NPR on Noho/Regional Amtrak

Nancy Cohen of Hartford's WNPR reports that states are competing for the $8 billion in federal stimulus money that is designated for rail improvements--and that New England rail advocates are calling for multi-state collaboration instead. (Northeast environmental coverage is part of NPR's Local News Initiative.)

Here's a link to Cohen's writing and audio report, which references Northampton, Massachusetts. Will Amtrak service be restored to the Connecticut River Valley route? Here's WWLP Channel 22 News' coverage:


Local journalist Mark Roessler has followed the issue; here is a link to his Amtrak-related stories in the Valley Advocate.

Here's a compendium of MassLive's reporting on the Amtrak issue, and here's what the Daily Hampshire Gazette has had to say about the proposal to return passenger rail service to Northampton.

Food Inc. at the Amherst Cinema

New York Times print journalist and blogger Nicholas Kristof, in a recent column about our nation's food supply, commends a new documentary called Food, Inc.

Opening at the Amherst Cinema on June 26th, Robert Kenner's "Food Inc." features NYT writer Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilmena), Joel Salatin of the innovative Polyface Farm, and Gary Hirschberg, founder of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt.

The Valley Advocate's Mary Nelen writes eloquently on issues of local food and agriculture here in Western Massachusetts. Here is a link to her archived "Locavore" articles.

Find local farm products on the CISA website. CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) is the organization that produces those happy yellow "Be a Local Hero" bumper stickers you see everywhere in the valley.

Bill Peters, who writes for the online Local Buzz, has published a series of articles on the politics of locavorism. Peters asks: Do Locavores Make Life More Difficult for Farmers and Schools?