Month: May 2014

The mysterious mass die-offs of honeybees that have wiped out roughly a
third of commercial colonies each year since 2006 may be linked to a
rapidly mutating virus that jumped from tobacco plants to soy plants to
bees, according to a new study.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/us/bee-deaths-may-stem-from-virus-study-says.html?_r=0

Scientists have engineered a new form of plastic which is composed of chitin derived mainly from discarded shrimp shells. Although the material is not waterproof and must be coated in a thin layer of wax in order to be so, it is completely biodegradable when exposed to the right conditions. In addition to degrading more than current “green” bioplastics, there are no harmful byproducts when the material is produced. If the process could be scaled, this new plastic could help fill a need for new sustainable materials.

By the way, in this article there is an interesting video showing a plant growing in chitosan-based soil.

Link Here

San Francisco, considered by many to be the greenest city in North America, has recently come close to passing a resolution banning the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. Americans throw away over 50 billion plastic water bottles a year, only 23% of which are recycled. The resolution is being protested by the beverage industry, but those in favor of the ban cite statistics such as these as evidence for its necessity.

Link Here

There is a trend afoot in higher ed to capitalize on the growing interest in local and sustainable agriculture and food

Program listings: http://sustainableaged.org/projects/degree-programs/

A couple examples:

UCDavis
College of the Atlantic

Link here

Their board of trustees voted to stop making investments in companies that mine coal. This was in response to a student group “Fossil Free Stanford” (all it takes is a few energetic students with passion, which then ignite more students and rabble-rousing faculty, and a movement begins)

But other elite universities like Harvard have declined to do so.

On Wednesday, McDonalds announced new goals for sustainability to be implemented by 2020, including supporting sustainable beef production, purchasing 100% of fiber-based packaging from recycled sources, increasing recycling by 50%, and serving 100% more fruit, vegetable, or whole grains in nine of its top markets. However, many environmental groups found the goals very modest and not transparent enough, stating that “Their whole business model is based on an unsustainable practice, so they have a long way to go.”

Link Here

The National Climate Assessment, a periodical report issued by the United States government informing the nation about the current status of the climate and anticipated trends for the future, was released by the Obama Administration earlier this week. The 840-page report gives a region-by-region breakdown of how climate change is impacting the United States, stating that “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present. Corn producers in Iowa, oyster growers in Washington state, and maple syrup producers in Vermont are all observing climate-related changes that are outside of recent experience.”

The report was quickly dismissed by Republicans who claimed that it would be used to push job-killing regulations and costly emission levels reform. “Instead of making the environment drastically better, the president’s strategy will make the climate for unemployed Americans even worse,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-WY in a statement.

Link Here

me: Hi, hope all is well. I am taking sustainability courses this semester and lately one of the topics has been about agriculture. I recall you were serious about buying organic foods. Could you tell me your experience so I can have a lot to talk about? I watched the documentary called Food, Inc. and it is prompting me to get more organic stuff because the way nonorganic food esp. meat were produced looked a bit disturbing

my cousin: What about my experience would be helpful for you to hear about? I started getting into organic when I became pregnant w/ Ascher and learned about how harmful non-organic foods are. As a parent, it’s critical for me to provide only the best for my child(ren) and since you’re what you eat, I’m adamant about my kids only eating organic. Let me know what specifically you’re looking for from my experience so I can expand on that.

me: That’s a great thinking. I think this would give me enough to talk about during class. In Food, inc. Documentary it does once show one mother feeling guilty of feeding her kids fast food

my cousin:

OK, glad that was helpful. I’ve been purposely staying away from watching films like Food, Inc. b/c I already “know too much” and watching something like that would just sicken me even further. Frankly, my kids have never been to a fast food restaurant, and I’ve zero plans to ever take them. I’m not trying to be an elitist and judge no one who does differently from myself. But I just don’t see why I need to compromise on my beliefs when it’s relating to my kids (and their health!) so someone else can feel more comfortable.

In any case, going “organic” is beneficial in so many ways. Not only is it pesticide-free (something like Roundup should be banned, it’s so hazardous), but with the “organic” label, there are other things that come automatically that just makes it convenient. Things like it being non-GMO, no artificial coloring, etc. that have “potential” health (and behavioral) implications.

I understand the “organic” labelling is expensive to attain so if I know the “source”, I’m OK that it’s not “organic”. For example, there are farmers or ranchers who are strong believers of healthy food and grow their products in healthy, sustainable way. It may be that the cows or chickens are grass-fed/free-range, with no hormone or antibiotic injections and I’m good with my kids eating such meat. Organic labelling isn’t everyhing. If you look at cornucopia.org, you’ll see that not organic brands are the same (e.g. don’t ever bother w/ Horizon brands, you might as well eat conventional brands).

There are SO much information (and mis-information) out there, so depends on what you’d like to talk about specifically in your class, focus your research. It’s a VERY big topic that’d take you in million different directions. I’ve been at this for 5+ years and there are still new information that I come across all the time.

This article describes the resurgence of small corner grocers in urban areas. This time around, the grocers are catering primarily to a wealthy clientele of locavores. Is this trend a positive step away from big-box food distribution or just the next chapter in boutique food shopping snobbery?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/02/308941681/urban-greengrocers-are-back-to-serve-big-spending-locavores

This article describes how methionine, a synthetic substance used in the poultry industry,  is allowed to be used to produced certified organic chicken.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/03/309027851/organic-farming-factions-spat-over-synthetic-substances

This article from NPR describes how patrons at restaurants that purchase a whole cow for meat, can only offer a limited amount of the prime cuts since a cow only has so much steak to offer.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/04/297280870/ranch-to-table-trend-has-some-diners-asking-wheres-the-steak?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140504