Climate-friendly menus are possible through easy changes that don't compromise on flavor or cost. Alexander Spatari / Moment / Getty Images
By Edwina Hughes, Richard Waite and Gerard Pozzi
With people increasingly aware of the climate impact of their lifestyles, the spotlight is falling on the food we eat. Agriculture and related land-use account for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But not all foods are created equal, and plant-based foods are generally a lot less resource-intensive to produce than animal proteins. Take beef vs. beans: per gram of protein, beef production uses 20 times the land and generates 20 times the GHG emissions as beans.
<p>Much attention is paid to unusual innovations aimed at offering a wider variety of food options with a smaller climate footprint — like crackers made from insects or algae protein bars. But large institutions that want to offer diners climate-friendly food options are finding it's more straightforward than expected. That's in part thanks to <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/01/23-behavior-change-strategies-get-diners-eating-more-plant-rich-food" target="_blank">recent behavioral science research</a>, which shows that small changes in menu language or creating delicious plant-centered dishes can greatly increase the uptake of sustainable offerings. In short, they've found it's already possible to eat tomorrow's climate-friendly diet today, through easy changes that don't compromise on flavor or cost.</p><p><a href="http://www.coolfood.org/2019-pledge-data-update" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New data</a> from the <a href="https://coolfood.org/pledge/" target="_blank">Cool Food Pledge</a> — a group of restaurants, cities, hospitals and companies that have committed to cutting GHG emissions associated with the food they serve by 25% by 2030, in line with Paris Agreement goals — show that members were able to collectively reduce emissions by 4.6% overall and by 12% per plate in just four years. Some members have reduced emissions even more quickly, showing big changes are possible within a short time.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from the </em><em><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2021/03/climate-friendly-food-easier-we-think" target="_blank">World Resources Institute</a>. </em></p>
<img
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data-rm-shortcode-id="39bc3ff49cf9b2282a3b29adca8948fd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Food consumption in restaurants, workplace canteens and school cafeterias <a href="https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/covid-pandemic-7-charts" target="_blank">has fallen dramatically</a> during the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns. While the industry begins to revive amid calls for a "green" recovery, these results can serve as inspiration, showing what could be achievable when the wider food service industry picks up again post-COVID. When diners return, food service operators should seize the chance to ensure strong and engaging sustainability credentials are at the center of their menu offerings. Offering more plant-rich options is key to hitting climate targets since as they are generally much less resource-intensive to produce.</p><p>So what does that mean for organizations serving food? And how feasible is it? Lessons from Cool Food Pledge members show that meaningful progress toward a sustainable food future is simple. It's just a case of keeping the spotlight on what's delicious, cost-effective and low-carbon.</p><p>Here are the three main lessons:</p>
1. Make It Delicious
<p>Climate-friendly food doesn't have to be dull. Take the example of biotech company Genentech, which has 10,000 staff based in California, and an in-house culinary team creating chef specials. When it joined the Cool Food Pledge it changed the chef specials to plant-rich options — serving up even more vegetables, pulses and grains. Some of the new dishes included "Vegan Jackfruit, Okra and Seitan Jambalaya" with brown rice, Creole sauce and shaved scallions as well as "Charred Yucatan Vegetables" with an array of vegetables, stewed black beans, habanero pickled red onions and flour tortillas. Following positive responses from employees, demand for the new plant-rich options grew while demand for the more traditional, meat-heavier options declined. Between 2018 to 2019 alone, the company reduced the climate impact of each plate of food it serves by an incredible 33%.</p>2. Keep It Cost-Effective
<p>Climate-friendly food doesn't have to increase costs — and can even reduce them.</p><p>In the health care sector, at UCSF Health, forward-thinking chefs decided to couple a more climate-friendly ethos with a cost-effective one while feeding patients and visitors. UCSF had a 100% beef burger that wasn't selling well, so switching to a 70:30 beef/mushroom blended burger in 2017 that sold better was a no-brainer. The Department of Nutrition and Health Services at UCSF Health realized the blended burger would cost less, the mushroom would ensure it remained flavorful and the reduction in beef would help UCSF Health hit its climate-friendly target for food. </p><p>At the same time, its central menu evolved from serving 20 entrees featuring beef in 2017 down to just three by 2020. This more plant-rich menu has proven both better for the climate and more appealing to customers. UCSF Health's total food-related GHG emissions dropped by 13% in just three years, the biggest reduction amongst the health care members of the Cool Food Pledge.</p>3. Explore the World of Plants
<p>A welcome consequence of committing to a climate-friendly menu offering has been a surge in the quantity of vegetables, pulses and grains procured and served by member organizations. In fact, members purchased 12% more plant-based food items in 2019 relative to the base year. The University of Cambridge's University Catering Service, which manages 14 cafés and canteens and caters for 1,500 events a year, has phased out ruminant meat completely, and guests can enjoy Swedish-style Vegballs, Smoky Moroccan Chickpea Stew and sweet potato burgers instead. Emissions dropped by more than 30% even as the university served 30% more food, reflecting the significant change in the ingredients that make up the meals it is serving.</p>Having an Impact Isn’t Rocket Science
<p>This variety of progress reflects the distinct environments in which these organizations operate and the different diners they serve. Many are cutting emissions even as the number of meals they serve grows. </p><p>While every dining facility will have its own unique operations, the Cool Food Pledge is providing structure and guidance to help the food industry lower the carbon footprint of food in line with climate science. Members are guided through a three-steps of "pledge, plan, and promote": they <a href="https://coolfood.org/pledge/#pledge" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledge</a> to reduce food-related GHG emissions by 25% by 2030; they develop a <a href="https://coolfood.org/pledge/#plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plan</a> to achieve their aims using the latest behavioral science; and by <a href="https://coolfood.org/pledge/#promote" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">promoting</a> their achievements, they are on the front lines of a growing movement that's slashing the impact that food has on the climate.</p>From Your Site Articles
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With restaurants and supermarkets becoming less viable options during the pandemic, there has been a growth in demand and supply of local food. Baker County Tourism Travel Baker County / Flickr
By Robin Scher
Beyond the questions surrounding the availability, effectiveness and safety of a vaccine, the COVID-19 pandemic has led us to question where our food is coming from and whether we will have enough.
<p><br/></p>
<p>According to a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/covid-19-will-double-number-people-facing-food-crises-unless-swift-action-taken" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a>, COVID-19 might have left up to 265 million people with acute food shortages in 2020. The combined effect of the pandemic as well as the emerging global recession "could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems," which would "result in consequences for health and nutrition of a severity and scale unseen for more than half a century," states another UN <a href="https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-impact-covid-19-food-security-and-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a>.</p>
<p>In the United States, "food insecurity has doubled overall, and tripled among households with children" due to the pandemic, states a <a href="https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/reports/ipr-rapid-research-reports-pulse-hh-data-10-june-2020.pdf#link=%7B%22role%22:%22standard%22,%22href%22:%22https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/reports/ipr-rapid-research-reports-pulse-hh-data-10-june-2020.pdf%22,%22target%22:%22%22,%22absolute%22:%22%22,%22linkText%22:%22June%20report%22%7D" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">June 2020 report</a> by the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at Northwestern University, which relied on data provided by the <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey</a>. In a recent <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/staggering-need-covid-19-has-led-to-rising-levels-in-food-insecurity-across-the-u-s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interview</a> with CBS News, IPR Director Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach warned that these statistics would likely "continue to hold," with the numbers indicating particularly dramatic rises in food insecurity among Black and Latinx families. Indeed, families of color are being disproportionately impacted. According to an analysis of new Census data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/struggling-families-and-economy-need-robust-bipartisan-covid-relief-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">22 percent of Black and 21 percent of Latinx respondents reported not having enough to eat</a>, compared to just 9 percent of white people.</p>
<p>Globally, the effects of COVID-19 on food security are equally, if not more, severe. According to a CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-famines-united-nations-warning/" target="_blank">report</a>, WFP Director David Beasley <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-chief-warns-hunger-pandemic-covid-19-spreads-statement-un-security-council" target="_blank">told</a> the UN Security Council in April 2020 that the world is on "the brink of a hunger pandemic." He added, "In a worst-case scenario, we could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries, and in fact, in 10 of these countries we already have more than one million people per country who are on the verge of starvation."</p><p>"The number of chronically hungry people increased by an estimated 130 million last year, to more than 800 million — about eight times the total number of COVID-19 cases to date," <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/prevent-next-food-crisis-now" target="_blank">wrote</a> Mark Lowcock, the under-secretary-general and emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and Axel van Trotsenburg, managing director of operations at the World Bank. "Countries affected by conflict and climate change are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. Empty stomachs can stunt whole generations."</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) <a href="https://www.usda.gov/oce/energy-and-environment/food-security" target="_blank">warns</a> that climate change "is likely to diminish continued progress on global food security through production disruptions that lead to local availability limitations and price increases, interrupted transport conduits, and diminished food safety." The same might be said about the pandemic, which has made it abundantly clear: climate resilience, food security and global health are closely intertwined.</p><p>In terms of food security, another major concern is the pandemic-related school closures that have occurred across the globe, with UNICEF reporting that more than <a href="https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/" target="_blank">1.6 billion children and young people</a> have been affected. Schools provide a food lifeline for children; for so many, that is where they get their only nutritious meal of the day. In January, the UNICEF Office of Research — Innocenti, and WFP released a new <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/nutrition-crisis-looms-more-39-billion-school-meals-missed-start-pandemic-unicef-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> that found that more than 39 billion in-school meals have been missed worldwide since the pandemic began, with 370 million children worldwide having missed 40 percent of in-school meals.</p>
<p>In early 2020, when COVID-19 was still a looming specter rather than the deadly virus we're more familiar with today, the threat of food insecurity was a practical problem. Scenes of shoppers descending on aisles to stock up on supplies were a common sight. As <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/18/business/supermarkets-rationing-coronavirus/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a> in March 2020, supermarkets around the world rationed food and other products such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies, in an effort to curb stockpiling.</p><p>In Vermont, for instance, a steady increase in food insecurity since the start of the pandemic has correlated to employment levels, according to a <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/uvmnews/news/uvm-survey-food-insecurity-vermont-rose-33-during-pandemic" target="_blank">survey</a> conducted by the University of Vermont between March and April 2020. Approximately 45 percent of respondents "had lost their jobs, been furloughed or had their hours reduced during the pandemic," and a further two-thirds of survey participants who recorded scarcity of food in their households "had experienced job losses or work disruptions since the outbreak of the pandemic," according to the survey. Vermont is just one example; the impact has been felt across the U.S. During the week before Thanksgiving in 2020, the Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/nov/25/us-hunger-surges-spiraling-pandemic?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that 5.6 million U.S. households "struggled to put enough food on the table," while referring to the analysis of the Census data by CBPP.</p>
