The Surprising Story Behind One School’s Healthy Lunch Program, The Best Way to Reach Your Reps and More

 
Revenge of the Lunch Lady, The Huffington Post Highline
In a country where cheap mass-produced food is king and pizza counts as a vegetable, healthy lunches for kids can be hard to come by. But a recent revamp of school fare in Huntington, W.V., previously designated as the nation’s unhealthiest city, provides a hopeful model. There, an enterprising employee managed to implement a healthy lunch program, starring locally grown produce, while maintaining the district’s minuscule $1.50-per-meal budget.
Getting a Busy Signal When You Call Congress? Here’s How to Get Through, The Christian Science Monitor
Since President Trump’s inauguration last month, there’s been a surge in citizens reaching out to Congress, but not all forms of communication are equally effective. If you really want your voice heard, say experts, try meeting with your representative in person, writing a personal letter and focusing on policy rather than cabinet picks.
The Compost King of New York, The New York Times
New York City alone generates 1 million tons of organic waste per year, but a new plant on Long Island will process this waste into both fertilizer and clean energy, generating significant returns. This new large-scale industrial waste processing is both more environmentally friendly and more profitable than traditional composting, and could revolutionize American energy.
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The Most Meaningful Literature, Entertainment and Art of 2016

In a late-night victory speech, President-elect Donald Trump called his base “the forgotten men and women of our country,” and he promised they “will be forgotten no longer.” His line embodied the spirit of 2016: This was the year that nationwide events put a spotlight on plights that can no longer be overlooked. Beyond Trump’s core base of white working-class voters, there was an assortment of marginalized communities making headlines, from the gay Latinos targeted at an Orlando nightclub to the black men confronted by police in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul; from indigenous peoples protesting a pipeline in the Dakotas to those fleeing climate change in Alaska and Louisiana; and from hijab-wearing victims of hate crimes to unemployed veterans.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, because where there is strife there is also powerful art to make sense of it. And 2016’s collection of books, movies, TV, plays, music and other works was no different, helping us see these groups, to understand their grievances and develop a response. After polling our staff, here is the art that most moved us at NationSwell in 2016.
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On Blending Art and Activism

Every day until November 8, bands are releasing songs about what’s at stake in this election. As part of an effort called “30 Days, 30 Songs: Musicians for a Trump-Free America,” new original music, live recordings and remixes are dropping daily. (A sampling of the work released so far includes the songs “Million Dollar Loan” by Death Cab for Cutie; “Demagogue” by Franz Ferdinand; and “Same Old Lie” by Jim James of My Morning Jacket.) Jordan Kurland, owner of the San Francisco–based Zeitgeist Artist Management, says he organized the project along with author Dave Eggers “to save our country.” Kurland spoke with NationSwell about his latest politically-driven project.
When did you first get interested in music?
I was an obsessed music fan from a very young age. At 6, I had every KISS record, and it just went on from there. It became a driving force in my life through high school and into college. At Pitzer College, outside of Los Angeles, I started reviewing records and interviewing bands for the school magazine and freelancing for some local publications. Through that experience, I started to meet people in the industry. That’s when I stuck around L.A. for internship opportunities at record labels and management companies.
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What effect are you hoping to see from the “30 Days, 30 Songs” project?
Music has always been an important part of politics and protest. In 2012, there was a surprising amount of apathy around Barack Obama’s second term: People felt like they all had bought into this idea of change and hope, but that he hadn’t come through on a lot of promises. When we launched “90 Days, 90 Reasons” [daily pro-Obama writings from cultural heavyweights] to motivate voters to re-elect him, we felt like it was an easy way to get people to pay attention to what’s at stake. It’s very much the same this year. We’re getting artists to come out and say, ‘You know what, there’s a lot at stake here.’ Donald Trump is a huge threat to our democracy and our belief system. And we need to point out his hypocrisy and the danger he poses, or play up what’s great about this country and what we want to preserve.
How do you fold public service, whether it’s raising money or awareness, into the music business?
That’s always been part of my DNA, and I’m grateful I have clients who also are interested in that, whether it’s donating money from tours and merch sales or getting involved in political issues. Artists have a way bigger soapbox to stand on than I ever will. I’m fortunate that I can help them come up with a plan and execute it. Maybe it’s sometimes to the detriment of my management company, because maybe I’d be cultivating a new artist instead. But it keeps me passionate about what I’m doing. There are periods of time where you’re doing the same thing for 20 years, so to get involved in things that keep it fresh is important.
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What albums have you listened to most in your life?
The Who’s “Quadrophenia” and “Who’s Next”; John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”; Bill Evans’s “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”; and “The Bends” by Radiohead. Those are my mainstays, the handful of records that mean a ton to me. I’ve certainly worn out my copies of them.
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
I’m proud that I’ve been able to do this as long as I have. When I was young, I struggled for almost 10 years. There was a long stretch where I wasn’t anywhere near the level of success I wanted to be at. During that period, I always felt that if I had a gold record to my name, I’d have a level of success that’s really meaningful to me and I could decide whether or not I wanted to continue in this career. I’m proud I accomplished that and then some. I’m proud that I stuck with it and was able to take a path that not as many people travel.

