Tom Vilsack speaks on December 11, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware after being nominated to be Agriculture Secretary by U.S. President Joe Biden. Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday was the lone progressive to vote against Tom Vilsack reprising his role as secretary of agriculture, citing concerns that progressive advocacy groups have been raising since even before President Joe Biden officially nominated the former Obama administration appointee.
<p>The Senate <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=117&session=1&vote=00063" target="_blank">voted</a> 92-7 to confirm Vilsack, with Sanders (I-Vt.) and six Republicans opposing his appointment. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) was the only member who did not vote.</p><p>In a statement on his decision, Sanders first said that "I have known Tom Vilsack for many years and look forward to working with him as our new secretary of agriculture."</p><p>"I opposed his confirmation today because at a time when corporate consolidation of agriculture is rampant and family farms are being decimated, we need a secretary who is prepared to vigorously take on corporate power in the industry," Sanders explained. "I heard from many family farmers in Vermont and around the country who feel that is not what Tom did when he last served in this job."</p><p><em>The Hill</em> <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/540137-sanders-votes-against-biden-usda-nominee-vilsack" target="_blank">reports</a> Sanders made similar remarks about Vilsack to journalists after the vote, saying that "I think he'll be fine, but not as strong as I would like."</p><p>The progressive group RootsAction praised Sanders on Twitter for taking a stand against Biden's pick to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).</p>
<div id="a420d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5369c498a5855fe2143b86fa07e23dff"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364300806988652548" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨🚨🚨 Bernie Sanders voted against Tom Vilsack's nomination. It's great to see the Senator stick to his principles a… https://t.co/u4XNU4viNC</div> — RootsAction (@RootsAction)<a href="https://twitter.com/Roots_Action/statuses/1364300806988652548">1614109634.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout also welcomed Sanders' move.</p><p>"This is the correct vote. Vilsack failed farmers, farmworkers, the land, and the public, and Shirley Sherrod," Teachout <a href="https://twitter.com/ZephyrTeachout/status/1364313747284705284" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, referencing the former Georgia state director of rural development at USDA who was ousted under Vilsack.</p><p>Sherrod, who is Black, recently <a href="https://19thnews.org/2020/12/shirley-sherrod-holds-no-ill-will-against-usda-nominee-who-ousted-her/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>The 19th</em> that "I have no ill will towards him, none at all," but added that if Vilsack returned as USDA chief, "he should be ready to get on the ground to make real change this time around. And we need to hold him to it. Black people need to see some real change."</p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> previously <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, Vilsack has faced criticism for the USDA's treatment of Black farmers when he headed the department during the Obama administration—among other critiques.</p>
<p>Center for Food Safety policy director Jaydee Hanson <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank">said</a> in December that Biden's potential selection of Vilsack was "a huge step backwards in our urgent need to support agricultural systems that protect public health, the environment, and mitigate the ongoing climate crisis."</p><p>Early Tuesday, in anticipation of Vilsack's bipartisan confirmation, Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter—whose group <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank">has been raising alarm</a> about him for months now—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/23/vilsacks-confirmation-usda-warning-sign-family-farmers-and-food-worker-safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued</a> a warning about what to expect going forward.</p><p>"We can confidently predict what Tom Vilsack's leadership of the Agriculture Department will look like, because he's led it before. And the prediction is grim," she said. "In his previous stint at USDA, Vilsack backed mass corporate consolidation of our food system at the expense of struggling family farmers. Similarly, he readily advanced industry-driven initiatives allowing companies to inspect their own poultry processing plants, dismantling federal oversight of food and worker safety."</p><p>"This administration needs to drastically shift course from the Trump era by supporting sustainable, independent farming, halting the toxic expansion of polluting factory farms, and ultimately, prioritizing consumer health and worker safety," Hauter added. "We have little hope that Tom Vilsack cares to undertake this effort, so we will be pressuring him doggedly to see the light."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/23/citing-concerns-about-corporate-power-bernie-sanders-votes-against-bidens-choice" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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Switching en masse to a plant-based diet is essential to protect wildlife habitats and prevent the loss of numerous species, a new report concludes. Milan Krasula / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Johnny Wood
Switching en masse to a plant-based diet is essential to protect wildlife habitats and prevent the loss of numerous species currently facing extinction, according to a new report.
<p>At the root of the problem is cheap food. While cut-priced comestibles may seem like a good thing, especially for low-income households, market pressure to continually reduce food production costs forces many farmers to adopt unsustainable, intensive methods that harm the land and overuse valuable resources like energy, land and water.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/02/food-system-impacts-biodiversity-loss" target="_blank">study by researchers at UK think tank Chatham House</a>, supported by the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme, notes that the race to lower prices increases food waste and degrades soils and ecosystems, making available land less productive.</p>
<p>As more forests and wild lands are cleared to grow crops and raise livestock, the feeding, breeding and living habitats of numerous species also disappear. Unless we change what we eat and how it is produced, the report says, the <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-global-food-system-primary-driver-biodiversity-loss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">planet's ability to support humans</a> could come under threat.</p>
<div id="94e38" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="daa6e9aba5d11504ec23fb70522e6636"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1358824915512692737" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New @UNEP, @ChathamHouse & @ciwf report on #food systems impacts on #biodiversity loss proposes 3 actions… https://t.co/T80QkoPdak</div> — ipbes (@ipbes)<a href="https://twitter.com/IPBES/statuses/1358824915512692737">1612804080.0</a></blockquote></div>
<h3>Gut Instinct</h3><p>During the past half century, conversion of natural wild land for crop production or animal pasture has been the principle cause of habitat and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> loss, the report, called <em>Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss</em>, says. <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/02/food-system-impacts-biodiversity-loss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agriculture poses a threat</a> to 24,000 of the 28,000 species documented as at risk of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).<br><br>But what happens next to the world's endangered <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> populations rests in human hands, and the rise in popularity of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products offers hope for the future.</p>
<p>Rearing crops in place of animals uses land and other scarce resources more efficiently, the report notes. While raising livestock adds to greenhouse gas emissions, switching to plant-based foods would free up grazing land that could be used for other purposes. A global switch to a predominantly plant-based diet would boost dietary health, help reduce food waste and eliminate the need to keep clearing new land for grazing. Switching the global population's diet to plant-based foods, for example, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/videos/scientists-say-plant-based-diets-are-essential-to-save-the-planet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">would free up 75% of the world's cropland for other uses</a>.<br><br>Alongside changing dietary behavior, the report recommends protecting and setting aside more land for nature, avoiding converting it for agriculture. As well as preserving wildlife habitats from being destroyed, forests and wilded land serve as a natural carbon store absorbing pollution from the atmosphere, which helps counter the impact of the climate crisis.<br><br>Today's high-intensity chemical-reliant farming methods must be replaced by nature-friendly practices that support biodiversity and value <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> over ever lower farm door prices.<br><br>It's important to note that the report is advocating a dramatic reduction in meat intake rather than replacing meat with plant-based foods. And, as the World Bank says, livestock <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/moving-towards-sustainability-the-livestock-sector-and-the-world-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">farming supports the livelihoods</a> and food security of almost 1.3 billion people. The Chatham House report says incentivizing more diverse agriculture could lead to more resilient farmer livelihoods.</p>
<h3>Planting the Seeds of Change</h3><p>Despite the compelling arguments for moving to plant-heavy diets, persuading the global population to abandon its love of meat will be no easy task. Around 80 billion animals are killed for their meat each year, UN figures show.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTM3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTY5NzA4OX0.azR9yOzQk_VvXHzZmEGfK7z3qHeuCDbMIuvMTWah-vM/img.png?width=980" id="32e03" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="15e045131acf20171ea0de81246fd47c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1600" data-height="1044" />
<p>In 2018, almost 70 billion chickens, 1.5 billion pigs and more than 300 million cattle were slaughtered to serve our love of meat.<br><br>In general, meat consumption increases as incomes rise – so the richer the country, the more meat is consumed, according to figures from the UN and the World Bank.<br><br>But for some the role of meat is beginning to change as awareness grows of the health benefits of plant-based foods and the impact of business-as-usual farming on the environment.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTM3NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzUxNDc5OH0.fVJF6CYGqF7hLyyRowomgANGW4FSEAANmaba9LWRk9w/img.png?width=980" id="4e108" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5eb010d744c747b959c9f69e1ce60d6b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1538" data-height="710" />
<p>The U.S. plant-based food market was worth more than $5 billion in 2019, up 11% on the previous year and 29% over two years. Sales of plant-based meat substitutes increased by 18% year-on-year.</p><p><a href="https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/plant-based-food-products-market-5108" target="_blank">Demand for plant-based foods</a> could see annual growth of almost 12%, reaching a market value of more than $74 billion by 2027, according to a Meticulous Research forecast. While plant-based demand is increasing in most global markets, takeup in Asia-Pacific is expected to outstrip other regional markets.</p><p>Changing consumer aspirations and a growing appetite among investors to back plant-based ventures are among the drivers of global plant-based market growth, the research showed. How far, how fast and how much demand for plant-based foods increases in the coming years remains to be seen, but the future of myriad species depends on it happening quick enough.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/plant-based-diet-biodiversity-report/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Is the U.S. Ready for Sustainable Dietary Guidelines? New ... ›
- A New Diet for the Planet - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Surprising Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet - EcoWatch ›
- 'Blended Burger' Allows a Simple Shift to More Sustainable Eating ... ›
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person holding green leaf vegetable
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Bringing your own reusable grocery bags when you go shopping is one of the easiest ways to cut down on your plastic consumption — according to the UN Environment Program, up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used globally each year.
