The conditions of migrant workers in Florida

Florida tends to be a hotspot for immigrants as it is on a coast and close to the Central and South American countries. Many people consider migrant workers on farms to be the victims of modern day slavery, working in difficult conditions for substandard pay. According to Florida Legal Services, three-quarters of farm workers in Florida are immigrants. The average age of a farm worker is 35. About a quarter of the farm workers are women. Many of these women deal with sexual harassment on a daily basis. Farm workers also lack pension plans, paid vacations, and sick leave. Some farms do not even provide toilets for their workers if there are less than six (Florida legal online). As horrible as many of these conditions are, some are doing an excellent job working to improve the conditions for Florida migrant workers. For example, a writer for the New York Times pointed out the improvements done by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who work to improve conditions by investigating slavery and negotiating with fast food restaurants to get more money for the workers (Schlosser online). The Immokalee workers make a definite impact in South Florida for immigrant workers who are mistreated. “The Anti-Slavery Campaign has resulted in freedom for more than a thousand tomato and orange pickers held in debt bondage, historic sentences for various agricultural employers, the development of a successful model of community-government cooperation, and the growth of an expanding base of aware and committed worker activists.” (Coalition of Immokalee Workers online).

Not all immigrant workers are mistreated in Florida. For example, C&B farms, and organic farm in Clewiston, FL, is an example of a farm that has decently paid farm workers with adequate housing. Chuck Obern, the owner of C&B farms, may not allow his workers the weekend off, but they pay a low price for their housing, and on average they work about 5-7 hours a day.

The safety and fair treatment of migrant workers is definitely something to look in to.

           

Florida’s Renewable Possibilities?

Renewable energy has been a subject of constant debate worldwide.  One can argue that globalization has made the demand on our primary energy sources too high, and this pressure leads the supply to become more expensive (fossil fuels being the primary example, in the economic model of supply and demand).  With this liberal view of the possible global economic crisis[i] that we could face based on our dependence on fossil fuels, why is it that we are so hesitant to switch to renewable energy?

            One of the biggest criticisms for renewable energy sources is the inconsistency of the source of the energy.  For example, when looking toward wind energy, there are seasons of abundant energy, and seasons where there may be little to none created.  In such cases the refutation lies in the fact that, with renewable energy we are able to use a variety of resources, and therefore can compensate through other means of energy making.[ii]  Of course, certain forms of renewable energy need to be altered depending where they are implemented based upon climate variations, and certain renewable energy sources are obviously more pertinent to some areas rather than others.  In deserts, solar energy is the obvious choice, while hydro-energy might be a waste of money.

            In south Florida the effects of an oil crisis could be catastrophic.  Though public transportation exists, it’s not widely enough utilized and the local government does not invest enough into alternative fuel sources for it to of viable use in the case of an oil crisis.  As it stands, the majority of users of public transportation come from lower SES areas, so the increased cost would not positively affect public transportation use in this group.  According to the Draft Transit Development Plan for 2011 – 2020, Miami-Dade the fuel cost increase is projected to be 1% annually, and with labor costs the increase of bus/train fare might not be affordable in relation to wage increases.[iii]

            So what types of alternative fuel and renewable energy could be used?  What sort of choices can we, as Florida residents (or local students), make to create a more sustainable transition from fossil fuels and other energy sources to provide a buffer in case of another energy crisis (1973, 1979[iv]).  President Obama once claimed that it was the goal of the U.S. to double renewable energy production within three years[v].  Does this include South Florida?  Will the initiatives pass over our local governments and will legislature never see it as a necessity, like the many education fund reductions?