7 Ways to Be an Effective 21st-Century Political Activist

Earlier this year, Erin Schrode, a 25-year-old Californian, ran to be America’s youngest female Congresswoman. The New York University graduate and founder of the environmental nonprofit, Turning Green, waged an underdog fight against fellow Democratic incumbent, Jared Huffman. The opponents were in agreement about the issues facing the state’s liberal North Coast (which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the forested Oregon border), but Schrode argued it was time for young people to take the reins in Washington. Although she came in a distant third in the June primary, Schrode brought a youthful energy to staid Congressional politics and believes she switched up the dynamics of the race.
NationSwell spoke to her recently while she was on a visit to New York City about the lessons she’s learned about political organizing in the era of hashtag activism.
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MORE: #ComeClean About Where That Vanilla Aroma Really Comes From
 
 

Why America Must Remember Its Lynching Past, The Compassionate Nonagenarian Who Knits Hats for Those on the Streets and More


The Legacy of Lynching, on Death Row, The New Yorker

Bryan Stevenson, one of the foremost civil rights lawyers of our time and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, sees a link between wrongful convictions, today’s police shootings of young black men and the nation’s barbarous history of lynching. To honor the 4,000 African Americans killed in the former Confederate states, Stevenson plans to build a $20 million memorial in Montgomery, Ala., on the site of a former public housing complex.
Man, 91, in hospice care knits hats for the homeless, WXMI
For the last 15 years, Morrie Boogart, a 91-year-old in Grandville, Mich., has knit hats for the homeless. Using donated yarn, Boogart has made at least 8,000 caps to keep the homeless warm during the winter. Confined to bedrest from skin cancer and a mass on his kidney, he’s spending his last days in admirable service to others.
Yes, Queens, The Ringer
When one thinks of podcasts, the image of a bespectacled white man, like “This American Life”’s Ira Glass, probably comes to mind. The seriously irreverent, wildly popular weekly podcast “2 Dope Queens,” hosted by Jessica Williams, formerly of “The Daily Show,” and Phoebe Robinson, a standup comedian, opens the medium to a new type of host. Racism, sexism and politics, as seen from a black woman’s perspective, are all carefully discussed, and somehow hilarity ensues.
MORE: Why Sleeping in a Former Slave’s Home Will Make You Rethink Race Relations in America

