When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida three weeks ago, Jason Madison was alone at his place, which doubled as a shrimp storefront in Keaton Beach. As the wind began to roar and the bay started to roil, Madison decided to flee. It was the right call. When he returned home the next morning, he found that the nearly 20-foot storm surge had torn it apart. Dead fish and broken furniture littered the landscape. Most everything in the building was lost, taking with it a cornerstone of his livelihood.
“I had five tanks under there where I stored shrimp, because we sell everything alive, but all that’s all gone now,” said Madison, a commercial bait and shrimp farmer for the last 23 years. He paused to take in the strewn debris. “Well, the pieces are around.” Anything Helene left behind is a waterlogged shell of what used to be. He doesn’t know how, or even if, he’ll rebuild.
Stories like this are playing out all through the Southeast. The storm battered six states, causing billions of dollars in losses to crops, livestock, and aquaculture. Just 13 days later, Milton barreled across Florida, leaving millions without power and hampering ports, feed facilities, and fertilizer plants along the state’s west coast.
Preliminary estimates suggest Helene, one of the nation’s deadliest and costliest hurricanes since Katrina in 2005, upended hundreds of thousands of businesses throughout the Southeast and devastated a wide swath of the region’s agricultural operations. Milton’s impact was more limited, but the two calamities are expected to reduce feed and fertilizer supplies and increase production costs, which could drive up prices for things like chicken and fruit in the months and years to come.
The compounding effect of the two storms will create “a direct impact on agricultural production,” said Seungki Lee, an agricultural economist at Ohio State University.
When a farm, an orchard, a ranch, or any other agricultural operation is damaged in a disaster, it often leads to a drop in production, or even brings it to a screeching halt. That slowdown inevitably ripples through the companies that sell things like seeds and fertilizer and equipment. Even those growers and producers who manage to keep going — or weren’t directly impacted at all — might find that damage to roads and other critical infrastructure hampers the ability to bring their goods to market.
Early reports indicate this is already happening. Downed trees, flooded roads, and congested highways have disrupted key transport routes throughout the Southeast, while ports across the region suspended operations because of the storms, compounding a slowdown that followed a dockworker strike along the Gulf and East Coast.
Helene dismantled farming operations that serve as linchpins for the nation’s food supply chain. Cataclysmic winds destroyed hundreds of poultry houses across Georgia and North Carolina, which account for more than 25 percent of the machinery used to produce most of the country’s chicken meat. An analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that the region hit by Helene produced some $6.3 billion in poultry products in 2022, with over 80 percent of it coming from the most severely impacted parts of both states. In Florida, the storm flattened roughly one in seven broiler houses, which the Farm Bureau noted, compounding losses throughout the region that “will not only reduce the immediate supply of poultry but also hinder local production capacity for months or even years.”
The storm uprooted groves, vegetable fields, and row crops throughout the region. Georgia produces more than a third of the nation’s pecans, and some growers have lost all of their trees. Farmers in Florida, one of the nation’s leading producers of oranges, bell peppers, sugar, and orchids, also have reported steep production losses, facing an uncertain future. The rain and floods unleashed by Helene hobbled livestock operations in every affected state, with the situation in western North Carolina so dire that local agricultural officials are crowdfunding feed and other supplies to help ranchers who lost their hay to rising water. Those working the sea were impacted as well; clam farmers along the Gulf Coast are grappling with the losses they incurred when Helene’s storm surge ravaged their stocks.
Residents in Black Mountain, North Carolina prepare to tow donated hay across Helene’s floodwaters with a paddleboard to feed horses and goats on a nearby farm on October 3, 2024. Mario Tama via Getty Images
All told, the counties affected by Helene produce about $14.8 billion in crops and livestock each year, with Georgia and Florida accounting for more than half of that. If even one-third of that output has been lost to the two hurricanes, the loss could reach nearly $5 billion, according to the Farm Bureau.
As bad as it is, it could have been worse both for consumers and for farmers nationwide. Florida is home to the highest concentration of fertilizer manufacturing plants in the nation. Twenty-two of the state’s 25 phosphate waste piles, several owned by industry powerhouse Mosaic, were in Milton’s path. The company, which did not respond to a request for comment, shuttered operations ahead of the storm, and has since announced it sustained “limited damage” to its plants and warehouses. (But the Tampa Bay Times reported that one facility was grappling with water intrusion following Helene and was inundated during Milton, likely sending water polluted with phosphate waste flowing into Tampa Bay.) The storm also halted operations for several days at Port Tampa Bay, which handles around a quarter of the country’s fertilizer exports.
