Food, and where it comes from
Now's a good time to eat organic. More research indicates a link between pesticide consumption and Parkinson's disease. More info here
"Buy fresh, Buy local" comes to Green Country
One more reason to buy locally grown foods
“As controversy continues to grow over the safety of ingredients from China, two of the largest U.S. food manufacturers "quietly" announced this month that they don't want any more of their supply to come from there, reports the LAT. Problem is, it's "next to impossible" to comply with that request. In the past few years, the country has become such a dominant supplier of several common food ingredients that U.S. manufacturers may not even realize their products originated in China. The NYT reefers a look into the country's problems with food safety and says several companies are pressuring the U.S. government to demand that China improve its quality control.”
Soil: The Roots of Sustainable Agriculture
Taking Care of What We've Been Given - an interview with author Wendell Berry
A new analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicates that a toxic chemical in rocket fuel has severely contaminated the nation's food and water supply.
Organic Bytes is a weekly newsletter you need if you want to know what you are putting on your table.
FRESH ORGANIC FOODS THAT FIGHT CANCER
Eat fresh foods. The live enzymes act as a catalyst for detoxification.
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Cabbage speeds up metabolism of estrogen and is useful in colon cancer.
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Beet juice has cancer-fighting properties, as it is rich in sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulphur, chlorine, iodine, iron, copper, Vitamin B1, B2, B6 niacin.
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Citrus fruit juices, like lemon, orange and grapefruit, are used by naturopaths as anti-cancer compounds.
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Studies also show spinach, lettuce and broccoli juice act as antioxidants.
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While, wheat bran decreases estrogens in blood, wheat grass juice repairs damaged cells in leukemia patients.
Want to know the importance of sustainable agriculture, the value to local economies and the health of our land? This testimony, from upstate New York is just as relevant in Oklahoma.
When should we compromise our environment - the health of our land?
USDA to allow non-organic and toxic ingredents in Organic foods
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Anheuser Busch will be allowed to sell its "Organic Wild Hops Beer" without using any organic hops at all.
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Sausages, brats, and breakfast links labeled as "USDA Organic" will be allowed to contain intestines from factory farmed animals raised on chemically grown feed, synthetic hormones, slaughterhouse waste, and antibiotics.
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Products labeled as "USDA Organic" and containing fish oil may contain toxins such as PCBs and mercury.
Biotech industry leaders are monitoring the rising power of their opponents and facing the possibility that county-level bans in California could spur a statewide campaign.. This week, GMO-Free Mendocino officially joined arms with the Organic Consumers Association, which bills itself as the nation's largest public-interest group dedicated to a healthy food system. The goal of the newly minted BioDemocracy Alliance is to prepare for 'the biotech bullies' who could challenge California county bans in court or the state Capitol." --- Sacramento Bee, July 15, 2004 http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm
Is Agribusiness working to make local control of food illegal? Recent laws limiting genetically modified planting have drawn their ire.
The water we drink
The Wall Street Journal reports that the EPA has lowered an outside panel's recommended limit for exposure to perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel and now found in water supplies. Basically, the EPA decided that there's enough of a safety margin built into the limit that there's no need to tweak it for babies. The head of the panel as well as an independent scientist told the WSJ that's bunk.
Energy
Would you believe that the Wall Street Journal has an entire secion on the environment? Check it out here.
Researchers in Italy have high hopes for a new wind-power generator that resembles a backyard drying rack on steroids. Despite its appearance, the Kite Wind Generator, or KiteGen for short, could produce as much energy as a nuclear power plant.
Clean Energy: It's Getting Affordable
from BusinessWeek
The burgeoning alternative energy market is dispelling claims that clean energy it too cost-prohibitive, writes Clean Edge principal and author Ron Pernick. In 2007, the solar, biofuels, fuel cells, and wind power markets each posted a 40 percent increase in revenue to $77.3 billion, up from $55 billion in 2006. Many attribute the rise to the fact that each of the four clean-energy markets have become more affordable. The cost of wind and solar, for example, has dropped steadily over the last three decades. The cost of 1 gigawatt of wind power and geothermal power is less than $2 billion, versus $2 billion to $6 billion for the same amount of power generated by a nuclear plant. Clean-energy is also being made more affordable by corporations such as Google, which is stepping up investment in alternative energy initiatives in the hopes of making renewable energy cheaper than coal power.
(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080314_19...)
Paris to begin bicycle program. By mid-July, 10,648 bicycles will show up in 750 stations across The City of Love, allowing riders to pick them up and drop them off at a different destination. By 2008, the city hopes to provide nearly twice that many two-wheeled transports. A pre-paid card or credit card will unlock a bicycle from a station; a 30-minute ride is free, and every additional half-hour costs one euro.
Thermal storage system used in one NY building saves as much energy as 223 cars and reduces CO2 as much as 1.9M acres of trees.
The U.S. Department of Energy is building three research hubs for bioenergy, which involves converting plants into fuel.
Until building new nuclear power plants becomes economically viable without government subsidies, and the nuclear industry demonstrates
it can further reduce the continuing security and environmental risks of
nuclear power—including the misuse of nuclear materials for weapons and
radioactive contamination from nuclear aste—expanding nuclear power is
not a sound strategy for diversifying America’s energy portfolio and reducing
global warming pollution.
"The stage is now set for direct competition for grain between the 800 million people who own automobiles, and the world's 2 billion poorest people." - Lester Brown from the Earth Policy Institute speaking at a briefing to the US Senate two weeks ago.
WSJ article says US corporations are learning that energy efficiency pays
Texas Instruments decides to build its new facility Green and guess what happened. They saving a bucket of money on energy cost.
About one million barrels of oil a day goes into non-fuel uses. Scientist are developing green chemistry to get the oil out of consumer products.
NYT reports that the administration has cut back on auditing royalty payments for oil companies drilling on public land even as the administration has approved much more of the drilling.
Ocean currents that are steered by the moon's gravity as well as wind are the basis for a new type of hydropower. "It's local, reliable, renewable, and clean. Plus, it's out of sight,"
Alternative Energies Are Looking Good Again
Nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain behind schedule 8 years and over budget.
A new mechanism to harness wave power will be tested off the California coast.
The technology is here for quiet, clean local generation of power - New York Times
Green Country Group - Oklahoma Chapter
