Madeleine Fairbairn
@landstuff.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at UCSC. Author of: "Fields of Gold: Financing the Global Land Rush" (2020, Cornell University Press). Sociology of agriculture, land justice, agri-food tech, financialization.
he University of California system was once the largest and most prestigious public school system IN THE WORLD — but today, more of the UC's budget comes from tuition than taxes. We have to fight for formerly public systems like the UC to be truly public — and tuition-free — once again.
“I found no evidence of foreign companies buying farmland in the region,” Kelly-Bisson said in a statement. “The entities that are most responsible for taking farmland ownership away from farmers are Canadian investment companies.” Just to clarify, my statement was referring to eastern Ontario.
ANALYSIS | Ontario bill aiming to expand northern farming raises land ownership, affordability concerns | CBC News
The Ontario government says expanding agriculture in the Clay Belt would strengthen food security and support farmers. But some farmers, researchers and environmental advocates say the plan leaves que...
cbc.ca
Congratulations to our new union comrades at Penn State! Especially glad to hear the union covers temporary and part time faculty as well, to head off attempts to pit adjunct and TT against each other. www.centredaily.com/news/local/e...
Penn State faculty vote to unionize in one of PA’s largest public sector union elections
“This is an historic union election and the largest union election in Pennsylvania’s public sector in nearly five decades.”
centredaily.com
We are turning 30, with a blast! @emilyreisman.bsky.social, @landstuff.bsky.social and Zenia Kish take us into the world of agrarian platform capitalism. Read more: institutionallandscapes.org/contribution... #geosky @landrush.bsky.social @antipodeonline.bsky.social @pollenetwork.bsky.social
California produced a report proposing policies that would foster more equitable access to farmland. The Trump USDA freaked out and threatened legal action. Adam Calo and I wrote an op-ed on why these policies are EXACTLY what the state needs to make our food system stronger and more sustainable.
Civil Eats@civileats.com · 7mo ago“[Newsom] can choose to abandon principles of equity in favor of appealing to an imagined mainstream voter. Or, he can ... present a vision for an alternative future,” write Radboud University professor @adamcalo.bsky.social and @ucsantacruz.bsky.social professor @landstuff.bsky.social in an op-ed.
I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
popular.info
TIL about the Baldwin Test, and this example of applying it to edtech (and the other ex upthread) is instructive for all of us, providing specific ways we can be more intentional about description of tech claims. these principles are also more broadly applicable to other overhyped domains.
Charles Logan@charleswlogan.bsky.social · 9mo agoI took Tucker’s piece as an inspiration for my own post for the Civics of Technology and applying the Baldwin Test to investigate claims about educational technology:
Since I walked away from a tenure track job 4 years ago to move to think tank work, A LOT of people have asked me how and why; I tried to consolidate some of that thinking into this interview I did with @mjhaugen.bsky.social for @cplusc.bsky.social 's substack
“How Do You Solve for Impact?”
An interview with Patrick Bigger on leaving academia, strategic research, and scholar activism
climatecommunityinstitute.substack.com
Democratizing finance by turning everyone into a venture capitalist.
These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...
Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime (Published 1939)
nytimes.com
Israel Waging "Fastest Starvation Campaign" in Modern History in Gaza: U.N. Special Rapporteur on Food
Israel Waging “Fastest Starvation Campaign” in Modern History in Gaza: U.N. Special Rapporteur on Food
“The world needs to impose wide-scale sanctions against the state of Israel to force it to end the starvation and genocide of civilians.” More than 100 humanitarian organizations are demanding action...
democracynow.org
The Orwellian myth at the heart of industrial agriculture? That environmental destruction is actually conservation. This must-read essay traces how productivism – the obsession with yield – fuels ecocide & colonialism, while failing to 'feed the world'. 📖 spectrejournal.com/the-enduring...
The Enduring Fantasy of “Feeding the World” – Spectre Journal
Members of the Agroecology Research-Action Collective argue against the productivist logic underlying the "feed-the-world" approaches to feed security.
spectrejournal.com
The majority of DOGE's "work" is to use LLMs to search federal grants for the keywords "LGBTQ," "BIPOC," and similar, and then to cancel those grants. They are targeting minorities in the most literal, automated way. The outcomes of this are all over their own website:
Kyle Cheney@kyledcheney.bsky.social · last yr.YOUNG: "I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it – that this represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community. That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out."