Production impacts from both hurricanes may be felt most acutely by the Sunshine State’s struggling citrus industry, which has long been embattled by diseases and destructive hurricanes. Any additional losses could further inflate costs for goods like orange juice, which reached record highs this year, according to Lee, the agricultural economist. “In the face of hurricane shocks, agricultural production in southern states like Florida will take it on the chin,” he said.
But teasing out the effect of a single storm on consumer prices is not only exceedingly difficult, it requires many years of research, Lee warned. Although all signs indicate that Hurricane Ian was partly responsible for the record food prices that followed that storm in 2022, the strain the hurricane placed on costs compounded other factors, including global conflict, droughts in breadbasket regions and the bird flu epidemic that decimated the poultry sector.
Even so, there’s still a chance that ongoing disruptions to ports and trucking routes could cause “the entire food supply chain to experience additional strain due to rising prices” associated with moving those goods, said Lee. If that turns out to be the case, “eventually, when you go to the supermarket, you will end up finding more expensive commodities, by and large.”
One of the greatest unknowns remains the question of how many storm-weary operations will simply call it quits. Industrial-scale businesses will surely rebound, but the rapid succession of ruinous hurricanes may well discourage family farms and small producers from rebuilding, abandoning their livelihoods for less vulnerable ventures.
“It’s what we call a compound disaster. You’re still dealing with the effects of one particular storm while another storm is hitting,” said economist Christa Court. She directs the University of Florida’s Economic Impact Analysis program, which specializes in rapid assessments of agricultural losses after disasters. “We did see after Hurricane Idalia that there were operations that just decided to get out of the business and do something else because they were impacted so severely.”
Jason Madison, pictured, surveys the damage caused by Helene to his waterfront property in Keaton Beach, Florida on September 28, 2024. Ayurella Horn-Muller / Grist
Madison isn’t sure what’s next for his shrimp operation. He’s too focused on salvaging what he can to think that far ahead. “I don’t really know what I’m going to do,” he said. He hasn’t been able to afford flood insurance, so he’s not sure how much financial support he’ll end up getting to help him rebuild even as he’s still recovering from Hurricane Idalia, which pummeled Florida’s Big Bend area in August. “The last few years, it’s just things are dropping off, and times are getting hard … it’s like, what can you do?”
As the world continues to warm, more and more farmers may find themselves confronting the same question.
Fifteen Western countries have signed a public statement calling for China to release all “arbitrarily detained” Tibetans and Uyghurs and allow human rights observers to visit the regions in which they live.
The statement was delivered in a speech on Tuesday to the U.N. Humans Rights Committee by Australia’s ambassador there, James Larsen, who drew a strong rebuke from his Chinese counterpart.
“Transparency and openness are key to allaying concerns, and we call on China to allow unfettered and meaningful access to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent observers, including from the United Nations, to evaluate the human rights situation,” Larsen said in the speech.
The statement was co-signed by Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.
Beijing must live up to the human rights obligations it has “voluntarily assumed,” the statement adds, and accept the recommendations of the global community to improve its human rights.
“This includes releasing all individuals arbitrarily detained in both Xinjiang and Tibet, and urgently clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing family members,” the Australian ambassador said.
U.N. bodies have repeatedly detailed the detention of Tibetans and Uyghurs for the peaceful expression of political and religious views, Larsen noted, as well as the separation of families, forced abortions and sterilization, forced labor, forced disappearances and torture.
The United States, meanwhile, has said that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, in particular, constitutes an ongoing “genocide”.
‘Living hell’
In response to Larsen’s speech, China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, told the human rights committee that the governments who signed the document were ignoring the “living hell” of the situation in Gaza.
“The human rights situation that should gather the most attention at the committee this year is undoubtedly that of Gaza,” Fu said. “Australia and the United States … played down this living hell, while unleashing attacks and smears against the peaceful and tranquil Xinjiang.”
However, Tibetan and Uyghur advocates welcomed the statement.
“This is a positive development and sends a strong message to China,” said Namgyal Choedup, the Dalia Lama’s representative in North America. “Like-minded countries in the world have been monitoring China’s behavior, and they must press China on rights issues.”
Maya Wang, the interim China director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the statement, which she noted came two years after a U.N. report that found China may be responsible for “crimes against humanity” for its treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.
“The Chinese government continues to deny these grave abuses,” Wang said. “Therefore, it is all the more important for governments like Australia to continue to persist in pressing the Chinese government.”
Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, the vice chairman of the World Uyghur Congress, said he was “glad” to see the statement released, but said it was time for more concrete actions to pressure change in China.
“The genocide hasn’t stopped until today. Therefore, it’s not just a matter of transparency, itis a matter of urgency in light of ongoing genocide happening today,” he said. “The world should take more meaningful action to stop the Chinese government’s atrocities.”
Edited by Alex Willemyns and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Tashi Wangchuk and Choegyi for RFA Tibetan and Alim Seytoff for RFA Uyghur.
A photo of Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying has circulated in Chinese-language social media claiming to show Hua and her daughter in the United States.
But the claim is false. The photo in fact shows Hua and a Chinese journalist, Serena Dong, and it was taken in Beijing. AFCL found no reliable reports that Hua and Dong are related.
The photo of Hua posing with a woman in a blue hooded jacket was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sep. 27, 2024.
“The older woman in this pic is China’s deputy foreign minister @SpokespersonCHN [Hua’s X handle], the other is her daughter. The location is somewhere in the US,” the claim reads in part.
“She is a hardcore anti-US CCP official, yet she sent her young daughter to poor, dangerous and evil America anyway,” it reads further.
A photo purportedly showing Hua Chunying standing with her daughter in the U.S. has circulated on social media. (Screenshot/X)
Hua is a prominent diplomat, known for her sharp rhetoric and staunch defense of China’s policies. She has become a key figure in shaping China’s international image, playing a significant role in addressing global concerns related to China, especially on issues such as the U.S.-China relations, human rights and regional disputes.
But the claim about the photo of Hua is false.
Original photo
A reverse image search on Google found the same photo published on May 28 by Serena Dong, a journalist for the English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network, or CGTN.
The photo was published alongside a congratulatory text a day after the government announced Hua’s promotion to vice foreign minister.
Dong later removed the post from X.
The same photo circulated multiple times on X. (Screenshot/X)
Location
AFCL found the photo was taken in China’s capital, Beijing, not in the U.S.
A closer look at the photo shows the Beijing Winter Olympics logo and unclear Chinese text on the building behind Hua and Dong.
A comparison with photos published by The Beijing News shows that the roof shape of the building seen in Dong’s photo is identical to that of the Olympic village in Yanqing, Beijing.
A comparison of the photo featuring Hua and the winter Olympic village in Yanqing. (Screenshot/Sina News)
Relationship between Dong and Hua
AFCL does not know the exact relationship between Hua and Dong but found no credible reports that they are related.
Public information about Hua’s family is scarce.
Hua is married and has a daughter, though the identity of her husband has been the subject of debate, although the pro-Beijing Chinese-language Sing Tao Dailysaid that Hua’s husband was also a Chinese diplomat.
Dong has not responded to inquiries as of the time of publication.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Rita Cheng for Asia Fact Check Lab.
Myanmar garment factory worker Win Lae was shocked when she heard that colleagues at the Chinese-owned factory where she used to work were being offered money in exchange for sex with Chinese technicians and buyers.
“Some workers are really poor and the news was spreading – when they offered 300,000 kyat (US$143) for a night, it’s a huge amount for female workers. It’s still happening,” said the former worker, who asked to be identified as Win Lae, of her time at the factory owned by the Dongxin Garment Co. Ltd.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
The situation at her factory in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon is far from rare, labor activists say, as a deteriorating economy leaves women across Myanmar’s manufacturing sector more vulnerable to sexual exploitation, abuse and violence.
International labor group the Business and Human Rights Resource Center said in a report this month that women in Myanmar’s garment sector face “dire and repressive working conditions”.
The group documented 155 cases of abuse in Myanmar factories, linked to 87 international companies, between Dec. 1, 2023, and June 30, with 37% of them gender-based incidents including “verbal, physical and sexual abuse and harassment, often for not meeting unreasonable production targets.”
An economy in freefall since the military ousted an elected government in February 2021 has exacerbated the problem of exploitation for many in Myanmar as factory owners and supervisors know that employees are increasingly desperate for cash as inflation erodes living standards, a labor activist told Radio Free Asia,
“It’s easy to take advantage of the garment workers. They use poverty,” said the woman activist who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals.
The Business and Human Rights Resource Center also reported evidence of sexual harassment and assault at the Dongxin factory.
Workers in another factory complained that the manager was “matchmaking” female workers with men back in China, raising fears of human trafficking when she began taking them with her on visits to China, the labor group said.
