Cucumber recipes galore! Call Congress re: NOAA + FEMA. Good news amidst the bad, + more | 7/13/25
Hi folks,
Our cucumber plants have officially hit their stride and are producing way more cukes than we could possibly eat. If you’re in my neck of the woods and would like some, please let me know. Scroll down for a quick, flavorful Asian-inspired cucumber salad and more ways to enjoy these crunchy and cooling veggies.
I think we can all agree that the headlines for the past week have been devastating and demoralizing—my thoughts go out to all the families in Texas who’ve lost loved ones in the flash floods. Please take a minute to call your members of Congress to demand that the White House restore funding for FEMA and NOAA - scroll down for talking points and numbers. 👇
That said, there’s actually quite a lot of good stuff—environmental and humanitarian progress, courageous acts of resistance, and more—happening amidst the ongoing dumpster fire that defines Trump’s “leadership”. It’s like hunting for ripe cucumbers - you need to peer a little bit deeper into all that overgrown greenery to find the beautiful veggies but they’re in there! 😊 Below, I’ve pulled the vines back to expose some great stories for you, quite a few of which are actually from Texas. ⭐📰
Staying calm and focused while Trump and co. try to dismantle America is an ongoing challenge. I just discovered the Ten-Minute Challenge—an experimental feature from the New York Times that prompts you to spend unineterrupted time looking at a single piece of art. Although I tend to spend two minutes, rather than ten, examining each painting, it’s a great way to focus and to appreciate and learn about art while not reading the (bad) news. Check it out here. 🖼️👀
I hope your July is going well and would love to hear how you’re staying focused and resisting as well as what you’re cooking in the comments or just reply to this email if you received this post that way.
Onward,
Eve
EAT: QUICK ASIAN-INSPIRED CUCUMBER SALAD
This salad is a little bit sweet and a little bit salty. And a lot crunchy. The ingredients are very simple - cucumbers (the fresher the better), a little bit of onion, shallot or scallion, cilantro, rice wine vinegar, and olive oil. Slice, chop, mix and enjoy!
ACT: CALL CONGRESS TO DEMAND THE RESTORATION OF FEMA & NOAA FUNDING & STAFFING LEVELS 📲💸🌎
Call all three of your members of Congress to demand that they demand the restoration of full funding to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
When someone picks up or if you can leave a message, you’re welcome to use these talking points. Please be respectful and polite.
Hi, my name is ____ and I’m a constituent calling from ____ to urge the Senator / Representative to demand the restoration of full funding for both NOAA and FEMA, in particular the National Weather Service. Climate change is making the weather more and more extreme and gutting these two critical federal agences will only lead to more tragedies like the lives lost in Texas last week due to the floods. FEMA was unable to respond to most of the calls it received in Texas due to budget cuts. This is unacceptable and I am calling on you to fix it now before more lives are lost needlessly. Please act quickly to restore (and even increase) their funding now! Thank you for taking my call.
HOPE: GOOD NEWS FROM ALL OVER
On July 1, minimum wage rose in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, DC. This means a much-needed, long-overdue raise for a lot of workers.💸
Child labor has dropped—there are roughly 22 million fewer children engaging in child labor than there were in 2020. 📉👧🏽👦🏻
Endangered piping plovers have made a comeback in Maine. In 1981, the state had 10 pairs of plovers nesting on its beaches. This year, there are 174 pairs. Go plovers! 🪺🏖️
In other avian news, Sweden has become the only country to reach cage-free status for all its laying hens without a legal ban. The victory is due to grassroots activism and public pressure from consumers. That said, I think passing government legislation would be a great way to guarantee that this victory remains in place. 🐔
Also across the pond, a new floating solar farm that’s built on a former industrial site came online in late June in France and is currently Europe’s largest operation with more to come. ☀️
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has quickly found her voice and is raising the alarm in a large number of dissenting opinions. If ever there was a moment to prioritize speaking out over collegiality, it’s this one. 🏛️📣
On Friday, a federal judge ordered ICE to stop making indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests based on race, alone, in seven California counties, including Los Angeles County. 🏛️🚔
A judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot deny people seeking asylum entrance at the southern border. 🏛️🏳️
Some good news from Texas:
Texas became the first red state to sign a “right to repair” law, joining CA, CO, MN, NY, OR, and WA in enacting laws to ensure that people can fix consumer electronics they own. 💻⚙️
West Texas is working to protect the country’s largest dark sky reserve. Astronomers and conservationists in the region have worked with cities and counties on lighting ordinances to reduce light pollution and convinced oil and gas operators in the nearby Permian Basin — a major source of light pollution — to also take up dark-sky-friendly lighting at drilling rigs and gas plants. 🌌
Texas has passed HB 3073 to close a major loophole in state law by redefining consent that will make it easier to prosecute cases of sexual assault. This hard-won victory is the result of years of work by dedicated advocates. Summer Willis, a survivor of sexual assault and advocate has recently drawn attention to the bill by crawling the Austin Marathon on her hands and knees.⚖️✌🏻
The world’s most endangered sea turtles - the Kemp’s Ridley - have built a record number of nests on Padre Island in Texas! 🐢
Your thoughts and offerings are truly inspiring, Eve; I am so grateful!! I took the 10 minute Indian archery event painting challenge and was amazed at how many, many things I noticed and questions they engendered. It was fascinating!