🚨 There’s a lot of horrific news out of Washington right now—but you might have missed this: Senate Republicans just introduced a plan to sell off 120 million acres of our public lands. Let me break down what’s in the bill and why it’s a full-scale land grab. 🧵
With Trump's "big tragic bill," "backed by American industry," reaching its penultimate stage, I want to share a "big democratic alternative" I worked on with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, which would be powered by America's people.
Take action today to protect US farm workers. Tell your Congressmembers to say NO to weakened H-2A wage provisions that would undercut American farm workers' wages and protections. ufw.org/aewr #WeFeedYou
Only a quarter of Illinois farmland is owned by the people who farm it. That’s shaping what’s grown and how it’s grown, including the use of conservation programs/practices. Great in-depth read from @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/01/i...
Who owns most of the farmland in Illinois? Not farmers.
Less than 25% of Illinois farmland is owned by the farmer who works the land, with the rest leased by individuals, family trusts and, increasingly, investors looking to turn a profit.
chicagotribune.com
this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...
Even labor exploitation, structural racism, and environmental/climate destruction subsidize AI companies, they're still not close to being profitable.
Know how the secretary of education was referring to AI as "A1"? I've just discovered the generational inverse of this: my 9-year-old is reading a book about Al Capone. Turns out he's been reading it as: "A.I. Caponey." It took me ages to figure out what he was talking about.
This really mild petition asking Newsom and the UC system to stand up for academic freedom and freedom of speech has reached 2,000 signatures from UC faculty, but it should have much more. UC Faculty, there is still time to sign!!!
Roberta Millstein 🌎🌱🐩🏊🏼♀🎶🥾@cepaea.bsky.social · last yr.Resistance from 2000+ University of California faculty. ✊🏼🎓 forms.gle/kQdGVnj6ypPk...
The US #LandSqueeze in a graph. As farm sizes climb, the number of farms continues to fall. When farmland is concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, #food becomes commoditized and uniform. Rural communities are hollowed out. Diverse foods rely on diverse farms.
Marcia Brown@marciabrown.bsky.social · last yr.The number of farms declined again while the average size of a farm continues to tick up. Chart by USDA's Economic Research Service.
I cannot wait to read this article. It explores the role of the law in enabling the financialization of farmland in recent years. This is such an important topic and I have no doubt the analysis will be absolutely brilliant, like everything else @jessicashoemaker.bsky.social writes.
Jessica A. Shoemaker@jessicashoemaker.bsky.social · last yr.As markets churn and world orders reset, @jamesftierney.bsky.social and I have a new piece forthcoming in Yale Law Journal that couldn't be more timely. "Trading Acres" traces the risks of farmland financialization and analyzes the role of law in this ongoing rural land grab. 🧵
I have tariffed the penguins that are on Heard Island and which you were probably assuming did not export goods forgive me they were taking advantage of us so cunning and so cold
Strom Thurmond's record is 24 hours and 18 minutes which was done against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 & in defense of segregation. Cory Booker, a Black senator from Jersey, breaking his record to speak out against a white supremacist President would be poetic justice.
Cory Booker crosses 23-hour mark in marathon Senate floor speech protesting Trump agenda | CNN Politics
Sen. Cory Booker is holding the Senate floor into Tuesday afternoon, as the New Jersey Democrat continues his marathon speech protesting actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
cnn.com
IATP joins calls for the release of Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez from ICE detention. Farmworker organizations on the ground believe that ICE targeted Lelo for his leadership in standing up for farmworkers and immigrants in his community. @foodchainworkers.bsky.social foodchainworkers.org/2025/03/we-d...
We Demand the Release of Farmworker Leader Alfredo "Lelo" Juarez from ICE Detention - Food Chain Workers Alliance
FCWA is calling for ally organizations to join use in demanding Lelo's release by signing on to our open letter.
foodchainworkers.org