Other cases the group documented included male supervisors groping women and expressing sexual or romantic interest and angry supervisors mistreating workers.
In this Sept. 29, 2015, file photo, workers in the Great Forever factory stitch clothes in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone outside Yangon, Myanmar. (AP)
‘No leverage’
Win Lae described various pressures put on workers that made them vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, including being forced to work through the night, ostensibly to fill orders.
“There are no arrangements or sleeping areas for the operating workers. If they take a rest, they can only rest in the technicians’ room and they then have the opportunity,” Win Lae said, referring to more senior technical staff taking advantage of women workers.
Win Lae also said that peer pressure and pay-offs facilitated sexual exploitation.
“The supervisor gets paid to persuade another operator. She gets pocket money if another operator sleeps with the technician,” said Win Lae, who said she was also laid off after raising an issue of unfair pay.
“For many Japanese and Chinese brand companies, we don’t have any leverage and we can’t reach them,” the activist said. “The only way is the legal process, and you know, the legal process here in Myanmar, it’s terrible.”
Since the 2021 military takeover, 16 major labor unions have been banned, and workers have reported both factory management and junta authorities suppressing dissent more aggressively.
The International Labor Organization’s Commision of Inquiry for Myanmar late last year found “far-reaching restrictions on the exercise of basic civil liberties and trade union rights.”
Many women victims of sexual exploitation, abuse and violence see no choice but to suffer in silence.
“They pretend nothing happened at work because they don’t want to lose their jobs, even if they’re feeling stressed or traumatized,” the labor activist said.
“The companies should take that kind of problem seriously and respond. The brands and companies have full responsibility for that.”
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan for RFA.
Mexico City, October 18, 2024—CPJ is highly concerned after unidentified attackers fired at the offices of the El Debate newspaper at 11 p.m. on October 17, in Culiacán, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa. No one was hurt; the building’s facade, two outlet cars, and two staff members’ personal vehicles were damaged in the attack.
“The brazen shooting at the offices of El Debate not only underscores the ongoing crisis of violence against the press in Mexico but is a stark reminder of the urgent need for the recently appointed government of President Claudia Sheinbaum to investigate this attack and take all appropriate steps to provide El Debate’s staff with protection,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “As long as authorities continue to stand by, impunity in crimes against the press will continue to be the norm, and any pretense of respect for press freedom will ring hollow.”
El Debate is one of Culiacán’s oldest and most widely circulated regional dailies and has extensively reported on the rising criminal violence in the state.
The Institute for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which operates under supervision of the Sinaloa state government, and Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya condemned the attack in separate statements on Friday. Moya also ordered an investigation.
CPJ’s several calls to El Debate and the state public prosecutor’s office (FGE) requesting comment about the investigation were not answered.
An official who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, as they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which operates under supervision of the federal Interior Ministry in Mexico City, is establishing contact with the newspaper and Sinaloa state authorities to evaluate the need for state-sponsored protection.
We get an update on Israel’s war on Lebanon from journalist Rania Abouzeid in Beirut. “We are seeing a definite escalation that started a month ago and doesn’t show any sign of letting up,” she observes, describing unrestrained attacks by Israel throughout the country, on all sectors of society, as Israel carries out its “Dahiya doctrine” in an attempt to foment division among the Lebanese population. “This is the Gaza playbook. … The sentiment here is that this is now a war on Lebanon,” Abouzeid says.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Dakar, October 16, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Chadian authorities to reverse a directive announcedon October 9 by Abderamane Barka, president of the High Authority for Media and Audiovisual (HAMA) regulator, to suspend or revoke the licenses of outlets that share online content outside of narrowly defined circumstances.
“Chad’s media regulator should immediately reverse its directive to suspend outlets for sharing news in ways outside of those narrowly defined by authorities and cease efforts to censor the press ahead of elections,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, in New York. “As Chadians go to the polls later this year, they should be given access to a plurality of diverse media sources and content, not a constricted version of the news.”
Barka ordered the suspension or revocation of licenses of private newspapers that broadcast audiovisual content online instead of written articles and of private outlets that broadcast content on Facebook that was not first distributed via their traditional newspaper, radio, or TV channels. He also demanded that all media outlets only employ journalists who have official press identity cards.
The Chadian Online Media Association said in a statement that the directive appears “to go beyond the existing legal framework” and could pose a risk to freedom of expression, noting that the country’s press law states that the online press provides “mainly written and audiovisual” content.
