Britain's Blind Farmers Are Teaching Others How to Grow

It’s no secret that, although progress has been made, school lunches need help to become more nutritious and sustainable. School officials in San Francisco are partnering with researchers from UC Berkeley's School of Public Health to better school lunch programs and, ultimately, curb child obesity.

Half of U.S. farm workers are Hispanic, but few make it to leadership positions. A historically white non-profit, FFA, is creating equal education programs in California to increase leadership opportunities for minorities in agriculture.

Individuals who have Aspergers Syndrome and autism experience difficulty in conforming to workplace norms and find themselves unemployed. Specialisterne, a Danish company, has opened employment opportunities for them. Sixty countries around the world have sought to adopt the company model.

To combat hunger and malnutrition, Digital Green, an N.G.O., is creating and delivering videos about cheap, innovative farming techniques that can substantially increase small farmers' production of staple foods in India, Ghana, and Ethiopia.

Milwaukee County’s mental health system put more resources in expensive emergency care rather than invest in programs that offer continual care. As a result, Milwaukee County identifies nine solutions from other cities that have had success in repairing mental health systems. Solutions include the ending of reliance on emergency care, expand community support programs, change laws, and supportive housing.

In the United States 20 percent of prisoners have a mental illness. San Antonio law enforcement and mental health workers pooled their resources and worked together to create a one-stop center for the mentally ill to keep them out of prison.

Most programs to cut recidivism don’t significantly reduce rates of repeated arrests or incarceration, but one called the Center for Employment Opportunities that started in New York City is making a dramatic dent. The program provides newly-released prisoners with transitional services - most significantly, distinct working crews where they can be constructively monitored and learn teamwork - effectively helping keep them out of jail and transition back into society.

Culinary and agricultural education can sometimes take a backseat to the more academic side of high school. But Blue Hill is teaching high school students the importance of healthy cooking and home grown produce through a cooking class that was recently instituted in Manhattan high schools.

In India, many farmers, especially women farmers, have transitioned to organic farming. While it requires a serious set of skills and knowledge, organic farming increases yields and decreases costs by eliminating the need to buy pesticides. The move is both ecological and economical, and the Indian government is trying to spread the solution.

The System of Root Intensification (SRI) method resulted in dramatically high yields from one Indian village. The system centers on a "less is more" approach and results in higher yields—without the use of GMOs. The idea has faced barriers in spreading, as scientists are wary of it, even as villagers embrace the empirically successful approach.