United States

Stephen Murdock in his home. In the 14 months since he lost his $11-an-hour construction job, his options have been whittled down to this morning routine of cold calls to friends and neighbors. His weekly unemployment benefits had expired. His food stamps had been trimmed to less than $50 a week. His bank account was in the red, his hot water was turned off, and he no longer had health insurance to treat a pinched nerve or bouts of depression.  As South Carolina prepares to hold its Republican primary, the economically depressed state already has revealed a definitive issue of the 2012 presidential campaign: How can government best serve a record number of jobless and poor?

A tariff on imported ethanol, which expired December 31, 2011, along with a tax credit that cost $6 billion in 2011, aided producers like Marquis Energy, which operates an ethanol plant in Hennepin, Ill. Nearly 40 percent of the United States corn crop goes to ethanol and byproducts.  The use of corn for ethanol has contributed to higher food prices worldwide.  Photo: Peter Wynn Thompson/New York Times

American demand for year-round organic fruits and vegetables has incited a farming boom in the arid deserts of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The explosive growth in commercial cultivation is putting stress on the water table. In some areas, wells have run dry this year, meaning that small subsistence farmers cannot grow crops.  Photo: New York Times