<p>As the pandemic continues to upend lives across the world, it has impacted the entire food supply chain. With factory and supermarket workers being <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31200-9/fulltext" target="_blank">highly susceptible</a> to COVID-19, there's been a concomitant <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/05/28/another-look-availability-and-prices-food-amid-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank">decline</a> in food production and a rise in prices. As Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/04/what-if-coronavirus-strikes-tens-thousands-food-and-farm-workers-same-time" target="_blank">reported</a>, farmers in the U.S. were already facing labor shortages prior to the pandemic, and with tightened immigration as well as the heightened risk and poor compensation associated with these jobs, "food processors and farm labor contractors may struggle to find other workers willing to risk their lives to work in meat plants, packing sheds or produce fields."</p><p>The pandemic has exposed the weakness of the industrialized global food system, which depends on long, complex transportation chains and cross-border travel. "[T]he monstrous and unsustainable food industry known as <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/big-ag-monopolies-have-stifled-small-farmers-2020-democrats-want-to-break-them-up" target="_blank">Big Ag</a>... relies on the horrendous <a href="https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2018/01/18/improving-working-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">treatment</a> of laborers, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/business/coronavirus-destroying-food.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wasteful allocation of resources</a>, worldwide <a href="https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/factory-farming-is-killing-the-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental devastation</a> — and in a pinch, can quickly devolve into near-collapse of the entire system, as evidenced by the delays, shortages and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/coronavirus/food-supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pressure</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pandemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deepening hunger crisis</a> in America," April M. Short, a fellow at the Independent Media Institute, recently <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/02/04/covid-19-has-exposed-the-fragility-of-our-food-system--heres-how-we-can-localize-it_partner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> in Salon. "Among the many necessary systemic changes 2020 has illuminated is the need to majorly restructure the way we cultivate and access food in our communities."</p>
<p>It didn't take the pandemic to reveal the inefficiency and injustice of our food system: Globally, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/health/global-food-waste-higher/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a third of all food is wasted</a>, while nearly <a href="https://gho.unocha.org/global-trends/hunger-rising-covid-19-will-make-it-worse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">690 million people were undernourished in 2019</a> — almost 60 million more people than in 2014. But the pandemic has underscored the matter: According to <a href="https://gho.unocha.org/global-trends/hunger-rising-covid-19-will-make-it-worse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OCHA</a>, "the number of acutely food insecure people could increase to 270 million due to COVID-19, representing an 82 percent increase compared to the number of acutely food insecure people pre-COVID-19."<br></p><p>And the disruption of transportation has shown that the long distances it normally takes for food to get from one place to another can be a serious liability during a crisis. "[F]ood banks are under tremendous pressure to meet the skyrocketing demand," said a CNN article quoting from a letter Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America CEO, and Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13/business/farmers-food-supply-food-banks-donations-trnd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> to then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in April 2020. "At the same time, however, we are seeing literally tons of agricultural goods being discarded because of the shutdown of so much of the economy."</p>
<p>Consumer demand has shifted from eating out at restaurants and food services away from home, and food supply chain operations have had to be retooled. And that impact has been felt within the transportation sector. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennysplitter/2020/03/18/covid-19-and-truck-driver-shortage-may-threaten-food-supply-chain/?sh=5495ccbd523e" target="_blank">reported</a> that Andrew Novakovic, an agricultural economist at Cornell University, "points to a number of weak spots in the food transportation system that could be aggravated by the increased demand for food." A shortage of truck drivers is one potential weak spot, says Novakovic. Although he concedes there is debate on this matter, Novakovic maintains that "[t]rucking companies are finding it much harder to recruit [those] long haul drivers." China, which was the first country to be hit by the virus, offers insight into the prolonged impact of the pandemic on transportation and food systems. The lockdown in the Hubei province of China, which is home to 66 million people, led to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coronavirus-will-delay-agricultural-export-surges-promised-in-trade-deal-with-china-132227" target="_blank">shortage</a> in delivery of animal feed as well as refrigerated containers full of imported vegetables, fruit and frozen meat in February 2020, according to an article in The Conversation.</p>
<p>In addition to shifting consumer demand, the pandemic has also made us take a closer look at where our food comes from and how it impacts not only the lives of food workers but also the lives of animals trapped in the food system. According to a <a href="https://www.aspca.org/news/survey-says-covid-19-crisis-drives-americans-desire-reform-animal-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new public opinion survey</a> conducted by Lake Research Partners and commissioned by the animal rights group American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, "[t]he vast majority (89 percent) of Americans are concerned about industrial animal agriculture, citing animal welfare, worker safety or public health risks as a concern." The survey also found that "85 percent of farmers and their families support a complete ban on new industrial animal agriculture facilities — almost twice the level of support expressed by the general public." This finding shows key support for the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3221/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Farm System Reform Act</a>, legislation that was introduced in 2019 by Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey that, among other reforms, seeks to put a <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-unveils-bill-to-reform-farm-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">moratorium on new or expanding factory farms</a>.</p>
<p>Food insecurity has long been a pressing issue, particularly for developing countries. However, as Mir Ashrafun Nahar, a research associate at the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, <a href="https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/fallout-of-covid-19-on-food-security-1603117667" target="_blank">explained</a> in a Financial Express article, "the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more acute." In response, Nahar argues for a policy-based approach that includes "subsidy based transportation systems for agriculture" to support supply chains, as well as policies aimed at cutting down on agricultural production costs in order to help farmers recover from the effects of the pandemic.</p><p>With the pandemic still affecting food supply, though, there are a number of logical measures for reducing the impact of the virus and maximizing output. "First, OSHA [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] and the USDA must be directed to issue emergency standards that require employers to provide personal protective equipment, enough space to work without spreading the virus, and housing and transportation options that will reduce the spread of the virus," <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/04/what-if-coronavirus-strikes-tens-thousands-food-and-farm-workers-same-time" target="_blank">wrote</a> Faber.</p>
<p>Proposed in April 2020, Faber's suggestions, unfortunately, remained <a href="https://www.ewg.org/testimony-official-correspondence/covid-19-bill-fails-protect-workers-and-hungry-families" target="_blank">unaddressed</a> under the Trump administration. Faber's relief measures further include the expansion of USDA programs to purchase surplus commodities to offset supply chain disruption; redirecting food that might be destroyed toward food banks; and increasing the standard SNAP benefit (food stamps) by 15 percent. And, echoing Nahar, Faber also proposes adopting policies that will help to alleviate financial burdens faced by farmers and food suppliers, as well as offering subsidy support.</p><p>The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental economic group with 37 member countries, said that the pandemic "has laid bare pre-existing gaps in social protection systems" in a <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y2jp7zk9" target="_blank">report</a> published in June 2020. "While the impacts of COVID-19 are still unfolding, experience so far shows the importance of an open and predictable international trade environment to ensure food can move to where it is needed," the OECD report states. "The biggest risk for food security is not with food availability but with consumers' access to food: safety nets are essential to avoid an increase in hunger and food insecurity."</p>
<p>Another problem is the lack of media coverage about the food insecurity being witnessed around the world, particularly during the COVID-19 era. As the Economist recently <a href="https://espresso.economist.com/6d94f9a8ea3ab919370c4bbd22ce9956" target="_blank">pointed out</a>, journalists in 2020 "wrote more than 50,000 articles about the canceled Eurovision song contest, but only around 2,000 about drought and hunger in Zambia."</p><p>Fortunately, beyond the failings of a state-led response to the pandemic, some positives have emerged at a community level. With restaurants and supermarkets becoming less viable options, there has been a growth in demand and supply of local food. According to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-small-local-farms-food_n_5e86332cc5b6d302366ccdcc" target="_blank">HuffPost</a><em>,</em> farmers have seen "a massive rise in demand for local produce." The result of this trend is that consumers who are able to access local food are changing their behavior toward procurement and consumption of food permanently.</p>
<p>Things are changing on a federal level, too. In a recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/dining/usda-food-policy-biden.html" target="_blank">article</a> about how the U.S. food system could be transformed during the Biden administration, New York Times food correspondent Kim Severson noted that "[h]unger relief is a pressing issue" for Tom Vilsack, who has been <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/23/politics/tom-vilsack-confirmed-agriculture-secretary/index.html" target="_blank">confirmed</a> by the Senate to become the agriculture secretary in Biden's Cabinet, a job the former Iowa governor also held under the Obama administration. However, while Severson notes that Vilsack has his <a href="https://secure.everyaction.com/9xZA4zPWO0m7iAvPbf4H4A2" target="_blank">critics</a>, President Biden has already made changes at the top, signing an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/" target="_blank">executive order</a> meant to deliver relief to families and businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis, including "expanding and extending federal nutrition assistance programs" to "[a]ddress the growing hunger crisis facing 29 million Americans." His proposal to Congress includes a $3 billion package to "help women, infants and children get the food they need" and "access to nutritious food for millions of children missing meals due to school closures."</p><p>For meaningful reform to the food system to occur, change is going to have to happen at every level: from federal, state and local governments, to Big Ag, small farmers and everyday consumers. With the future looking ever more uncertain due to the climate crisis — one of President Biden's top priorities — adapting to new ways of producing and transporting food will be key to our survival.</p>
<p>Robin Scher is a writer based in South Africa. He is a graduate of the Cultural Reporting and Criticism program at New York University. Find him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/robscherhimself" target="_blank">@RobScherHimself</a>.<br/></p><p><em>T</em><em>his article first appeared on </em><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/pandemic-may-have-left-265-million-people-with-acute-food-shortages-in-2020" target="_blank"><em>Truthout</em></a><em> and was produced in partnership with </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Kidney stones are hard deposits that form in the kidneys. They are produced when minerals and salts, most commonly calcium oxalate, crystallize in the kidneys, creating hard, crystal-like stones. If you've ever had a kidney stone, we're sure you won't want to repeat the experience!
