The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "fruits" ...
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Polluted Mashavera
The documentary examines the pollution caused by a Georgian gold mining company. Fruits and vegetables grown nearby and exposed to the pollution are being sold all over Georgia. There may be a link between the mining and the growing number of people in the region with cancer.
Tags: environment; cancer; pollution; gold mining; international
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The Blueberry Children
This investigation reveals that child labor is still a large issue in the United States. They found children “as young as 5 years old” in the fields picking fruits and vegetables. The child labor laws are rarely enforced, which is why nothing was being done to stop this practice. Further, many of these children were picking blueberries, which were some of the largest blueberry fields and were supplying national grocery store chains.
Tags: agriculture; operations; federal; human rights; lawmakers; regulators; kids; supermarkets; farmers
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Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
This fourteen-part investigative series revealed how a prostitution and human trafficking ring could flourish in rural Iowa towns. The series also details the story of one 13-year-old runaway Minnesota girl was entrapped in the ring and was forced into prostitution. A ring operator, who was being beaten by her live-in boyfriend, helped rescue the girl from prostitution and helped her make her way to safety. Law enforcement officials first missed opportunities to help this girl and break the ring. But they finally solved who was behind the ring and assisted in a dozen human trafficking convictions.
Tags: human trafficking; sex abuse; prostitution; kidnapping; court hearings; Iowa; sex workers
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Chop Shop
The workers of the Del Monte Fresh Produce Company in North Portland sued their employer in 2006 due to unlawfully withheld wages, the largest class-action settlement among agricultural workers in Oregon. The Willamette Week then followed up with the company in 2007 to discover if any changes had actually been made within the plant.
Tags: fruit; immigration; field; lawsuit; settlement
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Organic Inc: Natural Foods and How They Grew
This book traces organic food back to its anti-industrial origins more than a century ago. It describes the evolution of the organic food movement from then to the $11 billion industry it is today. The book shows how the evolving industry came close to betraying the ideals at the heart of its free-market success; this section includes battles over USDA regulations and the way food is produced.
Tags: agriculture; farming; groceries; grocery stores; USDA; FDA; fruits; vegetables
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Growth's New Frontier
This investigation looked at how rapid population growth in Florida could affect Brevard County, where Cape Canaveral is located. Specifically, the investigation focused on more rural areas that typically were used for ranches and fruit groves. The authors found that developers were buying rural land away from the coast and converting it into housing communities.
Tags: development; property; investment; state politics; county politics; urbanization
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One the Hook. The ill-fated union of an insurance giant and a bail bondsman. AIG wagered on a maverick of the business, and lost; incentives to run for it. Now, sniffing out the 'skips.'
According to the article, "...It's also one of the hundreds and possibly thousands of similar cases of skipped bail that are the fruit of an ill-fated three-year partnership between H&H Bail Bonds Inc., a firm that in its ads claimed 'We Will Bail When Others Fail,' and American International Group Inc., one of the largest and most prestigious insurers in the world. Guided by H&H founder Raymond W. Hrdlicka and backed by the financial might of AIG, H&H sought to dominate an industry of mom-and-pop shops by bending long-established rules and sometimes taking on clients whom more conservative bail-bond firms would have deemed too risky."
Tags: bail bonds; bail bondsman; Raymond Hrdlicka; courts; criminals; arrests; jail; clients
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Fruit of the Poison Tree
The state of Florida passed a law allowing the state to kill healthy orange trees that were supposedly exposed to a disease called citrus canker. This bacterium hurts the appearance of the fruit but does not harm the trees and is harmless to humans and animals. Van Drake discovered this law passed due to pressure from the citrus industry, who was afraid of foreign competition.
Tags: oranges; citrus; farming; agriculture; collusion; special interests; lobbying; Florida; disease
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Cherry season
Lobet investigates a case about poisoned workers in a fruit- packing plant in Washington state. At the very least they were poisoned by carbon monoxide or may have been exposed to something more. The story revealed that this is not an isolated case and that there will be no legal remedy.
Tags: AUDIO TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; health; workers compensation; lawsuits; Latinos; illegal employment; brain damage; methyl bromide; CAR
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How the little guy gets crunched
A Time special report investigates how campaign finance contributions have changed laws, regulations and policies. The main story in the report focuses on the trade war that the American government launched against Europe on behalf of the banana baron Carl Lindner, a major contributor both to Republicans and Democrats. Lindner's company, fruit-and-vegetable giant Chiquita, was restricted to export its low-cost bananas to the European market, Time reports. In response, the U.S. government imposed higher tariffs on European goods. The trade war did not affect consumers of luxurious goods from overseas, the story reveals. Instead, it only hurt American small businesses that imported their supplies from European countries.
Tags: politicians; Washington; Clinton; lobbying; lobbyists; taxes; tariffs; trade; World Trade Organization (WTO); Al Gore; White House; legislature; Congress; Senate