TreeHugger

Stop "Downer" Animals From Entering The Food Supply

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:10:00 -0500

photo: Farm Sanctuary We're in an age where nearly 70 percent of antibiotics produced annually are given to some form of livestock and mass production of livestock has led to widespread animal mistreatment and serious environmental repercussions. So it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to discern that current animal husbandry practices in this country are making livestock sick. But what are the repercussions when these "downer" animals ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

From Arid, Salty Desert to Permaculture Garden: Greening the Desert Revisited (Video)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:05:33 -0500

Image credit: Permaculture Science Many people were inspired by Geoff Lawton's original permaculture mini-movie on greening the desert in Jordan--an effort that turned 10 acres of arid, salty Jordanian desert into a lush productive garden. But how has it stood the test of time? As I noted in my post on volunteerism as the cheap oil of permaculture, many demonstration projects seem to b]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cereal Was On The Breakfast Menu 100,000 Years Ago

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:33:25 -0500

Julio Mercader, from the University of Calgary, told the Telegraph: ''This broadens the timeline for the use of grass seeds by our species, and is proof of an expanded and sophistica]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Save a Life and Get Free Basketball Tickets From Nothing but Nets

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:20:00 -0500

Nothing but Nets, is out just in time for the holiday season and really is the gift that keeps on giving. For a very small donation, you can save a life, or two, gift a gift to a friend, and get two free tickets to a basketball game. The more lives you protect, the more basketball tickets you get. Win, win win!!]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

SF Restaurant Offers Discount if You 'Convert a Carnivore'

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:43:00 -0500

Image via: Vegan Soapbox First it was "Meatless Mondays" then "Weekend Vegetarians," "giving up meat for Lent" and now Graham Hill is even asking us to give up meat 5 days a week to have a better impact at lowering your carbon footprint. One San Francisco restaurant is getting in on the act by offering 25% off of y]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Finding a Balance Between Farmers and Farmville

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:51:05 -0500

Image credit: Good At Good, Peter Smith writes:

The sun always shines. Pink cows produce strawberry milk. Soybeans take two days to grow and ripen. Something is not right. It's too clean. Nothing smells. Coffee bean grows next to squash. Millions of first-time farmers plant new crops every week. And—finally!—people pull out their wallets to support local agriculture. Welcome to Farmville.

]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Best and Worst of 2009: The Year (and Decade) in Review

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:30:10 -0500

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Feeding the 5000 in Trafalgar Square

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:48:26 -0500

Feeding the 5000" and it was organised to highlight the global problems with food waste. All the food was donated by farmers, packers and supermarkets. The fresh fruits and vegetables had been rejected because they were imperfectly shaped, past their sell-by date or the wrong size or shape. Instead the fresh food was turned into a feast by]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Oysters May Have Saved the Human Race

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:19:53 -0500

National Archives and Records Administration A hundred years ago, oysters and shellfish were a staple of a working person's diet in New York and on the east coast; they were cheap, plentiful and healthy. Maggie Koerth-Baker of BoingBoing writes that a couple of hundred thousand years ago they were too; in fact, they may have saved humanity from starvation in a world of changing climate. Conditions were so bad that the population of breeding humans may have been reduced to as little as 1,000, but Professor Curtis Marean, Ph.D suggests that a shellfish diet kept them]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Book Review: The Raw Milk Revolution

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:09:09 -0500

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Farm Camp Teaches NYC Chefs Where Their Food Comes From

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:30:00 -0500

Image via: Farm Camp It's kind of like a slow-food boot camp for farmers, that includes a stay in the farmhouse of a working farmer, morning chores like gathering eggs and taste testing everything right on the spot. Owners Jen Small and Mike Yezzi have spent almost the last decade working to protect small farms and earn a living by providing NYC chefs and greenmarkets with the very food that ends up being served to discer]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Wind Turbine Syndrome: It's All In Your Head

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:39:00 -0500

Image via: malamutechaos on Flickr.com The American Wind Energy Association this week is citing a report lead by officials in the medical and audiology community that states that wind turbines are having no effect on human health. That's good to know, but then what is causing the "wind turbine syndrome" that so many people seem to be affected by?]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Study Finds Popcorn Butter Alternatives Also Toxic

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:30:00 -0500

Image via: Jmacphoto.com on Flickr.com Just a few short years ago, famed popcorn label Orville Redenbacher said it would eliminate all diacetyl (the chemical in alternative butter that is linked with health problems in many workers, possibly a few deaths and destroying the lungs of popcorn addicts) from popcorn. Soon popcorn makers everywhere followed suit, removing diacetyl and replacing it with newer, safer butter alternatives. Turns out now those alternatives are really just ano]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Touring New York's Most Sustainable Bakery

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:19:21 -0500

Image credit: Good Nicola Twilley, author of the Edible Geography blog, writes in Good that:

Birdbath bakery is managing to be good to the environment and the bottom line. It doesn't hurt that its food is also delicious.