Ideally, you never want to have to go through this painful process. Fortunately, several steps and natural treatments can be used to reduce the chances of suffering them. In this article we'll examine how these annoying solidifications originate and how to treat them effectively and quickly with natural remedies.
<h1>What are Kidney Stones?</h1><p>Kidney stones are solid mass made up of tiny crystals. One or more stones may occur at the same time in the kidney or ureters. The stone formations can consist of calcium oxalate, phosphates, or cystine. Stone formation occurs when urine is high in certain crystal-forming substances. The stones have to travel through the<a href="https://www.empowher.com/media/reference/calculos-renales" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> urinary tract</a> to leave the body, which is known as eliminating kidney stones, something that can be utterly painful. </p><p>Deposits made of calcium are the most common ones, and they can be formed by combining with phosphate or carbonate. But there are also calcium oxalate stones, which involve a nutrient present in certain foods like spinach and vitamin C supplements. These can be recurrent in people suffering from small intestine diseases, increasing the risk of kidney stones.</p><p>The crystals can turn into stones over weeks or even months, so you may not have symptoms until the stones move down the tubes called ureters, through which urine empties into your bladder. This is why it is possible to have kidney stones without you noticing any discomfort at the beginning.</p><p>However, the main symptom is intense pain that begins and disappears suddenly. This acute pain can be around the abdominal area or a side of the back, and sometimes it spreads to the groin area. Some more advanced symptoms include an abnormal color of urine or blood in the secretion, shivering, fever, nausea, and vomiting.</p><h1>Kidney Stone Treatments</h1><p>Before trying any home remedies, it is necessary to speak with a doctor, especially if you have pre-existing medical conditions or you are taking prescription medication.</p><p>Kidney stones that cause serious problems can be treated with a technique called "<a href="https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/kidney-stones/treatment" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy</a>," which is a technique that can break up these stones from outside the body, allowing them to pass out through the urethra more easily. However, occasionally, surgery may be necessary.</p><p>For those who can spontaneously pass a stone, the conventional treatments are pain relievers and drinking lots of fluids. But if you already know that you frequently suffer from "silent" stones or those that do not cause symptoms, they can be mainly treated with preventive dietary measures alone. These methods include increasing fluids, modifying your diet, and taking medications or supplements that alter urine chemistry.</p><h1>Natural Remedies for Kidney Stones</h1>
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<p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><h3>Water<br></h3><p>Make sure you are constantly hydrated. Drink enough liquid to generate at least<a href="https://soycomocomo.es/especialista/marc-verges/calculos-renales-o-piedras-en-el-rinon" target="_blank"> 2.5 liters</a> of urine daily. If you do not drink enough, the chances of developing deposits are more significant, and, therefore, the formation of stones will increase. If you avoid products from the processed food industry, you will already reduce sodium consumption, which is responsible for increasing urinary calcium excretion and present in high quantities in almost every preservative additive. Drinks such as sodas are a big facilitator for the formation of stones. This is why water—at least 6 to 8 glasses of water per day—is the number one aid in both preventing and expelling kidney stones. </p><h3>Chanca Piedra</h3><p>This amazing herb, native to South America, is one of the best <a href="https://disolvatol.com/?ref=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">natural remedies for kidney stones</a>. It is rich in minerals that cleanse and detoxify the body, and it has been used for decades by the ancestral healers of Peru with wonderful results and a very low incidence of side effects. It is also used for the treatment of cystitis and urethritis resulting from the presence of calculi in either the kidney or bladder. </p><p>If you buy a Chanca Piedra product and aren't sure of its source, it's likely that it's not as potent as it could be. It's essential to choose reputable supplements to really take advantage of all the benefits and to be sure of its safety. <a href="https://disolvatol.com/?ref=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Disolvatol</a> is a supplement that uses 99.8% purity grade Chanca Piedra, making it an all-natural, safe, and effective herbal supplement designed to support kidney health.</p><h3>Apple Cider Vinegar</h3><p>Apple cider vinegar contains citric acid, which can help dissolve calcium deposits. Two tablespoons of pure apple cider vinegar mixed with 8 ounces (0.24L) of water can <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319418" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce the symptoms of kidney stones</a> and prevent their development. This mixture should be drunk several times a day and can be most effective when consumed before meals.</p><h3>Lemon Juice</h3><p>Citric acid consumption increases diuresis, and this benefits renal filtration. Therefore, juices that contain citric acid, such as lemon juice, have a diuretic effect and can help us for two reasons. The first is that they leave less calcium available in the urine, and the second is that 60% of the patients with kidney stones have a low level of citrate in the urine, which is responsible for preventing crystals from forming.</p><h3>Basil</h3><p>Basil contains compounds known to help stabilize uric acid levels, and since it contains acetic acid, it helps to dissolve existing stones too. By simply drinking one teaspoon of basil extract or pure juice a day for two weeks, you can pass your stones safely and naturally without surgery or drugs. Also, it can help prevent and treat possible future kidney stones.</p><h3>Pomegranate Juice</h3><p>Buying whole pomegranates and eating their seeds, or squeezing them for juice, is the easiest way to get the health benefits of this fruit. Pomegranate juice also contains compounds that decrease urine acidity, making it difficult to form stones. The astringent and antioxidant properties of pomegranates are believed to reduce the chances of developing kidney stones and facilitate their elimination.</p><h3>Olive Oil</h3><p>Olive is the fruit of one of the most ancient trees on earth. Its cultivation goes back at least eight thousand years. It is a natural remedy for kidney stones. Because olive oil contains a high amount of monounsaturated fats, it is an excellent alternative to facilitate the removal of kidney stones by lubricating the urinary tract.</p><p>A 5-ounce (0.15L) glass first thing in the morning and another in the late afternoon, ideally at the same time as other herbal or home remedies, can reduce pain and discomfort.</p><h3>Kidney Beans</h3><p>These small red beans provide a robust and nutty flavor and are a natural remedy against forming kidney stones. Kidney beans are rich in nutrients that can affect the uric acid cycle, preventing calcium oxalate crystals.</p><h3>Dandelion roots</h3><p>Dandelion root and honey blend have been used as folk remedies for kidney stones for more than 100 years. It contains compounds that increase the production of bile and urine, which helps eliminate waste from the body. It is recommended to take 3 to 4 cups daily in the form of tea or juice.</p><h3>Horsetail</h3><p>Horsetail is one of the most prevalent kidney stone natural home remedies used by holistic practitioners for years due to its apparent ability to increase urine flow. The standard dose of horsetail is 1 g in capsule or tea form up to three times daily. </p><h1>How to Prevent Kidney Stones</h1>
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<p>Among the most common causes of kidney stones is a diet too rich in foods such as animal protein, bacon, dried legumes (peas, chickpeas, etc.), chocolate, cocoa, coffee, products with excess phosphorus or calcium.<br></p><p>Also, vitamin deficiency (in particular vitamins A), the acidity of the urine, or inflammation of the pelvis can play a role in kidney stones. Considering this, the primary tool to prevent kidney stones is to follow a healthy lifestyle, especially a <a href="https://vinculando.org/remedios_naturales/remedios_caseros_para_calculos_renales_calculos_biliares.html?format=pdf" target="_blank">diet based on</a> vegetables, and abundant fruits, especially pears and grapefruit. Avoid eating foods that are <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-kidney-stone-diet-not-as-restrictive-as-you-may-think" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">high in oxalate</a>, salt, and animal proteins, as well as eggs, strong cheeses, and alcohol.</p><h2>When to Consult With a Doctor</h2><p>Kidney stones are most common in men between the ages of 40 and 60. In many cases they can cause severe pain in the back, lower abdomen, or the side below the ribs. If not treated quickly, they can damage your kidneys, and they can even lead to a kidney infection, urinary tract infection, or complete kidney failure if they are left too long. It's a good idea to see a healthcare professional long before any of these complications arise.</p><p>If you have already been diagnosed with a blockage due to a stone, its expulsion should be confirmed either by trapping it in a filter during urination or with a follow-up X-ray under the supervision of a qualified doctor. Some cases could even require immediate surgery. Remember, having no pain does not in any way confirm or guarantee that the stone has already passed.</p><p>Warning signs that should be evaluated by a doctor include persistent lower abdominal or lower back pain lasting more than four weeks, fever, chills, or vomiting.</p><h2>Prevent the Formation of Kidney Stones Naturally</h2><p>We can use natural aids in the form of <a href="https://disolvatol.com/?ref=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">supplements</a>, herbs, or specific foods to help decrease kidney stones and improve urine diuresis. The best way to deal with kidney stones is to prevent them in the first place with naturally available nutrients and supplements. Knowing how to take advantage of the magical tools that Mother Nature puts at our disposal can make a tremendous difference in our well-being and lifestyle.</p><p><em><strong>Sarita Vanegas</strong> is a writer based in Medellín, Columbia, where she covers environmentally-friendly products, natural health, and plant-based remedies. A former Baselang teacher, she is also passionate about learning languages and exploring other cultures.</em></p>
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The USDA announced it would leave oversight on GMOs to the companies producing the organisms. D-Keine / E+ / Getty Images
By Eoin Higgins
Food safety advocacy groups objected to the Trump administration's latest assault on the country's agricultural regulatory framework as the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Thursday it would leave oversight on GMOs to the companies producing the organisms.
