Health

What the Flint Crisis Reveals About Inequality in the U.S.

TIME MAGAZINE 02/09/15 By Michael Shank and Justin Talbot-Zorn It isn’t just how much money people are making—it’s also what people are breathing, drinking and eating On Sunday, Hillary Clinton took leave from the New Hampshire campaign trail to address to a local church in Flint, Mich. Just a few […]

How Sustainability Should Shape the American Diet

MSNBC 10/27/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Matt Cartwright The World Health Organization’s somewhat startling finding this week, that processed meats can be carcinogenic, has suddenly brought national dietary policy into sharp focus.  Although the headline is an unsettling one, it is nonetheless altogether timely because of what is […]

Why World Leaders Are Starting to Eat Garbage

TIME 10/02/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva The world wastes more than 1.3 billion metric tons of edible food each year When it comes to tackling climate change, one of the greatest challenges we face is understanding the myriad factors that influence our warming planet. Addressing some […]

Meat Alert

THE HILL 08/31/15 By Michael Shank Announced in the quiet of Congressional recess, new data published this week by Consumer Reports indicates that ground beef often contains bacteria that causes sickness in humans and resists drug treatment. Congress should take note. Fortunately, the United States Department of Agriculture already rolled […]

USDA Does Diets Differently, Moves Off Meat

HUFFINGTON POST 07/07/15 By Michael Shank With the United States Department of Agriculture announcing meat substitutes in school lunches nationwide, replacing meat with equally protein-rich alternatives, we’re starting to witness a sea change in national dietary guidelines. And it’s about time. Our current approach to diets is unsustainable. Federally appointed […]

Albany Gets “F” for Failing to Protect Tenants

HUFFINGTON POST 06/17/15 By Michael Shank New York City is infamous for its unaffordable and undignified housing. Not only is the city’s housing a clear and present danger to residents, as I’ve detailed before, but renters in Manhattan pay, on average, over $4,000 a month. This is untenable for the […]

Water Shortages are Coming. It’s Time for Us to Act

THE GUARDIAN 03/12/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Matt Cartwright Most Americans take water for granted. It’s a resource that people assume will always be accessible, available, and consumable. For most people in this country, whether they’re at a public drinking fountain, a restaurant or at home, water is […]

Detroit’s Death Knell? Austerity, Structural Racism, Water Wars

HUFFINGTON POST 11/18/14 By Michael Shank and Peter J. Hammer The post-industrial dystopia emerging on the streets of Detroit may be shocking, but it is not surprising. The crisis results from the convergent forces of fiscal austerity and structural racism in a region defined by its extreme segregation of race, […]

Yemen’s a Model All Right—For Disaster

DAILY BEAST 11/13/14 By Michael Shank and Casey Harrity Guns, drones, and special forces were not enough to stabilize Yemen, and they won’t be enough to stop ISIS. Remember the so-called “Yemen model,” the seeming success story for a U.S. policy targeting terrorists that President Barack Obama pointed to a […]

Rethink America’s Yemen Policy, Set New Standard for Syria, Iraq

HUFFINGTON POST 09/29/14 By Michael Shank and Casey Harrity Authors Michael Shank and Casey Harrity published a policy brief this month as part of FCNL’s “Shared Security” series. For the full 20-page “Security in Yemen” report, click here. Below is the executive summary excerpted from the report. Yemen is on […]