Blogs & Ecology

Image source: Getty Images

Well, we don't know if they like them, but they will eat them. And as the cost of grains and corn has gone up because of the interest in ethanol, feeding cattle strictly corn is too expensive, reports the Wall Street Journal. So farmers are now moving to alternatives such as m&m's and potato chips mixed in with their corn, frankly because its cheaper. Compared to some of the other things that ranchers can and do feed cattle, maybe its not such a bad thing.

Martin J Frid from Kurashi blogs about the changing attitude towards food in Japan.

If we haven't had enough examples recently of what happens when we let such concentration happen in the sources of our food, there is now a massive recall of deli meats in Canada after five people died from Listeria poisoning. It was traced to a single plant in Toronto, but the illness has reached as far as British Columbia. After th...

TreeHugger spares no expense or our livers in our search to find the greenest packaging for wine. After reading Ruben Anderson's article in Tyee, where he said "Do you really want to try to look your children in the eye and explain that they have to eat jellyfish gumbo because you couldn't resist that lovely imported shiraz?" I started looking for a greener, local alternative.

Image from sporkist

And you thought $20 billion worth of wasted food was a lot. According to a new policy brief issued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Stockholm International Water Institute and the International Water Management Institute, huge amounts of food -- close to half of all food produced worldwide -- are wasted after production.

Red Sea Sturgeonfish, photo J.E. Randall, Fishbase

Here is another of those stories about how technology is changing so fast, and how it can empower us. John Schwartz writes in the New York Times about how high school student Kate Stoeckle was talking over a sushi dinner with her dad, a scientist working in DNA bar coding, a much simpler and cheaper way of identifying species. She asked “Could you bar code sushi?” Dad answered “Yeah, I think you could — and if you did that, I think you’d be the first ones.”

A super ripe Biriba fruit, an orgasmic Amazonian treat!
Stephen Brooks is the co-founder of Kopali Organics and a correspondent for Planet Green’s G Word .
Now why do some foods become popular and others just don't ever make it to market. Some of the worlds greatest foods are barely eaten outside of their area of origin. How did a fruit like the kiwi go from being nearly unknown outside the Yangtze Valley in China to in almost every fruit salad around the world? Just who makes those decisions?...

Despite mounting evidence of the myriad negative effects of factory farming, it remains the foundation of animal agribusiness. The indecent nature of the enterprise is manifested in numerous abusive practices and increasingly, activists are looking to the courts and legislatures to demand change. Is government intervention necessary to enact corporate responsibility?

Recently, there has been a flurry of press in the UK talking about how the economic downturn there has caused organic consumption to falter in the past few months. With headlines talking about how organic food is toast and society’s latest casualty, it appears that many are writing it off as this decade’s fad. Who would have thought that organics would get lumped in with 8-tracks and neon?

Where do the Buffalo Roam?

Image source: Car Free Days

Mark Your Calendars, its time once again for the 5th annual Sustainable Ballard Festival, full of fun festival games like “how to grow chickens in the city” and “the best compost contest.” While this is not your typical festival, Sustainable Ballard hopes to encourage self-reliance among community members and reduce dependence on foreign oil. The event is free to the public and will be held September 27th & 28th from 11am-5pm at Ballard Commons Park....

Cold temperatures in Tanzania inspired Lynda to make warm roast tomato and onion salad.

The great outdoors is full of yummy wild mushrooms just waiting to be fried up in a little olive oil, but why wait until you get home? Bring along designer Stefani Santilli's field cooker and you are ready to go. ...