<p>"There is a need for adequate safeguards and effective regulatory oversight to ensure that there aren't unintended consequences to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> from these new technologies," Aviva Glaser, director of agriculture policy at the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement responding the rule, "but unfortunately, USDA's rule falls short of achieving this."</p>
<p>The new "<a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/340-secure-rule.pdf" target="_blank">SECURE rule</a>" would allow companies involved in gene editing (GE) to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-agriculture/usda-limits-review-requirements-of-some-biotech-farm-products-idUSKBN22R04P" target="_blank">avoid</a> government oversight if the companies themselves determine the editing involves modifications that could be achieved through traditional breeding. Critics charge that the new rule leaves that determination up to the companies themselves, removing two regulatory checks in one swoop.</p><p>"While some genetically engineered products are safe and beneficial, the federal government needs a regulatory system that tracks product development and ensures safety before products are marketed," said Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) biotechnology project director Gregory Jaffe. "We support science- and risk-based federal oversight of genetically engineered plants to ensure they are safe to humans and the environment before they are released for cultivation or restoration, but today's final regulation does not achieve that result."</p>
<p><a href="https://cspinet.org/news/trump-administration-usda-limits-oversight-genetically-engineered-and-gene-edited-crops" target="_blank">According to</a> the CSPI, the rule change flies in the face of the desires of a broad coalition of interested groups:</p><blockquote>Despite a unified position from environmental groups, consumer organizations, biotech crop developers, and food industry stakeholders imploring USDA to eliminate a provision allowing crop developers to self-determine whether their products are regulated, the Trump administration refused to require developers to even notify the agency of products they believe are exempt under the new regulations.</blockquote>
<p>Center for Food Safety senior attorney Sylvia Wu said in a statement Friday that the USDA was trying to use a needed update to an outdated set of rules to push through yet another industry-friendly policy that could have ramifications for the country's food supply.</p><p>"While revisions to USDA's regulations—first drafted in 1987—are necessary in order to ensure that the regulatory scheme adequately addresses the harms associated with current GE technology, the new regulations finalized by USDA, paradoxically named the SECURE rule, are anything but secure," said Wu.</p><p>"Instead of fixing long-standing deficiencies and strengthening the regulatory system to guarantee proper oversight of new GE technologies and their associated risks, the revised regulations dramatically scale back USDA's regulatory authority, leaving most GMOs unregulated," Wu added.</p><p>Bottom line, said Consumer Federation of America director of food policy Thomas Gremillion, "consumers have a right to know how gene editing is being used to produce the foods they buy in the market."</p><p>"This rule will undermine public confidence in the food supply," Germillion said, "and ultimately set back beneficial uses of this technology."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/15/anything-secure-advocates-decry-usda-rule-allowing-big-ag-set-its-own-regulations" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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A shopper wearing a surgical mask and latex gloves inspects a dozen eggs at a Trader Joe's on April 3, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images
Not since 1974 have grocery store prices surged 2.6 percent in just one month. That just happened in April, according to new data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, as CNBC reported.
<p>Prices Americans paid for eggs, meat, cereal and milk all went higher in April as people flocked to grocery stores to stock up on food amid government lockdowns designed to slow the spread of Covid-19, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/12/us-grocery-costs-jump-the-most-in-46-years-led-by-rising-prices-for-meat-and-eggs.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>.</p><p>The largest increases were for meat and eggs. Consumers paid 4.3 percent more in April for meats, poultry, fish and eggs, 1.5 percent more for fruits and vegetables, and 2.9 percent more for cereals and bakery products, as well as nonalcoholic beverages, the Labor Department said, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/12/april-saw-sharpest-increase-grocery-store-prices-nearly-50-years/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>The rise in food prices adds to worrying news as more than 20 million people joined the ranks of the unemployed and one in five American households experienced food insecurity, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/12/april-saw-sharpest-increase-grocery-store-prices-nearly-50-years/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>"It's a tipping point for people who are already really struggling with resources," said Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy for the Food Research & Action Center, to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/12/april-saw-sharpest-increase-grocery-store-prices-nearly-50-years/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. "Their budgets are taxed and now add increases in the price of food. There's been a big increase in food insecurity, which is twice as bad for people of color and families with young children. People can't go on with those lowered resources forever."</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grocery-prices-record-breaking-april-spike-labor-department-2020-5" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> noted, the surge in prices did not come as a shock. Over the past year, the food at home index went up 4.1 percent. In April, the United States Department of Agriculture <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings.aspx" target="_blank">posted an outlook</a> on food prices that noted that "grocery stores are experiencing increased demand," due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since people are stocking up on food at grocery stores, the "food at home" category grew quickly.</p><p>Henchy noted that the jump in cereal and bakery products was the steepest single-month increase on record, which goes back to 1919. She attributes the increase in prices to where people are buying their food and disruptions in supply chains due to outbreaks in meat processing plants and social distancing guidelines, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/12/april-saw-sharpest-increase-grocery-store-prices-nearly-50-years/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
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The prices farmers receive for crops do not cover all the costs of keeping farms viable, not to mention the extra costs of ecological or regenerative farming systems. The farm crisis is not over. Pixabay / Pexels
By Elizabeth Henderson
For almost five decades, organic farming associations like the Northeast Organic Farming Association, the Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association and others across the country have been dedicated to supporting and expanding the community of farmers, homesteaders and conscious eaters who build their lives and livelihoods through agroecology — growing and consuming food, forage and other crops in as much harmony with natural processes and rhythms as we can muster.
<p>To enable shoppers to identify organically grown food, these organizations put a lot of time and energy into developing local markets for direct sales, and creating and maintaining organic certification and the integrity of the organic label. But direct sales and that label are not enough to keep family-scale farms viable.</p><p>Under relentless and steadily increasing financial pressures, talented young farmers are <a href="https://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/what_nobody_told_me_about_small_farming_i_cant_make_a_living/" target="_blank">giving farming their all for five to 10 years</a>, then quitting. Experienced farmers, including organic farmers, are admitting defeat, <a href="https://civileats.com/2016/02/12/quitting-season-why-farmers-walk-away-from-their-farms/" target="_blank">selling what they can and finding "real" jobs</a>. The prices farmers receive for crops do not cover all the costs of keeping farms viable, not to mention the extra costs of ecological or regenerative farming systems. The farm crisis is not over.</p>
Can we find solutions?
