TreeHugger

Homemade Bone Meal: A Partial Solution to Peak Phosphate?

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:51:29 -0500

Image credit: Asymmetric A looming peak oil crisis isn't the only thing we have to worry about. Jeremy has already noted that the world could be facing a severe phosphorus shortage over the coming century, a shortage that would seriously curtail our ability to grow food. (Phosphorus is a vital plant nutrient used as fertilizer.) Warren has already pointed out that Read the full story on TreeHugger

FDA Backs Off On Plan to Ban Some Gulf Oysters

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:34:55 -0500

photo: The Nature Conservancy The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will back off on its plan to ban as of 2011 the sale of raw oysters from the Gulf Coast during part of the year because they have been linked with about a dozen annual deaths from poisoning. The move met stiff resistance from oysterman and foodies who say that frozen oysters are no substitute and that the ban will ruin a cultural tradit]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Join Erin Brockovich and the Million Baby Crawl

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:55:40 -0500

"We cannot stand," says the slogan of the Million Baby Crawl, "but be stand for something."]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Attitudes Toward Genetically Modified Foods are Changing, According to World's Largest Purveyor of GMOs

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:09:41 -0500

Soybeans are one of the world's most genetically modified crops. Photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous via Flickr Food security is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the global food discussion, and for good reason -- it's a big challenge that's only going to continue to grow, and there's even a dedicated conference for it next week. As the understanding of the problem grows, attitudes toward genetically modifie]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Scientists Develop Rot-Proof Apple that Stays Fresh for 4 Months

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:51 -0500

Photo credit: Abhijit Tembhekar via Flickr Scientists in Australia have developed an apple that won't rot. Or, won't rot for a long, long time. The delicious-sounding RS103-130 apple is a rare cross-breed 20 yea]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Eating Animals, Or What Not to Eat on Thanksgiving

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:08:00 -0500

Eating Animals, the new book by Jonathan Safran Foer (of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close fame) takes a look at what it actually means to give up meat, take it out of our vocab and eliminate it from our most ~~gluttonous~~ popular, holiday traditions. If you've read The Jungle or Fast Food Nation, or an]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Voices from Hopenhagen: Paul Shapiro

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:35:16 -0500

Editor's note: This guest post was written by Paul Shapiro, senior director of the Humane Society of the United States' factory farming campaign. Reducing our Global Food-Print When we think about minimizing our contributions to climate change, we may consider switching our light bulbs, driving less, buying local, and more. These are all important and laudable ways to reduce our carbon footprint, but, as Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein notes, "there's no rea]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Crop Mob One Year On: NC Land 'Raids' Continue

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:48:20 -0500

Image credit: Crop Mob News of a large group of landless young people invading a farm tends to bring images of revolution. And NC-based Crop Mob does indeed have revolution in mind, but the group's methods are more about giving than taking. As I noted in my original post on Crop Mob, the organization is part of a wider resurgence of young people taking up farming. It was borne out of a discussion group on the problems]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Can India Achieve Food Security?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:44:11 -0500

Photo credit: antkriz via Flickr The World Summit on Food Security convenes next week in Rome, and the buzz leading up to it has focused on what it will take to produce enough food to feed the world. It's an issue that sounds simple enough on the surface -- humans have been growing food and feeding themselves for millenia -- but each locale around the globe presents a unique challenge. Factors like the climate, government, economy, culture, and food traditions all play a role, in differing levels, in each food]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How to Revive an Extinct Butterfly

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:01:06 -0500

Image from bbc TreeHugger was invited to a press conference by Holland & Barrett to celebrate 25 years of conservation. The UK's largest health food store chain announced that the stores will be giving up plastic bags as of the new year and customers will be sold jute and cotton carrier bags instead. Kudos to Holland & Barrett; the more stores that give up the bag the fewer bags out there to pollute the world. Also speaking at the event was a professor who told a fascinating story about how the Large Blue Butterfly has been Read the full story on TreeHugger

Eat Meat, Ditch Factory Farming, Save the Planet, says Friends of the Earth Report

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:01:13 -0500

Photo credit: FotoosVanRobin via Flickr You don't have to be a vegetarian to eat green. Not only that, we can feed the fast-growing population of the planet, and slow down (and eventually stop) climate change, and stop destruction of the world's forests, all without the deleterious effects of factory farming. So says a new report from Friends of the Earth, which lays out a model for food production and consumption that includes fair,]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Friendly Aquaponics: Commercial and Home-Scale Fish and Vegetable Production

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:40:04 -0500

Image credit: Friendly Aquaponics It always appeals to me when I see a business that lists, as one of its goals, to "put ourselves out of business as soon as we can" by spreading its knowledge as freely as generously as possible—especially when Leonard Nimoy is quoted as inspiration. But I suspect Friendly Aquaponics in Hawaii will be in business for some time to come. And that's no bad thing. If their website is anything to go by, their aquaponics system is one of the most impressive I've seen. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Window Farms: Vertical Gardens Behind Urban Glass

