• Food

A diet for the planet

• climate change
• flexitarian
• red meat
• vegetarian

Experts have been saying for some time that in order to truly tackle global climate change we must limit our consumption of red meat as its cultivation is a major source of emissions and pollution. This week scientists made the prescription to reduce meat official and suggested a new diet to help Americans alter their […]

• Food

Commission Calls for Global Agricultural Revolution

• agriculture
• carbon sink
• farm
• health
• meat
• Singapore
• urban

As if we needed another reason to eat right, a new study published Wednesday found that climate and human health are deeply intertwined. According to a global commission convened by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, In order to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the climate, the world needs a “comprehensive shift” in its diet. The Commission recommended that we decrease our consumption of unhealthy foods (such as red meat, sugar, and refined grains), which would both provide major health benefits, and at the same time increase the likelihood of attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

• Food

One sweet thing: a tanker carrying molten chocolate crashes and spills

• chocolate
• spill
• Willy Wonka

There is a river of chocolate blocking/flowing in the westbound lanes of I-40 at milepost 211, east of Flagstaff. A tanker truck carrying 40-thousand gallons of liquid chocolate rolled over. This will be a sweet cleanup! pic.twitter.com/G03eVdNQZD — Dept. Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) January 14, 2019 According to CNN a tanker hauling 40,000 pounds of liquid […]

• Food

Already High Food Contamination Risk Is Increasing Due To Gov’t Shutdown

• CAFOs
• contamination
• FDA
• food
• Food and Drug Administration
• government
• high risk
• inspections
• safety
• shutdown

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has spent the better part of the last two days trying to reassure the public that food safety is not at risk during the shutdown.  Yesterday and into today, through a series of tweets, Dr. Gottlieb explained (1) that routine food safety inspections are not taking place now; (2) that he is trying to get them re-started by next week – though he is not sure how to do it because FDA guidance requires routine inspections to cease when there is no funding; and that (3) high-risk food safety inspections are continuing.  The key fact that most people don’t know is that there are very few food safety inspections in the U.S, which Politico’s Helena Bottemiller Evich pointed out in a story and in a devastating series of tweets.  

Why This Matters: The good news is that your food is almost as safe now as it ever was. The bad news is that our safety inspection system is woefully underfunded and inadequate.  But we should have already deduced that fact given the two deadly e-coli outbreaks in the last year.  The law on food inspections is relatively strong, but not being fully implemented.  And lax agricultural practices and health and safety regulations regarding pesticides and use of certain fertilizers create further loopholes that create more risk than most people realize.

• Food

Tackling food waste, one fish chip at a time

• food waste
• GHG emissions
• recycle
• salmon skin
• Sea Chips
• waste

The FAO has also stated that food waste is a huge driver of climate change as 30 as all the global loss contributes to 8 % of total global greenhouse gas emissions. The Washington Post noted that, if food waste were a country, it would come in third after the United States and China in terms of impact on global warming. While we still have a long way to go to ensure that we waste less, some innovators are finding ways to get creative and reuse bits of food and animal products that typically get discarded.