<p>"The problem that has impoverished and destroyed farmers nearly always is that of low prices resulting from surplus production," poet and environmentalist Wendell Berry <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/opinion/wendell-berry-agriculture-farm-bill.html" target="_blank">told</a> the New York Times in a 2018 interview. "That is also, obviously, a land-destroying problem. The only solution to that problem that can sustain the small farmers is the combination of production control and price supports as exemplified by the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association as it was reorganized in my region under the New Deal in 1941."</p>What does production control plus price supports mean and how did it work under the New Deal?
<p><br>In 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, so many family farms were going bankrupt that the federal government stepped in to help them avoid eviction and to increase prices for their crops. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) <a href="https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/archival/1341/item/457089" target="_blank">declared an economic emergency</a>, justifying action as being in "the national public interest." The AAA set out to re-establish farmers' purchasing power, taking the years just before WWI as the base period when the proper balance existed.</p><p>To raise prices for farm products, the AAA reduced the oversupply by setting limits in the form of marketing quotas on the acreage farmers could use for basic commodities, and that first year, some crops were even plowed under. There were also marketing agreements that controlled the quantity, quality, and rate of shipment to market to limit some fruit and vegetable crops. Although agribusiness successfully brought suit against the first version of this parity system, the revised approach set up by the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of February 29, 1936, proved more durable and lasted through the 1960s.</p><p>Farm income in 1935 was more than <a href="https://archive.org/stream/CAT31056120/CAT31056120_djvu.txt" target="_blank">50 percent higher</a> than farm income during 1932, due in part to the farm programs. From 1935 through 1974, legislation each year set the level of the price supports from 50 to 90 percent of parity, depending on the supply of each commodity and the changing economic conditions through the years of WWII.</p><p>In "<a href="https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/258_2_97261.pdf" target="_blank">Crisis by Design: A Brief Review of U.S, Farm Policy</a>," a paper written by Mark Ritchie and Kevin Ristau and published by the League of Rural Voters Education Project in the midst of the 1980s farm crisis, the three central features of the parity system are summarized:</p><ol><li>It established the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which made loans to farmers whenever prices offered by the food processors or grain corporations fell below the cost of production. This allowed farmers to hold their crops off the market, eventually forcing prices back up. Once prices returned to fair levels, farmers sold their crops and repaid the CCC with interest. By allowing farmers to control their marketing, the CCC loan program made it possible for them to receive a fair price from the marketplace without relying on subsidies.</li><li>It regulated farm production in order to balance supply with demand, thereby preventing surpluses. Since government storage of surpluses was expensive, this feature was crucial to reducing government costs.</li><li>It created a national grain reserve to prevent consumer prices from skyrocketing in times of drought or other natural disasters. When prices rose above a predetermined level, grain was released from government reserves onto the market, driving prices back down to normal levels. From 1933 to 1953 this parity legislation remained in effect and was extremely successful. Farmers received fair prices for their crops, production was controlled to prevent costly surpluses, and consumer prices remained low and stable. At the same time, the number of new farmers increased, soil and water conservation practices expanded dramatically, and overall farm debt declined. What is even more important is that this parity program was not a burden to the taxpayers."</li></ol>
<p>In the 1960s however, according to Mark Ritchie in <em><a href="https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/The%20Loss%20of%20Our%20Family%20Farms.%20By%20Mark%20Ritchie.%20League%20of%20Rural%20Voters.%201979.pdf" target="_blank">The Loss of Our Family Farms: Inevitable Results or Conscious Policies?</a> </em>a consortium of agribusiness, banking and university leaders deliberately set in place policies that cut farm prices to drive excess "resources" (that is, farmers and their families) out of the countryside.By the mid-'70s, farm prices were dropping below parity. Instead of a system that had provided stability for family-scale farms, farm numbers were decreasing rapidly and the cheap food policies that we have today were set in place.</p><p>The combination of subsidy and emergency payments to farmers along with the program of crop insurance in the 2018 Farm Bill actually <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/bradwilson581525/the-hidden-farm-bill-37959389" target="_blank">guarantees low prices that mainly benefit the biggest ag corporations.</a> With production control and price supports, those corporations had to pay farmers decent prices in the marketplace. Just to take a couple of commodities for illustration purposes, according to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, the parity price for <a href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/c821gj76b/r494vw17c/sq87c499d/agpr0619.pdf" target="_blank">100 pounds of milk in May 2019 would be $52.80</a>, a bushel of corn would be $13.20. Instead, conventional farmers were getting $18 for a hundredweight of milk and $3.63 for a bushel of corn. Since the 1970s, it is the taxpayer who covers the costs of cheap food. This adds up to a major transfer of wealth from the farmers and the public to the likes of Walmart, Amazon and Archer Daniels Midland, a global food processing and commodities trading corporation.</p><p>Although a few farming organizations — in particular, the National Family Farm Coalition — have continued to demand a <a href="https://nffc.net/index.php/fffa/" target="_blank">return to parity and supply management</a>, for 20 years or more it has been deemed too unlikely to gain any traction in Washington, D.C. Then in a flash of light, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text" target="_blank">Green New Deal resolution</a> by Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a crash program to mobilize all possible forces to prevent climate disaster, has made it "realistic" once again to <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2019/04/green-new-deal-agriculture-farm-workers" target="_blank">consider this set of root solutions to the food and farm crisis</a>.</p><p>While we can learn a lot from the old New Deal — both from its strengths and also its failures, especially in regard to farmers of color — we will have to design a new version for the 21st century that includes racial justice and equity in the safety net it provides for farms. I can imagine an exciting public process where groups of stakeholders all over the country hammer out the details.</p><p>The challenge we face now is to pull together a big enough movement of farmers, farmworkers, labor unions, environmentalists, faith communities, youth and rural and urban activists of all kinds to transform this climate emergency into an all-out campaign to save human life on this planet.</p>
<p><em>Elizabeth Henderson farmed at Peacework Farm in Wayne County, New York, for more than 30 years. Peacework CSA was one of the <a href="https://www.oeffa.org/news/" target="_blank">first community-supported agriculture farms</a> in New York State. She is a member of the Board the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) of New York, and represents the NOFA Interstate Council on the Board of the Agricultural Justice Project. Elizabeth is the lead author of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Sharing-Harvest-Community-Supported-Agriculture/dp/193339210X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Sharing+the+Harvest%3A+A+Citizen%E2%80%99s+Guide+to+Community+Supported+Agriculture&qid=1561933054&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture</a> (Chelsea Green, 2007), with a Spanish language e-book edition in 2017. She maintains the blog <a href="https://thepryingmantis.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Prying Mantis</a>.</em><br/></p><p><em>This article was produced by <a href="https://www.independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Emails Reveal: U.S. Officials Sided With Agrochemical Giant Bayer to Overturn Mexico's Glyphosate Ban
17 February
Politics
Protesters in Mexico City on May 19, 2018 call for Monsanto to get out of Mexican agriculture. Jesus Alvarado / dpa via Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
While Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given farmers in the country a 2024 deadline to stop using glyphosate, The Guardian reported Tuesday that agrochemical company Bayer, industry lobbyist CropLife America, and U.S. officials have been pressuring Mexico's government to drop its proposed ban on the carcinogenic pesticide.