Ohio’s Redistricting Plan Makes Fair Elections Possible

Each time redistricting voter districts enters the national dialogue, along with it comes partisan politics and gerrymandering. But Ohio is taking steps to quell the dissent and find a more balanced and lasting way to map out voting districts.
Recently, the Ohio House gave final approval to a plan to draw voter maps using a bipartisan process with the goal of making elections more competitive.
Legislatures draw voting maps in 37 states, while 13 states use commissions — with some independent and others politically appointed — to define districts that are meant to be less partisan. In Ohio, the Apportionment Board is made up of three elected state officials including the governor, auditor and the secretary of state, as well as one member from each party chosen by the legislatures, according to the New York Times.
But the new proposal adds an additional member from each party, and if the minority party members don’t agree with the map, the revisions will only last four years instead of 10. With statewide elections every four years, partisan control could shift, which means it would make more sense to come up with a compromise that the minority party approves of as well.
The new plan is focused on state legislative districts but may have an effect on congressional districts since they are drawn by state lawmakers.
There’s no guarantee, however, that the plan will bring a more balance approach, as more Americans have begun living in communities where they’re politically and ideologically aligned, the New York Times points out. This divide also increasingly applies to the rural and urban divide as well.

“There’s no perfect map, no panacea,” says Morgan Cullen, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But Ohio’s move is the first in the last few years to remove partisanship from the process, Cullen adds.

Some state Republicans are praising the move, calling it a step toward ending polarization in the General Assembly, according to Ohio secretary of state Jon Husted. Democratic Senator Nina Turner, who ran unsuccessfully against Husted for secretary of state in November, agrees that the plan would create more balance.
“I always say Ohio is conservative by design and not by desire,” she says. “This really is a tremendous deal.”
Ohio residents must vote to amend the State Constitution in a November 2015 referendum in order to implement the changes, which means they would not go into effect until the next redistricting in 2021.
MORE: The Simple Fix That May Change How We Vote Forever

How Can a Mayor Enact Change Once He’s Left Office?

One of the most common complaints about politicians is their lack of connectivity with the constituents that they serve. But you certainly can’t say that about R.T. Ryback, the former mayor of Minneapolis.
That’s because he’s teaching a new course at the University of Michigan called “Mayor 101.” Within the classroom walls, students are learning from Rybeck about all of the different components that encompass being a mayor — including how to be a public leader.
Elected mayor back in 2002 R.T. Rybeck served three terms, finishing his last term in January 2014. During his tenure, he handled budget crises, worked to increase interfaith dialogue following Sept. 11 and in 2009, oversaw the opening of a new college football stadium. While his background is in architecture and journalism (having degrees and work experience in both fields), he now using his knowledge and time as mayor to teach students about urban physical development and city policy.
And although he only has political experience in Minneapolis, he encourages all his students to look at the cities around them like Rochester, Duluth and St. Paul. For Rybeck, you can learn just as much, if not more, from another city as you can from your own.
“You most often get the best ideas by getting lost in cities,” Rybeck tells City Lab. “I’ve always studied other cities and I really think that’s the best way to understand these things.”
The class has no midterms or finals, but throughout the course, students are encouraged to go out into the city and practice what they are taught. At the end of the course, students will present their own urban-development proposal.
“I’d like all the energy they would have spent cramming on a final to be spent trying to develop something that can have an impact on a current place being designed,” Rybeck explains to City Lab. “I very much want these students to use the work they’re doing to go out into the workplace. Because we need their perspective now. Not just when they graduate.”
If that change can start now, just imagine what can happen when these students reach public office.
MORE: Why Are America’s Innovations in Education Spreading Worldwide But Not Here?

Can a Picture of Beautiful Scenery Get Out the Vote?

We’re about two decades from a climate change disaster, according to a new report from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Looking at how the world economies are measuring up to promises they made to curtail emissions, the report underscores that we’re on track to double the amount of global warming agreed upon at the 2009 United Nations summit on climate change. Clearly, it’s time to change course.
But part of that means voting the right people into power to address environmental urgency, which is why outdoor retailer Patagonia is teaming up with the art-driven, crowdsourcing platform Creative Action Network and the Canary Project (an art organization) on a campaign to encourage millennials to vote in the upcoming midterm election.
Patagonia is hoping the campaign, “Vote the Environment,” will help turn the tide this November. The initiative encourages artists to design environmentally-minded posters and screenprints, which raise money for both the project and artist as well as voting advocacy group HeadCount. Patagoina is also linking environmental records for candidates and voter registration information on the project site.