            Here in Florida we have implemented several forms of renewable energy, but not statewide.  At the Kennedy Space Center FPL (Florida Power and Light) has implemented a Solar Energy Center.  It consists of over 90,000 solar panels[vi].  Pushing expansion of this project might help produce a more cost-effective form of energy in the long run.  Another initiative that produces cost-effective savings is solar water heating, rather than electric or gas.  People save between 50 and 85% on their water heating expenses via this method and bio fuel is no longer an issue to these homeowners.[vii]  Though Florida has no wind power, the U.S. is said to have the potential to attain 20% of its energy from WIND power.  With that said, offshore wind production is more reliable and efficient because wind production is much higher, at higher speeds, and consistently produces energy.  But this has not been considered for reasons most likely relating to boating and hurricanes.  Hydroelectric power is more difficult to implement because South Florida does not have high fresh water reserves, and they are often stagnant water bodies (Lake Okeechobee, for example).[viii]

            Lester Brown’s “World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse” suggests many of these renewable energy sources.  The book teaches that it is economically smart to convert to renewable energy because, besides protecting our precious few natural resources from further pollution, it makes sense to protect us from another oil crisis.  It also creates more jobs and a stronger economy in return.  So far Florida’s most effective renewable resource has proven to be solar energy.  Solar-powered homes and cars are gaining popularity but still retain the disadvantage of initially being exorbitantly expensive.

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[i] Sholte, Jan Aart. Globalization: a critical introduction. Second Edition. .

NY: Macmillan, 2005. Print.

[ii] International Energy Agency (2007). Contribution of Renewables to Energy Security IEA Information Paper, p. 5.

[iii] "Draft Transit Development Plan." Miamidade.gov. Miami Dade County, Sep 2010. Web. 6 May 2011. <http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/library/pdfs/misc/tdp_may_2010.pdf>.

[iv] For further reading: http://www.harwich.edu/depts/history/HHJ/rowe.html

[v] http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12475

[vi] FPL Commissions DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center

[vii]  Statistics taken from Environmental and Energy Study Institute

[viii] http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html

A Case for the Arboretum: Biodiversity and Loss

Upon entering the John C. Gifford Arboretum, the average student might not notice the multitude of plant life that inhabits our campus. The arboretum was created to represent hundreds of species of plants and trees, and yet when looking at the website that was created to inform the world about this rare and diversified habitat, something stands out.

The above image represents the University’s internal struggle toward preservation of a significant habitat and study tool, and our need for a more direct route to the main roads. The city of Coral Gables is said to have mandated the building of this new road, but the location is subject to criticism. The University of Miami has not provided the students of the University with many details pertaining to the construction of the road and also solidified its plans without considering the extensive replanting that took place after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.(i) The arboretum contains over 500 different species and it was intended to be expanded with the $63,000 grant it received. Phase I of the road expansion has not been completed, and the impending Phase II is what has the student body and Biology department even more worried.

Because of the uncertainties involved in this construction, the Arboretum is left to the mercy of the city contractors and our President’s judgment. If this road is to be build how it was originally intended to be build, over 23% of the arboretum would be lost and 145 plants.(ii) As of now, the Graduate Student Association has kept its stance against the building of the road in its 10th resolution for 2009-2010. (iii)

Since the issue arose, with the support of the University of Miami student body and the Department of Biology, as well as the Graduate Student Association, the Arboretum construction deadline has been extended until August 31st, 2011. This extension of the completion of phase I of construction gives the Arboretum a fighting chance. It serves as a valuable research tool in the science departments and creates a balance in our urban school environment. The arboretum serves as both a refuge and teaching tool, and will continue to be fought for by people like Carol Horvitz, the Director of the John C. Gifford Arboretum. Her collaboration in the effort toward its preservation has made the difference. When Joe Natoli, the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, issued the statement about the extension of the road development deadlines, new efforts to discuss preservation were made because of the promise that the University of Miami “will reevaluate options for improving campus circulation, protecting green space, and otherwise enhancing our campus”. (iv)

But how can you get involved? Contact John Cozza or Carol Horvitz at arboretum@bio.miami.edu and see what you can do to assure that the University of Miami protects our green space and deviates AROUND the arboretum in its future construction.