The most sustainable option is to use a bag you already have, whether it's an old tote or a laundry basket (thank TikTok for that idea). You can also make your own reusable grocery bags out of T-shirts. But if you'd rather purchase designated reusable grocery bags, here are our recommendations.
<div class="redactor-editor" dir="ltr" placeholder="Start writing..." spellcheck="false"><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></div>
<h2>Why switch to reusable bags?</h2><p>The <a href="https://www.unep.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UN says</a> people produce 300 million tons of plastic waste each year, and about 60% of the plastic produced since the early 1950s has ended up in a landfill or the natural environment.</p><p>Plastic grocery bags are made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Technically, this type of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-recycling-myth-2647706452.html" target="_self">plastic can be recycled</a>. However, in practice, plastic bags easily clog recycling machinery, so <a href="https://millerrecycling.com/ldpe-out-of-landfills" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">most municipal recycling centers</a> do not accept this type of material. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/smm_2015_tables_and_figures_07252018_fnl_508_0.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">study by the EPA</a> showed that only about 6% of the LDPE generated in 2015 was recycled. Other types of plastic, by comparison, were recycled at 18% and 10% rates.</p><div class="redactor-editor" dir="ltr" placeholder="Start writing..." spellcheck="false"></div><p>Although some grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling, the easiest way to get around this is to refuse plastic bags in the first place. Many cities have instituted <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/new-york-plastic-bag-ban-begins-2645319695.html" target="_self">plastic bag bans</a>, but more often than not, it's up to individuals to choose to make the switch to reusable grocery bags in their day-to-day lives.</p><p><em><em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/about-ecowatch-2641507575.html?rebelltitem=47#rebelltitem47" target="_self">Melissa Smith</a> is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.</em></em></p><em><em><br></em><ul class="ee-ul"></ul></em>
Best Overall: ChicoBag Reusable Grocery Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTIxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTMyMDQ2N30.RTnT_sQQbH0ucKu_QvfyFIhavWHa_acNOMrOxiHVsGE/img.jpg?width=980" id="63ab1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e127ef0807a470e3b1d33edd96a646c6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />ChicoBag
<p>Standard reusable grocery bags — foldable cloth "green bags" that typically have company logos on them — are bulky, can't be machine washed, and tend to break down after a number of uses. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ChicoBag-Original-Reusable-Shopping-Grocery/dp/B006WA9LRA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ChicoBag reusable grocery bags</a> solve these problems and more. They hold up to 25 pounds each, can be tossed in the wash, and stuff down into a tiny attached pouch that you can easily keep in your purse or the center console of your car until you need them.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 1,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy: </strong>Machine washable; Certified B Corp; Climate Neutral Certified; Supports 1% For the Planet; Fair Labor Association member
$24
Most Convenient For Shopping: Lotus Trolley Bags
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTIyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDc2NjkxNH0.tdZukrUtxoElloqocyeKnjFia8vFu7oIKd1vFfil0Mo/img.jpg?width=980" id="37f6c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cbb1cc8bb094a1a4d7c09f497ebcbf25" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Lotus Sustainables
<p>If you prefer bigger reusable grocery bags that add convenience to your shopping experience, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trolley-COOLER-Reusable-Grocery-Eco-friendly/dp/B07WTLWF4Z?th=1" target="_blank">Lotus Trolley Bags</a> may be perfect for you. These bags fold flat and nestle in your cart so that you can sort items while you shop. There's a large insulated cooler bag, as well as two standard reusable shopping bags and a bag with pockets for wine bottles and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brown-eggs-healthier-than-white-eggs-2314254330.html" target="_self">egg cartons</a>. Each can hold up to 50 pounds and has double-stitched seams for added durability.</p><p><strong>Customer rating: </strong>4.6 out of 5 stars with over 3,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy:</strong> Machine washable; Removable rod for non-cart use; Supports 1% for the Planet
$50
Most Popular: BAGGU Standard Reusable Shopping Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDY5MTgxM30.weLONkbrGfiRaU-3AjOFfuaO9hVTrvxeSiGhBfg4kMg/img.jpg?width=980" id="ba8f6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="deea1a99acc91840e54d35dad7ae9dbf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />BAGGU
<p>For another versatile option, try the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N4D829J?tag=ecowatch-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">Baggu Standard Reusable Shopping Bag</a>. This product is modeled after a conventional <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/thailand-plastic-bag-ban-2643538829.html" target="_self">plastic grocery bag</a> but is made with 40% recycled ripstop fabric. Baggu reusable bags can carry up to 50 pounds but stuff down into a five-inch internal pocket for carrying.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 4.7 out of 5 stars with over 50 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy:</strong> Machine washable; Made with 40% recycled materials; Ethically manufactured; Packaging made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified material
$12
Best Handmade Bag: Ecodunia Canvas Tote Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTc2NzgwMn0.WY9Zby2RhohlKTOT3nahq38hGn4TATd1jHehxs76btw/img.jpg?width=980" id="5ca43" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ffff86b74fdce3945022712198b15de2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Ecodunia
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ecodunia-Canvas-Tote-Women-Eco-Conscious/dp/B08LY82NYW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ecodunia&qid=1613051665&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ecodunia's reusable bags</a> have a sturdier feel than most products on this list. The canvas used to make each bag is produced from 100% renewable resources and natural cotton, plus they have long handles for comfortable carrying over your shoulder. Ecodunia's fun prints will likely make you want to use these bags for more than carting groceries, but they're great for a weekend trip to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/farmers-markets-coronavirus-safety-2645581711.html" target="_self">farmers market</a>.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 5 out of 5 stars with under 5 Amazon reviews</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>Made from natural cotton; Machine washable; Handmade; Provides dignified work for communities in Kenya </p>
$38
Best Tote Bag: Simple Ecology Tote Bundle
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzY0MDE5Nn0.Y9qxNgfCSoO6SowBXX7KbQLWhzPDn2m5mYU5IFT-mG4/img.jpg?width=980" id="38328" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d6ff115df9ceaa39fe785a318c015307" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Simple Ecology
<p>Another canvas bag option comes from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Ecology-Reusable-Shopping-Certified/dp/B086Z7XQ79?ref_=ast_sto_dp" target="_blank">Simple Ecology</a>. This brand's eco-friendly grocery bags are made with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified cotton and feature pop-out sleeves for more fragile goods and double-stitched seams for extra reinforcement. The large size has about the same capacity as a grocer's paper bag. Simple Ecology also has a reusable bag <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6AUMBG/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01N6AUMBG&pd_rd_w=MA3ZS&pf_rd_p=cbc856ed-1371-4f23-b89d-d3fb30edf66d&pd_rd_wg=hVunQ&pf_rd_r=G6RTQ1Z5DKEY325MAJZ9&pd_rd_r=5d298b3a-1be7-4ebd-a9e1-d5d672a40497&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMzc4RVAxWjNLOTdCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTc0NTAwMzBDMjFYOVJPTUpWSCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjYyOTM4M0s4Vk81SVBPS1NFSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=" target="_blank">starter kit</a> that comes with a tote and several reusable produce bags.</p> <p><strong>Customer Rating: </strong>4.6 out of 5 stars with over 900 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why Buy:</strong> GOTS certified; Machine washable; Biodegradable; Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified packaging when purchased from manufacturer
$33
Best Bulk Bags: BagPodz Reusable Shopping Bags
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI2NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjk3MTE3Mn0.9zdJfkEbue1iq8Xywwk89-qt0Zcv9wvrDqFUUSzelcE/img.jpg?width=980" id="85dd2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1fa8fd5a709a4d14d797ce4c796efa86" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />BagPodz
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/BagPodz-Reusable-Bag-Storage-System/dp/B00QJ9PBBY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BagPodz Reusable Shopping Bags</a> are all about convenience. You can get a pack of five or 10 bags, all of which fit in a low-profile "pod" that can be stored for use on the go. When at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vancouvers-grocery-store-plastic-bags-2638807121.html" target="_self">grocery store</a>, the pod clips to your cart and has an easy-dispense pocket for when it's time to check out. After use, just stuff them back into the pod. BagPodz reusable bags are made with Bluesign® certified materials, which means they're manufactured sustainably.</p> <p><strong>Customer Rating:</strong> 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 2,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why Buy: </strong>Machine washable; Made with Bluesign certified material
$35
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Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and California businesses shutdown, the state's farmers continue to harvest, in this case, cilantro, as viewed along Santa Rosa Road in Santa Barbara County on June 13, 2020, near Lompoc, California. George Rose / Getty Images
By Iris Figueroa and Amy K. Liebman
COVID-19 is having disproportionate impacts on our nation's two million farmworkers, who as essential workers continue to toil in the fields despite numerous deadly outbreaks and no federal COVID-related workplace protections.