“We recognize that there’s an environmental crisis going on,” says Lisa Pike Sheehy, Patagonia’s global environmental initiatives director. “I feel like we’re at that tipping point, and that’s another reason why we decided to put resources behind the midterms and not just wait another two years.”

In fact, just 23 percent of that important demographic of millennials said they will “definitely be voting” in the midterm election, according to a recent poll from Harvard’s Institute of Politics. But it’s this core group of voters that are most important and care more about the environment than their parents.

“Art can inspire people to remember why they care about the environment, memories of experiences they’ve had in the environment, things that reports and talking points and press releases don’t necessarily surface in the same way,” says Max Slavkin, co-founder and CEO of Creative Action Network.

“Especially young people who get so much information and news online by scrolling through images, rather than by reading articles,” he adds. “It’s a great way to reach a new generation of people who typically are under-involved in politics in general.”

MORE: 6 Common Environmental Culprits That Need Regulation

This School Encourages Women to Join the World of Politics

For the most part, politics is still a man’s thing. And the numbers from the National Women’s Political Caucus support that (disappointing) claim: Of the 535 Congressional seats, only 18.5 percent, or 99 members, are women. Adding to that, in 2013, only 24.1 percent of the 7,383 state legislators were female.
These statistics are exactly what the Women’s Campaign School is trying to change. Since 1994, this nonprofit has been teaching women the skills needed to run a successful political campaign.
So how did the school start? Well, it can be all traced back to 1992, which was dubbed the “Year of Women” due to the record number of female candidates. But the momentum couldn’t be sustained, and the following year saw a staggering decline in the number of female candidates.
So a number of powerful women —  Patricia Russo, head of the Commission on the Status of Women; Conn. Rep. Rosa DeLauro; former Conn. Rep. Nancy Johnson; former Yale Law School Dean Guido Calabresi and others — held a meeting to discuss the future of women in politics. Prior to the gathering, Russo had spoken to New York Times reporter Andree Aleion Brooks who offered a solution to the problem: a campaign training camp for women.
Russo took that idea to the meeting, and with the full support of Calabresi, the Women’s Campaign School emerged.
Through the years, it’s more than proven its worth.  In 20 years, the school has trained 1,400 women (about 70 to 80 per year) and boasts graduates such as Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York and former Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Most important to the school, though, is its emphasis on being non-partisan and issue neutral. The school wasn’t designed as a forum to debate the hot social topics, but rather, to educate women on how to run successful campaigns in real time. So class topics include organizing, budgeting, polling, fundraising, public speaking, staffing, and working with consultants.
And it appears to be working — many graduates are holding local level positions, such as sitting on municipal or education boards, while looking to expand into the state legislature.
While funding remains one of the biggest challenges facing female candidates, the school is providing these women with a chance to do something different: nonpartisan compromise.
Through the school, women are able to communicate across party lines and know each other as individuals, not as a party color. And women are bringing this practice into the workplace also, as shown through the efforts of Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Wash. Sen. Patty Murray during the last sequester.
“Susan Collins approached Patty Murray, saying, ‘I can’t sit through another meeting where nothing is going to be resolved. Will you sit with me, and let’s put a plan together. At least put something on the table for the others to consider,’ and that became the deal that ended the sequester. So that’s the power of women in public office, and there’s a reason why we need more women running and women winning,” says Russo when describing the situation to Fast Company.
And that’s just one example. If the Women’s Campaign School keeps churning out candidates, who knows what a little touch of femininity can bring to our government.
MORE: A Savvy Investment: Companies That Support Gender Diversity

Military Spouses Didn’t Feel Represented by Congress. This Initiative Helps Them Find Their Voice