Earlier in October, HAMA banned two managers of the private newspaper Le Visionnaire from practicing journalism for not having press cards and suspended the paper for three months over a report into government mismanagement.
CPJ’s calls to Barka for comment on the directive went unanswered.
With just 19 days until the presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are ramping up efforts to appeal to a major voting bloc in battleground states: Latinx voters. This comes as both major candidates are boasting hard-line immigration policies that impose harsh conditions on those entering the United States. “It will not be a solution for Vice President Harris to mimic Donald Trump’s policies on immigration. In fact, she has to contrast,” says Marisa Franco, director and co-founder of Mijente, who says Latinx voters are not moving to the right. “What Latinos are doing is declaring their political independence from partisan politics. … Latinos are looking to see who is going to deliver.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Three years ago, Erin Primer had an idea for a new summer program for her school district: She wanted students to learn about where their food comes from. Primer, who has worked in student nutrition within California’s public school system for 10 years, applied for grant funding from the state to kick off the curriculum, and got it. Students planted cilantro in a garden tower, met a local organic farmer who grows red lentils, and learned about corn. “Many kids didn’t know that corn grew in a really tall plant,” said Primer. “They didn’t know that it had a husk.”
The curriculum, focused on bringing the farm into the school, had an effect beyond the classroom: Primer found that, after learning about and planting ingredients that they then used to make simple meals like veggie burgers, students were excited to try new foods and flavors in the lunchroom. One crowd pleaser happened to be totally vegan: a red lentil dal served with coconut rice.
“We have had students tell us that this is the best dish they’ve ever had in school food. To me, I was floored to hear this,” said Primer, who leads student nutrition for the San Luis Coastal district on California’s central coast, meaning she develops and ultimately decides on what goes on all school food menus. “It really builds respect into our food system. So not only are they more inclined to eat it, they’re also less inclined to waste it. They’re more inclined to eat all of it.”
Primer’s summer program, which the district is now considering making a permanent part of the school calendar, was not intended to inspire students to embrace plant-based cooking. But that was one of the things that happened — and it’s happening in different forms across California.
Students participate in an annual food-testing event for the Los Angeles Unified School District, with a menu that included vegan chickpea masala. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
A recent report shows that the number of schools in California serving vegan meals has skyrocketed over the past five years. Although experts say this growth is partly a reflection of demand from students and parents, they also credit several California state programs that are helping school districts access more local produce and prepare fresh, plant-based meals on-site.
Growing meat for human consumption takes a tremendous toll on both the climate and the environment; the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that livestock production contributes 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, cattle and other ruminants are a huge source of methane. Animal agriculture is also extremely resource-intensive, using up tremendous amounts of water and land. Reducing the global demand for meat and dairy, especially in high-income countries, is an effective way to lower greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the rate of global warming.
The climate benefits of eating less meat are one reason that school districts across the country have introduced more vegetarian — and to a lesser degree, vegan — lunch options. In 2009, Baltimore City Public Schools removed meat from its school lunch menus on Mondays, part of the Meatless Mondays campaign. A decade later, New York City Public Schools, the nation’s largest school district, did the same. In recent years, vegan initiatives have built upon the success of Meatless Mondays, like Mayor Eric Adams’ “Plant-Powered Fridays” program in New York City.
But California, the state that first put vegetarianism on the map in the early 20th century, has been leading the country on plant-based school lunch. “California is always ahead of the curve, and we’ve been eating plant-based or plant-forward for many years — this is not a new concept in our state,” said Primer. A recent report from the environmental nonprofit Friends of the Earth found that among California’s 25 largest school districts, more than half — 56 percent — of middle and high school menus now have daily vegan options, a significant jump compared to 36 percent in 2019. Meanwhile, the percentage of elementary districts offering weekly vegan options increased from 16 percent to 60 percent over the last five years.
A view of the greenhouse used for a Los Angeles magnet school’s after-school program focused on climate knowledge. Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Student nutrition directors like Primer say the foundation that allows schools to experiment with new recipes is California’s universal free lunch program. She notes that, when school lunch is free, students are more likely to actually try and enjoy it: “Free food plus good food equals a participation meal increase every time.”
Nora Stewart, the author of the Friends of the Earth report, says the recent increase in vegan school lunch options has also been in response to a growing demand for less meat and dairy in cafeterias from climate-conscious students. “We’re seeing a lot of interest from students and parents to have more plant-based [meals] as a way to really help curb greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. A majority of Gen Zers — 79 percent — say they would eat meatless at least once or twice a week, according to research conducted by Aramark, a company provides food services to school districts and universities, among other clients. And the food-service company that recently introduced an all-vegetarian menu in the San Francisco Unified School District credits students with having “led the way” in asking for less meat in their cafeterias. The menu includes four vegan options: an edamame teriyaki bowl, a bean burrito bowl, a taco bowl with a pea-based meat alternative, and marinara pasta.