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:25:07 -0500

Photos: Window Farms With city space at a premium and urban sprawl devouring previously prime agriculture land, vertical farming has been touted as one possible solution to the metropolitan masses. We've covered many of the grand schemes, most of which are likely to remain no more than stylish computer renderings of an architect's skyscrapery wet dreams. Window Farms take the vertical farming notion and make it both real, and more human scale. Whether they are more functional art than a real direction forward for urban agriculture is a matter for conjecture. But at least the prototypes are out there growing stuff, which is way]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Fight Over the Future of Food: Monsanto, GMOs, and How to Feed the World

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:45:34 -0500

Photo credit: KevinLallier via Flickr On the eve of the World Summit on Food Security, Reuters has an excellent two-part special report about the future of food. Specifically, it covers the intersection of two notions that are being linked with increasing frequency: Feeding the skyrocketing world population, expected to hit 9.4 billion people by 2050; and the perceived benefits (things like increa]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Copenhagen Conference on Food Security

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:07:38 -0500

Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard Was Bare. Image credit:StoryBookLane For the 193 national delegations gathering in Copenhagen for the U.N. Climate Change Conference in December, the reasons for concern about climate change vary widely. For delegations from low-lying island countries, the principal concern is rising sea level. For countries in southern Europe, climate change means less rainfall and more drought. For countries of East Asia and the Caribbean, more powerful storms and storm surges are a growing worry. This c]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

7 Highlights (and a Few Lowlights) in Food Since President Obama Was Elected

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:06:50 -0500

Photo credit: foxypar4 via Flickr Just about one year ago, Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States. Proclaiming change across the board, Obama swept in to office on a wave of hope and optimism for millions of people, and his mandate for change created some pretty high expectations for fast, meaningful change. Those passionate about food, food safety, and the politics of safe and sustainable food production were certainly among those counting on the President to put his presidency where his promise ha]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

More than £12 Billion in Food Waste Goes in the Garbage Every Year in U.K.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:53:52 -0500

Photo credit: sporkist via Flickr 5.3 million tonnes of food and drink that could have been consumed goes in the trash every year in the U.K., according to a new report. Household Food ad Waste in the UK [pdf] details the "food waste mountain" effectively growing in landfills from the wasted food and drink. That's an awfully big number. To scale it back to something a little easier to put into context, that wast]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

1,200 Acres of Arable Land Found in Oakland; What Does that Mean for Local Food?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:29:33 -0500

Photo credit: davidsilver via Flickr One common lament about local food is that there simply isn't enough of it. The best part about it -- that it's different in every foodshed, location to location -- also means that the supply can have a hard time keeping up with demand. That's especially true when it comes to larger, more dense urban centers, where locavores greatly outnumber farms and farmers. Oakland, California is no exception. Almost one-third of the population is food insecure, meaning they aren't always sure where the ne]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Too Much Drink is Going Down the Drain

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:05:33 -0500

new study by Wrap, a government agency, the British are throwing out £470M ($752M ) worth of wine every year. That's a lot of wine! It seems that most people can't be bothered to finish off the bottles or cartons of drinks and they don't store them in the fridge either. The most wasted drink is milk, then fizzy soft drinks, fruit juices and smoothies. Even making a pot ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Artists and Gadgets Help Slow Down Fast Food

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:28:00 -0500

Photos via Pop Up Lunch So the slow food movement isn't necessarily about literally slowing down...but in a way, it is. When we slow down, actually stopping to eat, we spend more time considering what it is we're putting in our bodies and might make better food choices. Not that it's the motive behind the Pop Up Lunch project, but it's certainly a potential green side effect. The art project props up street food eaters, so those grabbing a quick meal have a place to enjoy what they're eating. That, combined with another coo]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Report Puts Supermarkets On Notice to Get Greener: See How They Rated

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:05:16 -0500

Image from Guardian A report card by a government agency has rated 9 of Britain's supermarkets on their environmental standards and slammed some of them for their "dismal" performance. At the top of the "A" list was Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's, Waitrose got a B, ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

UK Supermarkets Told to 'Green Up Their Act'

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:23:36 -0500

Photo credit: yisris via Flickr Organic food and the Slow Food Movement are big parts of the green food experience in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the supermarkets that help supply the movement are lagging behind, according to the government. The Read the full story on TreeHugger

Inkjet Printer + Paper + Science = Cheap & Easy Pesticide Detection

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:46:53 -0500

Wabash River PH Test Back in the chemistry class days, we had pH strips that changed colour according to whether a liquid was an acid or base. Now scientists at Hamilton, Ontario's McMaster University have come up with a cheap and fast way of finding out if there are pesticides in your food and drinks, by using an inkjet printer to build up layers of "bio-ink". You just dip the strip and in minutes, the paper changes colour according to which pesticide is causing the contamination. Most technologies for testing food require several hours and electrically powered equipment, so this w]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Green Eyes On: Stone Soup - Making Something Out of Nothing

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:14:02 -0500

Image via Sara Snow. It's happened to me a thousand times or more so I'm sure it's happened to you as well. Dinnertime is looming, you look in the refrigerator, the pantry, the cupboards...and nothing. Not a can of beans or bundle of beets jumps out and says, "Look at me, I can be a tasty meal for dinner." So now what? ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Politics of Plastics: Food Fights Over Bisphenol A

