Environment

Western elites may embrace a vegetarian lifestyle but impoverished countries would happily trade places with them. Despite claims like it takes a gallon of gas to create a pound of beef being long debunked, activists continue to promote the notion that a vegetarian lifestyle is better for people and the environment. Residents of Zambia know the organic, vegetarian lifestyle better than anyone in San Francisco environmental groups, and they have had quite enough. Now economists are catching on as well. A cow, a pair of oxen, or a herd of goats for a poor household dramatically improves their…

A recent review article in the scientific journal Nature Plants makes the claim that organic produces "foods that contain less (or no) pesticide residues, compared with conventional farming."   That's not what the latest USDA-PDP (Pesticide Data Program) information about pesticide residues says. What that transparent source of tax payer-supported research indicates is that 40 different synthetic pesticide residues were detected on organic food samples at levels similar to what was seen for the comparable conventional food samples. In both …

Monsanto's signature herbicide glyphosate, first marketed as "Roundup," is now the most popular weed-killer in the history of chemical agriculture in both the U.S. and globally, according to a paper in Environmental Sciences Europe written by economist Dr. Chuck Benbrook, a staunch opponent of conventional agriculture. Unlike 2,4-D, smart strategies have limited weed resistance and unlike DDT, glyphosate has never had a 'Rachel Carson event' which has kept it in use. Benbrook reports that 18.9 billion pounds (8.6 billion kilograms) of glyphosate have been used globally and its popularity has…

What is a great way to ensure that conservation has no support at all from the public? Hand nature over to centralized bureaucrats and create environmental groups full of lawyers to sue to make sure people are treated as the enemy. Or just have centralized government tell people what to do, as in the communist dictatorship China. Yet there is a better way. Communists love cold, hard cash just like capitalists, and conservation programs that compensate citizens for changing habitat-damaging behavior really work, according to results of a program in China that aims to restore forests and…

Farmers jumped in because higher prices due to clever marketing meant higher profits - but demand for feed caused expenses to rise.  That has meant consolidation because smaller farmers cannot buy at good prices. now the charge is larger organic operations violate 'the spirit' or organic, sustainably produced food. Yes, critics within the organic food sales combines complain that organic is not expensive enough. Instead of buying a food product that has gone through a particular process, it's also about values. http://ap.peninsulaclarion.com/pstories/us/20120216/956104094.…

Lisa Jackson is leaving the EPA, she has announced, and virtually no one is going to be disappointed. The EPA was created to be anti-business so no one can really claim that being anti-business is a surprise or even a problem. The organization was created by President Richard Nixon, a legend among social authoritarians for his abuse of government authority and his efforts to allow government to control everything possible, but among Presidents he is one of the most important environmental advocates ever.  Because it was needed. It is silly and unrealistic to think lots of small…

Decades ago there was a cultural debate about who could best handle recycling, the private sector or government. Though environmental groups today are commonly associated with more government regulations and bureaucracy, decades ago groups like PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) instead lobbied for expansion of efforts like a 'bottle bill' where a refundable fee paid by the user encouraged recycling.  Everyone knows the container is the expensive part of a soda. But government-mandated recycling won and costs ballooned along with it. Instead of having a commercial solution, government…

Open-Sourcing Chicken: Breaking Free from Corporate Genetics “These are corporate genetics from huge companies,” says Nigel Walker, proprietor of Eatwell Farm outside Dixon, Calif. “I’m embarrassed to say I am not even sure where my genetics come from right now.” From the outside, Walker already appears to be doing everything right: He raises organic produce that is fertilized only by the efforts of his 2,600 laying hens, which every year break up and tend 20 acres of pasture out of the farm’s 105 acres. But the red-feathered layers he uses are proprietary hybrids, which he orders from a…

There is a growing demand for fruit and vegetables across the Western world, thanks to increased awareness of their nutritional and health benefits. But we’ve always been taught they might not be safe to eat straight out of the supermarket, and they have to be washed first. Is this the case? And what might happen if we don’t? What’s in a veggie? Fruits and some vegetables are often consumed raw, fresh-cut or minimally processed, which is often why there are concerns about their safety. Fresh fruits and vegetables and unpasteuriszed juices can harbor disease-causing bugs (knows as pathogens)…

Farm to fork, locally grown and all of the other progressive terms for agriculture self-identification leave out one important fact: People would starve. Seattle, for example could feed 4 percent of its population with P-Patches and backyard gardens teeming with kale. Organic agriculture for the masses is a popular myth but urban agriculture is a plain old pipe dream. And 4 percent may be the high number, it could be more like 1 percent, according to a new University of Washington study - that's even if all viable backyard and public green spaces were converted to growing produce.…