<p>The corporate and U.S.-backed attempt to coerce Mexico into maintaining its glyphosate imports past 2024 has unfolded, as journalist Carey Gillam detailed in the newspaper, "over the last 18 months, a period in which Bayer was negotiating an $11 billion settlement of legal claims brought by people in the U.S. who say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma due to exposure" to glyphosate-based products, such as Roundup.</p><p>Roundup, one of the world's mostly widely-used herbicides, was created by Monsanto which was acquired by Bayer in 2018.</p>
<p>According to The Guardian, which obtained internal documents via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), "The pressure on Mexico is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-usa-trade-exclusive/exclusive-in-the-weeds-how-bayer-u-s-government-teamed-up-against-thailands-glyphosate-ban-idUSKBN268076" target="_blank">similar to actions</a> Bayer and chemical industry lobbyists took to kill a glyphosate ban planned by Thailand in 2019. Thailand officials had also cited concerns for public health in seeking to ban the weed killer, but reversed course after U.S. threats about trade disruption."</p><p>In addition to instructing Mexico's farmers to stop using glyphosate by 2024, the López Obrador administration on Dec. 31, 2020 issued a "<a href="https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5609365&fecha=31/12/2020" target="_blank">final decree</a>" calling for "a <a href="https://www.producer.com/markets/mexicos-gm-corn-ban-would-hit-u-s-hard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">phase-out </a>of the planting and consumption of genetically engineered corn, which farmers often spray with glyphosate, a practice that often leaves residues of the pesticide in finished food products," the news outlet noted.</p><p>The Mexican government has <a href="https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5609365&fecha=31/12/2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">characterized </a>the restrictions as an effort to improve the nation's "food security and sovereignty" and to protect its wealth of biological as well as cultural diversity and farming communities.</p><p>Mexico's promotion of human and environmental health, however, "has triggered fear in the United States for the health of agricultural exports, especially Bayer's glyphosate products," Gillam wrote.</p>
<div id="342bb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e823fdf14f21c21a65641857c253e891"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1361671434934837257" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">But Mexico’s concern for the health of its citizens has triggered fear in the United States for the health of agric… https://t.co/d81tuhqYcl</div> — carey gillam (@carey gillam)<a href="https://twitter.com/careygillam/statuses/1361671434934837257">1613482743.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Based on its analysis of government emails from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and other U.S. agencies from 2019 and 2020, The Guardian explained how the U.S., frustrated by the positions that Mexico has taken, is trying to use the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — the Trump-led free trade deal that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/29/condemning-nafta-20-giveaway-fossil-fuel-industry-sanders-vows-immediately" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dubbed </a>NAFTA 2.0 — to force Mexico to abandon its plans to ban glyphosate and phase out <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/gmo-genetically-modified-organism/">GMO</a> corn.</p><p>According to The Guardian, Mexico each year imports roughly $3 billion in corn from the U.S., where 90% of corn production relies on GMO seeds.</p><p>As the newspaper reported:</p><blockquote>One email makes a reference to staff within López Obrador's administration as "<a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/January-2020-USTR-email-regarding-glyphosate-and-meeting-with-Mexicos-de-la-Mora.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vocal anti-biotechnology activists,</a>" and another email states that Mexico's health agency (COFEPRIS) is "<a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/January-2020-USTR-email-saying-Mexico-health-agency-is-big-time-problem.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">becoming a big time problem</a>."<br>Internal USTR communications lay out how the agrochemical industry is "pushing" for the US to "<a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/February-2020-USTR-email-about-meeting-with-industry-and-push-to-fold-issue-into-USMCA-certification.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fold this issue</a>" into the<a href="https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)</a> trade deal that went into effect 1 July. The records then show the USTR does exactly that, telling Mexico its actions on glyphosate and genetically engineered crops raise concerns "regarding compliance" with USMCA.<br>Citing discussions with CropLife, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined in the effort, discussing in <a href="https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/August-2020-EPA-email-with-USTR-re-using-USMCA.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an inter-agency email</a> "how we could use USMCA to work through these issues."</blockquote>
<p>Nathan Donley, a biologist at CBD, told The Guardian that "we're seeing more and more how the pesticide industry uses the U.S. government to aggressively push its agenda on the international stage and quash any attempt by people in other countries to take control of their food supply."</p><p>Corporate executives in the agrochemical industry reportedly became alarmed about the López Obrador administration's position on pesticides in late 2019 when Mexican officials explained their decision to refuse imports of glyphosate from China by referring to the "precautionary principle."</p><p>Detailing a series of emails between U.S. government officials and industry executives, Gillam described how the latter told the former "that they feared restricting glyphosate would lead to limits on other pesticides and could set a precedent for other countries to do the same."</p>
<p>The emails also indicated worries that "Mexico may also reduce the levels of pesticide residues allowed in food," a development that industry executives warned would undermine U.S. exports of corn and soybeans to Mexico.</p><p>As Gillam wrote, CropLife president Chris Novak told U.S. officials that "'if Mexico extends the precautionary principle' to pesticide residue levels in food, '$20 billion in U.S. annual agricultural exports to Mexico will be jeopardized.'"</p><p>According to The Guardian, "It is unclear if the efforts to push Mexico to change its policy position are still underway within the new Biden administration."</p><p>The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a progressive think tank working to build fair and sustainable food, farm, and trade systems,<a href="https://twitter.com/IATP/status/1361715440301584385" target="_blank"> tweeted</a> Tuesday that the USTR has a choice.</p><p>"Will they continue the pattern of doing the bidding of global biotech/seed firms like Monsanto?" asked IATP. "Or, will the USTR respect other countries' rights to protect the environment and indigenous crops? Will they recalibrate U.S. trade policy to be more transparent?"</p><p>IATP, for its part, has <a href="https://www.iatp.org/documents/ustr-nominee-katherine-tai-must-recalibrate-us-trade-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recommended</a> that Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden's pick to lead the USTR office, "break with the corporate free trade model" supported by previous administrations from both major parties.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/16/emails-reveal-us-officials-joined-agrochemical-giant-bayer-stop-mexicos-glyphosate" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Infants and young children may experience high phthalate levels because they often put plastic products in their mouths. Image Source / Getty Images
By Stephanie Eick
You may not realize it, but you likely encounter phthalates every day. These chemicals are found in many plastics, including food packaging, and they can migrate into food products during processing. They're in personal care products like shampoos, soaps and laundry detergents, and in the vinyl flooring in many homes.
<p>They're also in the news again after an editorial by scientists in the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306014" target="_blank">American Journal of Public Health</a> included an urgent call for better federal regulation of the chemicals.</p><p>In particular, scientists are urging state and federal agencies to eliminate phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) from products used by pregnant women and children. Despite evidence of the harm these chemicals can cause, federal regulation in the United States has been minimal beyond <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/26/2018-01451/prohibition-of-childrens-toys-and-child-care-articles-containing-specified-phthalates-revision-of" target="_blank">children's toys</a>. A recent move by the General Mills-owned food brand Annie's to <a href="https://www.annies.com/faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eliminate phthalates from its macaroni and cheese</a> suggests stricter rules are feasible.</p><p>So, what's the risk, and what can you do about it?</p><p>I'm an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wKXbh1UAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental epidemiologist</a> who studies the impact of pregnant women's exposure to environmental chemicals. Here are answers to three important questions about phthalates.</p>
<h2>Who's at Risk?</h2><p>Ortho-phthalates, commonly referred to as phthalates, are synthetic chemicals that are used to manufacture plastic. They help make plastic more flexible and harder to break.</p><p>Despite their abundance in many products, phthalates can be harmful to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pregnant women</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their children</a>. These chemicals can disrupt the endocrine system, the glands that release hormones as the body's chemical messengers. Studies suggest that can lead to pregnant women <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021000684" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delivering their babies early</a>. Other studies have found that children born to mothers exposed to high levels of phthalates can have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lower IQ</a> and poorer social communication development, and that these children are also more likely to develop <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP2358" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ADHD</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161813X18303255?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">behavior problems</a>. Researchers have also found effects on the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280349/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">genital development of male infants</a> born to mothers exposed to phthalates during pregnancy.</p><p>While phthalates can be found in nearly everyone, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">minority women have been found to be especially burdened</a>. Studies show that many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">beauty products</a> targeted at these communities contain high levels of chemicals.</p><p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0b013e32835e1eb6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Infants and young children</a> may experience high phthalate levels because they often put plastic products in their mouths as they explore the world.</p><p>Phthalates can enter food at <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">many places</a> in the supply chain, including through plastic tubing for liquids during production, plastic storage containers and even food preparation gloves. Foods that are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4050989/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high in fat</a> in particular can absorb phthalates through exposure during processing. Eating out doesn't avoid the risk. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.029" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study of U.S. children and adults</a> showed that those who ate food outside of their homes had higher phthalate levels.</p>
<h2>How Do I Know if a Product Has Phthalates?</h2><p>Figuring out which products have high levels of phthalates isn't always easy. While <a href="https://phthalates.americanchemistry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">phthalates</a> are required to be listed on ingredients labels, they are sometimes included instead as part of the fragrance, which <a href="https://www.safecosmetics.org/fragrance-disclosure/learn-more/trade-secrets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allows them to be excluded</a> from the ingredients list.</p><p>Many companies have voluntarily removed phthalates, and many consumer products are now labeled "phthalate free." The <a href="https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Working Group</a>'s Skin Deep website also offers a way to search for details about chemicals in cleaning and personal care products.</p>
<h2>How Do I Keep My Family Safe?</h2><p>Phthalates are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rapidly metabolized</a> and generally removed from the body once exposure stops. Until there is better regulation, a few simple changes can make a big difference in promoting health and reducing phthalate levels in the home.</p><p>One <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">easy change</a> is to swap out all plastic food packaging containers with glass containers. If that's not possible, it's best to let food cool to room temperature before placing it in plastic food storage containers.</p><p>Don't microwave anything in plastic, because phthalates can <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110100507" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrate from food storage containers</a> into food.</p><p>You can also reduce phthalate exposure by checking labels to avoid using products that include phthalates, by <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eating less processed food</a> that might have absorbed phthalates during production, and by cooking more meals at home.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephanie-eick-1212588" target="_blank">Stephanie Eick</a> is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Stephanie Eick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-phthalates-and-how-do-they-put-childrens-health-at-risk-155841" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Sometimes gratitude feels like a stretch. Foxys_forest_manufacture / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Karen Perry Stillerman
Sometimes gratitude feels like a stretch, and this fall has been one of those times. We're in the home stretch of a difficult year. Bad news abounds, and even the holiday that many of us will celebrate this week is complicated — a day of thanks that also evokes loss and grief for many Native people, along with expressions of resilience. With Thanksgiving approaching, I went looking for hopeful stories, scanning the news of food and agriculture for signs of progress and promise.
