The biggest cause of global warming that nobody’s talking about LAST UPDATED: 21 August 2015 Even if Prime Minister Tony Abbott hasn’t come around to the idea yet, most of us would agree that if we want planet Earth to sustain life for generations to come, we need cleaner energy. We need cleaner energy to fuel our cars, our homes, our cities… If advances in green tech can overcome these challenges, we will have solved a big piece of the climate puzzle. But not all the big pieces… What about the energy we use to fuel our bodies? Turns out, this is the biggest question of all. What makes animal agriculture so inefficient? Efficiency 101: Farmed animals consume more food than they produce. That doesn’t even begin to address the damaging greenhouse gas emissions released from the millions upon millions of ‘food’ animals belching and farting all day long. So why is nobody talking about it? The good news is that people are now starting to talk about it. So it is being talked about. Slaughter-free meat cultured in a lab could help solve the climate crisis
Organic Farming is Bad for the Environment Marketing sometimes involves the science of making you believe something that is not true, with the specific goal of selling you something (a product, service, or even ideology). The organic lobby, for example, has done a great job of creating a health halo and environmentally friendly halo for organic produce, while simultaneously demonizing their competition (recently focusing on GMOs). These claims are all demonstrably wrong, however. Organic food is no more healthful or nutritious than conventional food. There is an even more stark difference, however, between beliefs about the effects of organic farming on the environment and reality. First, organic farming may use pesticides. In fact my main complaint against the organic label is that it represents an ideological false dichotomy. New German Study Perhaps the biggest problem with organic farming is that it uses more land than conventional farming. Their main findings are this: The scientific evidence tells a different story. Save
Organic Farming Could Grow Even More Jobs with Better Policy Support Money can grow on trees, and so can jobs -- if those trees are organic. That's the finding of a new report calling for new federal policies to support organic agriculture in next year's Farm Bill and beyond. Organic agriculture can have a strong positive impact on the U.S. economy and is good for job creation, says a new study by Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). But with additional policy help from the federal government the sector can make the most of its economic and environmental potential is a good investment for the nation as a whole, said OFRF external relations director Denise Ryan. The new report, "Organic Farming for Health and Prosperity," starts by making the point that the organic industry continued to grow through the recession, albeit more slowly than before the recession. This continued growth makes organic farms an economic engine that must be supported by federal policy in order to level the playing field with conventional ag, said Ryan.
The fertile fringe THERESE Schreurs’ celery farm is about to be buried under concrete and bitumen — and she couldn’t be happier. Two of her family’s properties at Clyde, near Cranbourne, are among some of Melbourne’s key market gardens rezoned in 2010 for the city’s newest south-eastern suburb. Casey Council resisted the move, arguing that the sandy loam soils that produce much of Melburnians’ daily greens should be set aside for growing food, not houses. Therese Schreurs and her husband Tom (pictured) disagreed. “The general public talks about suburbs gobbling up farming land. Food bowl. Tension over the development of Victoria’s most productive horticultural areas at Clyde is just one crack opened by an emerging faultline in Australian public policy over farmland and how we use it. The Victorian debate has focused on the loss of farmland to sprawl and subdivision, and the clash between working farmers and their new lifestyle neighbours. The Schreurs intend to stay in the food business. Find out now!
— Code of Federal Regulations Electronic Code of Federal Regulations Title 7: Agriculture PART 205—NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM Subpart G—Administrative Contents The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances §205.600 Evaluation criteria for allowed and prohibited substances, methods, and ingredients.§205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production.§205.602 Nonsynthetic substances prohibited for use in organic crop production.§205.603 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic livestock production.§205.604 Nonsynthetic substances prohibited for use in organic livestock production.§205.605 Nonagricultural (nonorganic) substances allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)).”§205.606 Nonorganically produced agricultural products allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic.”§205.607 Amending the National List.§§205.608-205.619 [Reserved] State Organic Programs Fees Compliance i.
Organic Farming's Economic and Environmental Benefits Organic farming is a rapidly expanding economic sector and makes an important contribution to human health, the health of the economy, and the health of the planet. The evidence is clear about the success of organic farming in terms of human health, prosperity, the benefits to soil and water, to birds and bees, and the ability of organic farming to mitigate damage from global climate change. Because of the many benefits of organic farming, public policies should support investing in the expanding organic sector. The Organic Farming for Health & Prosperity Report is a review of the American scientific literature concerning organic farming in the United States, designed to examine the many benefits of American organic agriculture and identify the key ways in which agriculture policy could best be supportive of organic farmers.
Frequently Asked Questions - FOOD INGREDIENTS -- The Vegetarian Resource Group Click here to view our most current ingredient information: Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Food Ingredients, now online in its entirety Our Guide to Food Ingredients is very helpful in deciphering ingredient labels. Many of the following answers were provided by research gathered for the guide. The Guide to Food Ingredients lists the uses, sources, and definitions of 200 common food ingredients. The guide also states whether the ingredient is vegan, typically vegan, vegetarian, typically vegetarian, typically non-vegetarian, or non-vegetarian. The guide is available for $6. (Editor's note: The purpose of our food ingredient research is intended to educate people to enable them to make informed decisions about the foods that they choose to eat. *The contents of this brochure and our other publications are not intended to provide personal medical advice. What is B-12 derived from? B-12, when used to fortify foods, is generally synthetic or fungal in origin. What are "natural flavors"?
Organic Pesticides Have you seen the pro-organic propaganda video with the happy family who switches to organic only food and the pesticides disappear from their urine? It has over 5 million hits as of this writing. This is a core fearmongering strategy of the organic lobby. Of course, there is no discussion about the absolute level of the pesticides, and the fact that such levels are insignificant and pose no known risk. But there is a deeper deception in this video and many studies looking at the difference in pesticide exposure between conventional and organic produce. The game, therefore, is completely rigged, and the outcome is assured. At this point some readers may be saying to themselves, “But I thought organic farming did not use chemicals,” which, of course, is exactly what the organic lobby wants you to think. I am writing about this topic now, in fact, because of a recent study looking at the toxicity to bees of leaf fertilizers used in organic farming, showing that: Conclusion Like this post?