<p>COVID-19 has pulled back the veil on the strikingly poor workplace conditions of these essential workers, built by decades of insufficient farmworker health and safety policy, poor immigration policy, and limited health care access. As a consequence, <a href="https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">at least 86,900 food workers</a> have tested positive for COVID-19 – but with uneven data collection, exacerbated by businesses' lack of transparency over workplace outbreaks and workers' avoidance of testing due to fear of losing income, the figures we have are likely an underestimate.</p><p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7556498/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A new analysis</a> does note that each additional percentage point of farmworkers per overall population in a county was associated with 5.79 more deaths from COVID-19 – but did not contribute to more deaths per 100,000 residents. The researchers concluded, "farmworkers may face unique risks of COVID-19 beyond issues of language, insurance, or economics."</p><p>The Biden Administration must issue a federal standard to protect workers from COVID-19 that includes farmworkers. But beyond COVID-specific actions for farmworkers, the Biden Administration also needs to urgently address the underlying health and workplace conditions that pre-dated COVID.</p>
A Dangerous Regulatory Rollback
<p>One key way the Biden Administration can start to correct the course is by enforcing and safeguarding the Worker Protection Standard (WPS), the main federal regulation that protects workers from pesticide exposure. Pesticide exposure weakens the respiratory, immune, and nervous systems — exacerbating farmworkers' COVID-19 risks.</p><p>Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration made various efforts to weaken or eliminate key provisions of the WPS, which had been revised and improved at the end of the Obama Administration. The WPS is an outlier in occupational health standards – because pesticides, although they are a workplace hazard, are regulated by the EPA, instead of by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which covers occupational health in every other industry. This is just one example of how farmworkers are exempted from basic protections afforded to other workers.</p><p><span></span>Many of the Trump Administration's efforts to weaken the WPS were thwarted by advocacy and litigation by environmental and farmworker groups. However, one of the Trump Administration's proposed rollbacks of the WPS remains: the gutting of the Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ), which required pesticide handlers to stop applying pesticides if someone is near the area being sprayed. If the final Trump AEZ rule goes into effect, farmworkers in neighboring fields, children in school playgrounds or in their backyards, and rural residents going about their day may be in close proximity to where pesticides are being sprayed, as long as they're not on the same property, without any requirement that the applicator suspend spraying. <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/oki-water/science/pesticides?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects" target="_blank">More than 1 billion pounds</a> of pesticides, designed to kill insects, weeds, and other pests, are applied to U.S. agricultural fields every year. In addition to acute poisonings, pesticides are also associated with <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/pesticide-poisoning-handbook-section-v-chronic-effects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">long-term health harms</a> including various cancers, developmental and reproductive harm, and neurological damage, for both farmworkers and community members who are chronically exposed to pesticides.</p><p>In December 2020, Farmworker Justice and Earthjustice, acting on behalf of a coalition of groups including Migrant Clinicians Network, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/groups-challenge-epas-move-to-gut-pesticide-spraying-safeguards?fbclid=IwAR3Od3YPk0BSdwxys27EQkc8PKOufVywlPX8g0i852iJ-PSBkqYPW4ZbB4g" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sued the EPA to stop these changes</a>. An injunction is currently in place preventing the changes from being implemented as the case proceeds – but the Biden Administration has a responsibility to protect these workers, rather than rely on courts. And the issue of pesticide drift on nearby properties is just one of the many challenges that farmworkers face when it comes to pesticide exposure.</p>An Opportunity to Right Wrongs
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYyOTExMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjM2ODAzM30.szhrn2C7P9UtiBUNzlPOl4OPhcQdCAak_QA2ThsW0mQ/img.png?width=980" id="17a13" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="88f88bae616b22aae8238fa01dc075ca" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1250" data-height="732" />Pesticide spray in Utah. Pesticide exposure is associated with various cancers, developmental and reproductive harm, and neurological damage. Aqua Mechanical / Flickr
<p>These hard-working farmworkers, upon whom we all depend for the food we eat, deserve immediate and effective protections. The new Administration has a unique opportunity to take advantage of renewed public understanding of the exploitation of farmworkers, to provide long-overdue workplace protections to keep essential workers safe, and to transform our food systems to ensure healthy workplaces, neighborhoods, and the environment, by:</p><ul><li>Rejecting the Trump Administration's attempt to weaken the Application Exclusion Zone requirements;</li><li>Increasing the monitoring and enforcement of the WPS, including, but not limited to, provisions such as the minimum age of 18 for applying pesticides, adequate training for workers in a language that they understand, and worker access to information about pesticides being applied;</li><li>Requiring drift protections on pesticide labels for drift-prone pesticides, to better protect workers, bystanders, and communities;</li><li>Requiring that all pesticide label instructions be written in Spanish and/or other languages spoken by workers so they have the information they need to protect themselves and their families;</li><li>Banning highly toxic pesticides such as chlorpyrifos;</li><li>Using accurate scientific methods for determining pesticide risk, including taking into account farmworkers' potential long-term exposure, when making determinations about pesticide safety and the registration of pesticide products;</li><li>Including farmworkers and farmworker-serving organizations as key stakeholders at EPA, with a focus on environmental justice.</li></ul><p>These are just some of the essential steps the new administration can take to protect farmworkers from the extreme hazards of their workplaces. Much more needs to be done about the myriad factors that negatively impact farmworker health, like poverty, immigration status, language barriers, and fear of retaliation.</p><p>COVID-19 has shown that a strong public health system and a functional food system require basic health and human rights for all of our neighbors, especially those typically left out. The Biden Administration has a duty and an opportunity to improve our systems – and consequently improve our nation's health and well-being.</p><p><em>Amy K. Liebman is Director of Environmental and Occupational Health for </em><a href="http://www.migrantclinician.org/" target="_blank"><em>Migrant Clinicians Network</em></a><em>, a nonprofit focused on creating practical solutions at the intersection of vulnerability, migration, and health. </em></p><p><em>Iris Figueroa is the Director of Economic and Environmental Justice for </em><a href="http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Farmworker Justice</em></a><em>, a nonprofit that seeks to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions, immigration status, health, occupational safety, and access to justice.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.ehn.org/farmworkers-deserve-pesticide-protections-2650404972/" target="_blank">Environmental Health News</a>. </em></p>
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Photo by Remedy Pics on Unsplash
CBD, a relatively new player in the wellness market, is a cannabinoid that has generated considerable buzz. But this newfound interest has yet to surpass the popularity of another cannabis compound, THC. These two phytocannabinoids are different, yet there's still plenty of people who mistake one for the other. Here, we will compare and contrast CBD vs. THC, so you can learn about their similarities, differences, and impact on health.
