As if public education isn't facing enough challenges these days, we're seeing more poor students today than we have in 40 years. More than half of all students in southern public schools live in poverty, according to a report by the Southern Education Foundation. 14 states in the US have such a distinction, and 11 of them are in the south.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg may not like fancy food but that doesn't mean he doesn't like the role it can play in ending hunger for New York's children.

The much anticipated September report of General David Petraeus will refocus the national conversation on the level of our engagement in Iraq. The drawdown of American forces, whenever it comes, will bring with it developments we can't predict.

Two weeks ago Melinda Gates used the E word. I want to share what she said, and what Bill Gates said too, and why it is so directly related to the way we confront hunger and other seemingly unsolvable social issues.

America has been said to be the world's first "new nation." Before the United States was conceived, the boundaries of nations were formed around shared history or ethnicity -- each group set apart. In contrast, the American founding concept was occupancy of the same space.

I thought I was a perfectly normal teenager. My life was schoolwork, sports, hanging out with friends and spending time with family. Then I discovered my superpowers and a secret identity.