Latest Articles
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How to stop the agribiz giants from impeding the growth of local food.
In today’s Victual Reality I discussed how a few companies dominate U.S. food production, and how their market girth weighs heavily on efforts to rebuild local-oriented, environmentally and socially responsible food networks. Now I’d like to add a few words on what might be done to remedy the situation. First of all, it’s important to […]
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How food processing got into the hands of a few giant companies
Two years ago, dairy giant Dean Foods shuttered a milk-processing facility in Wilkesboro, a town at the eastern edge of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. Photo: iStockphoto Dean processes 35 percent of the fluid milk in the U.S. and Canada — roughly equal to the combined market share of its three biggest rivals combined. In my […]
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Reading the fin print
Some folks are quick to give sharks a bad rep without considering their importance as top feeders in the marine food web. But when we remove these so-called lions of the ocean from their habitat through shark-finning and bycatch, it doesn't take long for the rest of the food web to feel the effects. Chew on this:
In 2004, North Carolina's century-old bay scallop fishery effectively ended because too few scallops survived into the autumn to sustain fishing, according to a report published in Science last month.
The culprit? Rays. Vast increases in the numbers of rays, which eat scallops. The rays have been decimating the young scallops before they could grow to commercial size.
So where do the sharks come in?
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Legally speaking
California is threatening to sue the U.S. EPA for obstructionism. You’ll recall that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled decisively that CO2 is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, and that implementing restrictions on vehicle CO2 emissions does not abrogate the DOT’s authority to set fuel-efficiency standards. That ruling pretty well destroys the legal […]
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Some miscellaneous but connected items
The daily news is never short of articles on biofuels these days, but these three caught my eye today.
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At Least the Couch Is Clean
DuPont, 3M criticized for production of “probable” carcinogen Public furor is simmering over a chemical used in Teflon, Scotchgard, and other miracles of non-stick, stain-resistant living. Protesters picketed DuPont’s annual shareholder meeting in Delaware yesterday, upset over the company’s environmental and labor policies — including its production of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), a “probable” carcinogen. “I […]
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Getting the Fax Straight
New Canadian climate policy leaks out, is kinda leaky Canada’s Conservative government, known for consistently pooh-poohing the Kyoto Protocol, planned to unveil emissions-reduction targets today and urge participation in carbon markets, a la Kyoto. But the news got out early when a draft of the speech was accidentally faxed to the Liberal Party on Tuesday. […]
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He Also Tried “Climate Fun Time Happypants”
Wolfowitz deputy allegedly tried to weaken climate-change message The brouhaha over World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz giving financial favors to his lady friend is spreading into a look at whether he’s been pushing the Bush administration agenda on family planning and climate change. The bank’s chief scientist, Robert Watson, says Wolfowitz deputy Juan José Daboub […]
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Hustle and Muscle
Schwarzenegger, frustrated by inaction, threatens to sue U.S. EPA In a smackdown between U.S. EPA head Stephen Johnson and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who would you bet on? It’s OK if you need time to ponder, because their battle is unfolding in slow motion. On Tuesday, Johnson said he had begun the process of […]