<h2>CBD vs. THC: An overview</h2><p>CBD and THC are the two most well-known cannabinoids <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28120229/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">found naturally within the cannabis plant</a>. They even share an identical chemical formula with 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and two oxygen atoms (although their molecular structures are unique because of chemical bond differences).</p><p>Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is best known as the "high" inducing catalyst in marijuana strains. In contrast, CBD, or cannabidiol, is considered to be non-psychotropic. It may even <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5719112/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">counteract some of the negative psychological effects</a> of THC, although more research is needed to understand those dynamics fully.</p><p>CBD and THC both act in the body to impact our health through the vast endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS has <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19675519/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">regulatory functions throughout the body</a>, helping maintain a stable physiological state called "homeostasis." This is why CBD and THC are linked to balancing effects in the body, but it's the way these cannabinoids engage our ECS that reveals differences.</p><p>The ECS includes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5877694/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cannabinoid receptors in many organs</a> throughout the body. CB1 receptors are found predominantly in the central nervous system (including the brain), while CB2 receptors are more densely located in the peripheral nervous system and immune system. THC has a strong tendency to bind with brain-based CB1 receptors, which is why it can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6001746/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deliver mind-altering effects</a>. In contrast, CBD interacts with receptors indirectly, with exact mechanisms still being elucidated. Its higher affinity for CB2 receptor interactions is thought to generate a more wide-reaching impact on the body, mediating processes like <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2018.0073" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">immune response, inflammation, and pain</a>. </p><p>Legally speaking, differences in CBD and THC vary depending on your location and whether the product is marijuana or hemp—different substrains of the <em>Cannabis sativa</em> plant. There are currently 11 US states, plus Washington D.C., that<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana-states-2018-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> allow recreational use of all cannabis products</a>, including THC-heavy marijauna strains. More than 30 states permit THC use as medical marijuana.</p><p>So what about CBD? The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill legalized "industrial hemp" and hemp-derived products (for example, CBD oil) in all 50 states. Industrial hemp encompasses distinct strains of <em>Cannabis sativa</em> in which CBD predominates and THC is very low (less than 0.3% THC by dry weight). This legislative change paved the way for more widespread innovation and use of hemp-derived CBD products with trace levels of THC.</p><h2>The health benefits of CBD vs. THC</h2><p>When comparing CBD and THC, most people are curious about the benefits of each compound, and how they stack up against one another. Research on the health effects of THC and CBD is an active area of research. Robust clinical (human) trials on cannabinoids CBD and THC have been conducted for <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-safe-effective-medicine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cannabinoid-based prescription drugs</a>: </p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>dronabinol (THC)</li><li>nabilone (THC)</li><li>nabiximols (THC + CBD)</li><li>Epidiolex (CBD)</li><li>nabiximols (THC + CBD) </li></ul><p>The approved clinical <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6001746/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">indications for these cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals</a> provide interesting intel into the health effects of THC alone, CBD alone, and the THC + CBD combination:</p><h3>Cannabinoid-Based Prescription Drug Health Effects</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>THC alone: Improves chemotherapy-induced nausea in patients with cancer</li><li>THC alone: Stimulates appetite in patients with wasting syndrome due to AIDS</li><li>CBD alone: Improves epilepsy in two severe forms of childhood seizures (Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes)</li><li>THC + CBD: Improves muscle spasticity and neuropathic pain in patients with multiple sclerosis</li></ul><p>The next set of evidence comes from studies on medical cannabis, which includes THC, CBD, and myriad compounds from the marijuana plant (other cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, etc.). Because of this entourage, THC and CBD effects do not exist in siloes. Here is the science on the potential health benefits of the cannabis plant.</p><h3>Medical Cannabis (Marijuana) Health Effects</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6277878/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reduces pain, especially neuropathic pain</a></li><li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29442178/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lessens pain and muscle spasticity in multiple sclerosis</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604191/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improves seizure control in epilepsy</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313625/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improves anxiety, including in post-traumatic stress disorder</a></li><li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31120284/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Promotes sleep</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5968020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helps with headaches</a></li><li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25529540/)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Attenuates inflammation</a>, including in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ibdjournal/article/25/3/427/5144402" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inflammatory bowel disease</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230711/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lessens nausea</a></li></ul><p>Like medical cannabis, CBD products derived from industrial hemp also contain an array of plant bioactives, but a key difference is that THC levels are very low (< 0.3 %, per law). Therefore, hemp-derived CBD products give us insights into CBD dominant effects. Well-designed clinical trials are few, as these products are relatively new in the market. Here we summarize CBD centric areas of potential health support.</p><h3>CBD-Specific Health Support</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7480724/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helps with anxiousness</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326553/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Supports sleep</a></li><li><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00325481.2019.1685298" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helps combat pain</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7023045/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties</a></li><li><a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2018.0073" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Supports immune response</a></li></ul><h2>Do CBD products contain THC?</h2><p>When it comes to CBD products, there are three different types of hemp extracts that go into creating these goods, two that are THC-free, and one with trace levels of THC.</p><p>Full-spectrum hemp extracts contain CBD, an array of minor cannabinoids (like CBG, CBN, and CBC), terpenes, flavonoids, and small amounts of THC (by law, the THC potency can not exceed 0.3%). There is potential for the "<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31481004/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">entourage effect</a>," which describes the synergy of multiple cannabinoids and other hemp plant bioactives (e.g., <a data-linked-post="2649030477" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cannabis-terpenes-2649030477.html" target="_blank">terpenes</a>) working in tandem.</p><p>However, there is a chance that even trace amounts of THC could appear on a drug test. If that's a deal-breaker for you, the good news is that it doesn't mean you have to abandon the idea of CBD. Products like pure CBD isolate have gone through a filtration process to strip out all non-CBD cannabinoids, including THC. An isolate is an attractive option for users who wish to avoid the presence of THC but still want to tap into the benefits of CBD. Broad spectrum hemp extracts also offer CBD with no THC content, and still contain minor cannabinoids and terpenes for those looking for a fuller plant profile, minus the THC.</p><p>We have highlighted three hemp derived CBD oil products below, two with THC and one without. All of these high quality, vetted brands use third-party lab testing to ensure the purity and potency of their CBD products.</p><h2>Best CBD Oils with THC</h2><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>
<h2>Is CBD better than THC?</h2><p>By nature's design, the cannabis plant contains an array of cannabinoids, including the two most famous and well-studied: CBD and THC. While derived from the same plant, their mechanisms and effects are unique. Deciding on the right cannabinoid approach is a personal decision, and you'll need to ponder what benefits you hope to achieve.</p><p>One of the practical issues to check is the legality of products containing THC and CBD (i.e., medical cannabis vs. hemp-derived CBD products) in your state. Maybe you live in a state where THC from medical cannabis is legal but prefer a hemp-derived CBD product instead to avoid psychoactive effects of marijuana. </p><p>Whether your cannabis-based wellness plan includes CBD oil tinctures, medical cannabis edibles with high amounts of THC, or another delivery form, be sure to partner with your healthcare practitioner to personalize and adjust the product and dosage to your individual needs. </p><p><em><strong>Josh Hall</strong> has been a professional writer and storyteller for more than 15 years. His work on natural health and cannabis has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review. </em><em>The product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the link included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
Spruce CBD Oil Tincture
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgwNTgxMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjcwOTUxMX0.aBEHgGmkcQhGmFEDEz-bl0FNSceyYQGbmY22WgzM8eE/img.jpg?width=980" id="76502" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="edcde89b17fa7ecf5aada2953bb993d2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>For a full spectrum CBD oil, Spruce offers some of the most potent products on the market. The company's CBD oils are available in a 750 milligram tincture, or a 2,400 milligram option for those who need an extra strength CBD oil. These tinctures are very highly reviewed by customers, and contain no artificial flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners. Spruce CBD oils are made with organic hemp seed oil as the carrier oil, so it's hemp all around. This is a great <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-cbd-oil-pain-reviews-2648153441.html" data-linked-post="2648153441" target="_blank">CBD oil brand for pain</a>.</p>CBDistillery Full Spectrum CBD Oil
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0OTQzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTA4MDc0OX0.RscfcWGT65exGnmZRfhOiZyQipx_veaG9om0F2DwQKE/img.jpg?width=980" id="725ae" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54b0885e1422dba609d1a0f2b42d5ac0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Another great option for a CBD oil with terpenes and other cannabinoids, including trace levels of THC, comes from CBDistillery. This brand's full spectrum tinctures are available in a variety of strengths, such as 500, 1000, 2,500, or 5,000 milligrams per bottle. These high quality CBD oils are derived from non-GMO hemp, and come at affordable price points. CBDistillery also offers broad spectrum CBD oils if you'd rather avoid THC, but still benefit from other hemp plant compounds. This is a great <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/10-best-cbd-anxiety-2648141513.html" data-linked-post="2648141513" target="_blank">CBD oil brand for anxiety</a>. </p>Zero THC CBD Products
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">If a full spectrum oil with small amounts of THC isn't the route you're hoping to take, then take a look at this product made with pure CBD isolate:</span><span style="background-color: initial;"></span><br></p>Medterra CBD Isolate Oil
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ3NjQ1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTQ4MTEwNX0.qdgaUdgNvRhxT9phgTKJP0C-IC4LJpVmB3lOK6v5PDc/img.jpg?width=980" id="8bd71" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b3e0480e893b875e427d79e3e6b33eb9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Medterra's hemp derived CBD products are THC-free. Medterra offers an array of CBD oils, topicals, capsules, and gummies for every type of CBD user, but their traditional CBD isolate oil is our focus today. It's made with 99.6% pure CBD isolate and is blended with organic MCT oil derived from coconut for a smooth, unflavored tincture. You have three strength options, including 500, 1000, or 3,000 milligrams of CBD per bottle.</p>
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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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Farmers shout slogans along a blocked highway as they continue their protest against the central government's recent agricultural reforms at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghaziabad on February 2, 2021. PRAKASH SINGH / AFP / Getty Images
By Mahima Jain
Over recent months Raja, a farmer in India's Tamil Nadu state, has had a change of routine.