<p>And though I'm sure I've only scratched the surface, I actually found quite a lot. Here's a roundup of good news food and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/farming">farming</a> stories.</p><p>And happy Thanksgiving.</p>
<h2>1. The story of the first Thanksgiving feast is being retold — more truthfully. </h2><p>The Thanksgiving story most of us were taught as children was … well, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/the-invention-of-thanksgiving" target="_blank">it was a lie</a>. It papered over a genocide that included the systematic <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/ricardo-salvador/on-indigenous-peoples-day-a-look-at-the-movement-to-revive-native-foodways-and-how-western-science-might-support-for-a-change" target="_blank">destruction of indigenous food systems</a> that had kept Native American peoples nourished for centuries (and which are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/03/indigenous-diets-fight-modern-illnesses" target="_blank">healthier and more sustainable</a> than modern diets). But <a href="https://time.com/5725168/thanksgiving-history-lesson/" target="_blank">a story in Time this week</a> explores how and why teachers across the country are (at last) updating the Thanksgiving curriculum from false feel-good stories and cultural appropriation to helping students grapple with a difficult history. In an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/24/782403538/teaching-thanksgiving" target="_blank">NPR feature</a> this past weekend, teachers shared their stories, including this one from a kindergarten teacher in Colorado: "I spend the whole month of November talking about the different Native American groups. I make it a point to tell them and show them books and videos that are current and have Native American representation so they don't think they were just in history. And then the week before Thanksgiving, we talk about how the colonists came over. And I call them colonists instead of pilgrims." We have a lot more work to do, but that's a start.</p>
<h2>2. Farmers are agitating — and organizing — for the climate. </h2><p>As 2019's <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/marcia-delonge/facing-climate-change-on-us-farms-an-urgent-need-for-science-based-policy" target="_blank">crazy Midwest weather</a> made clear, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> is here and it's <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-and-agriculture" target="_blank">bad news for farmers and our food system</a>. A spate of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate/permalink/2539253286346410/" target="_blank">recent news articles</a> has focused on ways farmers can <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/08/23/soil-health-can-combat-climate-change-from-the-ground-up" target="_blank">build resilience</a> and become <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-farmers-sow-their-way-out-of-climate-change/" target="_blank">part of the climate solution</a>. Now, as more and more farmers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/04/impeachment-is-not-the-issue-voters-in-iowa-care-about" target="_blank">recognize the dangers</a> of more frequent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">floods</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a>, they're speaking up, with thousands <a href="https://grist.org/article/why-10000-farmers-have-gotten-behind-the-green-new-deal/" target="_blank">organizing behind the Green New Deal</a> and one fifth-generation Iowa farmer <a href="https://www.today.com/video/inside-the-growing-shift-toward-eco-friendly-and-sustainable-farming-73992773539" target="_blank">educating presidential candidates</a> on the issue as they traipse through the state on the campaign trail.</p>
<h2>3. Some big food companies are also calling for climate action. </h2><p>If you heard that a coalition of huge multinational companies was weighing in on President Trump's decision to initiate the process of pulling the U.S. out of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> on climate change, you might not expect them to be taking him to task for it. But that's what Unilever, Mars, Danone and Nestle — major players in the food industry that came together in 2018 as the <a href="https://foodpolicyalliance.org/" target="_blank">Sustainable Food Policy Alliance</a> — did last month. See their <a href="https://foodpolicyalliance.org/news/response-paris-climate-agreement/" target="_blank">press release</a> on the need to stay in the Paris agreement, and also their <a href="https://foodpolicyalliance.org/news/sfpa-climate-policy-principles/" target="_blank">climate policy principles</a>, which include "partnering with farms to reduce emissions and promote regenerative soil health management."</p>
<h2><br>4. States are banning a dangerous pesticide in the face of EPA inaction … and it's about time. </h2><p>I've followed the saga of the brain-damaging insecticide <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chlorpyrifos">chlorpyrifos</a> since the Trump <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">EPA</a>'s disturbing <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/karen-perry-stillerman/disregarding-science-trump-administration-trades-kids-brains-for-dow-profit" target="_blank">about-face on a national ban in 2017</a>. This year, states started taking matters into their own hands to protect children from <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51464370_Chlorpyrifos_residues_levels_in_fruits_and_vegetables_after_field_treatment" target="_blank">chlorpyrifos residues on fruits</a> and other common foods and <a href="http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/widely-used-pesticide-one-year-later/" target="_blank">farmworkers from exposure in the field</a>. Following a <a href="https://apnews.com/4af87a8210474f1a97d2dc6e73ba9344/New-Hawaii-law-bans-use-of-widely-used-pesticide" target="_blank">2018 ban in Hawaii</a> and <a href="https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/new-york-approves-ban-on-chlorpyrifos-pesticide" target="_blank">another in New York</a> in early 2019, this fall <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/09/768795666/california-bans-popular-pesticide-linked-to-brain-damage-in-children" target="_blank">California became the third state</a> to act to protect public health.</p>
<h2>5. Soil-protecting, pollution-preventing solutions are gaining ground. </h2><p>Cover crops are a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-15/u-s-farmers-plant-crops-you-won-t-eat-in-climate-change-fight" target="_blank">powerful tool</a> for building healthy, living <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil">soil</a> that is resilient to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a>, thwarts pests and weeds with fewer chemicals, prevents fertilizer runoff into water and stores carbon. As we reported on this blog earlier this year, adoption of cover crops on U.S. farms <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/marcia-delonge/key-questions-answered-in-the-usdas-new-census-of-agriculture" target="_blank">grew by 50 percent</a> over five years, from 10 million acres in 2012 to 15 million acres in 2017. Led by Iowa <a href="https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/ag-census-cover-crop-acres-surge-from-2012-to-2017" target="_blank">(which saw a whopping 156% jump)</a>, every state in the Midwest increased its cover crop plantings, and <a href="https://www.agdaily.com/crops/census-cover-crops-acreage-surged/" target="_blank">seven states saw at least a doubling</a> of acreage in cover crops. Moreover, more farmers may soon get insurance discounts for planting them, if a three-year, $3 million <a href="https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/should-there-be-a-good-farmer-discount-for-cover-crops-iowa-demo-program-could-gather-data-20191121" target="_blank">Iowa demonstration project</a> shows they reduce farmers' risk.</p>
<h2>6. New research shows how farmers can grow crops under solar panels for a win-win. </h2><p>The emerging field of "agrivoltaics" can help farmers boost revenue, generate clean energy and use less water. In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0364-5" target="_blank">study published in September</a>, researchers in Arizona showed all those benefits for cherry tomatoes grown in agrivoltaic systems in that hot, dry and sunny state. Dual-use <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> systems also seem to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190729123751.htm" target="_blank">work with leafy greens</a>, which benefit from the cooling shade of the panels. Now, cranberry growers in Massachusetts are now <a href="https://www.kenoshanews.com/agriculture/consider-solar-cranberry-partnership/article_88b61f3d-c8a7-53f7-bd17-5827c57c9ff9.html" target="_blank">experimenting with the system</a>, which — if it's successful — could make everyone's "<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sns-tns-bc-hdy-canned-cranberry-sauce-20191125-story.html" target="_blank">favorite</a>" holiday condiment more sustainable (no matter <a href="https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/cranberry-sauce-debate-canned-homemade" target="_blank">how you like it prepared</a>).</p>
<h2>7. Obesity rates are falling for young children enrolled in a federal nutrition program. </h2><p>In recent years, public health practitioners have fought an uphill battle to counter <a href="https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/" target="_blank">rising childhood obesity</a>, which impacts nearly 1 in 5 children and costs an estimated $14 billion in direct medical expenses each year. A <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p1121-decline-childhood-obesity-wic-families.html" target="_blank">new report</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows promising declines in obesity among young children ages two to four whose families are enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (commonly known as WIC). These declines, which occurred across 41 states and territories, may be a reflection of program changes back in 2009 that brought WIC food packages into closer alignment with the <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/2020-dietary-guidelines-americans" target="_blank">Dietary Guidelines for Americans</a>, but it's likely that other concurrent efforts happening at federal, state and local levels helped.</p>
<h2>8. Food can help revitalize communities — both in cities and in rural areas. </h2><p>With a new book, author Mark Winne argues for the power of "good food" to spark community development. In <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/food-town-usa" target="_blank">Food Town USA</a> (see also a <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/slideshows/author-of-food-town-usa-says-food-may-bring-back-struggling-us-cities?slide=7" target="_blank">book review</a> in slideshow form), Winne points to seven cities and towns across the country — from Sitka, Alaska to Jacksonville, Florida — where local entrepreneurs and activists are reshaping food landscapes for the better, addressing racial inequities, climate challenges and urban decay. And it's not just cities that can benefit from local food system development. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/us/rural-farm-market.html" target="_blank">recent New York Times story</a> puts a spotlight on rural areas that have lost grocery stores, documenting how residents have launched cooperative markets and other creative solutions to bring back fresh food and a sense of community for their neighbors.</p><p>Now, pass the cranberry sauce …</p>
<p><em>Karen Perry Stillerman is a senior communication strategist and senior analyst in the Food & Environment Program at <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org" target="_blank">UCS</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Jaffa Port in Israel. theDOCK innovated the Israeli maritime space and kickstarted a boom in new technologies. Pixabay
While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
<p>As the planet's largest ecosystem, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/stable-oceans-climate-crisis-2647855196.html" target="_self">ocean stabilizes climate</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oceans-absorb-co2-2631712140.html" target="_self">stores carbon</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-biodiversity-2646073009.html" target="_self">nurtures biodiversity</a> and directly supports human well-being through food, energy, medicinal, cultural and recreational services, the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/assets/The_Science_We_Need_For_The_Ocean_We_Want.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United Nations</a> recently reported. However, poor management and conservation have led to serious degradation of ocean resources, which is only set to increase as the world's population does, the report noted.</p>
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theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p><img
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theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Protesters are seen during a demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, DC on June 1, 2017. Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
While some mainstream environmental organizations welcomed Tuesday's introduction of the CLEAN Future Act in the House of Representatives, progressive green groups warned that the bill falls far short of what's needed to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis—an existential threat they say calls for bolder action like the Green New Deal.
