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When it comes to energy, everyone loves efficiency. Cutting energy waste is one of those goals that both sides of the political divide can agree on, even if they sometimes diverge on how best to get there. Energy efficiency allows us to get more out of our given resources, which is good for the economy [...]
Last summer saw a rare détente between animal-rights advocates and industrial agriculture. The Humane Society of the U.S. — the largest animal-protection group in the country — and the farming trade group the United Egg Producers announced an agreement in July 2011 to work together to seek a new federal law that would require larger [...]
It’s no secret that America has a drug problem—so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that our livestock have one as well. Antibiotics are a major part of the conventional meat industry, and the drugs aren’t just used to treat sick animals—they’re also given regularly in feed to help growth promotion of pigs, chickens and cattle. [...]
New tests show traces of radioactive elements in Japanese baby food, forcing the recall of more than 400,000 cans of infant formula. The news underscores the challenges still facing Japan’s food sector nine months after the Fukushima disaster—challenges that have as much to do with popular perception as science. Read more on Global Spin.
Does anyone else think it’s strange that Thanksgiving—a holiday meant to commemorate the moment when white settlers in America were essentially saved from starvation—now involves the biggest day of overeating in the calendar? (Actually, no, that makes perfect sense.) In any case, Thanksgiving will involve food, and lots of it—the National Turkey Federation estimates that [...]
[Update: The original title of the post said that the algae used in the Algenist cosmetics line was genetically engineered. That's not the case—the compounds come from existing microalgae that Solazyme has been able to identify and grow. We've fixed the headline—my apologies.] Trying to make a biofuel startup work is tough. On one hand, [...]
This Friday environmental and public health groups will hold the first National Conference to End Factory Farming in Arlington, Virginia—a gathering which is pretty self-explanatory. Gene Baur heads the Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting animal abuse on farms, sent in a piece outlining the goals of the conference, which I’ll excerpt below:
I have a profile of the self-described “Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic” farmer Joel Salatin in this week’s TIME. Sadly it’s behind the pay moat, so only subscribers can access it, but for introduction’s sake, Salatin is a sustainable farmer who raises grass-fed cattle and “beyond organic” chickens, pigs and rabbits at Polyface Farms in rural Swoope, Virginia. If you [...]
One of the hottest points of debate on aquaculture is the effect that farmed fish might have on their wild cousins. Fish raised in a major aquaculture operation live in close, sometimes cramped conditions that are nothing like the open ocean. As a result, they can become victims of disease and parasites—just as for centuries [...]
As I write this, Somalia is suffering its worst drought in 60 years. The lack of rain—combined with civil unrest and political interference from the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group—has produced catastrophic results. Yesterday Nancy Linborg, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told a Congressional committee that more than 29,000 children under [...]