<p>Every few days, the 53-year-old leaves his 30-acre (12-hectare) farm in the Villupuram district — where he grows a patchwork of rice, sugarcane, coconut trees and vegetables — and joins a small group demonstrating outside government offices and main roads in his village. </p><p>Raja, who goes by one name only, is one of millions who have joined <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-farmers-mount-fresh-protests-in-new-delhi/av-56353165" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a>sustained<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-farmers-mount-fresh-protests-in-new-delhi/av-56353165" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a>protests<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-farmers-mount-fresh-protests-in-new-delhi/av-56353165" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> across India's villages and cities in opposition to three farm laws introduced in September last year. </p><p>New Delhi, the focal point of the outcry, has witnessed striking scenes of tractor rallies and sit-ins on its outskirts, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-farmer-protesters-clash-with-police-on-republic-day/a-56342818" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-farmer-protesters-clash-with-police-on-republic-day/a-56342818" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">escalating last week to violence</a> and the storming of the Red Fort.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/indias-modi-lashes-out-at-protesting-farmers/a-56395824" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government</a> maintains that the legislation, which loosens regulation and invites private investment in the sector, will help encourage growth and increase farmers' incomes.</p><p>Yet farmers say the market-friendly reforms leave them open to exploitation from large corporate actors and endanger their livelihoods. </p><p>"We are against these anti-farmer, pro-corporate farm laws," said Raja. </p>
Farming in Crisis
<p>Farmers and activists fear the legislation will exacerbate existing stresses in the agricultural sector, which has experienced stagnant growth for six years and decades of rising debt. The pressures are believed to have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-children-grapple-with-the-aftermath-of-farmer-suicides/a-51213478" target="_blank">pushed thousands to suicide</a>.</p><p>"There is so much uncertainty," said Raja, whose income hasn't increased for over a decade. "Before the software boom of the 1990s, I was earning as much as my engineer friends. Today, I am nowhere." He's been selling a 75 kg bag of paddy rice at around $13 (€10.70), less than the government's minimum price support, for over 15 years. </p><p>Raja worries that the new laws, which weaken price guarantees for certain crops, will leave farmers even more vulnerable. </p><p>The current laws push for contract farming, wherein farmers enter into legally binding agreements with large corporations and private players. Activists say this will place them in an unequal power relation, as a failure to deliver crops due to harvest loss could even mean loss of land. </p><p>A breakthrough in calming the months of protest initially appeared to come on January 12 when the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/india-supreme-court-puts-contentious-farms-laws-on-hold/a-56208301" target="_blank">Supreme Court decided to temporarily suspend the legislation</a>. But it was not the victory many hoped for. </p><p>"Farmers movements are against the Supreme Court order," said Ashlesha Khadse, activist and volunteer with Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch, a women farmers group. </p><p>The court has appointed a committee to hold further discussions between protesters and government officials to help resolve the ongoing dispute. Khadse says farmers believe the appointed members are supporters of the laws and will continue protesting until they are fully repealed. </p>Ecological Roots of Crisis
<p>She also argues the legislation fails to tackle the root causes of the sector's problems.</p><p>"The laws don't mention the environment," said Khadse. "But the farm crisis today has ecological roots." </p><p>She says that today's problems can be traced back to the 1960s Green Revolution, when the government supported industrial cultivation of specific crops and adopted modern technology to maximize output. India's food basket was homogenized as certain crops — mainly high-yield varieties of rice, wheat and pulses — were favored over others. </p><p>Land has been left depleted by monocultural cultivation of high-yield seed varieties, said Khadse. She believes the costs of inputs needed to keep producing has pushed farmers into a cycle of debt.</p><p>"The increase in agricultural productivity has come at a tremendous cost to the environment," said Thomson Jacob, a policy consultant at the Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law in Chennai. Jacob says these include loss of soil nutrients, excessive irrigation, water scarcity, indiscriminate application of some nutrients and pesticides and loss of agrobiodiversity. </p><p>Farmers today are dealing not only with the legacy of the Green Revolution but the added impacts of <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/indias-himalayan-apple-farmers-feel-the-heat/a-51607119" target="_blank">climate change</a>. Those working in the agricultural sector, which employs over 40% of India's labor force, grapple with drought and flooding. </p><p>Raja says a changing and unpredictable climate is affecting the yield on his farm. In late November last year, his crops were partially damaged as a result of Cyclone Nivar. Research shows that cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal, along which Tamil Nadu sits, has been rapidly intensifying due to rising temperatures.<a href="https://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2020/06/05/cyclones-rise-as-climate-change-heats-up-indian-ocean/#:~:text=Like%20Nisarga%20and%20Amphan%2C%20a,factors%20driving%20this%20rapid%20intensification.&text=%E2%80%9CThese%20are%20record%20temperatures%20driven%20by%20climate%20change." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a></p>Further Incentivizing Monoculture
<p>Although cultivation practices have been intensified since the Green Revolution, today 82% of Indian farmers still have lands of less than 5 acres (2 hectares).</p><p>Karthik Gunasekar, an activist with Chennai Climate Action Group, believes a further deregulated market will add pressure to increase output.</p><p>"These new laws will push monocultural farming and unsustainable practices," said Gunasekar. He argues the laws should be repealed and that price protection should instead be offered for a more diverse range of crops to incentivize their cultivation. <br> <br>Without the security of a base price and poor market linkage, India's indigenous crops — which are not high-yielding — have fallen out of favor over the years. </p><p>However, Jacob says that if farmers are given incentives to produce traditional seed varieties then the push for contract farming could be used to help reverse the decline engendered by the Green Revolution. </p><p>"If contract farming encourages organic products, it will <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/social-entrepreneurship-for-sustainable-farming-in-india/a-42147375" target="_blank">enhance agrobiodiversity</a>," said Jacob, adding this could be through export of traditional rice varieties and certified organic products. </p><p>Raja is less optimistic for the future. He feels disillusioned by the fact that instead of engaging with the farmers as equals, the government has left them at the mercy of courts and corporations. </p><p>"I don't want my children to enter this occupation, even though we've done it for generations," he says. "We farmers no longer trust the government."</p><p><span></span>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-ecological-roots-of-india-s-farming-crisis/a-56368937" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Minimal snow was found at the Phillips Station meadow before the start of the first snow survey of 2018, conducted by the California Department of Water Resources. Kelly M. Grow / Calif. Department of Water Resources
By Tara Lohan
Most of us know a bad drought when we see one: Lakes and rivers recede from their normal water lines, crops wither in fields, and lawns turn brown. Usually we think of these droughts as being triggered by a lack of rain, but scientists also track drought in other ways.
<p>"The common ways to measure droughts are through precipitation, soil moisture and runoff," says Laurie S. Huning, an environmental engineer at the University of California, Irvine. Her most recent work adds another dimension to that by looking at water stored in snowpack.</p><p>Huning is the co-author of a study in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, with U.C. Irvine colleague Amir AghaKouchak, which developed a new <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/33/19753" target="_blank">framework for characterizing "snow droughts</a>." These can occur when there's an abnormally low snowpack, which may be triggered by low precipitation, warm temperatures or both.</p>
<p>Their research is timely. This winter, southwestern states have received just a quarter to half of the average snow-water equivalent — the amount of water held in the snowpack — the key metric for determining a snow drought.</p><p>And that can have sweeping impacts. The water content of a snowpack can change the amount and timing of when runoff occurs, and that has implications for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.7126?af=R" target="_blank">wildlife</a>, ecosystems, water resources, flood control, hydropower and drought mitigation.</p><p>Snow droughts can also have far-reaching effects on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture">agriculture</a> — and economies. California's Central Valley, the heart of its agriculture industry, relies on snow melt from the Sierra Nevada. The state saw $2.7 billion in losses in the sector following low precipitation and warm temperatures during 2014-2015.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU1Nzc5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDk4MzU3NH0.f2MXyjaFO6xyjrhcpBnjuF2yPGDmd1_f_rXbiywCRIo/img.jpg?width=980" id="3dd99" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e47adb32e3286543cd6eed458226597c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="801" />
Frank Gehrke of the Calif. Dept. of Water Resources during the April 1, 2015 snow survey in the Sierra Nevada, which found zero snow for the first time since surveys began in 1942. Florence Low / California Department of Water Resources
<p>Snow droughts can also make conditions dire in regions that are already stressed by conflict and resource shortages. A snow drought in Afghanistan in 2017-2018 triggered crop failures and livestock loses that left 10 million people food insecure.</p><p>The concept of a "snow drought" has been around for several years, and it's been studied in certain key locations, but until now scientists and water managers lacked a worldwide method to assess them.</p><p>The study aims to solve that. Huning and AghaKouchak have developed a standardized snow-water equivalent index in an effort to better characterize and compare the duration and intensity of snow droughts around the world.</p><p>The results already reveal some areas of concern. Looking at data from 1980 to 2018, the researchers found a few hotspots where snow-droughts became longer and more intense during the 21st century.</p><p>The most notable area was the western United States, which saw a 28% increase in the length of periods of snow drought. Eastern Russia and Europe also saw increases, though less severe.</p><p>And on the flip side, some areas saw a decrease in snow drought duration, including the Hindu Kush, Central Asia, greater Himalayas, extratropical Andes and Patagonia.</p><p>"It's important to remember that not only does the snowpack vary but the impact that it has differs across the world," says Huning.</p>
<p>Huning hopes the framework developed for the study can help water managers better understand the amount and timing of snowmelt, and to integrate that with drought monitoring systems to recreate better resiliency and management of resources.</p><p>"We know that the snowpack is highly variable," she says. "Further development of this framework can improve our near real-time monitoring of drought."</p><p>The study didn't delve into the specifics of <em>why</em> snow droughts may be becoming more severe in certain places, but other studies have found that climate change is playing, and will play, a role in reducing snowpack in some areas — including western U.S. states.</p><p>A <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL088679" target="_blank">study</a> by UCLA climate scientists published on Aug. 10 found that in California warmer temperatures will cause more rainfall and less snow during the winter in coming decades. This will likely increase flood risks and reduce the snowpack that usually melts slowly over the spring months.</p>
<p>Earlier research found that a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/melting-ice-could-cause-more-california-droughts/" target="_blank">decrease in Arctic sea ice</a> leads to changes in atmospheric circulation that creates a high-pressure system, known as an atmospheric ridge, off the Pacific coast. These ridges deflect storms, pushing them northward and leaving the region high and dry. A particularly stubborn system that developed in 2013, nicknamed the "<a href="https://weatherwest.com/archives/5982" target="_blank">ridiculously resilient ridge</a>," had a big hand in California's five-year drought, which extended until 2017.</p><p>Better understanding of how to measure and track snow droughts can give water managers another tool to help plan for similar droughts and to better manage this changing resource.</p><p>"Snow is a natural resource and, given the warming temperatures that some parts of the world will see, the amount of snow is changing," says Huning. "We need to recognize that there are so many different ways the environment and humans will be affected."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/snow-droughts-west/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Black-Owned Farms in New Focus as Biden Looks for Solutions to Both Race and Climate Crises
01 February
Politics
Sedrick Kent Rowe Jr. from Albany, Georgia is the owner and operator of Rowe Organic Farms LLC. Black Farmers Network
Two of the four interconnected crises prioritized by the Biden administration — climate change and systemic racism — converge on Black farmers, The New York Times reports.
