Republicans have complained for years about what they called “job killing” regulations. Since they care more about profits than people, they’re about to pass a suite of laws that will change that to the more egalitarian “killing regulations”. By Jeremy Bloom Imagine this scenario: You go to the doctor because you’re in bad shape, and he […]
By Dan Bacher The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 19 approved genetically engineered salmon, “Frankenfish,” as being “safe” for human consumption, in spite of massive public opposition to the decision. The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA) announced it was “disappointed” in the decision, joining a broad coalition of fishing groups, environmental organizations, […]
And we’re back to the definition of insanity again. Even though a USDA pilot program has resulted in stomach-turning health and safety violations, our government is marching forward with the plan to let meat companies inspect themselves. Because really, if it takes a little feces and salmonella (or a lot) to jump-start healthy corporate profits […]
One result of the impending sequester could be a meat shortage, starting in April. Remember all those fun salmonella outbreaks? The FDA has a team of inspectors that go out there and make sure your meat isn’t going to kill you, but not very many of them (hence all the outbreaks), and if the sequester […]
They say that green is the new black, but that doesn’t mean you have to get all emo about it. It’s possible to be joyful and celebratory – and smart. As we officially enter the season of holiday cheer, holiday shopping and holiday excess, we can all think about the planet, too… Getting There – Thanksgiving […]
George McGovern, the staunch liberal Democrat who challenged Nixon in 1972 and lost in a landslide, has died. He was a warrior and a champion of peace, a bomber pilot who laid the groundwork for a movement known as Food not Bombs, and a liberal environmentalist who won over conservative farmers to the fight against […]
Last year, we told you about the grossest concoction ever developed by the US food industry: pink slime. This nasty amalgam of beef spare parts was uberproccessed to make it edible, then treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill the ugly bacteria that infested it. Then the glop was added back into ground beef and sold […]
How the Senate votes today will determine what you get to put in your mouth for the next five years. But if you take a quick and easy action right now, you’ll be helping to assure you have good, organic food. Your farmers will thank you, and your tummy will thank you, and every cell […]
By James Howard Kunstler Way up here in the heartland, far from the craft beer parlors, Facebook stock bucket shops, and gender obsessions of the mythical Urban Edge People, the detritus of your country is up for sale. The lawns are strewn with the plastic effluvia of lives lived through humankind’s weirdest moment: Pee Wee […]
America’s top curmudgeon explains why he stopped listening to both his pill doc AND his vegan diet guru. By James Howard Kunstler This still moment on the verge of spring equinox, industrial civilization is taking a rest from its travails of finance and economy. The creaking and groaning vehicle of world banking lurches forward with […]
By James Howard Kunstler . Unless your mobile home was blown all over the county on opening day of the tornado season, this must seem like an interlude of reassuring normality in the world’s convulsive wendings. The IED known as Greece has not quite yet exploded, loud as all the graveyard whistling that emanates from Europe […]
Is the message about sustainable agriculture finally breaking through? Watch this Chipotle-sponsored video, “Cultivate a Better World”, with a soundtrack by Willy Nelson(singing Radiohead!), and see what you think.
By Sasha Lyutse Natural Resources Defense Council I turn 30 this weekend. That means that for my whole life, the corn ethanol industry has been receiving federal subsidies. From the Energy Tax Act of 1978, which gave ethanol its first tax exemption, to the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which put in place the Volumetric […]
It’s all about independence. When you can no longer trust the system to deliver healthy, non-contaminated food, take charge! Grow your own. But it’s winter, so now what do you do? We have good news: Even if you live in a small apartment, you can still have home-grown food from an indoor garden. Britta Riley wanted […]
By Heather Carr (Cross-posted from our sister-blog, EatDrinkBetter) The SuperCommittee admitted defeat yesterday. The budget cuts will have to be decided by Congress (all of Congress, democratically) and the U.S. Farm Bill is still being written. What now? The Farm Bill has been discussed behind closed doors for months now and we’ve only been able […]