______________________
i) Cozza, John, and Carol Horvitz. "Notes on a Road/Parking Lot in the University of Miami's Gifford Arboretum." John C. Gifford Arboretum. 2/11/2010. Web. 2 May 2011.
ii) Cozza, John, and Carol Horvitz. "Notes on a Road/Parking Lot in the University of Miami's Gifford Arboretum." John C. Gifford Arboretum. 2/11/2010. Web. 2 May 2011.
iii) It can be found: http://www.bio.miami.edu/arboretum/News/Senate%20agendab.pdf
iv) Joe Natoli, University of Miami Communications to EVERITAS-HTML@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU; June 02, 2010

Community Involvement: What the Guild can do for U

This past Greek Earth Day took the University of Miami to the Montgomery Botanical Center in Coral Gables.  When the buses pulled up to the center, various students commented that Coral Gables does not need the free labor they were providing and that they thought they “would be working with an underprivileged community”.[i]  I shared the same sentiments…until I researched the organization that has been fighting invasive species in the Botanical Center and transplanting rare plants.

The Urban Paradise Guild works with the Montgomery Botanical Center to help fight various invasive species to the palms and cycads grown there from around the world[ii].  This may not seem significant considering the volunteer day was meant to help, well, those who NEED help.  But the Urban Paradise Guild itself provides environmental aid to Botanical Centers and community gardens throughout Florida, regardless of the socioeconomic status (SES) of the region.  Some of these locations include: Liberty City, Hialeah, Oleta, Viscaya, El Portal, Matheson Hammock, and FIU South.  But part of the Urban Paradise Guild’s objective includes creating and maintaining a paradise in otherwise urban areas.  So what does this mean to us?  It means that the Guild is committed to resolving an environmental issue which usually revolves around a lack of vegetation in overdeveloped areas, and it also means they are willing to introduce projects at NEW locations![iii]

How can the Urban Paradise Guild make an impact in a new location?  What if the location does not have enough community property where a garden can be built?  The Urban Paradise Guild operates without funding and is volunteer-based.  Community nurseries and gardens can also be small in size, ranging from being started on a rooftop to being planted under a tree.  But the nurseries that the UPG promote are created native species on South Florida, and volunteers bring these plants to life from the seed to transplanting, and finally, the final step of planting them.[iv]

So what sort of community impact does the UPG have, and how can volunteering help their efforts?  The University of Miami already demonstrated on Greek Earth day that this sort of volunteering is much simpler, and less time consuming that one might think.  We uprooted invasive species by hand and shovel, and transplanted native species from small pots to larger pots.  Lines were formed to pass soil and groups were made to water the plants.  The teamwork and solidarity between different Greek organizations was fantastic to see and made being a student at the University of Miami seem more worthwhile.  But why stop with one day of volunteering?  And why not open locations where we know vegetation is scarce?  It can be simple to volunteer, and the time commitment is minimal.  Make your community or someone else’s greener to help preserve the Paradise everyone hopes to enjoy.  Bring the Guild to Urban areas, and keep the U involved.  Volunteer at: http://www.urban-paradise.org/volunteer

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[i] Anonymous Greek volunteer

[ii] "MBC Living Collections." Montgomery Botanical Center I. (2011): Web. 4 May 2011. <http://www.montgomerybotanical.org/Pages/Research.htm>.

[iii] "Locations & Chapters." Urban Paradise Guild. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.urban-paradise.org/Locations>.

[iv] “Native Community Nurseries." Urban Paradise Guild. Web. 3 May 2011.

<http://www.urban-paradise.org/nurseries.>.

The Situation in Overtown

With the construction of the new Life Science & Technology Park underway, Overtown residents are growing increasingly skeptical as to whether or not this project was developed to help actual residents or to improve the actual area of Overtown through gentrification. As construction, which began in November of 2009, continues, more and more promises are simply not being upheld. This project was to create jobs for Overtown residents, according to the University of Miami along with Maryland based developer, Wexford Science & Technology. With an unemployment rate nearing 50%, the area has been stricken with crime and danger for years.

