You are browsing the archive for November 2008.
Thursday is Thanksgiving, a holiday started in Massachusetts. This holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November is a feast resembling one in 1621 between the Pilgrims and Native Americans, but how much of the history is actually true?
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has joined the ‘green’ movement sweeping the nation — perhaps in some ways you might not imagine. Evidence is everywhere, from student-led initiatives to the abundance of local foods available at the DCs. Some progress has even captured both local and national attention.
Although gas prices have been rapidly falling in the past month, food prices may not follow suit, and consumers are looking for alternatives to the high-priced grocery store chains. Over the past several years, rising gas prices have pushed the price of food higher and higher as farmers and grocery stores struggled to make a profit while their production and transportation costs skyrocketed.
Early in the morning, and for much of the day, Conway Solomon and his fellow workers at the Czajkowski Farm in Hadley stoop over vegetable beds and pick squash. Later that evening, hundreds of students at the University of Massachusetts enjoy that very same squash picked by Solomon only hours before.
Warner Farm owner Mike Wissemann spent a recent autumn Monday greeting groups of people coming to his farm to navigate this year’s corn maze. At 6:30 p.m., he left the meet-and-greets to one of his farm hands, departed his Sunderland farm, and made his way to his town selectman meeting.
“Down with Eight,” chanted the crowd of nearly 500 protesters in front of Northampton’s City Hall Saturday afternoon. The drum beating, sign holding, and car honking on Main Street was in protest of California’s Proposition 8 ballot question that recently reversed the marriage rights of same-sex couples.
Barefoot and covered in dirt while bagging raw chicken, Michael Doctor, director of the Food Bank Farm in Hadley, embodies the farmers of the Pioneer Valley. He is dedicated to the work he does and knows well the full effects that buying local has on producers, consumers and the economy of Massachusetts.
Even on a rainy Saturday, people came to buy fresh produce including potatoes, carrots, pears, and apples at the Amherst Farmers’ Market. The wide variety of fruits and vegetables in season attracted a crowd on the Amherst Town Common from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The story of Election Day 2008 at UMass Amherst.
On Nov. 4, we asked UMass students and local residents how they felt and tracked the trends in moods from morning to night. This was the result. The bigger the word, the greater the frequency of its use. Click on a word to launch its video. For multiple instances of the same word, use the left and right arrows on your keyboard to browse between clips. Go to this issue now →