After managing sales at a clothing boutique and earning a master’s degree in social responsibility and sustainable communities, Katie Lopez thought her experience spoke for itself. So when she couldn’t find a job after relocating last summer to live with her husband, an Army service member stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the challenge was unexpected. “I was surprised that at interviews, one of the first questions I was asked is when I was leaving,” she says, even though she didn’t know when or where her husband would be stationed next. “There was never any follow-up after the interviews, so I was getting more and more discouraged. And I knew I wasn’t the only one experiencing it.”
She certainly wasn’t. Studies show that labor markets near big military bases are often “saturated with overqualified military spouses eager to work,” according to the Huffington Post. Military spouses face additional challenges, like the fact that they don’t qualify for unemployment insurance when they lose jobs in more than 14 states, since changes of station are seen as “voluntary” moves.
Even when she did attend events geared at hiring veterans and their family members, Lopez found that most job recruiters were targeting veterans themselves — and the positions available were often entry level, virtual jobs that didn’t fit her level of experience. “There was nothing for those of us who were college educated and on a professional track,” Lopez says. “It’s disheartening to think we spent this time and put in the work to advance ourselves and our careers only to get entry level jobs at a call center.”
MORE: Washington Needs to Be Fixed. These Innovators Aren’t Waiting for Congress to Do It.
In Gear Career is a nonprofit that helps military family members with all career-related challenges — from finding jobs and networking to education and professional training. Haley Uthlaut, a military spouse and veteran, conceived the idea in 2009 and then took it to Donna Huneycutt and Lauren Weiner, owners of a consulting firm focused on hiring veterans and their spouses. They helped her make the vision a reality. Although headquartered in Tampa, Florida, In Gear Career has more than 2,000 members in 22 chapters across the country, from Texas to Tennessee.
“The biggest issue we saw facing military spouses was the lack of a professional network — you don’t get that when you move every two or three years,” says Weiner. “We want to help military spouses stay employed, because big gaps on a resume are a red flag. And ultimately, if we get the spouses engaged, we’re going to keep our best and brightest in the military. It’s a military readiness issue at heart.”
Last October, during the government shutdown, Huneycutt and Weiner were in Washington, D.C. for a conference, watching C-Span during a break between sessions. Sitting with a member from Military Spouse JD Network, a group that helps military spouses maintain their legal careers amid relocations, Huneycutt and Weiner became increasingly frustrated listening to politicians on the screen blame their opposing party for the shutdown.
“Enough already!” one of them screamed.
“Fix it!” another one yelled.
“Forget about these politicians,” one finally said. “I’m sick of everyone telling me to call my congressman. I want to be my congressman.”
Looking back, it was a light bulb moment.
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Just one fifth of those who serve in Congress have any military experience, according to a September 2013 Pew Research Center survey.  And the voices of military spouses have even less representation. “The number of veterans in Congress is only dropping,” says Amanda Patterson Crowe, executive director of In Gear Career. “And for spouses, that’s hard because we’re living the life that Congress makes decisions on, from child care to military pay. We had to figure out how to make our voices heard too, how to get into politics.”
So after the conference, In Gear Career teamed up with Military Spouse JD Network to create Homefront Rising, a nonpartisan initiative aimed at getting military spouses more involved in the political process, from volunteering for campaigns to running for office. “Many people don’t realize that military spouses are uniquely qualified to represent us,” says Weiner. “They’ve lived in small town America and cities, rural areas and overseas. They understand a slice of America that most people who stay in one place don’t.”
Homefront Rising launched this February with an event in D.C. and recently held its second gathering this June in Tampa. The daylong events are packed with seminars and sessions from elected officials, former service members and other leaders on topics like “Building a Public Image” and “How Extraordinary People Lead.”
Homefront Rising’s two events have already inspired several members, including Katie Lopez, to volunteer with local campaigns such as state-level House and Senate races. “I’ve found that when I approach campaigns, their leadership tells me it’s exactly what they want to hear — military spouses having an opinion and getting involved,” Lopez says. Even though she couldn’t attend, learning about the D.C. event motivated military spouse Susan Reynolds to begin writing a column in her local newspaper, the Fayetteville Observer, on military families. And Angelina Bradley was so inspired by the inaugural Homefront Rising event that she successfully lobbied the D.C. Public Schools’ Chancellor’s Parent Cabinet to add an additional seat for the nearby Bolling Air Force Base, where she is currently stationed, giving military families a voice in education that they previously didn’t have.