Brent Cunningham

1 month ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“The Eastern Shore of Virginia is the southern-most tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, a hunk of land under joint custody of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The Virginia portion is a serrated slice some 5 to 15 miles wide and 70 miles long. The bayside looks west across the Chesapeake Bay to mainland Virginia, while the seaside is shielded by barrier islands, the longest stretch of coastal wilderness on the East Coast.

1 month ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

In December 2006, ICE agents raided six Swift & Company meatpacking plants in Texas, arresting 1,300 undocumented workers, a pivotal but often overlooked event that forced the meatpacking industry to shift away from undocumented labor. Although anti-immigrant crackdowns have historically aimed to open jobs to American workers, these positions—especially in meatpacking—have not been reclaimed by native-born citizens.

1 month ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’n’wipe, the no-touch flush, the sanitisers and disinfectants. The compost pile stands in productive contrast to a domestic order founded on the concealment of waste. We so rarely have to deal with our own shit, and this avoidance extends beyond sewage.

2 months ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“It was easier to fret about the ongoing climate tragedy … than to let my attention lie fallow, occupied only by a hyperawareness of myself, in prison,” writes Michael Fischer. “I read about food waste and fracking, mountaintop removal, and the annual death toll from air pollution …. I read about animal agriculture and its impact on land use, animal welfare, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria ….

2 months ago | thefern.org | Brent Cunningham

“To eat in modern America is to participate in not-knowing. We encounter the meal on our plates, yet behind that, much is kept hidden from us: how the animals were treated, how the land was farmed, who processed the bodies, and who butchered them. Some 34 million cattle are slaughtered every year in the US, the conditions of the farm or feedlot or processing plant are obscured,” writes David Cook. “Answers are hidden because, too often, answers are vile and violent.