"Next Decade: Martha Stewart Has Some Hope"

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ARI SHAPIRO, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Ari Shapiro filling in for Scott Simon.

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SHAPIRO: It's a new decade and today, we're checking in with a variety of people who are looking ahead at the next decade. Here are some hopes for the future from publisher and style maven Martha Stewart.

Ms. MARTHA STEWART (Business Magnate, Television Host, Author, Magazine Publisher): Well, I'm certainly hoping that our economy rights itself and that people feel more comfortable in their homes, that people are not threatened with the loss of their homes, with education being unavailable or too expensive, and certainly with a health care system that will enable people to stay healthy, be healthy and feel comfortable that they are going to be taken care of.

I'm very concerned about the environment and I hope that people will read books like "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, which is a wonderful book about how our meat is produced. And if you read that you'll feel like I do, that we must, must, must think organic and humane. And not only with meat, but also with vegetables, with the way we treat our animals and treat our food, all of that is extremely important. So I'm an optimist and I think in the next 10 years, I think more and more of us will be concerned with the same things and all kind of band together and get things straightened out.

SHAPIRO: That's Martha Stewart with her hopes for the decade ahead.