More interesting than the bakery itself—which uses local, organic, and seasonal ingredients and is being used as a test-site for green building technologies—is the story of how the brand came to be.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cows Coming to a Classroom Near You: Innocent Experiment or Mobile Marketing?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:46:00 -0500

Image via: pascalk on Flickr.com This last week the Sacramento Bee featured an article about a "mobile classroom" idea where a dairy cow is brought into elementary school classrooms. School children can pet the cows and learn about where their milk comes from. Sounds like a great idea to teach children at a young age where their food in general comes from. Some of the article readers didn't this so.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Potty Training Pigs Helps Cut Water Use by 50%, Prevents Water Pollution (Video)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:31:00 -0500

Photo via Maurice Taiwan's 6.5 million pigs are a source of river pollution. But one Taiwanese farmer has found that potty training is porkers goes a long way in both conserving water and keeping it clean. He's trained his hogs to use a litter box, and has had such great results that he's starting to advocate the]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The New GMO Debate: Genetically Engineered Organic Crops

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:15:00 -0500

photo: J. Novak I have written on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) a number of times. Large monocultures, which are typical of GMO, can be riddled with pests. As a result, monocultures are often dressed with a toxic cocktail of pesticides so that they can survive the onslaught. But what about organic GMOs? Recently, Michael Olson's Food Chain Radio hosted Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak from UC Davis to discuss the topic of genetically modifying organic crops and you might be surprised what these small farm]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ask Pablo: Should We Go Back To Using Horses Instead Of Tractors?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:50:00 -0500

Image Source: Anguskirk Dear Pablo: What is more sustainable, using a horse or a tractor? The answer may seem simple at first. A tractor consumes diesel fuel and belches greenhouse gasses and air pollutants. The horse on the other hand does not. End of story? Not quite. The horse also requires fuel in the form of grains. These grains are probably harvested by a tractor that burns diesel. So the question really should be: Does a horse consume more fossil energy through its feed than a tractor consumes for the equivalent amount of work?]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Zhu Zhu Pets: How Toxic...Or Not?

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:56:39 -0500

The real thing. Photo by Annia316 via Flickr The must-have Christmas toy, Zhu Zhu Pets are pronounced safe, according to US federal safety regulators. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which tested the furry faux hamster that every toddler in America has on their list for Santa, and gave the robotic critter a thumbs up. But the consumer advocacy group, G]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hog Butchery Workshop: Getting Personal with Meat

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:31:01 -0500

Image credit: Cricket Bread Paul McCartney once famously said that if slaughter houses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. I've never been 100% convinced, but there's no doubt that we'd eat less meat, and maybe we'd take more responsibility for the meat we do eat. In fact, that's exactly what is happening as the world learns more about the horrors of factory farming. And while some are choosing to go vegetarian... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Localization of Agriculture: A Predetermined Future

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:31:59 -0500

The Apple Orchard. Image credit:University of Minnesota blog, FreeAlonso In the United States, there has been a surge of interest in eating fresh local foods, corresponding with mounting concerns about the climate effects of consuming food from distant places and about the obesity and other health problems associated with junk food diets. This is reflected in the rise in urban gardening, school gardening, and farmers' markets. With the fast-growing local foods movement, diets are becoming more locally shaped and more seasonal. In a typical supermarket ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Tata Water Filter Purifies Water with Ashes

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:26:48 -0500

Image from the Globe & Mail Safe clean water is in dire shortage in India and other developing countries. Without it disease is rampant: typhoid, cholera, jaundice and diarrhoea (which will kill about 380,000 children in India alone this year). Leave it to India's Tata Group to figure out a way to deliver a really cheap water purifier to the masses. They understand their market: lower income rural people who have been ignored by many other companies. Having already developed the Nano, a cheap car for the people, they have now launched a ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Should We Allow Organics to be Genetically Modified?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:56:00 -0500

RameshBabuKV on Flickr.com Yep, genetically modified organics is the very topic of the next Food Chain Radio broadcast Saturday morning. This tense and testy topic sort of makes the hairs on the back of your neck when you first hear about it. Without knowing either side of the issue, there is just something about it that Read the full story on TreeHugger

Parducci Wines Wins California's Highest Enviro Award

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Don't worry, this pretty water feature is actually all reclaimed water that is going back to irrigate the vineyards. Image via: Parducci Wine Cellars. If you're looking for a wine this holiday season that will compliment your meal, compliment your enviro-ethics and even work as a conversation piece, look no further than Parducci Wine Cellars. Recent winner of the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), this winery is proving Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cafe Orzo: The New Coffee Alternative From Italy

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:32:00 -0500

Image via: Cafe Orzo The next time you're in Italy, meandering the streets, marveling at the architecture and just spending a lazy day hanging out at one cafe after another, why not try the new trendy coffee alternative showing up in cafes across the country. Cafe Orzo, isn't really coffee at all, but it brews the same way and comes fair trade and certified organic]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Clever Ad: "Vegetables Are All Your Body Needs"

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:40:49 -0500

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

NASCAR Driver Sues Farm. For Noise.