Stewart theorizes that school nutrition directors are also increasingly aware of other benefits to serving vegan meals. “A lot of school districts are recognizing that they can integrate more culturally diverse options with more plant-based meals,” said Stewart. In the last five years, the nonprofit found, California school districts have added 41 new vegan dishes to their menus, including chana masala bowls, vegan tamales, and falafel wraps. Dairy-free meals also benefit lactose-intolerant students, who are more likely to be students of color.
Still, vegan meals are hardly the default in California cafeterias, and in many places, they’re unheard of. Out of the 25 largest school districts in the state, only three elementary districts offer daily vegan options, the same number as did in 2019. According to Friends of the Earth, a fourth of the California school districts they reviewed offer no plant-based meal options; in another fourth, the only vegan option for students is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I was surprised to see that,” said Stewart.
In their climate-focused after-school program, students learn about farm-to-table cooking, composting, greenhouse sciences, and more.
Making school lunches without animal products isn’t just a question of ingredients. It’s also a question of knowledge and resources — and the California legislature has created a number of programs in recent years that aim to get those tools to schools that need them.
In 2022, the state put $600 million toward its Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds program, which offers funding to schools to upgrade their kitchen equipment and train staff. This kind of leveling up allows kitchen staff to better incorporate “scratch cooking” — essentially, preparing meals on-site from fresh ingredients — into their operations. (The standard in school lunch sometimes is jokingly referred to as “cooking with a box cutter,” as in heating up and serving premade meals that come delivered in a box.) Another state program, the $100 million School Food Best Practices Funds, gives schools money to purchase more locally grown food. And the Farm to School incubator grant program has awarded about $86 million since 2021 to allow schools to develop programming focused on climate-smart or organic agriculture.
Although only the School Food Best Practices program explicitly incentivizes schools to choose plant-based foods, Stewart credits all of them with helping schools increase their vegan options. Primer said the Farm to School program — which provided the funding to develop her school district’s farming curriculum in its first two years — has driven new recipe development and testing.
All three state programs are set to run out of money by the end of the 2024-2025 school year. Nick Anicich is the program manager for Farm to School, which is run out of the state Office of Farm to Fork. (“That’s a real thing that exists in California,” he likes to say.) He says when state benefits expire, it’s up to schools to see how to further advance the things they’ve learned. “We’ll see how schools continue to innovate and implement these initiatives with their other resources,” said Anicich. Stewart says California has set “a powerful example” by bettering the quality and sustainability of its school lunch, “showing what’s possible nationwide.”
One takeaway Primer has had from the program is to reframe food that’s better for the planet as an expansive experience, one with more flavor and more depth, rather than a restrictive one — one without meat. Both ideas can be true, but one seems to get more students excited.
“That has been a really important focus for us. We want [to serve] food that is just so good, everybody wants to eat it,” Primer said. “Whether or not it has meat in it is almost secondary.”
Chinese authorities have sentenced a Uyghur filmmaker to 6 1/2 years in prison for “separatism” and “terrorism,” a court official and a person with knowledge of the situation said.
Ikram Nurmehmet, 32, and four friends with whom he had studied in Turkey were tried in Urumqi People’s Intermediate Court for alleged connections to Turkey-based organizations seeking independence for East Turkistan, the Uyghurs’ preferred name for the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China.
He was arrested in May 2023 and accused of recruiting and cultivating members, and raising funds for an East Turkistan organization when he was in Turkey, a police officer who was in court during the trial told Radio Free Asia in an earlier report.
The court announced its verdict in January, and the men were sentenced to 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 years in prison, said the source with knowledge of the matter who declined to be identified for fear f reprisal by authorities.
A source said that since then the filmmaker hasn’t confessed to anything. “He was sentenced despite not admitting to anything,” he said.
The case reflects ongoing arrests and jailing of Uyghurs who have studied or traveled abroad, and who have been accused of engaging in terrorist or separatist activities.
Police officers stand guard outside the Intermediate People’s Court in Urumqi in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 12, 2009. (Wang Fei/Xinhua via AP)
During his studies in Istanbul, Nurmehmet kept his distance from the Uyghur community there, said Abduweli Ayup, an activist and researcher based in Norway who has investigated the fate of Uyghur students in Xinjiang who returned from Turkey.
