Climate Food and Agriculture

Greener Pastures

Sign of the Thames

New water-quality targets being established by the European Union could radically change the face of farming in Europe, forcing farmers to scale back or even abandon their practices in some traditionally agricultural areas. The Water Framework Directive will require all rivers, lakes, and canals to be restored to “good ecological quality” within 15 years — […]

Quite a Pear

There have been wars fought over oil and opium, spices and sugarcane — and now it seems there is a war brewing in Washington state over pears. The battle was touched off when the Seattle-based Washington Environmental Council sent a letter to an irrigation district in the eastern part of the state threatening legal actions […]

More Than Meats the Eye

In the last two decades, there’s been a national growth spurt in super-sized animal feedlots and slaughterhouses. That spurt has outpaced the ability of regulators to keep such places operating safely and cleanly — and that has led to polluted water bodies, food safety scares, and on-the-job injuries, according to a report released yesterday by […]

Onion Jack

Times are so bad for organic farmers in the United Kingdom that the whole market for organic foods could collapse, according to research published today by the National Farmers Union. According to the data, one in three organic farms in Great Britain is losing money. If there is hope, it lies in the Organic Action […]

Swiss Bliss

Organic farming results in a smaller yield than conventional agriculture, but is far more energy efficient and better for the land. That might sound intuitive to many organic advocates, but it took a 21-year study by Swiss scientists to prove it. Research published in the most recent issue of Science showed that organic farming is […]

Toxics: Australian for Fertilizer

Businesses across Australia are legally disposing of their industrial waste by selling it as fertilizers for farms and home gardens, according to an investigative report by the Sydney Morning Herald. The fertilizers often contain such toxic metals as arsenic, mercury, chromium, and lead. In western Australia, radioactive material from aluminum refineries is being used at […]

Metals in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands?

The American Environmental Safety Institute (first we’ve heard of it) sued Nestle, Hershey, Mars, and other chocolate manufacturers yesterday for not disclosing that their products contain toxic metals such as lead and cadmium, as required under California law. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the group said that the levels of […]

Greener Pastures

New Zealand is home to a staggering 45 million sheep and 8 million cattle, which together produce 90 percent of the country’s methane emissions — or about 43 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the terms of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, New Zealand has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions […]

Umbra on farmed fish

I have a friend who is a homeopathic. She told me that I should stop eating pen-raised salmon because they are fed a lot of antibiotics. I was very disappointed because I thought I was eating a safe product. I don’t know how to get more info about this, but if you guys know anything […]