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tiffany accessories SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of California inmates have joined a hunger strike that began last week at Pelican Bay State Prison, officials said. Prisoners at the specialized maximum security unit at Pelican Bay began refusing meals on July 1 in protest of their conditions. Inmates in 13 of the state's 33 prisons then refused state-issued food in solidarity. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said 6,600 inmates joined the strike at its peak over the weekend. She said 2,100 inmates refused meals Wednesday, an indication the strike was winding down. Molly Poizig, a spokeswoman with the group Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity, said dozens of Pelican Bay inmates plan to continue the effort. tiffany bracelet

The Pelican Bay hunger strikers are protesting conditions in the prison's so-called Security Housing Unit, where inmates are kept in isolation for 22? hours a day in windowless cells that are soundproofed to discourage communication. Unit inmates are demanding an end to long-term solitary confinement and forced interrogations about gang activity. The Security Housing Unit segregates prisoners from the general population who have been determined to be prison gang members or have committed a serious crime while in prison. About 4,000 of the 162,000 inmates in the state corrections system are housed in such units, which exist at three other prisons in addition to Pelican Bay. Most of the inmates refusing to eat were maximum security prisoners at prisons with the same type of specialized units as Pelican Bay, Thornton said. tiffany earrings

Some who refused state meals paid for food at the prison canteen or ate meals in visiting rooms. On the third and final day of Cornell's first Youth Grow Summit, organizer Christine Hadekel was confident that "seeds of inspiration" had fittingly been planted in the minds of the more than 70 high school students gathered on campus to learn more about sustainable and just community food systems. The summit, which was hosted June 28-30 by the Department of Horticulture and the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension's 4-H Career Explorations Conference, included three days of workshops on leadership training, community organizing, food justice, gardening and farming methods, youth empowerment, seasonal cooking, school food, food system education, nutrition and health as well as hands-on gardening activism for young people from across New York state "who share a common passion for creating healthy and sustainable food systems," said Hadekel, the Youth Grow coordinator at the Garden-Based Learning Program.

tiffany cufflinks"Our goal is to provide youth with the leadership skills, guidance and inspiration needed to build sustainable community food systems," she said. When asked what change they would like to see in the food system today, Elizabeth Goodwin '12, a manager at Cornell's Dilmun Hill Student Farm, said that she wanted to see a younger generation of farmers rise up, like those involved with the "thriving" Dilmun Hill farm. She was one of several speakers in a June 30 closing session, titled "Young Changemakers Panel." Fil Eden '10, a student activist while at Cornell now working for the Ithaca mayoral campaign of Svante Myrick '09, advocated for political involvement by Youth Grow participants. "Just because you're not a farmer doesn't mean you don't play a role in changing our food system," said Eden. "It's local politicians who decide local politics," Eden said. "If you want to change our food system you're going to need to stand up … that's the way democracy works." Goodwin advised the students in the audience to keep seeking out and connecting with new people. tiffany charms

"The best things that have happened to me have been through meeting other people," she said. Eden advised the Youth Grow students to put their efforts into something they love to do, explaining that "if your heart is not in something and you're working really hard on it, you will burn out." Olivia Weber, an 11th-grader from Rochester who attended the summit, said that she most enjoyed meeting students who were also interested in sustainable farming and reforming the food system. "Nobody talks about those things in the suburbs," she said. Gabriel Banford, a rising high school junior from Ithaca, added: "It feels really good to be around so many who are inspired and also believe they can make a difference in the food system and change the world," he shared with the whole group. However, inspiration was not flowing only in one direction, noted graduate student Shane Bryan, a volunteer program assistant for Youth Grow. "I'm inspired," Bryan shared with the group, "to see that we are leaving the future in hands that are maybe more capable than the last generation." tiffany pendants