The single greatest challenge facing our modern economic food chain is the insanely unnatural low cost of food to the consumer, making the simple and necessary act of eating dependent on food that is almost free. The global edifice of cheap food rests on the volatility of a single input; the exponentially depleting supply of easy, cheap oil. We are gorging ourselves at the $1.99 all-you-can-eat oil buffet. Food is too cheap, a "correction" is coming, and there is not a damn thing anybody can do about it. [...more]
Alarmed by a substantial oversight in the global climate talks leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, more than 60 of the world's most prominent agricultural scientists and leaders underscored how the almost total absence of agriculture in the agreement could lead to widespread famine and food shortages in the years ahead. [...more]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently declared that meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs and goats and their offspring are "as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals." That´s like saying that brand A cigarettes are as safe to smoke as brand B. The question isn´t whether meat and milk from cloned animals pose additional health risks—it´s why would anyone want to consume meat and milk at all?
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Findings have major implications for climate change policy
Turning native ecosystems into "farms" for biofuel crops causes major carbon emissions that worsen the global warming that biofuels are meant to mitigate, according to a new study by the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy. [...more]
Video evidence compiled by The Humane Society of the United States shows inhumane handling methods that may have endangered the health of children. A shocking undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States reveals widespread mistreatment of “downed” dairy cows-those who are too sick or injured to walk-at a Southern California slaughter plant. [...] [...more]
Heightened concern about oil dependence is generating growing support for alternative transportation fuels, but some would emit significantly more global warming pollution than gasoline or diesel, according to a report issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). [...more]
