Claudia S. Miller » sensitivity. Scientists, healthcare professionals and especially people with chemical intolerance have achieved a victory that took years to win. In a nutshell: High-level U.S. policymakers now say chemical intolerance needs serious investigation. The recently concluded “National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures,” sponsored by several government agencies, issued a detailed statement in October 2011 that summed up two years of deliberation among hundreds of experts. The statement, in brief, calls for intensified work to understand chemicals and their health effects. I think the statement will influence health policy and promote new research and clinical inquiry.
Progress in the science, diagnosis and treatment of chemically-induced illness has been painfully slow. I’m excited to see this new development. The National Conversation, in its final statement, urged intensified study of: “Recommendation 3.5: Improve understanding of individual susceptibility to chemical exposures.” GMOs with 'stacked traits' exponentially more harmful to humans due to synergistic toxicity. Monsanto's Dark History 1901-2011. Big Pharma Routinely Suppresses Data from Clinical Trials—but FDA Approves These Dangerous Drugs Anyway! The Down and Dirty Movement to Reinvent Farming. Farmer Faces Possible 3-year Prison Term for Feeding Community. By Farm Food Freedom Coalition and WAPF February 24, 2012–Baraboo, WI—Food sovereignty activists from around North America will meet at this tiny town on March 2, 2012 to support Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger and food sovereignty.
Hershberger, who has a court hearing that day, is charged with four criminal misdemeanors that could land him in prison for three years with fines of over $10,000. The Wisconsin Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) targeted Hershberger for supplying a private buying club with fresh milk and other farm products. DATCP has charged Hershberger with, among other things, operating a retail food establishment without a license. At a pre-court rally scheduled for 11:00am, in front of the Sauk County Courthouse in Baraboo, food rights activists will read and distribute a “Declaration of Food Independence” that asserts inherent rights in food choice. Information about farm raids: FarmFoodFreedom.com. Nanoparticles may be harmful to health. Provided An intestinal cell monolayer after exposure to nanoparticles, shown in green. Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought.
A research collaboration led by Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Chemical Engineering and the James and Marsha McCormick Chair of Biomedical Engineering, studied how large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles -- a common, FDA-approved material found in substances from food additives to vitamins -- affected how well chickens absorbed iron, an essential nutrient, into their cells. The results were reported online Feb. 12 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. According to the study, high-intensity, short-term exposure to the particles initially blocked iron absorption, whereas longer-term exposure caused intestinal cell structures to change, allowing for a compensating uptick in iron absorption.
Shrimp's Carbon Footprint Is 10 Times Greater Than Beef's. "Shrimp lovers don't need to crash a fancy party to enjoy premium, seasoned-to-perfection shrimp," announced a Taco Bell press release last year. The chain was heralding its "Pacific Shrimp Taco," which featured a half-dozen "premium shrimp" for just $2.79. Marketing campaigns like Taco Bell's, along with Red Lobster's periodic "Endless Shrimp" promotions, crystallize shrimp's transformation from special-treat food to everyday cheap fare. What happened? The answer lies in the rise of factory-scale shrimp farms over the last generation. Twenty years ago, 80 percent of shrimp consumed here came from domestic wild fisheries, with imports supplying the rest. Today, we've more than flipped those numbers: the United States imports 90 percent of the shrimp consumed here.
We now bring in a staggering 1.2 billion pounds of it annually, mainly from farms in Asia. It turns out, not surprisingly, that plates mounded with cheap shrimp float on a veritable sea of ecological and social trouble. Burgers Made From Lab-Grown Meat.