Books by Participant
Food, Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It
Food, Inc. is guaranteed to shake up our perceptions of what we eat. This powerful documentary deconstructing the corporate food industry in America was hailed by Entertainment Weekly as "more than a terrific movie -- it's an important movie." Aided by expert commentators such as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, the film poses questions such as: Where has my food come from, and who has processed it? What are the giant agribusinesses and what stake do they have in maintaining the status quo of food production and consumption? How can I feed my family healthy foods affordably?
Expanding on the film's themes, the book Food, Inc. will answer those questions through a series of challenging essays by leading experts and thinkers. This book will encourage those inspired by the film to learn more about the issues, and act to change the world.
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Page One: Inside The New York Times and the Future of Journalism (Participant Media Guide)
by David Folkenflik, Participant
The news media is in the middle of a revolution. Old certainties have been shoved aside by new entities such as WikiLeaks and Gawker, Politico and the Huffington Post. But where, in all this digital innovation, is the future of great journalism? Is there a difference between an opinion column and a blog, a reporter and a social networker? Who curates the news, or should it be streamed unimpeded by editorial influence?
Expanding on Andrew Rossi's "riveting" film (Slate), David Folkenflik has convened some of the smartest media savants to talk about the present and the future of news. Behind all the debate is the presence of the New York Times, and the inside story of its attempt to navigate the new world, embracing the immediacy of the web without straying from a commitment to accurate reporting and analysis that provides the paper with its own definition of what it is there to showcase: all the news that's fit to print.
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Last Call at the Oasis: The Global Water Crisis and Where We Go from Here (Participant Guide Media)
by Participant
"If there was a price placed on clean water we might start treating it like it has value. Maybe when it's gone we'll realize we can't drink oil or money." -- Dave Matthews
Less than 1 percent of the world's water is fresh and potable -- and no more will ever be available. Thanks to pollution, global warming, and population growth, water access is poised to become today's most explosive global issue. This book, based on the film Last Call at the Oasis by Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu, offers insights into the coming water crisis from visionary scientists, policymakers, activists, and environmentalists, including:
ROBERT MORAN on how oil and mineral development pollute and divert water supplies -- often beyond public scrutiny PETER H. GLEICK on discovering the "soft path" to global water security ROBERT GLENNON on how the power of markets can help protect the world's water LYNN HENNING on how a family farmer became a passionate "water activist" ALEX PRUD'HOMME on how the water crisis affects us all GARY WHITE on how innovative social and economic strategies can make clean water available even for the world's poorest people HADLEY ARNOLD AND PETER ARNOLD on how arid regions like America's Southwest can wisely husband water supplies for cities and farmers alike ROBYN BEAVERS on how today's smartest businesses are making sustainable water management a competitive advantage ZEM JOAQUIN on nine "ecofabulous" ways of saving water at home -- and doing it with style BILL MCDONOUGH on how smart design can preserve water's "Endless Resourcefulness" for generations to come
No resource on earth is more precious -- or more endangered -- than water. Last Call at the Oasis is a powerful tool for learning about the water challenges we face as well as the remarkable solutions available to us -- if we have the will to use them.
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Oceans: The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do to Turn the Tide (Participant Guide)
by Participant, Jon Bowermaster
This unique tie-in to the major motion picture Oceans -- coming this April from Disney & National Geographic -- explores the health of our oceans, and what we can do to improve it.
More than 75 percent of the globe is covered by the oceans. It is sometimes difficult to understand why it is called Planet Earth rather than Planet Ocean. Since half the world's human population lives within a stone's throw of an ocean coastline, the oceans' health is increasingly important. Rich with resources and potential -- as a source of renewable energy, new drugs, drinking water -- for years we have treated them as both infinite and undamageable. But they are not.
Over-fishing, climate change, pollution, acidification, and more have put the world's oceans and marine life at great risk.
Oceans gathers some of the most insightful visionaries, explorers, and ocean lovers -- marine biologists, politicians, environmentalists, fishermen, sportsmen, deep divers, and more -- in a unique anthology, in which each speaks to a unique aspect of our world's most dimly understood dimension.
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A Place at the Table: The Crisis of 49 Million Hungry Americans and How to Solve It
by Participant
Forty-nine million people -- including one in four children -- go hungry in the U.S. every day, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all. Inspired by the acclaimed documentary A Place at the Table, this companion book offers powerful insights from those at the front lines of solving hunger in America, including:
Jeff Bridges, Academy Award-winning actor, cofounder of the End Hunger Network, and spokesperson for the No Kid Hungry Campaign, on raising awareness about hunger
Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, unravels the inequities in the Farm Bill and shows how they affect America's hunger crisis
Marion Nestle, nutritionist and acclaimed critic of the food industry, whose latest work tracks the explosion of calories in today's "Eat More" environment
Bill Shore, Joel Berg, and Robert Egger, widely-published anti-hunger activists, suggest bold and diverse strategies for solving the crisis
Janet Poppendieck, sociologist, bestselling author, and well-known historian of poverty and hunger in America, argues the case for school lunch reform
Jennifer Harris, of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, uncovers the new hidden persuaders of web food advertisers
David Beckmann, head of Bread for the World, and Sarah Newman, researcher on A Place at the Table, explore the intersection of faith and feeding the hungry
Mariana Chilton, director of Drexel University's Center for Hunger-Free Communities, discusses the health impacts of hunger and the groundbreaking Witnesses to Hunger project
Tom Colicchio, chef and executive producer of television's Top Chef, presents his down-to-earth case to Washington for increases in child nutrition programs
Andy Fisher, veteran activist in community food projects, argues persuasively why we have to move beyond the charity-based emergency feeding program
Kelly Meyer, cofounder of Teaching Gardens, illuminates the path to educating, and providing healthy food for, all children
Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush, the film's directors/producers, tell their personal stories of how and why they came to make the documentary
Hunger and food insecurity pose a deep threat to our nation. A Place at the Table shows they can be solved once and for all, if the American public decides -- as they have in the past -- that making healthy food available, and affordable, is in the best interest of us all.
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Waiting for ""SUPERMAN"": How We Can Save America's Failing Public Schools (Participant Guide Media)
by Participant
Each book includes a 15 gift card from DonorsChoose.org to give to a classroom in need.
The American public school system is in crisis, failing millions of students, producing as many drop-outs as graduates, and threatening our economic future. By 2020, the United States will have 123 million high-skill jobs to fill -- and fewer than 50 million Americans qualified to fill them. Educators, parents, political leaders, business people, and concerned citizens are determined to save our educational system. Waiting for "Superman" offers powerful insights from some of those at the leading edge of educational innovation, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Michelle Rhee, Geoffrey Canada, and more. Waiting for "Superman" is an inspiring call for reform and includes special chapters that provide resources, ideas, and hands-on suggestions for improving the schools in your own community as well as throughout the nation. For parents, teachers, and concerned citizens alike, Waiting for "Superman" is an essential guide to the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing America's schools.
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