<p>Decades of racial violence and racist lending and land ownership policies have nearly eliminated Black farmers in the U.S. — 2% of U.S. farms are run by Black farmers, down from 14% in 1920. The Biden administration has pledged to address and work to undo the decades of discrimination against Black, and other POC farmers and to make agriculture a key part of its efforts to fight climate change.</p>
<p>"We've waited year after year after year. We've fought for changes," Shirley Sherrod, a former Georgia state director for rural development at the Department of Agriculture who was fired in 2010 over a <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVnRkf5zmBHdVMJsLM869WPmW4dVnpw4mx3B-N8yKgDh3p_9rV1-WJV7CgXmqW2-lltv1LRPMNW7cp7Hl7DDTqrW5s62xf4dpPy5W2q1S5G21dw7XW40pwQM5hdSWGW6r9pgg7z8_b9W8f2tdF83spfrW5BjtWW4_xrJxVvY90H6VN6zLW5Pfmm45M43kGTSXBf7LqvtqW8Z6DBZ2bscTdW4r4dGr3znSVhW1Dbzrv3dF7LdW7Cnpqz89V5M4W53K-lN5vXJb7W6WN0hd5MjFb3W4KYnt19lsTJ_TtK521Pfl3vW5SXLKX6N1c--W6LnTKs3Vdp1BW6tTs0X7Zsjh1N1lS0Dyj2wC0W2TmW1H2_kvLHW3Mb6F58Cnw_lW3NW-9B6Pdx_Y3dQl1" target="_blank">doctored and misleading video</a>. "Now [the USDA], and this country, really needs to figure out how to do the right thing by Black people."</p>
<p>Tom Vilsack, who headed USDA for the entire Obama Administration and is currently nominated to run it again, promised Black farmers "a seat at the table" during a meeting with civil rights groups last month. In 2015, less than 0.2% of the $5.7 billion of microloans issued by the USDA went to Black farmers.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/climate/black-farmers-discrimination-agriculture.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108970507&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9C8FFp3YbSFFWWaL_5Mq6INjD30iHheCvfGmeyOAysFfls7xnwTPt6oTNFavfxWqZF1RoBw99LumssF2F73wEdBsi-Rw&utm_content=108970507&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>:</p><blockquote>Sedrick Rowe was a running back for Georgia's Fort Valley State University when he stumbled on an unexpected oasis: an organic farm on the grounds of the historically Black school.</blockquote><blockquote>He now grows organic peanuts on two tiny plots in southwest Georgia, one of few African-American farmers in a state that has lost more than 98 percent of its Black farmers over the past century.</blockquote><blockquote>"It weighs on my mind," he said of the history of discrimination, and violence, that drove so many of his predecessors from their farms. "Growing our own food feels like the first step in getting more African-American people back into farming."</blockquote><blockquote>---</blockquote><blockquote>For Mr. Rowe, organic farming practices on his modest 30 acres are also an economic imperative: His crop fetches several times the price of standard peanuts on the market. That helps him compete in a business landscape dominated by predominantly white farmers taking advantage of huge economics of scale and subsidies.</blockquote><blockquote>"It's a good start," Mr. Rowe said of Mr. Biden's plan. "You take care of your soil, the soil takes care of you."</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/climate/black-farmers-discrimination-agriculture.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108970507&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9C8FFp3YbSFFWWaL_5Mq6INjD30iHheCvfGmeyOAysFfls7xnwTPt6oTNFavfxWqZF1RoBw99LumssF2F73wEdBsi-Rw&utm_content=108970507&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- How Can the Biden Administration Fix America's Broken Food ... ›
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Donald Pols (R), director of Dutch environmental organisation, Milieudefensie, and Channa Samkalden (L), lawyer for Milieudefensie react following the court ruling in the case that the organisation, along with four Nigerian farmers, filed against Shell over oil leaks that have allegedly polluted their villages, in The Hague, on January 29, 2021. REMKO DE WAAL / ANP / AFP / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
Global environmental justice campaigners heralded a Dutch court's ruling Friday that Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary must pay punitive restitution to Nigerian villages for oil spill contamination that brought death, illness, and destruction to Nigerian farmers and communities.
<p>"After 13 years, justice!" <a href="https://twitter.com/foeeurope/status/1355111463912939524" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Friends of the Earth Europe.</p><p>The legal effort <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/18/landslide-victory-farmers-court-rules-against-shell" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="" target="_blank">seeking</a> accountability for the oil pollution in the Niger Delta, as Agence France-Presse <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210129-dutch-court-orders-shell-to-pay-nigerian-farmers-for-oil-spills" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="" target="_blank">noted</a>, was brought forth by the Netherlands branch of Friends of the Earth, and "has dragged on so long that two of the Nigerian farmers have died since it was first filed in 2008."</p>
<div id="10e8a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="26e1b3df87019c18af56013147d02734"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1355146661715210240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Shell has today been defeated in court by Nigerian farmers.
This is a hopeful day for all victims of oil compani… https://t.co/TGWfuhJGDT</div> — Friends of the Earth Europe🌍 #BlackLivesMatter (@Friends of the Earth Europe🌍 #BlackLivesMatter)<a href="https://twitter.com/foeeurope/statuses/1355146661715210240">1611927116.0</a></blockquote></div><p>One of those farmers was the father of Eric Dooh.</p><p>"Finally, there is some justice for the Nigerian people suffering the consequences of Shell's oil," Dooh, who became a plaintiff in the case, <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.eu/press-release/nigerian-farmers-and-friends-of-the-earth-win-oil-pollution-case/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"It is a bittersweet victory," he continued, "since two of the plaintiffs, including my father, did not live to see the end of this trial. But this verdict brings hope for the future of the people in the Niger Delta."</p><p>As Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-nigeria-court/environmentalists-farmers-win-dutch-court-case-over-shell-nigeria-spills-idUSKBN29Y1D2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>,</p><blockquote>Friday's decision went a step further than a 2013 ruling by a lower court, saying that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for multiple cases of oil pollution.<br><br>The appeals judge sided with the farmers in four of six spills covered by the lawsuit and postponed a verdict in the remaining cases, where the lower court had previously found SPDC responsible.<br></blockquote><p>The appeals court "also held the Anglo-Dutch parent company Royal Dutch Shell liable for installing new pipeline equipment to prevent further devastating spills in the Niger Delta region," AFP added.</p><p>The devastation, as Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) has previously <a href="https://www.foei.org/news/oil-spills-ogoniland-nigeria-shell" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">described</a>, has been vast:</p><blockquote>Between 1976 and 1991, over two million barrels of oil polluted Ogoniland in 2,976 separate oil spills. While oil production has ceased, pipelines operated by Shell still traverse the land, creeks and waterways. Leakages—caused by corroded pipelines as well as bandits—mean that the area is still plagued by oil spills.<br></blockquote><blockquote>It is a painful example of corporate impunity that even when the tireless work of communities, individuals, and campaigners achieves some semblance of justice, it is rarely seen through. And nowhere is this more true than for the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta. As Michael Karikpo, from Environmental Rights Action explained to us: "The price for docility in our communities and country is the loss of liberty and sovereignty to rapacious and predatory multinational oil companies like Shell. Our communities must stand up and continuously demand accountability from Shell and the international system that nurtures it."<br></blockquote><p>Describing the scene in 2019 at a few of the sites affected by oil spills in the Niger Delta, FOEI added that the "horror of the vast stretch of black, lifeless landscape stretching out in front of us is something that has to be seen in order to be believed."</p><p>Nigerian environmental justice advocate Nnimmo Bassey, in a tweet welcoming the new ruling, drew attention to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, who, along with other Ogoni rights activists, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/shell-complicit-arbitrary-executions-ogoni-nine-writ-dutch-court/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was</a> <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/1998/11/10/ken_saro_wiwas_final_testimony_b" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">executed</a> by the country's military in 1995 after leading an uprising against Shell's ecological damage in the region.</p>
<div id="7251f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d17fc3bdf03ed8d18c4089fe8c65042f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1355112842228363265" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Shell must pay, says the Dutch Court. Their day has come!
