Continuing our series of new college grads giving their post-grad outlooks, EMU alumna Amanda Taylor, who chose to remain rooted in Ann Arbor for her graduate psychology studies, writes on the area's educational and socioeconomic diversity.

To many, Food Gatherers is an organization that collects and provides sustenance for those in need. But feeding the hungry is only part of the equation. Teaching at-risk young adults to find careers in the food industry is another. And with an 87 percent graduation rate, the program is inching our community toward long-term solutions for hunger.

Sometimes a step back in time can be a step into the future. At the Michigan Folk School in Superior Township, back-to-basics living isn't just seen as nostalgia for arts and crafts, but rather a community-based counterbalance to the alienating advances of technology.

Faltering English grades don't bode well for a state trying to foster a permanent class of young professionals. Author and teacher extraordinaire Jeff Kass delivers up Knuckleheads for the young men who'd rather work a backhoe than read a book. Jeff, writing program director for the Neutral Zone, also explains how the Ann Arbor Book Festival was revived by partnering with other non-profits.

It's the 40th anniversary of Earth Day tomorrow, and in celebration we've invited Matt Grocoff, founder and CEO of GreenovationTV and regular contributor to NPR's The Environment Report, to offer up some thoughts about making our community (and world) a little greener.