He also stayed out of trouble and socialized only with people in the film industry, Ayup said.
After studying in Turkey for six years, Nurmehmet moved to Beijing to produce films about Uyghurs’ lives, he said.
An official from the Urumqi court confirmed Nurmehmet’s sentencing, saying he received the longest sentence because he was considered the leader and that the four others were convicted in connection with his case.
A police officer from the Urumqi Yamalik police station told RFA that authorities had not yet transferred Nurmehmet to prison and that he remains in a detention facility.
“Ikram Nurmehmet was initially taken to a four-story building across from the detention center,” the police officer said. “He was still in the detention center when I brought in new detainees.”
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Shohret Hoshur for RFA Uyghur.
As the Israeli military continues its assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, which have included the targeting of hospitals and ambulances and the killing of medical personnel, among other violations of international law, we speak to a doctor currently volunteering in Beirut. Dr. Bing Li is an emergency medicine physician and U.S. Army veteran who also volunteered at Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza earlier this year. Li recounts her experiences in Gaza, where “it feels like death is everywhere,” and warns that Israel’s latest forced evacuation, of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, is “essentially a death sentence” for patients, including children in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Now in Lebanon, Li describes how providers are scrambling to increase healthcare capacity in anticipation of additional attacks.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
São Paulo, October 10, 2024—CPJ welcomes the civil complaint filed in a U.S. court against Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, one of several Salvadoran military officers alleged to be connected to the March 17, 1982 ambush and killing of Dutch TV journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag in Chalatenango, El Salvador, during their coverage of the Salvadoran Civil War.
“This lawsuit shows the determination of victims’ families to seek truth, memory, and justice and offers some hope for even the most egregious cases of impunity for the killing of journalists,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America Program Coordinator. “The attacks many journalists face today reflect the impunity of the past, and accountability is essential to creating the conditions for democratic deliberation and the rule of law.”
The U.S.-based Center for Justice and Accountability filed the complaint on behalf of Gert Kuiper, Jan’s brother, in collaboration with human rights groups Fundación Comunicándonos and ASDEHU of El Salvador, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Reyes Mena lives.
The four Dutch journalists were with leftist rebels when they were killed in 1982. A report issued by the United Nations Truth Commission in 1993 concluded that colonel Reyes Mena participated in planning the ambush of the journalists.
After 42 years, three accused, including a former minister of defense and two military officers, will face trial in El Salvador, according to newsreports.
The court will now process the complaint and issue a summons, which will be delivered to Reyes Mena.
New Delhi, October 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail—after more than two years of arbitrary detention on multiple charges — and calls on authorities in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to immediately end all prosecution against him.
“The release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail is long overdue,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi on Tuesday. “The collapse of press freedom in Kashmir in recent years is stark. With elections over, the newly elected local government must immediately free other Kashmiri journalists behind bars and allow the media to report freely without fear of reprisal.”
Gul, a trainee reporter with the now-banned news website, The Kashmir Walla, was granted bail July 8 by a court in the northern Bandipora district of Kashmir, the details of which have not been made public, according to sources who told CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. The bail was related to one of the three cases Gul faces, over charges of rioting, attempted murder, and actions prejudicial to national integration.
Gul was first arrested January 5, 2022, from his home in Bandipora in connection with a video he posted on X, showing women protesting the killing of a local militant leader, according to news reports. The journalist was detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, which allows for a maximum two-year detention, before a Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed his detention under the law in November 2023, stating that there was no concrete evidence or specific allegations proving his actions were prejudicial to the security of the state.
Prior to his July release, Gul was granted bail in two other cases in connection with the video, in which he faced chargesof criminal conspiracy, assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duty, and endangering life or personal safety, according to those sources.
Jammu and Kashmir voters went to the polls last month for the first time since India unilaterally revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status in 2019, which prompted a rapid decline in press freedom. An opposition alliance is set to form government after votes were counted on October 8.
New York, October 8, 2024—Taliban authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary, who were detained by General Directorate of Intelligence agents in Afghanistan’s southern Ghazni province and the capital Kabul, respectively, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
“Taliban intelligence must release journalists Mahdi Ansary and Hekmat Aryan immediately and unconditionally,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Afghan journalists face unprecedented pressure from the Taliban, who continue to get away with their ruthless crackdown without being held to account. The Taliban must end these crimes against journalists once for all.”