#RememberSaroWiwa https://t.co/PPz6zlKnwO</div> — Nnimmo (@Nnimmo)<a href="https://twitter.com/NnimmoB/statuses/1355112842228363265">1611919053.0</a></blockquote></div><p>According to Donald Pols, director of Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Friday's ruling represents "fantastic news." He called it "enormous that Shell has to compensate for the damage."</p><p>"This is also a warning for all Dutch transnational corporations involved in injustice worldwide," Pols continued. "Victims of environmental pollution, land grabbing, or exploitation now have a better chance to win a legal battle against the companies involved. People in developing countries are no longer without rights in the face of transnational corporations."</p><p>Shell, for its part, said it was "disappointed" in the ruling and blamed "sabotage" for the oil spills in question.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/29/after-13-years-justice-dutch-court-orders-shell-oil-pay-harm-done-nigerian-farmers" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
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Seabirds often follow fishing vessels to find easy meals. Alexander Petrov / TASS via Getty Images
By Jim Palardy
As 2021 dawns, people, ecosystems, and wildlife worldwide are facing a panoply of environmental issues. In an effort to help experts and policymakers determine where they might focus research, a panel of 25 scientists and practitioners — including me — from around the globe held discussions in the fall to identify emerging issues that deserve increased attention.
<p>The panel, coordinated by the UK-based Cambridge Conservation Initiative, conducted a horizon scan — an effort to spot early signs of significant phenomena — of global biological <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> issues. For <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(20)30306-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0169534720303062%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the resulting study</a>, which was funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the panel winnowed down an initial list of 97 topics, settling on the following 15 because of their novelty or their potential to move the conservation needle in either a positive or negative direction over the coming decade.</p>
<h2>1. Seabirds Could Help Spot Illegal Fishing</h2><p>Seabirds often follow fishing vessels to score easy meals. Now, scientists are hoping to exploit this behavior to help spot illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, which accounts for up to $23.5 billion worth of seafood every year, or 1 in 5 fish sold. Researchers have had some success attaching transmitters to seabirds to locate fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean, but more study is needed to validate the use of this tactic.</p>
<h2>2. Marine Vessels and GPS Spoofing</h2><p>Vessels plying the ocean navigate and transmit their locations and identities mainly through the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and automatic identification system (AIS). The panel points out that a recent rise in GNSS spoofing and AIS cloning incidents could facilitate the trade of illegal goods and hamper authorities' efforts to identify vessels engaged in illicit resource extraction activities such as fishing and dredging.</p>
<h2>3. More Corals May Suffer From Lack of Oxygen<br></h2><p>Several factors — including climate-driven marine heat waves and nutrient runoff from land — can lower oxygen levels in the ocean. Corals in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans have died from this hypoxia, and, although those events weren't widespread, some scientists fear that the threat may grow significantly as climate change further warms the ocean. Research is needed to better understand the extent and impact of low oxygen conditions on coral reefs.</p>
<h2>4. Understanding the Impacts of Increased Dissolved Iron on Coastal Polar Ecosystems</h2><p>Coastal zones in polar latitudes are among Earth's most productive — that is, they create and support large numbers of organisms ranging from tiny marine plants to animals such as polar bears and seals — a characteristic driven by the availability of dissolved iron from glaciers and ice. Increased melting in the polar regions will result in higher iron concentrations, which in turn will probably fuel more intense phytoplankton blooms and enable organisms on the seafloor to capture more carbon and other nutrients. Such changes could have wide-ranging effects — including impacts on the structure of the region's marine ecosystems and on carbon sequestration — and warrants investigation.</p>
<h2>5. What to Do With a Growing Number of Decommissioned Offshore Energy Platforms</h2><p>It is estimated that 3,000 offshore oil and gas platforms will be decommissioned in the coming decades and that the number of offshore wind farms will continue to grow. Currently, decommissioning practices vary by country and include full removal, conversion of platforms to artificial reefs, and abandonment. As new offshore energy infrastructure is built and old platforms are phased out, nations will need to evaluate the immediate and long-term impacts of their decommissioning strategies on the marine environment.</p>
<h2>6. A Drug Problem in the Water<br></h2><p>When some chemicals used in pharmaceuticals and in garden and farm products are introduced into waterways — usually through runoff or via sewage systems directly or in human waste — they can cause changes in fish and other organisms, including altering the number of female to males in a population, lower fertility, and deformities. There is emerging evidence that the effects of exposure can be multigenerational, affecting organisms that were never directly exposed.</p>
<h2>7. Changes in Low Cloud Cover</h2><p>Low clouds shade sizable portions of the planet in subtropical regions. It is predicted that these clouds will become increasingly unstable if atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to rise at current rates. The resulting changes could have negative effects on wildlife and human communities.</p>
<h2>8. Tree Planting as a Simple Carbon Sequestration Solution</h2><p>Pledges to plant large areas of trees to help tackle climate change are often perceived as a win for conservation. However, tree planting must be planned and implemented with a clear understanding of regional ecosystems to avoid negative effects on biological diversity.</p>
<h2>9. Logging to Reduce Fire Risk</h2><p>As nations around the world contend with more extreme wildfires, some policymakers suggest that tree removal may be part of the solution. However, the effectiveness of such policies is uncertain, and any short-term gains from removing trees are often offset by the growth of non-native grasses and flowering plants, which may themselves be highly flammable.</p>
<h2>10. Large-Scale Adoption of Sustainable Farming Techniques Across India</h2><p>Driven by government policies and local innovations, sustainable farming practices are becoming more prevalent in India. The state government of Sikkim has adopted organic farming as policy, and the state of Andhra Pradesh, with 6 million farmers, plans to adopt natural farming practices by 2025. Other states across the country plan to follow suit. Early evaluations indicate that these large-scale transitions boost crop yields and incomes, improve the health of farmers, and increase women's access to microfinance. With such results, there is the potential for similar large-scale shifts in other parts of the world.</p>
<h2>11. Low Earth-Orbiting Satellites May Mislead Animals Responding to Celestial Cues</h2><p>More than 2,600 artificial satellites currently orbit the earth, a number that is rapidly increasing. Many species of mammals, insects, and birds use celestial cues to migrate long distances and to orient themselves in local habitats and could be affected by the proliferation of satellites.</p>
<h2>12. Bitcoin Mining With Stranded Energy</h2><p>An emerging use for stranded energy sources, such as low-value methane byproducts vented from oil wells and excess energy produced by wind turbines and solar panels, is to power computers used for Bitcoin mining — the process of creating new Bitcoin by solving complex algorithms. Monetizing stranded energy in this way is a mixed bag that decision-makers will probably have to evaluate. The practice could increase carbon emissions from marginal fossil fuel sources but also could incentivize the deployment of renewable energy by guaranteeing a minimum selling price.</p>
<h2>13. Open-Source Investigations of Environmental Threats</h2><p>Scientists demonstrated some success with using online videos, social media posts, and other open-source data to document the effects of the locust swarms in East Africa in 2020. As faster internet connections and access to smartphones continue to grow globally, the use of open-source data may become an effective tool for researchers.</p>
<h2>14. Self-Healing Building Materials</h2><p>The potential to engineer building materials made of chemicals, polymers, and bacteria that can fix themselves when damaged could reduce the need for repairs and shrink the environmental footprints of construction projects. Recently, scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder used a type of cyanobacteria found in the ocean, along with other materials, to <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/pdfExtended/S2590-2385(19)30391-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">engineer a living building material</a> that can regenerate when fractured.</p>
<h2>15. A Waterway to Connect the Baltic and Black Seas</h2><p>A planned 1,200-mile inland navigable waterway connecting the Baltic and Black seas would alter the flow of cargo and trade in the region. However, the waterway, which would pass through Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, could alter habitat in 70 wildlife areas and numerous international conservation areas, introduce non-native species, and change the region's rivers and wetlands. Additionally, dredging in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone could disrupt radioactive sediment.</p>
<p><em>Jim Palardy is a project director with The Pew Charitable Trusts' conservation science program. He served on this year's horizon scan panel and is a co-author on the resulting study.</em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/01/13/top-15-conservation-issues-of-2021-include-big-threats-and-potential-bright-spots" target="_blank">The Pew Charitable Trust</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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In an alarming new study, scientists found that climate change is already harming children's diets.
<p>It has long been understood that climate change will impact diet and food security globally. But up until now, little research proved how diet diversity is impacted by climate change outcomes, like warmer temperatures and increased precipitation, over a span of geographical areas.</p><p>Led by researchers at the University of Vermont, the study surveyed the diets of more than 107,00 children under the age of five, across 19 countries in Asia, Africa, and South America, with 30 years of precipitation and temperature data, according to the <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abd0ab" target="_blank">study</a>.</p>
<p>Higher, long-term temperatures were associated with decreased diet diversity among children. "It surprised us that higher temperatures are already showing an impact," Meredith Niles, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Vermont, said in an <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/climate-change-hurting-childrens-diets-global-study-finds-0" target="_blank">article</a>.</p><p>In 2019, over 144 million children under the age of five were malnourished, <a href="https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%2021.3%20per%20cent,5%20worldwide%20had%20stunted%20growth.&text=Between%202000%20and%202019%2C%20stunting,199.5%20million%20to%20144.0%20million." target="_blank">according to data by the UNICEF</a>. This number could have grown by an additional 6.7 million in 2020 alone, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-additional-67-million-children-under-5-could-suffer-wasting-year-due-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report published in July</a>.</p>
<p>In the study, researchers used a scale developed by the United Nations to understand intakes of micronutrients like iron, folic acid, zinc and vitamins A and D.</p><p>On average children ate 3.2 out of 10 food groups. But in "emerging economies" like in China, children ate 6.8 out of 10 food groups, more than doubling the overall average, according to the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/climate-change-hurting-childrens-diets-global-study-finds-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Vermont</a>. Household wealth, consequently, was the biggest factor in children's diet diversity, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/global-climate-food/scientists-warn-climate-change-is-harming-childrens-diets-idUSL8N2JO4P4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>"These results suggest that, if we don't adapt, climate change could further erode a diet that already isn't meeting adequate child micronutrient levels," Brendan Fisher from UVM's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/climate-change-hurting-childrens-diets-global-study-finds-0" target="_blank">said</a> about children's diets in developing countries.</p>
<p>Although the study proved what researchers had long expected regarding warming temperatures, they did find surprising results on how precipitation alters diet diversity.</p><p>Higher precipitation, linked to countries in West and Southeast Africa and Central America, was associated with higher diversity in children's diet, the University of Vermont <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/climate-change-hurting-childrens-diets-global-study-finds-0" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p><p>"Higher rainfall in the future may provide important diet quality benefits in multiple ways, but it also depends on how that rain comes," Molly Brown, a co-author of the study <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/climate-change-hurting-childrens-diets-global-study-finds-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>. "If it's more erratic and intense, as is predicted with climate change, this may not hold true."</p><p>Changes in the agriculture and the food industry can also be linked to worsening diets, Paolo Vineis of Imperial College London, who studies the effects of climate change on the disease, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/global-climate-food/scientists-warn-climate-change-is-harming-childrens-diets-idUSL8N2JO4P4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Reuters</a>.</p><p>By 2050, global demand for food may increase by 59 to 98 percent from a larger population. Although this will require major agricultural and food industries to rapidly expand their production, droughts and higher temperatures will threaten their ability to do so, <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/07/25/climate-change-food-agriculture/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Columbia University's Earth Institute reported</a>.</p>
<p>In the United States alone, for example, the production of corn, which is used to feed livestock, could decrease by 50 percent if the planet warms by four degrees Celsius, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6644" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a study found</a>, a likely temperature increase predicted for 2100.</p><p>So what kind of solutions can help?</p><p>Educating investors on the financial risks and potential opportunities of the climate crisis could help the food industry adapt to the climate impacts already being felt, Columbia University's Earth Institute <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/07/25/climate-change-food-agriculture/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a></p><p>"Food security is going to be one of the most pressing climate-related issues, mainly because most of the world is relatively poor and food is going to become increasingly scarce and expensive," Peter De Menocal, founding director of Columbia's Center for Climate and Life, <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/07/25/climate-change-food-agriculture/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Columbia's Earth Institute</a>.</p><p>As for improving diets globally, researchers at the University of Vermont <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abd0ab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stress</a> the need for more research aimed at protecting children's nutrition especially for "vulnerable populations in low and middle-income countries across the tropics where the most profound climate changes are expected."</p>
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A bee hovers near flowers in St. James's Park in central London on May 21, 2020. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP via Getty Images
The UK government is facing backlash after it approved the emergency use of a pesticide thought to kill bees.
<p>In 2018, the EU <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bees-neonicotinoids-ban-europe-2563782231.html" target="_self">widened a ban</a> on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/neonicotinoids" target="_self">neonicotinoid</a> pesticides because of their impact on bees and other <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollinators" target="_self">pollinators</a>. At the time, the UK government pledged to keep the ban in place after leaving the EU, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/09/pesticide-believed-kill-bees-authorised-use-england-eu-farmers?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1YSWraHwiYRbL-Is-uTzJfawa9szFKDi69kljjVjA89a6NR3oZ-Jxnh9o#Echobox=1610199380" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a>. But on Friday, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neonicotinoid-product-as-seed-treatment-for-sugar-beet-emergency-authorisation-application/statement-on-the-decision-to-issue-with-strict-conditions-emergency-authorisation-to-use-a-product-containing-a-neonicotinoid-to-treat-sugar-beet" target="_blank">approved</a> the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for emergency use on sugar beets in 2021.</p><p>"We are very upset," <a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/" target="_blank">Buglife</a> CEO Matt Shardlow said in a <a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/news/wildflowers-to-be-contaminated-with-banned-insecticide-uk-government-says-herbicide-use-will-stop-flowers-poisoning-bees/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>, "this is an environmentally regressive decision by Defra."</p>
<p>The decision was made in response to requests from the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and British Sugar to give sugar beets extra protection from a virus causing an ailment called virus yellows disease, The Guardian explained.</p><p>"Virus yellows disease is having an unprecedented impact on Britain's sugar beet crop, with some growers experiencing yield losses of up to 80%, and this authorisation is desperately needed to fight this disease. It will be crucial in ensuring that Britain's sugar beet growers continue to have viable farm businesses," NFU chairman Michael Sly told The Guardian.</p><p>Other countries still currently in the EU have also allowed emergency use of the product, including Belgium, Denmark and Spain.</p>
<p>But environmental advocates argue that any use of the pesticide is too risky at a time when insect populations are in peril. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/insect-land-decrease-study-2645822562.html" target="_self">2020 study</a> found that land-based insects had declined 50 percent in the last 75 years. The UK alone lost a third of its bees in the last decade, according to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bees-kill-pesticide-insect-sugar-neonic-b1784693.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>. The decline of UK bees since 2007 coincided with the introduction of thiamethoxam, according to The Guardian. Studies have shown that the pesticide can weaken bees' immune systems and harm the brains of young bees, making it harder for them to fly.</p><p>"Insects perform vital roles such as pollination of crops and wildflowers, and nutrient recycling, but so many have suffered drastic declines. Evidence suggests we've lost at least 50% of insects since 1970, and 41% of all insect species are now 'threatened with extinction'", the <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/" target="_blank">Wildlife Trust</a> said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/WildlifeTrusts/status/1347600583423877123" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter thread</a> responding to the news.</p>
<div id="0de70" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6383bf82f42216e4e811db6fb14ec5c0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1347600580592676865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Bad news for bees: The Government has bowed to pressure from the National Farmers Union to agree the use of a highl… https://t.co/W8k7Tl9p4J</div> — The Wildlife Trusts (@The Wildlife Trusts)<a href="https://twitter.com/WildlifeTrusts/statuses/1347600580592676865">1610127990.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Other outraged citizens <a href="https://www.change.org/p/uk-government-stop-the-uk-from-allowing-eu-banned-bee-killing-pesticide-to-be-reintroduced?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=signature_receipt&recruited_by_id=2c54c790-531e-11eb-a9d2-4b93bcde0ccc" target="_blank">launched a petition </a>calling on the government to reverse its decision.</p><p>"This pesticide is lethal to bees and other pollinators which our environment desperately needs to pollinate flora and fauna. Bees pollinate up to 3/4 of crops which makes the use of this pesticide incredibly counter-intuitive," the petition stated.</p><p>The petition earned signatures from celebrities including comedienne Sue Perkins, <a href="https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/petition-launched-to-stop-eu-banned-bee-killing-pesticide-being-reintroduced-in-uk/10/01/" target="_blank">The London Economic noted</a>.</p>
<div id="3f778" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bfde1980182adfd79d6d5ad3351030eb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348217949946048514" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">2017: ‘The principal public good we will invest in is environmental enhancement.” Gove
2020: Introducing banned pe… https://t.co/uUS9Cz3feo</div> — Sue Perkins 💙 (@Sue Perkins 💙)<a href="https://twitter.com/sueperkins/statuses/1348217949946048514">1610275182.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In its statement, Buglife said it was especially concerned about a provision allowing farmers to destroy wildflowers around the beets and a lack of information about plans to keep the pesticide from polluting rivers. It noted that a similar application for emergency use was denied in 2018 due to its potential impacts on bees.</p><p>"Nothing has changed scientifically since the decision to ban neonics from use on sugar beet in 2018, they are still going to harm the environment," Shardlow said.</p>
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