Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute
Senior researcher for the Worldwatch Institute, focusing on food and agriculture, and author of Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket
PROFILE
Brian Halweil
Guest
FROM Brian Halweil
To the Point
This Time It's Peanuts: Food Scares and Food Production In the largest food recall in US history, more than eighteen hundred products containing peanuts have been pulled from grocery shelves. A salmonella contamination in peanuts has been linked to nine deaths and six hundred illnesses. The outbreak is the latest in a long line of food scares. What went wrong at the Georgia processing plant that shipped peanuts that the owner knew were contaminated? Is the Food and Drug Administration doing enough to make sure food is safe? How do laws affect what we eat? Does the system itself need to be overhauled?
To the Point
The Skyrocketing Price of Feeding the Poor Food prices are reaching levels never seen before at the same time the number of needy people is rising. Food riots have already occurred around the world, and the World Bank predicts political and social unrest over food in 30 to 40 countries. The United Nations World Food Program spends $3 billion, but needs $500 million more just to keep up. With food prices increasing as demand goes up, we look at the "new face" of hunger—worldwide and what the drive for bio-fuels has to do with it.
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Left, Right & Center
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.