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:41:16 -0500

La Tomatina Food Fight We noted earlier that Consumers Reports Confirms Bisphenol A Leaches From Tin Cans. This didn't sit well with our friends at Stats.org, who responded with Consumer Reports BPA study filled with factual errors. Consumers Reports shot back with Industry re]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ask Pablo: Refrigerator Water Dispenser or Refrigerated Bottles?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:13:00 -0500

Image Source: Alex Muse Dear Pablo: We drink a great deal of water all day long and wondered which uses more energy: opening the refrigerator door to get a bottle of cold water or using the water dispenser on the exterior of the unit. Also, does it take more energy to get ice from the mechanical dispenser (which also uses energy to make ice) or more by opening and closing the freezer door to get some cubes? The big picture answer is that it probably doesn't matter. Simply the fact that you are filling your own water bottles rather than Read the full story on TreeHugger

Readers, Send Us Your Fall Garden Photos!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:37:35 -0500

Fall and winter gardening. Credit: sbocaj, CC 2.0 Is the soil in your garden still supporting summer vegetables like zucchinis and tomatoes? Have you prepared for fall frost and winter weather with help from your composted vegetables and other soil amendments? Is your fall harvest providing crisp cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower? Have you begun to sow carrots and turnips? Prove it! We want to see photos of your winter garden preparation and planted gardens--indoors or out--for our next readers slideshow. Click through for de]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Factory Farms, Deforestation, Subsidies and Soy: UK Campaign Connects the Dots (Video)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:48:19 -0500

Image credit: FOE From Meatless Mondays to Weekday Vegetarianism to going raw food vegan to adopting the 100-Mile Diet, there are plenty of individual act]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Vegetarian's Rebuttal to 'The Carnivore's Dilemma'

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:00:34 -0500

Eat Me. You might possibly, perhaps be doing something good for the environment. Credit: Clara Molden via Telegraph.co.uk Last week's NY Times featured an op-ed entitled "The Carnivore's Dilemma"--an ostensibly enlightened response to the chorus of voices promulgating a vegetarian diet as a way to significantly reduce one's emission of greenhouse gasses (not least amongst these voices is Michael Pollan, auth]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Future Food, a Show About Changing the Way We Think About Food, Coming to Planet Green

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:17:40 -0500

downloadable design (and the internet) and food, and splash in some molecular gastronomy? Just ask Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche: Two renowned chefs, successful restaurateurs, patent-owning mad scientists and celebrated futurists who are bringing their unique, fun, wacky brand of food to Planet Green's airwaves. The new original series, Future Food, will feature these two technology-obsessed chefs looking for solutions to some of the world']]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Politics of Seeds: 75% of the Seed Marketplace Controlled by Four Companies

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:25:00 -0500

photo: J. Novak If I were to reference "the big four" in passing you would likely assume I was talking about cars, software companies, or maybe airlines. But unfortunately in this instance you'd be wrong. Scary as it may be, 75 percent of the seeds sold come from four companies, according to Michael Olson from Food Chain Radio. Could you guess which companies they are? ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

EPA Bans Pesticide Insecticide Carbofuran by 2010

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:41:51 -0500

A worker sprays carbofuran on a tree in Kannenfeldpark, in Basel, Switzerland. Photo by pppspics via Flickr. As of the end of the year, one more pesticide will be absent from food crops grown in the United States. In May the EPA ruled that the current residue limits of the insecticide carbofuran on Read the full story on TreeHugger

8 Sustainable Sources of Farmed Fish & Seafood

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:41:06 -0500

Photo credit: ellievanhoutte via Flickr Farmed fish and seafood has sort of a bad reputation in some green circles. Sometimes -- as with, say, Atlantic salmon -- it's for good reason. But there are a number of cases where farming can actually be a good thing -- for water quality, the health of the fish or seafood in question, and the aquatic environment as a whole. As with lots of food-related issues, location has a lot to do with determining how green the proc]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

From The "Who Knew?" File: Cattle Commonly Fed Chicken Poop

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:35:05 -0500

Old Lace & Arsenic. The Movie. Image credit:Amazon,dvd. If you eat "burger," there is more to be concerned with than just fat intake, e-Coli, and carbon footprint. In a new addition to the "Who Knew" file at TreeHugger, we just learned that the cows which contributed to your pattie may have been fed chicken poop. Add to that, the fact that chicken poop may be "laced" with arsenic. (Hence the illustration.) You wonder if I'm a crazed liberal environmentalist wacko]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Consumers Reports Confirms Bisphenol A Leaches From Tin Cans

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:09:22 -0500

Lambert/Archive Photos/Getty Images Two new bits of research: A new study by members of the Reproductive Toxicology Branch of the EPA did not find any evidence that Bisphenol A (BPA), was a "gender bender" in female rats. BPA "Does not Alter Sexually Dimorphic Behavior, Puberty, Fertility and Anatomy of Female LE Rats" (Abstract here, via Stats.org) This is particularly good news in the light of the Consumers Union's recent report that showed leaching of BPA from canned food, as reported inRead the full story on TreeHugger