Food & Drink

The Fox (Monsanto) Buys the Chicken Coop (Beeologics)

"Why would one of the largest purveyors of pesticides, genetically engineered seeds and agrochemicals want to buy a company which has been seeking solutions to the escalating threats to the world bee population? The root of the problem, however, may not be the virus targeted by Remembee, but the herbicides and insecticides that agro-chemical giants like Monsanto, Dow and Bayer have themselves been hawking to farmers around the world. This is the conclusion of three recent studies which implicate a class of pesticides known as 'neonics' which coat a massive 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seeds in the U.S. alone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Fox (Monsanto) Buys the Chicken Coop (Beeologics)

‘Safe’ sugar levels in humans are toxic to mice

"Sugar is toxic for mice in dosages that in humans would equal a 'safe' diet that includes three cans of soda per day, scientists said Tuesday. Mice fed a diet in which sugar contributed a quarter of their daily calories did not become obese or ill, yet died younger and had fewer babies than animals on a healthy diet, said the team — raising red flags about 'added sugar' levels some consider safe for humans. 'Added sugar' is a term used for the refined stuff that is added to sweet drinks, baked goods and candy rather than the natural sugars found in fruit, vegetables and milk products. Sugar consumption in the American diet had increased by 50 percent since the 1970s." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Safe’ sugar levels in humans are toxic to mice

Foodies Fight to Save Detroit With Job Hopes Pinned on Arugula

"For Greg Willerer, Detroit’s new urban frontier is a lot like the Wild West: 'For all intents and purposes, there is no government here,' said Willerer, 43, checking the greens and other crops he is growing on an acre off Rosa Parks Boulevard, across from an abandoned house with broken windows. 'If something were to happen we have to handle that ourselves.' In New York, the city has invested $600,000 in expanding Brooklyn Grange, a rooftop farming business that’s planning to open a business incubator. Seattle is breaking ground on a 'food forest,' planting seven acres of fresh produce open to the public." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFoodies Fight to Save Detroit With Job Hopes Pinned on Arugula

Fishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

"The environment ministry recently announcement that 300 tonnes of contaminated groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi is still seeping over or around barriers into the Pacific every day, more than two years after it was struck by a tsunami in March 2011. Government officials said they suspected the leaks had started soon after the accident, which resulted in a nuclear meltdown. Unable to make a living from a sea poisoned by radiation, the town’s 70 fishermen earn money clearing tsunami debris; the only fish they catch are taken not to market, but to makeshift labs where they are tested for radiation from the plant, located just 12 miles to the north." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

Targeted booze strikes: Aerial drone drops beer at South Africa music festival

"Revellers at a South African outdoor rock festival no longer need to queue to slake their thirst — a flying robot will drop them beer by parachute. After clients place an order using a smartphone app, a drone zooms 15 metres (50 feet) above the heads of the festival-goers to make the delivery. Carel Hoffmann, director of the Oppikoppi festival held on a dusty farm in the country’s northern Limpopo province, said the app registers the position of users using the GPS satellite chips on their phones. 'The delivery guys have a calibrated delivery drone. They send it to the GPS position and drops it with a parachute,' he explained." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTargeted booze strikes: Aerial drone drops beer at South Africa music festival

Joseph Mercola: Why Medicine Won’t Allow Cancer to Be Cured

"In spite of the enormous amounts of money funneled into cancer research today, two out of three cancer patients will be dead within five years after receiving all or part of the standard cancer treatment trinity—surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This is not too surprising when you consider that two of the three are carcinogenic themselves! It’s much easier to prevent cancer than to treat it, once it takes hold. I believe you can virtually eliminate your risk of cancer and chronic disease, and radically improve your chances of recovering from cancer if you currently have it, by following these relatively simple strategies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJoseph Mercola: Why Medicine Won’t Allow Cancer to Be Cured

Atlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

"On June 27, IJ asked the court to clarify that Atlanta does indeed have a vending law in place under which the vendors can work. Shortly thereafter, we helped more than 75 vendors and their supporters march on City Hall. Three major civil rights groups joined us, as did most of Atlanta’s major media outlets who covered the protest. The very next day, the court clarified that the law authorizing the vending monopoly was 'wholly void' and should be treated 'as if it were never passed.' Because that law repealed an earlier vending ordinance, its invalidation meant that the old ordinance, which allows public property vending, was once again the law of the land." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

Get ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

"The 'metabolic syndrome' maladies associated with insulin resistance and obesity – many authorities now just use the term 'diabesity' – are expected soon to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of heart disease in the world. And perhaps of cancer, too. Farmer Mike Small has high hopes for the campaign for a Scottish tax on sugar-sweetened beverages: he and his sustainable food campaign, the Fife Diet, will launch a new manifesto for it in September. Forms of sugar-sweetened beverage tax have already started in Denmark, France, Finland and Hungary. Scotland, Small says, is in the mood to follow." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGet ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

Oklahoma legislator wants to legalize raw milk delivery to homes

"A Tulsa legislator wants to loosen state regulations of raw milk dairies to allow them to deliver directly to consumers. 'Basically, my hope is that we can make milkmen legal again,' said Rep. Ken Walker, R-Tulsa. 'Since these customers already go to the farm, my sole purpose is to let the farmer deliver to the home.' Committee Chairman Dale DeWitt, R-Braman, said he is uncomfortable with some of the health risks that broadening the availability of raw milk would carry. 'The risk is very, very low, but if there was any kind of outbreak of anything from the distribution of raw milk, ... it would just literally kill the industry,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOklahoma legislator wants to legalize raw milk delivery to homes

Farm Fresh Food with Bitcoin – La Nay Ferme help Beccy & Austin eat!

"Austin & Beccy Craig relish the chance to purchase fresh produce and eat real food with bitcoin. They buy a share in a local CSA, La Nay Ferme in Provo, Utah (CSA=Community Supported Agriculture). The farm's owner Clint shares his philosophy about food, about community, about money, and about bitcoin. Life On Bitcoin is a documentary film project about intrepid newlyweds Austin & Beccy Craig who are living the first 90 days of their married lives only on bitcoin. They are asking businesses all around where they live to accept bitcoin. They will also be traveling using bitcoin." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFarm Fresh Food with Bitcoin – La Nay Ferme help Beccy & Austin eat!