Month: November 2014 (Page 2 of 4)

I thought this article was very interesting because we have discussed at length the benefits of vegetable-based diets and also how diabetes is a direct result of the harmful things we are adding to our foods. It is interesting to see that vegetables could be the answer to this disease.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/185165/Veggie-diet-better-than-drugs-to-beat-diabetes

I found this video very interesting and thought it was good seeing both the Republicans and Democrats views on foodstamps.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/919958363001 if this link doesn’t work below I will put the web address where it can be found.

http://www.foxnews.com/topics/us/food-stamps.htm

After we had to record what we ate and what we wasted for about a week I have become more aware of my food waste and I must say while I intend to be very good I subconsciously forget about food I put away and when I discover it it has spoiled. This article gives Tammara Soma, organizer of an upcoming food symposium at the University of Toronto,  her tips for cutting down on the amount of food we trash without eating it all. The first thing she suggests is becoming food friends with your freezer, if there is ever a time when we make too much food we need to simply put it I the freezer and use it at a later date. Second  she says a huge reason for waste is due to the portion sizes, many of us make or take more food than we will actually eat and it ends up becoming waste. Third she suggests placing the food which is older at the forefront of our shelves and refrigerators and use this when we plan out our meals. Fourth we need to get used to trying new things and experiment with food that may seem to ripe. Lastly we need to take the aesthetics out of eating; if an apple is bruised it is still just as good as one that is not. I think this article is good because the list of suggestions of what we can do as consumers isn’t outrageous and is completely doable.

http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2014/11/24/five_ways_to_reduce_your_food_waste.html

Thanksgiving is only a few days away and we can all hardly contain our excitement to be home with family enjoying an elaborate spread of delicious food. In this article they estimated the cost of Thanksgiving will rise this year from last. This is because of the increase in the price of dairy which jumped 25 cents over last year, miscellaneous ingredients, such as coffee, sugar and eggs, account for another 28 cents, while 3 pounds of sweet potatoes jumped 20 cents. The drop in the price of fuel however will not only make the cost of driving to relatives homes less but it also has an affect on reducing the price of flour-based foods, such as stuffing mix, pie shells and dinner rolls due to energy cost savings by the processors. The article lists a number of changes you can make such as organic food, not driving, or not cooking that could directly effect the price of your Thanksgiving.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/thanksgiving-dinner-costs-rise-article-1.2017747

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-nierenberg/is-organic-food-better-fo_b_5787374.html?utm_hp_ref=food&ir=Food

I thought this article would be good for someone to read who needed to be convinced of the very positive advantages to eating organic food. This article references a number of studies as well as lists many positive facts about the benefits of organic foods. Many consumers are appalled by the pricing of organic food and I think reading this article could potentially help change their opinions.

http://www.organicgardening.com/ is a fantastic website that is full of useful information. After taking this class, many of you may want to plant your own garden at home if you do not have one already. This website talks in detail about many of the botanical and environmental related aspects of gardening and farming. The importance and details of crop rotation, as well as information about composting, and even information regarding the safety and usefulness of specific herbicides and chemicals.

It looks like the vote over the Oregon ballot initiative Measure 92 is close enough that there will be a recount.  The latest count has it losing by only 1,500 votes.  This is a wide enough margin that it is still likely to be defeated in the recount, but we can hope!  Also, note that the campaign over Measure 92 was the most expensive ballot measure race in Oregon’s history, with opponents spending $21 million and supporters spending $9 million.

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2014/11/gmo_labeling_measure_heads_int.html

In Lexington, KY, you can now pay for parking tickets with food donations to a local food bank. The “Food for Fines” drive will run all throughout the holiday season. The city says people who have multiple meter citations, including those that are past due, can wipe the slate clean by bringing in 10 cans for each ticket. The Lexington Parking Authority suggests donations of at least 14-15 ounce cans of vegetables. I know the burden of parking tickets, and I think this is a really cool idea, especially for the upcoming holiday season. It’s also a good way to make the community aware of hunger issues, and maybe this small rule will encourage people to volunteer and become more educated about these issues.

Overstock is now in the business of selling local sourced organic food online. Article found HERE. The community supported agriculture (CSA) model is being integrated into the Overstock.com platform. They’ve gotten nearly 1,800 CSAs around the country to participate already, and aim to expand the program. They believe that this model can disrupt that corporate agri-business supply chain. This new market system is available for free to farmers, they are simply responsible for direct delivery of their goods to their consumers.

This article is rather dense and long, however, it is very interesting to read as it presents two, opposing sides regarding the broad argument : Overall, are America’s modern-day agricultural practices “good” or “bad”? Based on what we have discussed in class, a great deal of modern-day agricultural practices are flawed and could be improved to support a more sustainable and healthy system. Many of the negative impacts of modern-day agriculture that we have discussed in class are mentioned in this article. As I was reading, I found myself trying to rebut the arguments made by those who stated that the American farming model was a “good” model.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101501030#.