On September 29, Aryan, the director of the independent Khoshhal radio station, was detained by dozens of Taliban intelligence agents from his office in Ghazni city and transferred to an undisclosed location, according to a journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Aryan’s detention is reportedly linked to an alleged discussion on Khoshhal radio about the Taliban’s past suicide operations.
Separately, Ansary, a reporter for the Afghan News Agency,disappearedon the evening of October 5 while returning home from his office in Kabul, according to a journalist familiar with the situation, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Local Taliban intelligence agents initially confirmed Ansary’s detention, but his current whereabouts remain unknown.
The reason behind Ansary’s detention remains unclear. However, the journalist has frequently reported on the killings and atrocities against the Hazara ethnic minority during the Taliban’s rule.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told CPJ via messaging app that both the journalists were working with “banned [media] networks” and had engaged in “illegal activities.”
Officials conducting a census in Myanmar ahead of planned elections next year are getting harassed and arrested by insurgent groups, and security forces providing them protection are getting attacked, residents said.
The military junta, which seized power in a 2021 coup, is holding a national census this month that will be used to draw up voter lists for an election they say will restore democratic rule — though opponents are doubtful.
Ethnic minority armies and rebel groups that have taken control of vast swaths of territory once held by the military oppose the election, saying it will be a sham and only serve to legitimize the junta’s control.
They have urged residents to cooperate with the census-takers.
Two resistance fighters from the PDF Myeik District Battalion No. 1 handle a drone in Myeik district in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region, Oct. 4, 2024. (PDF Myeik District Battalion 1)
And in recent cases, they have started firing on soldiers providing security for census officials in five townships in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region and in western Chin state.
On Oct. 4, five military administration camps providing security for census-takers in Tanintharyi region’s Palaw township were bombed by drones, an official from a rebel People’s Defense Force, or PDF, in Myeik district told Radio Free Asia.
Census activities have stopped in Palaw and not yet begun in Launglon township because of the attacks, residents said.
RFA could not reach Thet Naing, the region’s social affairs minister and spokesman, for comment.
Similarly, a clash broke out in Chin state’s Hakha township on Oct. 1, when members of the Chinland Defense Force, an opposition group, attacked junta soldiers providing security for census takers in certain neighborhoods, local residents said.
Three days later in Tedim township, PDF members arrested Kam Lian Thang, a member of the military administration who was involved in census activities, according to a resident who requested anonymity for security reasons.
“He has been actively involved in every aspect of the census, openly cooperating with the junta,” the resident said. “We captured him as a symbolic figure.”
Don’t participate
The Chin Brotherhood Alliance, a military and political alliance of several ethnic armed organizations active in Chin state, advised residents on Sept. 30 not to participate in the census in areas it controlled and warned that it would take action against those who supported the activities.
RFA could not reach Aung Cho, state secretary and the spokesman for the junta in Chin state, for comment.
A census enumerator (R) fills out information about a family in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw, Oct. 1, 2024. (Aung Shine Oo/AP)
On Oct. 6, fighting broke out between rebel forces and the junta’s soldiers guarding census-takers in Sagaing region’s Katha township.
Meanwhile, the PDF in Tanintharyi region’s Launglon township on Oct. 6 arrested nine people for their involvement in the census, including six schoolteachers and a clerk from the General Administration Department were arrested on Oct. 6, a PDF official said.
The Launglon township PDF announced on Oct. 3 that it deemed the military administration’s census and future election as unacceptable, and warned that it would take severe action against anyone participating in the process.
Other rebel forces and political activists have also declared their opposition to the military council’s census and vowed to arrest those involved in it.
The military administration is going to great lengths to provide security during the census in light of statements by anti-regime forces warning people not to participate, a member of the junta’s census team in Yangon region said.
A soldier provides security to census takers who collect information in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw as the country holds a national census to compile voter lists for a general election, Oct. 1, 2024. (Aung Shine Oo/AP)
Pre-announcements about when and where the census will be conducted are not made in advance, but instead issued just a day or so before, he said. And local communities and police are also assisting with the efforts.
Many people feel compelled to answer the census-takers’ questions given the situation under junta control, though most are reluctant to participate, he said.
Opposition will persist because people are concerned about the security of their personal information in the hands of the junta, said Sithu Maung, a former National League for Democracy lawmaker from Pabedan township in Yangon region.
“The census is causing concern because it is perceived as a means to compile a list of names for arresting political activists and young people involved in various political protests,” he said. “I believe that the response to this situation will intensify over time.”
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
