Minimum Wage Buys Less Than it Used To
This article was first printed in Spare Change News on May 4, 2012. At 24 years old, Michaud, is not backpacking abroad, sharing an apartment with friends, or beginning to build a professional resume. He is working 30 hours a week selling stuffed animals for $9 per hour in order to help his mother, a … Read more
Boston’s Pilot Urban Agricultural Zoning Program Serves as Model for Integration of Farming into City Life
This article first was published by Seedstock.com. Aside from a little referenced law dating back to the 19th century allowing public grazing for sheep and cattle on Boston Common, Boston zoning laws make no mention of agriculture. In absence of zoning permissions, most agricultural activities are in effect forbidden. “That’s not to say that the … Read more
National Epidemic Strikes Fort Delaware Bats; Visitors Helping Curb Spread
This article was first published online by DFM News on May 8, 2012. As Fort Delaware State Park kicked off its 2012 season last weekend, park rangers and guides started enlisting visitors to help the park’s seldom-seen bats. Visitors to the fort are being asked to assist in the effort to curb the spread of … Read more
Plastics in the Ocean May Be Grossly Underestimated
This article first was published online by DFM News on May 2, 2012. Surface trawling has long been used to estimate the level of plastic pollution in the ocean, from plastic soda bottles to disposable bags, but it turns out this method of measurement only scratches the surface of the problem… quite literally. High winds … Read more
Study Highlights Fungal Threats to Global Food Security
This article was first published online by Seedstock.com on April 27, 2012. Every year, fungal and fungal-like infections targeting the world’s major crops of rice, corn, wheat, potatoes, and soybeans destroy enough food to feed 600 million mouths per year, says Sarah Gurr, professor of plant pathology at Oxford University. And that figure solely represents … Read more
Keeping House: Local Organizations Collaborate to Help Boston Residents Stay in Their Homes Post-Foreclosure
This article was first published in Spare Change News on April 20, 2012. When Jeril Richardson checked out of the hospital after he was hit by a car in 2009, he returned home to find that his landlord had not been keeping up with mortgage payments and the bank was foreclosing on his Hyde Park … Read more
Harvard Study Shows Link Between Common Pesticide and Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder
This article first was published on Seedstock.com on April 10, 2012. Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health have linked imidicloprid, a common agricultural pesticide to honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious phenomenon resulting in devastation of entire hive colonies. The dramatic decline in honeybees because of this phenomenon has worried scientists, farmers, and beekeepers … Read more
Northeastern Students Promote Literacy in Family Shelter
This article was first printed in Spare Change News on March 23, 2012 and posted online the same day. Nine college girls, one professor, one photographer, and a Spare Change reporter spill out of a tiny elevator and into the lobby of Families in Transition, a temporary shelter for families awaiting housing at the Huntington … Read more
Anti-Hunger Network Struggles to Meet Growing Need for Healthy Food
This article was first published by Spare Change News on April 6, 2012. Nearly one in every 20 households in Massachusetts reported cutting back on the size and frequency of meals from 2008 to 2010, because they could not afford food, according to recent data from the USDA Economic Research Service. This figure represents only … Read more
No Direction Home: When Coming Out Means Kicked Out
This article first appeared in print in Spare Change News on Friday, March 9, 2012 and online at SpareChangeNews.net on the same day. At 16 years old, Diamond McMillion was too young to check into a shelter. As a lesbian, she felt unwelcome at home and frequently slept in an elevator shaft with three friends. … Read more