Overtown: A short history

Originally created through the Jim Crow segregation laws and named ‘Colored Town’, Overtown was a flourishing beacon for the black community of South Miami. It was one of the strongest examples of black entrepreneurialism in the country. Residents there opened up their own hotels, grocery stores, theaters, and nightclubs. The theaters were year round hosts to some of the top African American acts in the country, such as Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. When the Jim Crow Laws were overturned, many of the wealthier residents moved out of the area, looking for communities with less crime. This, paired with the fact that I-95 was constructed right through the middle of Overtown in the 1960’s, displacing many of the residents there, destroyed the community.

What does Overtown want?

Residents from Overtown were told that this project would create jobs, mostly construction, for the community. Officially, no statistics have been released as to how many Overtown residents are actually receiving work. STAND and Power U, two student organizations fighting for Overtown residents throughout this project, state that only 8 workers on the construction are actually from Overtown. Jacqueline Menendez, UM's vice president of communications, says that the number is somewhere between 12 and 20 of the 80 or 90 workers each day. Keith Ivory of the Power U Center says that approximately 10 Overtown residents approach the site everyday looking for work, are told to leave a phone number, but never receive a call back. In an email blast sent to the University of Miami community, Donna Shalala, the school’s President, claimed that 34% of the workforce being used for construction is from Overtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. In an article written by Kyle Munzenrieder for the Miami New Times, that 34% is again mentioned, but Munzenrieder emphasizes that the language used by Shalala is covering up the reality of the situation. He writes, “The school claims that 34 percent of the work force comes from within several zip codes around the project, but critics claim only one of those zip codes actually covers Overtown.” The truth is certainly hard to find in this situation, but the evidence available makes one question University of Miami’s motives.

Gentrification

Overtown is located right in the heart of downtown Miami. Given its deserved reputation as a dangerous, crime-ridden area, Overtown creates a unique situation for the city of Miami. While growing in popularity over the last decade, it cannot be argued that unless Overtown cleans up its act, it will hold back the city in terms of economic development and potential. STAND and Power U have called out the University of Miami to sign an agreement for sustainable community benefits based on the new Life Science & Technology building. These benefits, courtesy of Power U’s website, would include:

• Guarantees that a certain percentage of the short term construction and long term professional jobs will be prioritized for residents of Overtown.
• Job training for those positions.
• A scholarship program for Overtown high school students to the University to study in fields related to the work at the Life Sciences Park.
• Green spaces for use as community gardens and safe recreational areas to address the food desert and obesity epidemic.
• Guarantees that public housing will not be taken over for use by the University.

The University of Miami, though, will not sign any agreement, but why? STAND and Power U argue that it is not in University of Miami’s interests to help the current residents of Overtown. Instead, these new facilities, to be finished in 2012, will increase property values around the area, forcing out the impoverished residents and encouraging wealthier, middle and upper class crowds. This project is not so much about helping Overtown residents as it is altering the image of Overtown itself.

Funding

Returning to President Shalala’s email blast to the UM community, she writes, “I also urge you to read our informational brochure “Life Science & Technology Park and the Community,” which provides an overview of the project and its impact on the community, including the $700,000 in grants awarded by Wexford to not-for-profits in the area.” This $700,000 she mentions is not without controversy. STAND, on their website, claims that $700,000 is the required amount that the school is forced to give based on the guidelines on which their funding was received. The Urban Research Park, the community development organization, is responsible for that $700,000 figure as they are the entity that allocated the money. In all, Wexford and UM received $8.3 million. To make matters worse, while Shalala is correct in that the money went to not-for-profit organizations, many of them went to organizations located in Wynwood, and not Overtown. How much can you make of this? Well, to be fair, if the not-for-profits located in Overtown were not good candidates to receive donations, and there were better suited organizations nearby, than an argument over which organization gets the funding does exist. But, this was a project for Overtown, to benefit Overtown. If that was truly the goal of the project, than how can one justify not giving this money to an Overtown-based organization?