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:43:27 -0500

Image credit: Charleston City Paper & Save Ambrose Farm From switching to local grains to embracing backyard slaughter, locavores can be a committed bunch. So it's no wonder that a group of South Carolina foodies were up in arms when they heard their favorite farm is being sued for]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

FoodBizSupply Offers 10% Off Sustainable Food Service Supplies

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:06:24 -0500

Image via FoodBizSupply. Today's TreeHugger Deal$ comes to you from FoodBizSupply, an eco-centric wholesaler of more than 300 sustainable food service supplies. They also offer one-on-one consultation to help buyers select the right green products for their event or establishment. Are you looking for tableware, paper products, to-go packaging, or green clean-up products that are compostable and biodegradable? Then this is THE site you want you want to check out. For example, Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Do You Spell Sellout? Tony Blair and Formaldehyde

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:15:18 -0500

"To be honest, until I looked at the list of what formaldehyde does, I had no idea of how many parts of my life were governed by the existence of this thing. When I go back home, I will tell my nine-year-old boy: 'Stop all other studies and concentrate on formaldehyde and you will be fine!'" ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Betacup: Eliminating Paper Cup Wastage Through Collaborative Design

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:37:27 -0500

Photo courtesy of Betacup. Guest contributor Toby Daniels is an entrepreneur with 10 years experience in running businesses in digital media and marketing. Toby is the co-founder of ThinkSocial at the Paley Center for Media and co-founder and community organizer at the betacup, whose mission is to eliminate paper cup consumption through collaborative design. In North America we consume 58 billion paper cups every year. This represents 60% of the worlds ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

More Than You Paid For: BPA Found in Cash Register Receipts

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:28:00 -0500

Image via: Billaday on Flickr.com We've devoted plenty of time and space to exposing BPA in our water bottles, and to documenting the phase-out of BPA, (or Bisphenol A) but did you know that you come in contact with BPA every day (well, more than likely every day) and you don't even know it? Turns out, there is one more downside to shopping and consuming: you're putting even more BPA out into the environment, Read the full story on TreeHugger

Can 10 Million Green Vending Machines Keep Coke Cool?

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:30:49 -0500

Photo wblj @ flickr. Coke has announced that it will turn all of its 10 million vending machines worldwide hydrofluorocarbon-free by 2015. This is a major, ambitious move, as those machines emit 15 million tons of greenhouse gases annually and comprise 40% of Coke's carbon footprint. Ironically, by switching to using carbon dioxide as the gas in vending machines rather than more carbon-intensive hydrofluorocarbons, the company expects to save as much as 53 million tons of CO2 emissions over a 10-year-period, according to this Read the full story on TreeHugger

Kit Kat Goes Fairtrade

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:45:36 -0500

Image from Nestle Kit Kat is the best selling chocolate bar in the UK, with 1 billion sold annually. So when Nestle decides to make it Fairtrade, it is a big deal, and sweet news. Starting in January all of the four-finger bars will be made with Fairtrade cocoa, with the smaller ones following later. In fact, the UK is the biggest market for Kit Kat in the world, with Japan next, at half as many. With Cadbury's Dairy Milk certified earlier this year, Fairtrade chocolate is reaching the mainstr]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Toxin in Iraqi Water Pipes Kills First US Soldier

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:04:00 -0500

Image via: johnrgunter on Flickr.com When soldiers are engaged in battle, either foreign or domestic, they expect a certain amount of risk. Death by environmental exposure, though, isn't really one of them. This week Indiana National Guardsman Lt. Col. Jim Gentry was laid to rest, with the distinction of being "the first American soldier known to die from exposure to a cancer-causing toxin while serving in Iraq," Read the full story on TreeHugger

Yardbirds: Columbia, S.C. Moves Closer to Allowing Urban Chickens

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:20:00 -0500

photo: J. Novak I had always said that once we moved out of the city, my first purchase would be a chicken coop. But now I might not have to wait until I live in the country for my very own farm fresh eggs because my native Columbia, S.C. is moving closer and closer to allowing chicken coops within city limits. And the trend is catching on--New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, and Durham all allow the backyard birds. Could your city be next?]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger