Marsh Creek in north-central California is the site of restoration project that will increase residents' access to their river. Amy Merrill
By Katy Neusteter
The Biden-Harris transition team identified COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as its top priorities. Rivers are the through-line linking all of them. The fact is, healthy rivers can no longer be separated into the "nice-to-have" column of environmental progress. Rivers and streams provide more than 60 percent of our drinking water — and a clear path toward public health, a strong economy, a more just society and greater resilience to the impacts of the climate crisis.
Public Health
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyNDY3MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDkxMTkwNn0.pyP14Bg1WvcUvF_xUGgYVu8PS7Lu49Huzc3PXGvATi4/img.jpg?width=980" id="8e577" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1efb3445f5c445e47d5937a72343c012" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="3000" data-height="2302" />Wild and Scenic Merced River, California. Bob Wick / BLM
<p>Let's begin with COVID-19. More than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?name=styln-coronavirus&region=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection&impression_id=2f508610-2a87-11eb-8622-4f6c038cbd1d&variant=1_Show" target="_blank">16 million Americans</a> have contracted the coronavirus and, tragically,<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?name=styln-coronavirus&region=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection&impression_id=2f508610-2a87-11eb-8622-4f6c038cbd1d&variant=1_Show" target="_blank"> more than</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?name=styln-coronavirus&region=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection&impression_id=2f508610-2a87-11eb-8622-4f6c038cbd1d&variant=1_Show" target="_blank">300,000 have died</a> due to the pandemic. While health officials encourage hand-washing to contain the pandemic, at least <a href="https://closethewatergap.org/" target="_blank">2 million Americans</a> are currently living without running water, indoor plumbing or wastewater treatment. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/23/millions-of-americans-cant-afford-water-bills-rise" target="_blank">aging water infrastructure is growing increasingly costly for utilities to maintain</a>. That cost is passed along to consumers. The upshot? <a href="https://research.msu.edu/affordable-water-in-us-reaching-a-crisis/" target="_blank">More than 13 million</a> U.S. households regularly face unaffordable water bills — and, thus, the threat of water shutoffs. Without basic access to clean water, families and entire communities are at a higher risk of <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2020/08/05/488705/bridging-water-access-gap-covid-19-relief/" target="_blank">contracting</a> and spreading COVID-19.</p><p>We have a moral duty to ensure that everyone has access to clean water to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Last spring, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/coronavirus-stimulus-bill-explained-bailouts-unemployment-benefits.html" target="_blank">Congress appropriated more than $4 trillion</a> to jumpstart the economy and bring millions of unemployed Americans back to work. Additional federal assistance — desperately needed — will present a historic opportunity to improve our crumbling infrastructure, which has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/23/millions-of-americans-cant-afford-water-bills-rise" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grossly underfunded for decades</a>.</p><p>A report by my organization, American Rivers, suggests that <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/american-rivers-website/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/09223525/ECONOMIC-ENGINES-Report-2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Congress must invest at least $50 billion</a> "to address the urgent water infrastructure needs associated with COVID-19," including the rising cost of water. This initial boost would allow for the replacement and maintenance of sewers, stormwater infrastructure and water supply facilities.</p>Economic Recovery
<p>Investing in water infrastructure and healthy rivers also creates jobs. Consider, for example, that <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y9p6sgnk" target="_blank">every $1 million spent on water infrastructure in the United States generates more than 15 jobs</a> throughout the economy, according to a report by the Value of Water Campaign. Similarly, <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yyvd2ksp" target="_blank">every "$1 million invested in forest and watershed restoration contracting will generate between 15.7 and 23.8 jobs,</a> depending on the work type," states a working paper released by the Ecosystem Workforce Program, University of Oregon. Healthy rivers also spur tourism and recreation, which many communities rely on for their livelihoods. According to the findings by the Outdoor Industry Association, which have been shared in our report, "Americans participating in watersports and fishing spend over <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/american-rivers-website/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/30222425/Exec-summary-ECONOMIC-ENGINES-Report-June-30-2020.pdf" target="_blank">$174 billion</a> on gear and trip related expenses. And, the outdoor watersports and fishing economy supports over <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/american-rivers-website/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/30222425/Exec-summary-ECONOMIC-ENGINES-Report-June-30-2020.pdf" target="_blank">1.5 million jobs nationwide</a>."</p><p>After the 2008 financial crisis, Congress invested in infrastructure to put Americans back to work. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/25941-clean-water-green-infrastructure-get-major-boost" target="_blank">of 2009 (ARRA) allocated $6 billion</a> for clean water and drinking water infrastructure to decrease unemployment and boost the economy. More specifically, <a href="https://www.conservationnw.org/news-updates/us-reps-push-for-millions-of-restoration-and-resilience-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an analysis of ARRA</a> "showed conservation investments generated 15 to 33 jobs per million dollars," and more than doubled the rate of return, according to a letter written in May 2020 by 79 members of Congress, seeking greater funding for restoration and resilience jobs.</p><p>Today, when considering how to create work for the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10.7 million</a> people who are currently unemployed, Congress should review previous stimulus investments and build on their successes by embracing major investments in water infrastructure and watershed restoration.</p>Racial Justice
<p>American Rivers also recommends that Congress dedicate <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/american-rivers-website/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/09223525/ECONOMIC-ENGINES-Report-2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$500 billion for rivers and clean water over the next 10 years</a> — not just for the benefit of our environment and economy, but also to begin to address the United States' history of deeply entrenched racial injustice.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/npdes/sanitary-sewer-overflows-ssos" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">23,000-75,000 sewer overflows</a> that occur each year release up to <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/2020/05/fighting-for-rivers-means-fighting-for-justice/#:~:text=There%20are%20also%2023%2C000%20to%2075%2C000%20sanitary%20sewer,to%20do%20with%20the%20mission%20of%20American%20Rivers." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10 billion gallons of toxic sewage</a> <em>every day</em> into rivers and streams. This disproportionately impacts communities of color, because, for generations, Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color have been <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-neighborhoods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relegated</a> to live in flood-prone areas and in neighborhoods that have been intentionally burdened with a lack of development that degrades people's health and quality of life. In some communities of color, incessant flooding due to stormwater surges or <a href="https://www.ajc.com/opinion/opinion-partnering-to-better-manage-our-water/7WQ6SEAQP5E4LGQCEYY5DO334Y/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">combined sewer overflows</a> has gone unmitigated for decades.</p><p>We have historically treated people as separate from rivers and water. We can't do that anymore. Every voice — particularly those of people most directly impacted — must have a loudspeaker and be included in decision-making at the highest levels.</p><p>Accordingly, the new administration must diligently invest in projects at the community level that will improve lives in our country's most marginalized communities. We also must go further to ensure that local leaders have a seat at the decision-making table. To this end, the Biden-Harris administration should restore <a href="https://www.epa.gov/cwa-401#:~:text=Section%20401%20Certification%20The%20Clean%20Water%20Act%20%28CWA%29,the%20United%20States.%20Learn%20more%20about%20401%20certification." target="_blank">Section 401 of the Clean Water Act</a>, which was undermined by the <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/tribes-and-environmental-groups-sue-trump-administration-to-preserve-clean-water-protections#:~:text=Under%20Section%20401%20of%20the%20Clean%20Water%20Act%2C,seeks%20to%20undermine%20that%20authority%20in%20several%20ways%3A" target="_blank">Trump administration's 2020 regulatory changes</a>. This provision gives states and tribes the authority to decide whether major development projects, such as hydropower and oil and gas projects, move forward.</p>Climate Resilience
<p>Of course, the menacing shadow looming over it all? Climate change. <a href="https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IFRC_wdr2020/IFRC_WDR_ExecutiveSummary_EN_Web.pdf" target="_blank">More than 100 climate-related catastrophes</a> have pummeled the Earth since the pandemic was declared last spring, including the blitzkrieg of megafires, superstorms and heat waves witnessed during the summer of 2020, directly impacting the lives of more than <a href="https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IFRC_wdr2020/IFRC_WDR_ExecutiveSummary_EN_Web.pdf" target="_blank">50 million people globally</a>.</p><p>Water and climate scientist Brad Udall often says, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhpj5G0dME" target="_blank">Climate change is water change</a>." In other words, the most obvious and dire impacts of climate change are evidenced in profound changes to our rivers and water resources. You've likely seen it where you live: Floods are more damaging and frequent. Droughts are deeper and longer. Uncertainty is destabilizing industry and lives.</p><p>By galvanizing action for healthy rivers and managing our water resources more effectively, we can insure future generations against the consequences of climate change. First, we must safeguard rivers that are still healthy and free-flowing. Second, we must protect land and property against the ravages of flooding. And finally, we must promote policies and practical solutions that take the science of climate disruption into account when planning for increased flooding, water shortage and habitat disruption.</p><p>Imagine all that rivers do for us. Most of our towns and cities have a river running through them or flowing nearby. Rivers provide clean drinking water, irrigate crops that provide our food, power our homes and businesses, provide wildlife habitat, and are the lifeblood of the places where we enjoy and explore nature, and where we play and nourish our spirits. Healthy watersheds help <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059952" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mitigate</a> climate change, absorbing and reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Healthy rivers and floodplains help communities adapt and build resilience in the face of climate change by improving flood protection and providing water supply and quality benefits. Rivers are the cornerstones of healthy, strong communities.</p><p>The more than <a href="https://archive.epa.gov/water/archive/web/html/index-17.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3 million miles</a> of rivers and streams running across our country are a source of great strength and opportunity. When we invest in healthy rivers and clean water, we can improve our lives. When we invest in rivers, we create jobs and strengthen our economy. When we invest in rivers, we invest in our shared future.</p>From Your Site Articles
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By Daniel Raichel
Industry would have us believe that pesticides help sustain food production — a necessary chemical trade-off for keeping harmful bugs at bay and ensuring we have enough to eat. But the data often tell a different story—particularly in the case of neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics.
<p>Despite being the most widely used family of pesticides in the United States, research has shown that the largest uses of these neurotoxic chemicals do little to nothing to help crop yields or farmers' bottom lines.</p><p>If we look closer, it's easy to see why: The vast majority of neonics are applied as coatings on seeds for crops like corn, soybean, and wheat — where they are most often used indiscriminately, rather than in response to specific pest problems. For many conventional seed varieties, farmers have no choice but to buy neonics-treated seeds, thanks to the near monopolies enjoyed by agrochemical giants, which manufacture both the seeds and the pesticides.</p>
<p>The result? Tens to hundreds of millions of acres are needlessly sown with bee-toxic seeds. And while these wasteful practices may spell good news for the profit margins of chemical manufacturers — to the tune of more than <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/37/22609#ref-3" target="_blank">$3 billion per year</a> — they are catastrophic news for the surrounding ecosystems.</p><p>That's because neonics are pervasive ecosystem contaminants. When coated on seeds, they're absorbed "systemically" as plants grow — up through the roots and into the nectar, pollen, and fruit itself — which then get eaten by other wildlife. What doesn't make it into the plant (usually more than 95 percent of the toxic seed coating) leaches out into the soil, where it can travel long distances, carried by rain and agricultural runoff into new soil, plants, and water supplies. Once in the ground, neonics are long-lived — building up in the soil over time and continuing to harm or kill bugs and other wildlife for years after application.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, our agricultural system is now <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0220029" target="_blank">48 times more harmful</a> to insect life than it was just two decades ago, with neonics accounting for more than 90 percent of that increase. That's why it's also no surprise that neonics have been recognized as a <a href="http://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol67-2014-125-130lu.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">primary cause</a> of the massive losses of U.S. honey bee colonies every year — the unfortunate new normal. Neonics are also linked to mass die-offs of <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/FAQsProposedListing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">native bees</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/09/widely-used-pesticide-makes-birds-lose-weight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">birds</a>, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6465/620" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fish</a>, and harm to other important insects and earthworms, which keep our soil healthy and nutrient-dense.</p>
<p>This contamination poses a clear ecological crisis but it's also a crisis for how we eat.</p><p>In <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922" target="_blank">a recent study out of Rutgers University</a>, researchers looked at seven different crops in 131 commercially managed fields across North America to see how many crops were "pollinator-limited" — i.e., crops whose yields would be higher were there more pollinators.</p><p>Distressingly, five out of every seven crops they analyzed were pollinator-limited — including favorites like apples, cherries, and blueberries. "Honeybee colonies are weaker than they used to be and wild bees are declining, probably by a lot," <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said the paper's senior author, Rachael Winfree</a>. "Fewer bees, in turn, mean less food, and more pressure on struggling honeybee populations to replace pollination from native bees."</p><p>As Winfree notes, this reliance on a single species is risky, "setting us up for food security problems." Worse yet, the study shows the likely impact of neonics on our food supply isn't decades away; it's already happening right now.</p><p>For the present, industries can use stopgap solutions—like breeding and shipping out more honeybees to make up for lost colonies — but these strategies may ultimately fail if we don't address the source of the vast and wasteful neonic contamination.</p><p>Looking into the future, low yields may mean that some of our favorite foods become far pricier or unavailable entirely — an outcome with high human and economic costs.</p><p>In the United States, the production of crops that rely on pollination is valued at more than <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$50 billion annually</a>. Indeed, one in every three bites of food is reliant on pollinators. Food workers — an umbrella term for a behemoth industry that includes everyone from farm workers to restaurant cooks and servers to grocery store clerks — could experience increased job disruptions, too, should the markets for these foods become upended.</p><p>Recently, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/letter_from_new_york_chefs_on_neonics_01202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a group of local New York chefs</a> — recognizing their reliance on bees and an abundant and diverse food supply to keep restaurants open, workers employed, and their food healthy and delicious—asked state legislators to rein in wasteful neonic use statewide.</p><p>Faced with rising food costs, more families may also struggle to put food on the table. Already, more than <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10.5 percent of all U.S. families</a> — or more than 35 million Americans — experienced food insecurity at some point in 2019. During the COVID-19 crisis, that <a href="https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/54-million-people-america-face-food-insecurity-during-pandemic-it-could-have-dire-consequences-their" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">number has ballooned</a>. For those unsure where their next meal may come from, even moderate increases in food costs are felt acutely. Potentially significant changes to food costs or availability — particularly for our most nutrient-dense produce — would likely <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23946342/#affiliation-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hit low-income families hardest</a>.</p><p>The stakes are high, but the solution is simple: We must rein in needless neonic use that threatens our food supply and contaminates our land and water on a vast scale.</p><p>In the same turn, we must also support <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/regenerative-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">regenerative agriculture</a> practices, which eliminate the need for synthetic pesticides like neonics. A more just and sustainable food system that protects workers, consumers, and the wild world also protects our food security — it's what we need and <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/arohi-sharma/regenerative-agriculture-part-1-philosophy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">it's within reach</a>.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/daniel-raichel" target="_blank">Daniel Raichel</a> is a staff attorney and a member of the Lands & Wildlife program, focusing on protecting our nation's bee populations from the ever-growing threats to their health and existence—in particular, the use of bee-toxic pesticides. Before joining the Wildlife team, Raichel was codirector of NRDC's Community Fracking Defense Project and an advocate for the cleanup of industrial pollution in the New York region. Prior to that, he was a member of the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic. Raichel holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He works out of the Chicago office. </em></p>
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</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><em><br></em>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" data-width="710" data-height="959" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" data-width="800" data-height="800" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Samples of chocolate, strawberry and taro ice cream in the Chinese city of Tianjin tested positive for coronavirus. Alex Lau / Conde Nast via Getty Images
Ice cream samples in the Chinese municipality of Tianjin have tested positive for traces of the new coronavirus.
<p>The virus showed up in samples of chocolate, strawberry and taro ice cream produced by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company that were submitted for inspection, Chinese media reported Friday, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-cream-tianjin-covid-19_n_600215fbc5b697df1a05b059" target="_blank">according to HuffPost</a>.</p><p>"If you have recently purchased this product, please contact the community to report," a government press release read, as <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-cream-covid19/" target="_blank">Snopes.com reported</a>. "At present, the traceability of the source of the virus is still in progress."</p>
<p>The press released obtained by Snopes was released on Jan. 15 by the Tianjin Municipal People's Government. It stated that the company had been temporarily shuttered and all of its employees were in quarantine. As of Jan. 14, 700 of the 1,662 employees had tested negative for the virus and the rest were still awaiting their results.</p><p>In total, there were more than 4,800 boxes of contaminated ice cream. Around 2,090 were still in storage, but 2,750 had already shipped. Of those, more than 930 stayed in Tianjin while around 1,800 were sent outside the city, which is close to Beijing.</p>
<p>Government officials said they were working to locate all of the ice cream sold in Tianjin, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/beijing-tianjin-coronavirus-pandemic-wuhan-china-a75ec51c11338190c483c78d65c3348d" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported. They also informed authorities in other municipalities where the ice cream was sold. So far, there is no evidence that anyone has been infected by the ice cream.</p><p>The ice cream was made with whey powder imported from Ukraine and milk powder imported from New Zealand.</p><p>University of Leeds virologist Dr. Stephen Griffin told <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-ice-cream-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-in-china-12188761" target="_blank">Sky News</a> that the positive test was probably not cause for alarm.</p><p>"It's likely this has come from a person, and without knowing the details, I think this is probably a one-off," he said.</p>
<p>Griffin speculated that the ice cream probably became infected during the production process or because of poor hygiene at the factory. The ice cream's cold temperature and fat content would then have allowed the virus to survive.</p><p>"We probably don't need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus," Griffin told Sky.</p><p>SARS, which is related to the new coronavirus, has been shown to survive as an infectious virus up to 28 days at around 39 degrees Fahrenheit, HuffPost pointed out. It also survived for an extended amount of time at colder temperatures.<br></p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said the risk of contracting the virus from food or food packaging is low. "Currently, there is no evidence that food is associated with spreading the virus that causes COVID-19," the CDC website <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/food-and-COVID-19.html#:~:text=Currently%2C%20there%20is%20no%20evidence%20that%20food%20is%20associated%20with,thought%20to%20be%20very%20low." target="_blank">reads</a>.</p>
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Boletus mushrooms such as these are on the menu at ONA restaurant in Arès, France. Jarry / Tripelon / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images)
For the first time ever, a vegan restaurant in France has been awarded a coveted Michelin star.
<p>The French edition of the Michelin guide, published Monday, awarded a star to <a href="https://www.clairevallee.com/" target="_blank">ONA</a>. The name stands for Origine Non-Animale, or animal-free origin, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55717253" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. The restaurant is located in Arès, near Bordeaux in southwestern France, and was started by chef Claire Vallée, a 41-year-old former archeologist who became a vegan after a trip to Thailand.</p><p>"[T]his star is mine, it is yours, it is that of the impossible," Vallée wrote in an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMBEB5gvqI/" target="_blank">Instagram post announcing the win</a>. "It brings Vegetable Gastronomy definitively into the closed circle of French and Global Gastronomy."</p><p>The Michelin Guide <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/en/about-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">started in France</a> in the late nineteenth century as a road guide published by the Michelin tire company. Over time, it evolved into a highly respected restaurant review guide, thanks to reviewers who secretly visited them. The hierarchy of one, two or three stars became established by 1936. The Michelin system has since spread abroad, and currently rates more than 30,000 restaurants in at least 30 territories. The guide has awarded stars to vegan restaurants in other countries, BBC News reported, but never before in its place of origin. In addition to the Michelin star, ONA also won a green star, a recognition of ethical practices.</p><p>"It felt like I got hit by a train," Vallée told AFP of the win, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/19/michelin-awards-star-to-vegan-restaurant-for-the-first-time-in-france" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to an AFP story published in The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Vallée and ONA had a winding road to success. Her first requests for a loan were denied by traditional French banks, who were skeptical of both her chosen location and her menu.<br></p><p>"They said the outlook for veganism and plant-based food was too uncertain," she told AFP.</p><p>Undeterred, Vallée crowdfunded her restaurant, and also obtained a loan from a bank called Le Nef, which funds ethical projects.</p><p>"This goes to show that nothing is impossible," she told AFP.</p>
<p>ONA opened its doors in 2016, according to BBC News. The restaurant offers a seven-dish gourmet menu that uses ingredients such as fir tree, boletus mushrooms and celery. However, it is currently closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>Coronavirus restrictions also made it difficult to publish this year's Michelin guide, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/france-michelin-stars/michelin-guide-offers-crumb-of-comfort-to-frances-covid-hit-chefs-idINKBN29N1ID" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>, as inspectors only had a few weeks to visit restaurants in between lockdowns. The annual guide also comes at a tough time for restaurants.</p><p>"For people who get their first star, in the period that we're suffering through, this will be at least a comfort for them," chef Sylvain Sendra of Paris restaurant Fleur de Pave told Reuters.</p>
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Eat Just's cell-based chicken nugget is now served at Singapore restaurant 1880. Eat Just, Inc.
At a time of impending global food scarcity, cell-based meats and seafood have been heralded as the future of food.
<p>This cell-based industry is where scientists, environmentalists and food technology companies intersect to offer more sustainable ways to feed the world's growing population. The high-tech food innovations take "the animal out of the meat" and create "seafood without the sea," respectively coined by <a href="https://newatlas.com/lab-grown-meat-public-attitudes/48921/?itm_source=newatlas&itm_medium=article-body" target="_blank">New Atlas</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/05/720041152/seafood-without-the-sea-will-lab-grown-fish-hook-consumers" target="_blank">NPR</a>. These products — real meat and seafood — are originally cultured from animal cells but made without the actual animal. Because of this, many of the personal and global concerns about safety, ethics and the environment can be avoided without sacrificing food preferences.</p><p>Two leading industry examples are Eat Just and BlueNalu. Last month, Singapore issued San Francisco-based Eat Just the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/lab-grown-chicken-approved-singapore-2649108790.html" target="_self">world's first regulatory approval for cell-based meat</a>. The "chicken nuggets" are now available at downtown Singapore restaurant 1880. Meanwhile, San Diego's BlueNalu has pioneered "cellular aquaculture" to create cell-based seafood fillets from fish, including yellowtail, mahi-mahi, red snapper and tuna. In mid-2020, the company increased its research and development facilities six-fold after completing a $20 million funding round, <a href="https://thefishsite.com/articles/blue-nalu-set-for-6-fold-expansion" target="_blank">The Fish Site</a> reported. These two companies are pushing the industry to the next level with key regulatory developments and new innovations.</p><h3>The Science Behind Cell-Based</h3><p>In a nutshell, this is how cell-based food works: muscle stem cells are obtained from an actual animal, like chicken or fish, and cultivated in steel tanks with the same nutrients that living animals consume. The goal is not to grow a full animal, so the end result doesn't include the head, tail or heart, for example, while the original cell donor isn't sacrificed. The harvested cells multiply and are shaped to form meat or fish that cooks, looks and tastes just like its real counterpart.</p><p>"The process is somewhat like culturing a beer. At the end of the process, you have chicken meat," Eat Just CEO Josh Tetrick told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-01-11/would-you-eat-lab-grown-meat-video" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>.</p><p>BlueNalu's President and CEO Lou Cooperhouse agreed, telling EcoWatch, "We aren't making a living being, it's just a fish fillet. It's live tissue until we freeze it. Then it's no longer live; it's the product you might have and consume every day."</p>
<h3>The Taste</h3><p>But how does it really taste? Identical to what consumers are used to, both companies told EcoWatch.</p><p>Cooperhouse described how his company mimics the "mouth feel" of conventional fish by recreating the same proportions of muscle, fat and connective tissue in their cell-based fillets. The company uses starter cells to grow all three types of tissue and then combines them to create the same exact product that consumers are used to eating.</p><p>"We're creating identical mahi-mahi to conventional mahi-mahi, from a sensory perspective and a functional perspective," Cooperhouse told EcoWatch. "When you cook it, it smells like fish. You can fry it, bake it, saute it. It caramelizes. It has all the same characteristics as fish, because it is fish. We just made it out of the body. We made it in steel tanks."</p><p>Andrew Noyes, head of global communications for Eat Just, similarly said that their chicken product "cooks, looks and tastes like chicken," including the flavor profile and texture, "because it is chicken."</p>
<h3>The Many Advantages of Cultured Foods</h3><p>Both companies emphasized how cell-based foods don't require killing animals or adding growth hormones or antibiotics. Cell-based food also removes the environmental impact of industrial farming and commercial fishing. This "critical overlay of benefits at every level" creates a new solution for global supply chains that supports biodiversity and the planet's health, Cooperhouse said.</p><p>"We want consumers to know our fillets are different in these ways," Cooperhouse added. "They're not wild, not farmed." On a <a href="https://medium.com/eat-blue/not-wild-not-farmed-but-what-should-we-call-our-seafood-made-from-fish-cells-136fa0343b4d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">company blog</a>, Cooperhouse said that BlueNalu's products are a third alternative way to enjoy fish that is "as delicious and nutritious as their wild-caught or farm-raised counterparts... but without the mercury, microplastics or other pollutants that might be associated with conventional seafood."</p><p>Tetrick also emphasized the safety advantage of cultured meat over conventional. "This way of making meat radically decreases the probability of zoonotic diseases through our food system," he told Bloomberg, because it avoided pathogens like E. coli and salmonella, as well as sanitization concerns.</p><p>The environmental benefits of cell-cultured meat also mean less environmental destruction. Conventional <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/meat-consumption" target="_self">meat production</a> requires massive amounts of land for grazing and food production. Just growing feed for livestock <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/meat-consumption-2021-2649770271.html">uses 71 percent of global arable land</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-collapse-2649776959.html#:~:text=The%20future%20of%20the%20world's,dry%2C%20shrubby%20plain%20by%202064." target="_self">drives Amazonian deforestation</a>.</p>
<p>"Chicken is the world's most consumed (and fastest growing) meat," Noyes told EcoWatch. "Chickens also consume more feed collectively than other farmed animals. Today, more than one-third of the ice-free land on Earth and tens of millions of acres of rainforest teeming with our planet's most diverse life forms have been replaced with fields of chicken feed."</p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/I9540EN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations</a>, 60 percent of the world's fisheries are fully fished, or at maximum output capacity, and 33 percent are overfished. Additionally, in the last half-century, oceanic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dead-zones" target="_self">dead zones</a> have quadrupled due to fishing and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, reported <a href="https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/lab-grown-fish?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Big Think</a>. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish-farms" target="_self">Fish farming</a>, once thought to be a solution to declining wild fish populations, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/industrial-agriculture-problems-boycott-2554509022.html" target="_self">brings its own issues</a>, including the loss of critical mangrove habitat and the proliferation of sea lice and other diseases from farms, which escape and kill wild fish, <a href="https://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-basics/sustainable-solutions/preserve-habitats#:~:text=The%20exponential%20growth%20of%20aquaculture,the%20local%20people%20and%20ecosystems." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Seafood Watch</a> reported.</p><p>Cell-based seafood won't put pressure on these depleted stocks and fragile habitats and will also avoid bycatch, a serious threat to biodiversity when unintentionally fished creatures are injured or killed.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/beef-and-climate-change-2634244134.html" target="_blank">Meat production</a> is also energy-intensive and generates vast amounts of methane and other greenhouse gases. Cell-based foods are more carbon efficient and climate-friendly than conventional meat and seafood because of production efficiency and a localized distribution plan.</p><p>"If you look at climate change, this way of making meat is 90 percent more carbon-efficient than the typical approach," Tetrick told Bloomberg.</p><p>BlueNalu is preparing to scale for global cities to house 150,000-square-foot facilities, each capable of producing enough cell-based seafood to feed more than 10 million local residents, NPR reported. This way, cell-based seafood will avoid greenhouse gas emissions caused by shipping.</p>
<p>Finally, waste is reduced because these companies are only growing the animal parts to be consumed. Traditionally, cattle are inefficient, requiring five to 20 pounds of plant-based feed to create one pound of conventional beef, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/beyond-the-impossible-meat-grown-from-cells-better-for-planet-if-you-will-eat-it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNet</a> reported. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lab-grown-meat/" target="_blank">Scientific American</a> estimated that one tissue sample from a cow could yield enough muscle tissue to make 80,000 quarter-pounders.<br></p><p>Cooperhouse estimated that a typical fish would produce a 60 percent yield after cutting off the head and tail and removing the skin and bones, whereas his fillets yield 100 percent.</p><p>"It's a total paradigm shift from an environmental and sustainability perspective," he told EcoWatch. "All that freight, oil, labor, dry ice, foam coolers — all goes away."</p><p>The consistency of quality, readily available products has also garnered interest from foodservice operators, Cooperhouse said. Having a stable supply available year-round will help restaurants combat the variability they currently experience.</p>
<h3>Challenges</h3><p>The big question is whether or not the general public will eat the products, once available.</p><p>"If there's an ick factor to cell-based fish, remember that most processed foods are already created in laboratories," argued Big Think. "There are no Oreo trees or ketchup plants to harvest."</p><p>A University of Queensland survey found that a majority of respondents would try the products, but less would eat them regularly or see them as conventional meat replacements, <a href="https://newatlas.com/lab-grown-meat-public-attitudes/48921/?itm_source=newatlas&itm_medium=article-body" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Atlas</a> reported. Respondents reported that taste would be a driving factor in favor of cell-based foods.</p><p>Cost is the other issue. For Eat Just, their products are competitively priced with premium chicken, although they foresee a pathway for a cheaper price within the next five years, Tetrick told Bloomberg. BlueNalu doesn't yet have a price point for their inaugural mahi-mahi fillet, but are aggressively partnering with known brands and distributors to lower costs.</p><h3>What's Next</h3><p>Singapore's approval of Eat Just's nugget is paving the way for other companies and nations to follow suit, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-meat-to-go-on-sale-for-first-time" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. Both Eat Just and BlueNalu are actively engaging regulators in the U.S. and other countries to bring their products online as quickly and safely as possible. Since the products are not genetically modified, "the approval will be about whether this is safe, clean, and are the manufacturing processes reliable and accountable," Cooperhouse told NPR.</p><p>While not a substitute for all conventional food, if cell-based meats and seafood are scaled up and accepted, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/meat-consumption-predictions-vegan-lab-2638801931.html" target="_self">many hope to feed the world's anticipated 9.5 billion people</a> without stripping the planet bare and ruining the climate.</p><p>"The simplest way to think about it is it allows all of us to consume meat, the good part, the nutritional composition, the taste, and do away with the bad part, which is the killing, the environmental deforestation, the acceleration of zoonotic disease, and we can still have a fried chicken," Tetrick told Bloomberg.</p>
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piyaset / iStock / Getty Images Plus
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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Anti-Nutrients: They’re Part of a Normal Diet and Not as Scary as They Sound
14 January
Health + Wellness
Joan Ransley / Moment / Getty Images
By Jill Joyce
Maybe you're trying to eat healthier these days, aiming to get enough of the good stuff and limit the less-good stuff. You're paying attention to things like fiber and fat and vitamins … and anti-nutrients?
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What the heck are anti-nutrients and are they something you need to be concerned about in your diet?
</p><p>
Let me, as a public health nutrition researcher, reassure you that anti-nutrients aren't the evil nemesis of all the nutritious foods you eat. As long as you're consuming a balanced and varied diet, anti-nutrients are not a concern. In fact, scientists are realizing they actually have many health benefits.
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What Are Anti-Nutrients?
<p><a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/anti-nutrients/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anti-nutrients are substances</a> that naturally occur in plant and animal foods.</p><p>The name comes from how they function in your body once you eat them. They <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/antinutrients" target="_blank">block or interfere with how your body</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0710640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">absorbs other nutrients</a> out of your gut and into your bloodstream so you can then use them. Thus, anti-nutrients may decrease the amount of nutrients you actually get from your food. They most commonly interfere with the absorption of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc</a>.</p><p>Plants evolved these <a href="https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/070111p54.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">compounds as a defensive mechanism</a> against insects, parasites, bacteria and fungi. For example, some anti-nutrients can cause a food to taste bitter; animals won't want to eat it, leaving the seed, for instance, to provide nourishment for future seedlings. Some anti-nutrients block the digestion of seeds that are eaten. The seeds disperse when they come out the other end in the animal's fecal matter and can go on to grow new plants. Both of these survival tactics help the plant species grow and spread.</p><p><span></span>In terms of foods that people eat, you'll most commonly find anti-nutrients naturally occurring in whole grains and legumes.</p>Time for an Image Makeover as Health Enhancers
<p>Despite sounding scary, studies show that anti-nutrients are not of concern unless consumed in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.010" target="_blank">ultra, unrealistically high amounts</a> – and they have numerous health benefits.</p><p>Anti-nutrients are currently undergoing a change in image very similar to the one dietary fiber experienced. At one point, scientists thought dietary fiber was bad for people. Since fiber could bind to nutrients and pull them out of the digestive tract in poop, it seemed like something to avoid. To address this perceived issue, grain processing in the late 1800s removed fiber from foods.</p><p>But now scientists know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x" target="_blank">dietary fiber is incredibly important</a> and encourage its consumption. Eating plenty of fiber lowers the risks of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some gastrointestinal diseases.</p><p>In the same way, rather than something to avoid, many anti-nutrients are now considered health-promoting nutraceuticals and functional foods due to their numerous benefits. Here's an introduction to some of the most frequently eaten anti-nutrients that come with benefits:</p><ul><li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/109662004322984734" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Saponins, common in legumes</a>, can boost the immune system, reduce risk of cancer, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar response to foods, result in fewer cavities, reduce risk of kidney stones and combat blood clotting seen in heart attacks and strokes.</li><li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.010" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lectins, found in cereal grains and legumes</a>, are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers and becoming overweight or obese.</li><li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10408699891274273" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tannins, commonly found in teas, coffees and processed meats and cheeses</a>, are antioxidants that can inhibit growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeast and may decrease cholesterol levels and blood pressure.</li><li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0710640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phytates, found in wheat, barley, rice and corn</a>, are associated with increased immune function and cancer cell death, as well as reduced cancer cell growth and spread. They also have antioxidant properties and can reduce inflammation.</li><li>Finally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831.72.1.26" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glucosinates, found in brassica vegetables</a> like cauliflower, inhibit tumor cell growth.</li></ul><p>Oxalates are one of the few anti-nutrients with mostly negative impacts on the body. They are <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa166321" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found in lots of common foods</a>, including legumes, beets, berries, cranberries, oranges, chocolate, tofu, wheat bran, soda, coffee, tea, beer, dark green vegetables and sweet potatoes. The negative impacts of oxalates include binding to calcium in the digestive tract and removing it from the body in bowel movements. Oxalates can also <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa166321" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase the risk of kidney stones</a> in some people.</p>Fitting Anti-Nutrients Into a Healthy Diet
<p>Overall, comparing the benefits to the drawbacks, anti-nutrient pros actually outweigh the cons. The healthy foods that contain them – mainly fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes – should be encouraged not avoided.</p><p>Anti-nutrients become a concern only if these foods are consumed in ultra-high amounts, <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=426312" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">which is very unlikely</a> for most adults and children in the U.S. Additionally, a large proportion of anti-nutrients are removed or lost from foods people eat <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/anti-nutrients/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as they're processed and cooked</a>, especially if soaking, blanching, boiling or other high-heat processes are involved.</p><p>Vegetarians and vegans may be at higher risk of negative effects from anti-nutrients because their diet relies heavily on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. But these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plant-based diets are still among the healthiest</a> and are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and numerous types of cancers.</p><p>Vegetarians and vegans can take a few steps to help counteract anti-nutrients' effects on their absorption of particular nutrients:</p><ul><li>Pair high iron <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/130.5.1378S" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and zinc</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.afnr.2014.11.003" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foods with</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1233S" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foods high in vitamin C</a> (examples: meatballs with tomato sauce, tomato-based chili with beans).</li><li><a href="https://www.jblearning.com/catalog/productdetails/9780763779764?jblsearch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soak legumes before cooking</a>.</li><li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/70.3.543s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Time dairy intake</a> such that it is not always paired with high oxalate foods.</li><li>Purchase dairy products that are fortified with calcium.</li><li>Consider a multivitamin-mineral supplement with about 100% of the daily recommended dose of nutrients (check the nutrition facts panel) as nutrition insurance if you are worried, but be sure to talk to your doctor first.<em></em></li></ul><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jill-joyce-1172925" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jill Joyce</a> is an assistant professor of Public Health Nutrition at Oklahoma State University.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: Jill Joyce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-nutrients-theyre-part-of-a-normal-diet-and-not-as-scary-as-they-sound-149229" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Toxins enter the body through what we eat, drink, breathe in, and process in any way. Once inside, toxins overtax our immune system and detoxification system and leave us more vulnerable to illness — not ideal during cold and flu season, and especially not this year during a pandemic — and make us age a little faster, too.
<p>Fortunately, there are a lot of simple things you can do from the comfort of your own home to keep toxins out of your body, flush them out of your system faster, and boost your immunity all at the same time, says Dr. Bill Rawls, Medical Director of Vital Plan. He shares his top 10 strategies below.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://vitalplan.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Rawls</a> is a licensed medical doctor in North Carolina and a leading expert in integrative health. He has extensive training in alternative therapies, and is the Medical Director of Vital Plan, a holistic health and herbal supplement company in Raleigh, NC.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/10-natural-ways-to-detox-boost-your-immunity-at-home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vital Plan</a>. </em></p>
1. Source Your Food Wisely
<p>Try to stay away from packaged and processed foods that contain ingredients you can't pronounce, and instead reach for fresh food from natural sources. Aim to make vegetables more than 50% of your daily diet — their fiber is a great natural binder, and they're full of beneficial <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/the-case-of-the-missing-phytochemicals-and-how-to-get-them-back" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">phytochemicals</a> — and minimize your red meat consumption.</p><p>Also, whenever practical, choose <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/how-to-eat-organic-without-spending-a-fortune" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">organic</a> over conventional products. That said, we know organic prices and accessibility can be an issue, so for help making strategic decisions, refer to the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Working Group</a> (EWG) "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" lists:</p><h3>The Dirty Dozen:</h3><ol><li>Strawberries</li><li>Spinach</li><li>Kale</li><li>Nectarines</li><li>Apples</li><li>Grapes</li><li>Peaches</li><li>Cherries</li><li>Pears</li><li>Tomatoes</li><li>Celery</li><li>Potatoes</li><li>Raisins*</li></ol><p><em>(*While raisins aren't technically a fresh food, the EWG found that they are "one of the dirtiest produce commodities on the market — and even some organic raisins are contaminated.")</em></p><h3>The Clean Fifteen</h3><ol><li>Avocado</li><li>Sweet corn</li><li>Pineapple</li><li>Onion</li><li>Papaya</li><li>Frozen sweet peas</li><li>Eggplant</li><li>Asparagus</li><li>Cauliflower</li><li>Cantaloupe</li><li>Broccoli</li><li>Mushrooms</li><li>Cabbage</li><li>Honeydew</li><li>Kiwi</li></ol>2. Consider Detoxifying and Immune-Boosting Herbs
<p>There are a number of herbs and natural ingredients that can help support detoxification and immune health. Here are the ones at the top of Dr. Rawls' list:</p><p><span></span><strong>Chlorella:</strong> This nutrient-rich freshwater algae binds to toxins so they can be eliminated from your body more efficiently. Chlorella works particularly well for withdrawing heavy metals. Pure chlorella can be purchased in the form of bulk powder, tablets, or capsules.</p><p><strong><a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/milk-thistle" target="_blank">Milk Thistle</a>:</strong> It's been used for thousands of years to support a healthy liver, the primary organ responsible for detoxification.</p><p><strong>Dandelion:</strong> Known to help support liver function, research suggests <a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/dandelion-extract" target="_blank">dandelion</a> helps promote the body's natural detoxification and elimination processes.</p><p><strong>Bitters:</strong> <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/the-impressive-health-benefits-of-bitter-foods" target="_blank">Bitter</a> flavors are important to digestion — they stimulate the release of the saliva, enzymes, and bile that help break down your food. Include bitter herbs and foods in each meal, or take a botanical extract that blends bitter herbs like dandelion root, burdock root, orange peel, and gentian root</p><p><strong>Reishi mushroom:</strong> An extensively studied adaptogenic mushroom, <a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/reishi" target="_blank">reishi</a> has exceptional immunomodulating and antiviral properties. It helps normalize <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/are-you-inflammaging-how-to-stop-the-inflammation-that-speeds-up-aging" target="_blank">inflammatory</a> cytokines and promotes healthy immune response against threatening <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/the-immortal-life-of-your-microbiome" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">microbes</a>.</p><p><strong>Rhodiola:</strong> Another adaptogen, <a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/rhodiola" target="_blank">rhodiola</a> improves stress tolerance by reducing fatigue, supporting energy levels, and improving tissue oxygenation.</p><p><span></span><strong><a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/turmeric" target="_blank">Turmeric</a>:</strong> This popular spice is well loved for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.</p><p><strong>Shilajit:</strong> An herbo-mineral adaptogen, <a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/shilajit" target="_blank">shilajit</a> has a long history of use in traditional Indian medicine for longevity and strength. It's also an immunomodulator with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties.</p><p><strong>Gotu Kola:</strong> Best known for improving memory and mood, <a href="https://vitalplan.com/ingredients/gotu-kola" target="_blank">gotu kola</a> is also great for promoting a normal response to inflammation, balancing stress hormones, and supporting circulation.</p>Shop Vital Plan Pure Chlorella
<a href="https://vitalplan.sjv.io/rA4MB" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NDQ2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTAwNTEwMX0.yI_i-pZySmK6Dq6VlwfJuBa60zHTY1va2FwBu1p2zak/img.jpg?width=1200&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0&height=1200" id="949ac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e235a717283ef3ed8db9d8ce65a9bbbb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1200" /></a><p><em><em>Vital Plan is a certified B Corporation — one of only eight supplement companies recognized for achieving the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. If you make a purchase using the link above, EcoWatch may earn a commission.</em></em></p>3. Filter Your Water
<p>Much of America's tap water has been shown to contain pollutants, so filtering what comes out of your kitchen sink is smart. To be sure you're using a filter that does the trick, keep these guidelines in mind:</p><ul><li>Look for a filter certified by NSF International or the Water Quality Association.</li><li>Choose one that removes the contaminants in your water (check your local drinking water quality report to see what's present).</li><li>Change your water filters on time.</li></ul>4. Choose Safe and Effective Cleaning Supplies
<p>When buying household cleaning products, don't bring home chemicals that could harm your health more than some of the microbes you're trying to get rid of. Fortunately, there are a number of products on the market that work safely; here are some ways to shop wisely:</p><ul><li>Look for the Green Seal, Ecologo, or Safer Choice (EPA) seals.</li><li>Opt for fragrance-free options.</li><li>Avoid triclosan and quaternary ammonium compounds or "quats." (One tactic is to choose products that don't advertise as "antibacterial.")</li><li>Consult the EWG's list of <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/03/16-effective-and-safe-products-guard-against-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">safe and effective products</a> for guarding against coronavirus.</li></ul>5. Opt for Non-Toxic Beauty and Personal Care Products
<p>There are a lot of claims made on beauty and self-care products these days, but words alone, like "natural," "organic," "non-toxic," "clean," "green," and "eco-friendly," don't mean a thing — they aren't backed by any sort of regulatory or certification processes. Instead, to find non-toxic products you trust, you have to do a little research.</p><p>Start by checking reputable ratings databases like <a href="https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Skin Deep</a> (EWG) and <a href="https://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Think Dirty</a>. Another good bet: Look for reliable third-party certifications on products labels, including:</p><ul><li>USDA Organic</li><li>EWG Verified</li><li>Made Safe</li><li>NSF/ANSI 305</li><li>Natural Products Association Certified</li><li>Whole Foods Market Premium Body Care</li></ul>6. Get Outside
<p>One more reason to <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/how-to-feel-great-and-boost-longevity-in-just-17-minutes-a-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">get outdoors</a> beyond combatting cabin fever: The air in natural environments is generally much cleaner than indoor air. For one, outdoor air contains ⅔ less carbon dioxide, high levels of which negatively affect our productivity, <a href="https://vitalplan.com/blog/natural-sleep-aids" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">sleep</a>, and more.</p><p>Forest air in particular contains phytoncides, organic compounds emitted by trees and plants that have been shown to boost our immune system function, plus plants in general help neutralize toxic substances in the air. Forests, open spaces, and open water are also rich in negative ions, which reduce inflammation.</p><p>So take your pick of natural environs, and get out there as often as possible — while still maintaining at least 6 feet of distance between yourself and others, of course.</p>7. Bring Nature Indoors
<p>Plants are natural air purifiers, so bringing some plants indoors can help clear the air in your home. Here's a list of the top 10 air-purifying plants to consider:</p><ul><li>Areca palm</li><li>Lady palm</li><li>Bamboo palm</li><li>Rubber plant</li><li>Dracaena</li><li>English ivy</li><li>Dwarf date palm</li><li>Ficus</li><li>Boston fern</li><li>Peace lily</li></ul>8. Drive Less, Move More
<p>Staying off the roads decreases air pollution, and the fact that many of us are driving less these days is noticeably improving air quality. If your commute is on hold, try to translate some of your usual travel time into getting more physical activity, or sneak in more movement between other normal routines.</p><p>Exercise improves circulation, oxygenates your tissues, and enhances the work of the lymphatic system through muscle contractions — all of which make it easier to move toxins out of your body.</p>9. Practice Forgiveness
<p>Through the practice of gratitude, we stay centered and in the present moment. This allows us to move through situations from our heart. Take time to forgive someone or yourself for things in the past. When we forgive, we expand and open up to endless possibilities.</p>10. Quit a Bad Habit
<p>Are you a smoker? Pack rat? Chronically sleep-deprived? In a bad relationship? Toxins come into our lives in many forms. Consider if you're participating in any unhealthy patterns or holding onto anything that no longer serves you, and then find a way to limit those things in your life.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Lindsay Upson / Image Source / Getty Images
By Kyla Shea
When Danish scientist Henrik Dam fed a cholesterol-free diet to baby chicks in his lab about 90 years ago, he noticed excessive bleeding in some of them. It did not stop after he replaced the cholesterol. Dam ultimately concluded the bleeding was related to a "depletion of an anti-hemorrhagic compound," which he called vitamin K (for "koagulation," as spelled in Danish). For that discovery, Dam won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1943.
<p>
Most people know about vitamins A, B, C, D and/or E, but vitamin K slips under the nutritional radar. Yet it is essential for life because it's required for blood to clot normally. Now scientists are now realizing there is more to know about this less appreciated nutrient.
</p><p>
Today, the Jean Mayer USDA <a href="https://hnrca.tufts.edu/research-laboratories/vitamin-k/" target="_blank">Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging</a> at Tufts University houses the only research team in the world focused exclusively on vitamin K nutrition. I am a research scientist on that <a href="https://hnrca.tufts.edu/research-laboratories/vitamin-k/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">team</a>. We study how food provides vitamin K to support healthy aging.
</p>
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Why is vitamin K important?
<p>Over the past few decades, scientists discovered vitamin K-dependent proteins in many tissues throughout the body. This suggests vitamin K <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27930" target="_blank">has physiological roles</a> well beyond blood clotting. For example, in arterial tissue, proteins dependent on vitamin K can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200402046" target="_blank">help prevent calcification</a>. This is critical, because arterial calcification can lead to heart attacks.</p><p><span></span>Without vitamin K, these proteins cannot prevent calcification. And because these proteins are present in cartilage and bone, we are also studying how these vitamin K-dependent proteins may be involved in osteoarthritis.</p><p>Just as there are several forms of B vitamins, there are also multiple forms of vitamin K. Scientists know of at least 12. Phylloquinone, also known as vitamin K1, is synthesized by plants. <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminK-HealthProfessional" target="_blank">Green leafy vegetables</a>, like spinach and collard greens, and vegetable oils, like soybean and canola oil, contain high amounts of phylloquinone.</p><p>Menaquinones, a class of vitamin K compounds also known as vitamin K2, are found in variable amounts in animal-based foods, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/cdn.117.000638" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dairy foods</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/jf052400h" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some meats</a>. Menaquinones are also produced by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.nu.15.070195.002151" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">intestinal microbiota</a>, although their nutritional value is uncertain.</p><p>Our lab has measured the amount of vitamin K in thousands of foods commonly consumed in North America. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this information is publicly available at the <a href="https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDA's Food Data Central</a> website, the most comprehensive nutrition database in the world. Over 350,000 foods are profiled.</p>What’s next?
<p>A goal of our research is to establish a recommended dietary allowance for vitamin K. In North America, current dietary recommendations for vitamin K are referred to as "adequate intake," the amount assumed to <a href="https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/dri-glossary" target="_blank">ensure nutritional adequacy</a>. An adequate intake is set when insufficient scientific evidence exists to provide a more precise recommended dietary allowance. For men over 18, <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/10026/chapter/7" target="_blank">the adequate intake for vitamin K</a> is 120 micrograms a day. For women, it is 90 micrograms a day. One cup of raw spinach contains 145 micrograms of phylloquinone. Patients who are taking warfarin need to consult with their healthcare professional for guidance on their vitamin K intakes.</p><p>Clotting abnormalities due to low dietary vitamin K intakes are extremely rare because nearly everyone consumes enough vitamin K in his or her diet to maintain normal coagulation. Although emerging evidence suggests low vitamin K intakes may influence health outcomes unrelated to coagulation, right now this evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12102909" target="_blank">does not support the need to take vitamin K supplements</a>, even though they are on the market. Menaquinone supplements have become <a href="https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/vitamin-k2-market-7495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">particularly popular</a> because there are claims they <a href="https://www.vitamk7.com/hearth_benefits.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">have unique health benefits</a> that phylloquinone does not.</p><p>However it is very difficult <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/an.113.004929" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to isolate the effect</a> of a nutrient on a health outcome, and even more difficult to recommend supplement use based on the studies that have been done to date. Large clinical trials must be designed to address the question. These trials, which can cost millions, have not yet been conducted with vitamin K. The smaller trials that have been done do not meet the standards of scientific rigor required to promote vitamin K supplements at this time.</p><p>As our research continues, we strive for a better understanding of vitamin K's role in human health beyond coagulation. We want to know how much vitamin K is needed to protect against age-related disease and disability. However, until we have more robust evidence that supplements are needed, it is safer, and more enjoyable, to obtain vitamin K from food.<br></p><p><em>Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USDA.</em></p><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kyla-shea-1184757" target="_blank">Kyla Shea</a>: Scientist I, Vitamin K Research Team at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Tufts University</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Kyla Shea receives or has received funding from the USDA, the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation, the American Heart Association.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/vitamin-k-a-little-known-but-noteworthy-nutrient-152161" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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More than 500,000 people have pledged to try a vegan diet this January. weareveganuary / Instagram
More than 500,000 people have pledged to try a vegan diet this January.
<p>The annual challenge <a href="https://veganuary.com/" target="_blank">Veganuary</a> <a href="https://veganuary.com/veganuary-2021-hits-record-breaking-sign-ups/" target="_blank">announced Tuesday</a> that it had received more than half a million sign-ups and counting, the most in a single year since it first launched in 2014. It also reached its sign-up goal earlier than any other year so far, the group <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CJnh9JoAaXo/?utm_source=ig_embed" target="_blank">noted on Instagram</a>.</p><p>"Proof that 2021 really is THE YEAR for positive change," the group wrote in the post.</p>
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<p>Veganuary is a non-profit dedicated to motivating people to try a vegan diet for the month of January, and maybe keep it up the whole year round.</p><p>"Throughout the year, Veganuary encourages and supports people and businesses alike to move to a plant-based diet as a way of protecting the environment, preventing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animal</a> suffering, and improving the health of millions of people," the group <a href="https://veganuary.com/about/about-us/" target="_blank">explained</a>.</p><p>Their message is catching on. More than one million people from 192 countries have participated since 2014, according to the website. In 2020, more than 600 businesses participated and more than 1,200 new vegan products and menus were introduced. In fact, its potential as a product launch opportunity means it has become a bigger deal in the retail calendar than Christmas, co-founder Matthew Glover told <a href="https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/veganuary-2021-record-breaking-sign-ups/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vegan Food & Living</a>.</p>
<p>This year, its reach is only growing. In addition to its record sign-up count, the group celebrated an unprecedented buy-in from supermarkets in the UK, which are using the month to promote vegan products.</p><p>For example, <a href="https://www.aldi.co.uk/veganuary" target="_blank">Aldi</a> and <a href="https://groceries.asda.com/cmslisting/content/event?N=3274463533" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Asda</a> both launched Veganuary websites that included positive reasons to try vegan diets. Tesco and M&S both launched Veganuary-themed TV and radio ads for the first time.</p><p>"While new vegan product launches from big name brands are exciting, the way British supermarkets have embraced Veganuary this year is truly game changing," Veganuary's head of communications Toni Vernelli said in a blog post. "They are not simply using it as a marketing opportunity but are promoting the many benefits of plant-based eating and encouraging people to give it a try. As bastions of our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food/" target="_self">food</a> supply, they know that the only sustainable way forward is plant-focused."</p>
<p>The month-long-challenge is spreading beyond the UK as well. The campaign has recently focused on Latin America, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/05/veganuary-record-number-people-pledge-eat-vegan-food-january?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2yQUz69LviQY4XnqpirffAoHl7AKzyqJHnGfIGSoPRCKVDO2RXPfw0lFA#Echobox=1609854618" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, where 150,000 people signed up this year. The challenge also saw 80,000 sign-ups from the U.S. and 50,000 from Germany, as well as 125,000 from the UK.</p><p>The month's popularity comes as a growing body of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vegan-climate-change-2558286917.html" target="_self">scientific research</a> indicates that adopting a plant-based diet is <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vegan-earth-footprint-2574241439.html" target="_self">one of the best things</a> that people in wealthy countries can do to reduce their environmental impact.</p><p>"It really feels to me that plant-based eating is no longer controversial," Vernelli told The Guardian. "Pretty much everyone has accepted we need to be reducing animal products in our diets for environmental reasons."</p><p>If you are still looking for a New Year's resolution, it is not too late to sign-up for the challenge. You can do so <a href="https://veganuary.com/try-vegan/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
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The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, olive oil and moderate amounts of seafood, poultry and dairy. IGphotography / Getty Images
Did you resolve to eat healthier this year but are unsure where to start?
<p>Luckily, U.S. News and World Report assembled a panel of experts to <a href="https://health.usnews.com/best-diet" target="_blank">rank</a> 39 common diets and name the best one for 2021. The winner? The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mediterranean-diet" target="_self">Mediterranean Diet</a> for the fourth year running, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/health/mediterranean-diet-2021-best-diet-wellness/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>"It's generally accepted that the folks in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea live longer and suffer less than most Americans from cancer and cardiovascular ailments," U.S. News and World Report <a href="https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/mediterranean-diet" target="_blank">explained</a>. "The not-so-surprising secret is an active lifestyle, weight control, and a diet low in red <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/meat" target="_self">meat</a>, sugar and saturated fat and high in produce, nuts and other healthful foods."</p><p>Several previous studies have shown the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. (While the cuisines of various Mediterranean countries differ considerably, they share an emphasis on fruits, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vegetables" target="_self">vegetables</a>, whole grains, beans, legumes and olive oil, with seafood, poultry and dairy consumed in moderation.) Studies have revealed that following this diet can reduce the risk for health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, memory loss and breast cancer, according to CNN. One <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mediterranean-diet-air-pollution-2571085798.html" target="_self">2018 study</a> even found the diet may reduce the risk of mortality from exposure to certain types of air pollution.</p><p>But it's not the only eating plan recommended by U.S. News' experts. Tied for second place in the rankings were the DASH Diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) and the Flexitarian Diet.</p>
<p>Brooklyn dietician Maya Feller told TODAY that the three top diets share common advantages, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-s-best-diet-2021-mediterranean-flexitarian-dash-top-list-n1252716" target="_blank">NBC News reported</a>. They emphasize overall <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/health-stories/" target="_self">health</a> over weight loss, and are easy to follow because they encourage eating beneficial <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food/" target="_self">food</a> groups rather than restricting certain foods.</p><p>"Those patterns of eating are really reasonable, right? They are sustainable. They are customizable. They allow for flexibility. They allow for religious and cultural variation," Feller said. "For the average person who's trying to impact their metabolic health, there will probably be great clinical outcomes."</p><p>In addition, it is possible to follow all three without breaking the bank during a financially challenging time.</p><p>"The number of people experiencing food insecurity has increased very dramatically since the start of the pandemic," Feller added. "We're going to have to think about accessibility. If you can get dry beans and if you have dry beans you can make a million dishes and that falls into all three of those patterns of eating."</p>
<p>U.S. News and World Report's annual diet ranking is selected by experts in nutrition and health based on scientific studies.</p><p>"We've convened a panel of 24 experts who live and breathe diet, weight loss and obesity," Angela Haupt, the magazine's managing editor, told CNN. "They score each diet on a number of different measures: how easy it is to follow, how likely it is to lead to long-term weight loss, how healthful and safe it is, and how effective it is at preventing or managing chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease."</p><p>The rankings also include lists tailored to more specific dietary needs, including "Best Weight-loss Diets" (winner: the Flexitarian Diet), "Best Fast-Weight-Loss Diets" (winner: the <a href="https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/hmr-program" target="_blank">HMR Program</a>) and "Best Plant-Based Diets (winner: the Mediterranean Diet, again).</p>Last on the overall diet list were the high-fat and low-carb <a href="https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/keto-diet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Keto Diet</a> and protein-based <a href="https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/dukan-diet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dukan Diet</a>, which experts said were too restrictive.
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5 Best Eco-Conscious Meal Kit Delivery Services for 2021
Meal kit services offer pre-portioned recipes and a fun cooking experience. But what options are best for the earth-conscious family?
04 January
Reviews
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For those looking for a quick and convenient way to eat delicious, hearty meals with little to no hassle, there are plenty of meal kit delivery services to choose from. But out of all of the brands available, which is the best meal delivery service?
<p>We've all seen the overwhelming number of meal kits promoted via Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, but many consumers are left wondering if these delivery services are really worth the purchase. Despite all the hype, these programs can be beneficial for a number of reasons, including their environmental impact, which you can read more about below our reviews.</p><p>Each kit comes with pre-portioned packets of produce, meat or fish if requested, and all of the spices and seasonings you need to complete a chef-inspired dish at home. We've reviewed several leading meal kit delivery brands based on their food options, packaging, and customer reviews to find the services we think are best for the conscious consumer. Here is our list of the top five best meal delivery services.</p><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em><em><br></em></p>
<h2></h2><h2> Are Meal Kits Really Sustainable?</h2><p>Whether meal kits are really sustainable depends on how you define sustainability. While they produce more waste, they have lower greenhouse gas emissions and result in less food waste compared to grocery store meals.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food-waste" target="_self">Food waste</a> is the largest category of waste going into landfills in the U.S. The average American generates more than 200 pounds of waste each year, according to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs" target="_blank">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA).</p><p><span></span>Both a <a href="https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/61651" target="_blank">2017 study out of the University of Texas at Austin</a> and a 2019 study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344919301703" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Resources, Conservation and Recycling</em></a> found that meal kits are more sustainable than purchasing ingredients from a grocery store for the following reasons:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>On average, meal kits produce 33% lower greenhouse gas emissions than grocery store meals.</li><li>The pre-portioned ingredients in meal kits lead to less food loss and waste.</li><li>Meal kits have lower last-mile transportation emissions than grocery store meals.</li><li>The ice packs used in meal kit packages present an average emissions decrease versus retail refrigeration.</li></ul><div></div><p>Now, if you plan your meals out each week, use all of the ingredients you intend to, compost what you don't use, and buy locally from a farmers market or other community shop, meal kits will likely be a step backward in terms of your food-related sustainability.</p>
<p>The studies also mentioned that meal kits produce more packaging waste than grocery store meals — UT Austin estimated an average of 3.7 more pounds of packaging material per meal. Because meal kits come in cardboard boxes and ship ingredients in small packages (for example, if you need a tablespoon of pine nuts for your recipe, they'll likely come pre-portioned a small plastic sleeve), there's much more plastic waste produced. One <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652619324011" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">study</a> found that "disposable packaging can represent over 50% of per-meal energy use for meal-kits."</p>
<p>Some of these items can be repurposed, such as the tiny glass jars that spices and condiments come in, which can be used for travel, crafting, or storing small objects. Others can be washed and recycled, depending on your local recycling guidelines. But most of the waste will end up in a landfill.</p><p>So, it's up to you whether you think the pros of lower carbon emissions outweigh the cons of more plastic waste.</p><h2><span></span>Getting Started with a Meal Delivery Service</h2><p>With so much variety, selecting a meal delivery service can turn into a stressful endeavor. Additionally, brands like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, Home Chef, and Daily Harvest are options that might try to win you over, but they may not have as sustainable methods as some of the options listed above. </p><p><span></span>Although, the sheer number of meal kit options can also work to your advantage. These companies are competing for customers and often offer sign-up specials and discounts to get you started. When shopping for a subscription service, try multiple options, and take advantage of these deals. With many programs, you have the freedom to change or cancel your subscription, so you can try a few different options to find one that fits your taste and your budget. We also recommend that you compare your per-meal cost to what you might spend on dinners at the grocery store to maximize your savings.</p><p>If you give one of these meal kits a try, let us know what you think. We'll update this list regularly as we get feedback from readers and add additional sustainability notes as we dive deeper into new services. </p><p><em><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.</em><br></p>
Sun Basket: Best Organic Option
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc1MjUzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njc4OTkzN30.a2aIWvOTJfVK6VBFSZ3PdwNAPhoTMUu6eOFrbbaUeos/img.jpg?width=980" id="e24c7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5439cf2ef1a1377fe041dbed42aca07e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="949" data-height="712" />Sun Basket J030-Shrimp-PaellaSun Basket
<p>Sun Basket is our favorite organic meal kit brand. Sun Basket delivers a box of 100% <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ewg-2018-shoppers-guide-2558737028.html" target="_blank">organic produce</a>, antibiotic- and hormone-free meat, and farm-fresh eggs. Their approach to sourcing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sustainable-seafood-oceana-2641150021.html" target="_blank">wild seafood</a> was named Best Choice or Good Alternative by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® Program.</p><p>Sun Basket aims to support farmers who push for sustainable water management and crop rotations, as well as ranchers and fisherman who treat the planet with respect. </p><p>Read our full <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sunbasket-reviews-2649520242.html" data-linked-post="2649520242" target="_blank">Sun Basket review</a> to learn more about the brand's sustainability efforts.</p><strong>Cost</strong>: Three meals each week for two people costs $71.94 plus $7.99 shipping. That's $11.99 per serving<p><br><br><a href="https://sun-basket-meal-delivery-purchase.sjv.io/c/1402679/954808/8078" target="_blank">Join Now</a></p>Purple Carrot: Best Plant-Based Option
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc1MjUxMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzMzNTY2OX0.zvdPNUdYu1pjOPemFYWh1KZ7edfEvWYD3_4CN_QMP8U/img.jpg?width=980" id="9bc87" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="769107ab1740e29aa080f530755b037d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2800" data-height="1400" />Purple Carrot
<p>According to researchers, you could cut the <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/11/15/how-much-would-giving-up-meat-help-the-environment" target="_blank">carbon footprint of your diet by 60%</a> by eating plant-based meals for two-thirds of your diet.</p><p>Now, if sustainability is about achieving a balance between human consumption and the environments we impact, plant-based is the way to go. Purple Carrot offers all <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plant-based-meat-fast-food-2648888749.html" target="_blank">plant-based</a> meal kits in a variety of tasty menu items. There's even a black bean burger if you want to prepare the vegan-skeptic member of your family a familiar plate. </p><p>Purple Carrot meal kits, in many ways, support the idea that many small, smart choices can add up to a big impact. </p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong">Cost</strong>: Purple Carrot costs $11.99 per serving for two people and $9.99 per serving for the four-plate plan. With introductory discounts, the first week costs $50 to $60. </p>Green Chef: Best for Keto and Paleo Shoppers
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc1MjU0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTg4NDE2Nn0.VYYj6q9TDKOPaLib6vC04_pqJFTl3pPwlWuhc85pF4k/img.jpg?width=980" id="4ce26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="33a986a6a8296eee9702e82eff47a06c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="641" data-height="300" />Green Chef
<p>Green Chef is a certified organic company with meal kit plans that include <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keto-report-ketogenic-diet-2640662624.html" target="_blank">keto</a>, paleo, and plant-based options. You can schedule a weekly delivery or stagger deliveries during the month, depending on your personal needs or how often you choose to cook. Green Chef has a wide variety of recipe options, and according to its website, it <span style="background-color: initial;">"offsets 100% of its direct carbon emissions and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/us-plastics-pact-recycling-2647098576.html" target="_blank">plastic packaging</a>" through its sustainability efforts.</span></p><p><strong>Cost</strong>: Price is based on the plan chosen, but costs are generally $11.49 per meal for the Keto + Paleo option, $10.49 per meal for the Balanced Living option, and $10.49 per meal for the Plant-Powered option. Shipping and handling costs are additional.</p>Freshly: Best "No Cooking" Option
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc1MjU1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDEwNzI3Nn0.L3XUMO4-3dyj_cI0cMihqvoP7Ig7x8D-Z5vg4TsGWlo/img.jpg?width=980" id="89b90" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="64389578a3b41467c0759bf0d60eb993" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1160" data-height="773" />Freshly
<p>Freshly is the only service we came across that offered corporate options. We liked the idea of a cost-efficient way to serve a large group a healthy meal. Freshly boxes in the office fridge would be a nice reprieve from the typical mid-day exodus to the nearest quick food option. All Freshly meals come in recyclable packaging and the single portions mean <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-people-in-need-2649698860.html" target="_blank">less food going to waste</a> during preparation.</p><p>Freshly meals are also ideal for those who don't have the time or space to prepare meals from a kit. They come in microwavable containers and only take three minutes to heat up.</p><p><strong>Cost</strong>: Individual meals are $8.99 to $12.50 per serving with free shipping.</p>Every Plate: Best Value for Meal Kit Beginners
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc1MjU1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDYzMjE5NX0.Yjpg-pt4OWBNMeZsKiJ806In0HfM7ZKLfnKu6R66cgU/img.jpg?width=980" id="c2995" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="71349a43c3f798f91db591cc481f7f7f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1500" data-height="563" />Every Plate
<p>If you're looking for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/organic-vs-conventional-food-ewg-2630725070.html" target="_blank">organic ingredients</a>, simple recipe cards, and a highly affordable option, Every Plate is for you. Every Plate uses less packaging than most other delivery services due to their simpler packages that contain fewer spice and sauce packets. Most Every Plate meals can be made in under 30 minutes, which makes this as close as you can come to fast and "cheap" meals with clean ingredients. </p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong">Cost</strong>: Weekly boxes of two or four servings for as little as $4.99 per serving.</p>From Your Site Articles
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