Future of Overtown

This project is one of many new developments scheduled to begin construction in Overtown. Wexford and UM’s reluctance to sign the benefits agreement seems like an omen of greater injustices and controversies that will most assuredly follow. While it does not seem as though this was project was ever meant to actually benefit residents of Overtown, it is important to step back and view the facts without bias. Unfortunately, at this point, with the information available, the future of Overtown looks like one of major disappointment and resentment. Overtown will become home to wealthier residents as new infrastructure continues to be built with little consideration given to the current population.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Power U official site: http://www.poweru.org/SCBA.htm

President Shalala’s Email Blast: http://www6.miami.edu/communications/dialogue/2010-2011/dialogue_03_24_11.html

Miami New Times Article: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/04/university_of_miami_discipline.php

Miami Herald Article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/21/1642196/overtown-activists-fear-university.html

STAND official site: http://www.standuniversityofmiami.org/index.php

History of Overtown: http://www.floridacdc.org/members/overtown/hist-his.htm

Single Stream Recycling?

What is the point of recycling? Is it to create less waste or to prevent further creation of waste by finding another use for recyclables instead of producing new materials?

In the first stance, single stream recycling sounds like the perfect idea to create less waste. To gather our recyclable discarded items together rather than have them join the landfills where they are incapable of decomposing. The ease of single stream recycling promotes recycling, in comparison to the idea of separation of recyclables practiced in many countries. It saves time and effort (as well as collection costs) with one container in comparison to one for newspaper, plastics, glass, etc. Participation and recovery of recyclables rates rises. http://www.millenniumrecycling.com/singlestream/glass.cfm

In the second stance, is single stream recycling compatible? By placing a variety of recyclables together, we end up downcycling the materials, especially paper. Why? When we place high quality office papers with other recyclables, due to the possibility of contamination, the high quality paper are recycled to cardboard or other low end uses. In fact, because the recyclables are indiscriminately dumped together, much of it is discarded into the landfill anyways due to contamination. Glass is still a major problem in single stream recycling.

A similar story is the high tech recycling. A 60 minute episode covered the shocking truth that many of our recycled technology ends up being picked apart in dangerous factories in China or third world countries by women and children for a meager salary everyday. Again, the material is being downcycled, from computer parts to mere ounces of copper metal. see http://www.green-talk.com/2008/11/11/60-minutes-reveals-the-ugly-side-of-recycling/

Pizza boxes are NOT recyclable. Once a pizza box is placed with other single stream recyclables, it renders the rest of the bin contaminated and non-recyclable. The cardboard itself is recyclable. The problem lies with the cheese and grease. Food is one of the worst contaminants for the paper recycling process. Unlike plastic and glass recycling, which uses heat, paper products are processed in water, and oil and water do not mix. Thus, all food related paper products are non-recyclable, such as used napkins and paper towels.http://earth911.com/news/2009/03/02/the-pizza-box-mystery/

What is the solution then? If single-stream recycling is discontinued, would people really recycle less? Is single stream recycling more cost-benefit or more eco-friendly?

Read “Single Stream Recycling Generates Debate”

http://www.recyclingtoday.com/Article.aspx?article_id=25326

This is Florida?!? Phosphate Mining

Florida’s largest industry is tourism. As one of the top travel destinations in the world, a major attraction of Florida is its abundance in nature-based tours and eco-tourism spots. The shrinking Everglades, receding beaches, and disappearing coral reefs make up a large part of the $57 billion tourism input into Florida’s economy [1]. What happens to the number one industry in Florida when ironically, the second and third largest industries in Florida, agriculture and phosphate respectively, are helping to make it disappear?[2]

Maybe the fear of losing all this beauty is what makes these places more attractive to visitors, but who would want to go to a place that looks like this? 