<p>The latest version of the CLEAN Future Act—which aims to achieve U.S. carbon neutrality by the year 2050 —was introduced by Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), and Paul Tonko (N.Y.). The bill sets an interim target of reducing pollution by 50% from 2005 levels no later than 2030.</p><p>In a <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ec-leaders-introduce-the-clean-future-act-comprehensive-legislation-to" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a>, Pallone, who is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that "the climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime, but it also presents one of the greatest opportunities to empower American workers with new, good paying jobs and return our economy to a position of strength after a long, dark year of historic job losses and pain." </p><p>"Today's introduction of the CLEAN Future Act promises that we will not stand idly by as the rest of the world transitions to clean economies and our workers get left behind," added Pallone, "and that we will not watch from the sidelines as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on Americans' health and homes." </p><p>But while numerous people hailed the bill—with Earthjustice offering "applause" and NRDC calling it "urgently needed"—more critical voices from groups like Friends of the Earth and Food & Water Watch said the legislation is fundamentally and dangerously lacking.</p>
<div id="25965" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6116a1c2b1b913ad51c3ea576f2e196c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366827205427425289" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Rep @FrankPallone just released his CLEAN Future Act — which he claims to be an ambitious bill to combat… https://t.co/M7nR0es196</div> — Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action))<a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/statuses/1366827205427425289">1614711974.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth, called the bill's introduction "a monumental failure of climate leadership."</p><p>"Chairman Pallone had over a year to remove fossil fuels from the CLEAN Future Act and didn't bother to reconsider," Ross said in a <a href="https://foe.org/news/pallones-clean-future-still-a-fracking-mess/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a>, referring to the bill's <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ec-leaders-release-draft-clean-future-act-legislative-text-to-achieve-a-100" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previous iteration</a>. "A clean energy standard that qualifies fracked gas is a joke. We need real solutions like solar and storage, not a dirty lifeline for gas, nukes, and biomass."</p><p>Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/541228-house-democrats-reintroduce-roadmap-to-carbon-neutrality-by-2050" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The Hill</em> that while the new bill "improves on last year's abysmal proposal," the nation must "slash emissions 70% in 10 years, and we need firm cuts in greenhouse gases right now, not just gimmicky incentives, or future generations will suffer from our inaction today."</p>
<div id="189f0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa31bacec80d88b49730e8591de5d26d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366863402912657416" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The CLEAN Future Act "fails to grasp the fundamental truth of fighting climate change: We must stop extracting and… https://t.co/yREn6Qx9tn</div> — Food & Water Watch (@Food & Water Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/foodandwater/statuses/1366863402912657416">1614720605.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Mitch Jones, policy director at Food & Water Watch, said in a <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/news/dems-climate-bill-falls-short" target="_blank">statement</a> that "Democrats should be making a big, bold push on climate—and the CLEAN Future Act is simply not strong enough." Jones continued:</p><blockquote>The bill's clean energy standard includes provisions that essentially greenwash dirty energy sources—including rebranding fracked gas as 'clean' by pairing it with unproven, non-existent carbon capture methods. It also relies on a dubious emissions trading scheme to achieve its goals, which serves fossil fuel industry interests while pretending to curb climate pollution. The bill also promotes factory farm biogas as a clean energy source.<br></blockquote><p>"While this bill has been marginally improved, it fails to grasp the fundamental truth of fighting climate change: We must stop extracting and burning fossil fuels as soon as possible," stressed Jones. "We should not waste time creating credit schemes and offsets markets, or prop up fossil fuels with carbon capture fantasies."</p><p>"A bold climate plan must call for a ban on fracking and all new fossil fuel infrastructure," he added, "and a swift and just transition to 100% clean, renewable energy across all sectors of the economy. The CLEAN Future Act may have been revised since last year, but it's still a Green New Dud."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/02/green-new-dud-progressives-warn-house-climate-bill-fails-grasp-fundamental-truth" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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In the outskirts of Newark, New Jersey, tucked between a packaging manufacturer and an aquatics center lies a farm. Except, if you're driving down the nearby highway you probably wouldn't be able to tell that this particular farm is churning out thousands of pounds of greens each year. In fact, all you'll see is a bunch of buildings, because this is a vertical farming operation called AeroFarms, which grows all their food in a warehouse. Like the owners of AeroFarms, tech enthusiasts across the world have embraced the dream of vertical farming, exclaiming that their operations are the answer to feeding a growing global population, combating climate change, and eradicating food deserts.
<p>The many-shelved farming operation that is AeroFarms is just one of many companies that use vertical space to grow vegetables. What sets AeroFarms apart, however, is that it grows in a fine mist filled with nutrients instead of a typical growing environment like Rockwool and nutrient-rich water. But AeroFarms is an outlier in the vertical farming space. The typical vertical farm looks a lot more like that at Bowery, a company that uses a more traditional hydroponics system to grow their produce. Essentially, Bowery grows greens and other veggies in a nutrient-rich tray of water, which is consistently recycled in a closed-loop system. This system is then replicated en masse and expanded not horizontally, but vertically to maximize space. But because all these plants are stacked on top of each other, access to light becomes a big obstacle, which means that each shelf is equipped with LED lights to act as artificial sunlight. Some operations like Plenty go even further by shining only the beneficial colors in the light spectrum for growth. While some of these large-scale vertical farms can quickly become laden with advanced technologies like robotic arms and AI monitoring systems, at their most basic, vertical farms use a combination of artificial sunlight and vertical space to maximize the amount of yield per acre. These food factories seem promising, but they also seem like a lot of work. So why are people so excited about them? For that answer and a deeper behind-the-scenes look at vertical farming, make sure to check out the video above.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Our Changing Climate</a> is an environmental YouTube channel that explores the intersections of social, political, climatic, and food-based issues. The channel dives into topics like zero waste and nuclear energy in order to understand how to effectively tackle climate change and environmental destruction.</em></p><p><em>To receive all the latest videos produced by Charlie subscribe to his YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
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Tearing through the crowded streets of Philadelphia, an electric car and a gas-powered car sought to win a heated race. One that mimicked how cars are actually used. The cars had to stop at stoplights, wait for pedestrians to cross the street, and swerve in and out of the hundreds of horse-drawn buggies. That's right, horse-drawn buggies. Because this race took place in 1908. It wanted to settle once and for all which car was the superior urban vehicle. Although the gas-powered car was more powerful, the electric car was more versatile. As the cars passed over the finish line, the defeat was stunning. The 1908 Studebaker electric car won by 10 minutes. If in 1908, the electric car was clearly the better form of transportation, why don't we drive them now? Today, I'm going to answer that question by diving into the history of electric cars and what I discovered may surprise you.
<p>In 1881, at a blistering pace of 9 mph, inventor Gustave Trouvé introduced the streets of Paris, and ultimately, the world to the quiet hum of the electric carriage. For the wealthy socialites of Paris, and their counterparts in New York, the horseless carriage was a must have, and electric motors were the superior choice. "By 1900, there were 4,192 vehicles on the streets in the U.S. Steam cars accounted for 1,681 of these; 1,575 were electric, and 936 had internal-combustion engines."* If you just wanted to get around town, the electric carriage was a better option — that is, if you were rich enough to afford one. Unlike internal combustion engines, electric vehicles were easy to turn on, accelerate, brake, there was no exhaust, and didn't have something exploding under your seat. Oh, and you also didn't have to crank the engine every time you stopped, which is part of the reason why that electric Studebaker won the Philadelphia race so handily. As a result of this ease of use, electric cars were looking like big business in the early 1900s, especially for the industry giant Electric Vehicle Company. At the time, the Electric Vehicle Company was the biggest car manufacturer in the country, and they used a model that seems revolutionary now, but makes sense back then. Instead of selling their cars, they rented them to people for the day or for multiple days. Each night the renter could return the car to a central garage and the Electric Vehicle Company would charge and service the vehicle, a model very similar to how stables worked at the time. But despite the electric car's success, its golden age was about to end. </p>
<p>To find out what happened, watch the video above!</p><p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Our Changing Climate</a> is an environmental YouTube channel that explores the intersections of social, political, climatic, and food-based issues. The channel dives into topics like zero waste and nuclear energy in order to understand how to effectively tackle climate change and environmental destruction.</em></p><p><em><em>To receive all the latest videos produced by Charlie subscribe to his YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></em></p><p><em><em></em>*</em><em>Rudi Volti Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006</em></p>
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