn has an elusive quality that makes people fall more and more in love with him as time goes on.

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