The picture above is from phosphate mining in west central Florida, the world’s richest source of it. Phosphate has been mined in Florida for the last 120 years [2], and the process destroys the environment into an irreversible condition. (There is controversy on the success of restoration of former mining areas). The operation is very crude:

“Miners pull phosphate ore out of the ground, crush it, and throw it into an acid lake, where it separates into white gypsum stacks and a liquid acid that is then processed further to feed crops.”[3]

The step by step explanation is no better [4]:

• First, the area to be mined is stripped of vegetation and the water table is lowered. Even in the first step, the environment is already destroyed. Removing vegetation removes animal life as well as increases soil erosion. A deep trench is dug around the area to lower the water table. Lowering the water table levels increases saltwater intrusion into the aquifers and accelerates sinkhole formation. These are usually problems found from over extension of water demanded and pumped over time, but phosphate companies do this on purpose, increasing the pollution of the water in the communities around the mines. Floridian aquifers are contained under pressure by impermeable sediment to keep water temperature and flow relatively constant. One can only imagine the damage by lowering the water table.[1]
• In the second step, dragline bucket systems, where enormous crane machines drag their buckets, strip away the 20-50 feet of soil and stacks in nearby mined areas. Then the dragline scoops the exposed phosphate ore, mixed with sand and clay, into a pit. This is surface mining, or dragline excavation. This is the process that creates the landscape seen from Google Earth maps of large stadium sized man made gypstacks.
• The ore in the pit is then blasted by high-pressure water jets into a slurry. These create the acid lakes of water polluted beyond repair and huge lakes of death.
• The slurry is pumped by pipeline to a processing plant which separates the sand, clay, and phosphate ore. The phosphate ore is shipped to another plant to process it into fertilizer. The same fertilizer that creates runoff into the waterways after being used on Floridian farms.


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[1] (Cervone)

On Google maps, instead of the squares of green suburb lawns or small patches of gray and green of the cities, huge acres of dead gray are seen even from outer space. There are no deserts in Florida. These are the stadium sized gypstacks, clay remains from phosphate mining.

“On the south side, the Hardee landscape is typical Florida heartland: Drought-browned pasture stretches mile after mile, dotted by grazing cows, lonely palms and scrub-oak trees. To the north, the view into Polk County is a jarring contrast: Mile after mile of strip-mined earth in shades of gray, with not a tree or other living thing on the horizon.'" [5]

Video credit to AnonTruthandLies, please view in 720 for best quality.

So, What is Phosphate?

Phosphate is used to make the fertilizer that helps farmers maximize yield in crops [3]. Thus, with the demand of agriculture in Florida increases the demand of phosphate as well.

The runoff and the waste produced by phosphate mining is intense on the environment. What does one do with 1 billion tons of phosphogypsum waste [6]?

The Future of Phosphate Mining in Florida:

Phosphate mining is a non-renewable resource and Florida is running out [6]. Thus, the companies are doing a last ditch effort to mine as much as they can out of the area while eyeing the area nearby, expanding their operations. (See the New York Times article about Florida counties trying to contain phosphate mining http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/us/04phosphates.html [7].)

Phosphate mining needs to be stopped before it runs out first. (It has been estimated Florida still has another 25 years of phosphate mining left [8]) The phosphate mining companies need to be held responsible for the damage they have caused to the environment.
 "The groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 30, challenging a permit it gave Mosaic to destroy 500 acres of wetlands in an extension of the mine into Hardee County. " [9]
There are still debates whether reclamation of former mines is working.

[1] http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=95

[2] http://www.floridahistory.com/phosphate.html

[3]http://discovermagazine.com/photos/23-the-dark-side-of-the-green-revolution

[4] http://earthshots.usgs.gov/Orlando/Orlando
[5] http://www.ourphosphaterisk.com/news/story/58/

[6] http://www.baysoundings.com/sum05/phosphate1.html
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/us/04phosphates.html
[8] http://www1.fipr.state.fl.us/PhosphatePrimer/0/D180A63B2294832985256F770069E962
[9] http://protectpeaceriver.org/resources/?p=312




In addition, and ongoing