Articles by Grist staff

So Much for the Atkins Diet

Women and girls should reduce their fat intake long before becoming pregnant to protect their fetuses from dangerous dioxins, the Institute of Medicine recommended yesterday. The institute, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, urged the government to educate women about the hazards of dioxins, which can cause health problems ranging from behavioral disorders […]

A Current Affair

Eleven months and 1,243 miles later, Christopher Swain has become the first person ever to swim the length of the Columbia River. Swain, 35, embarked on his landmark adventure to draw attention to the desperate environmental straits of the river, which is threatened by dams and pollutants. The Portland native endured 10-foot swells, 38-degree water […]

Label of Love

European lawmakers today adopted new food-labeling rules that could pave the way for lifting a European Union-wide ban on genetically modified (GM) products. The new rules will require labels for food and animal feed containing at least 0.9 percent GM ingredients. Though the move may lead to the opening of E.U. markets to GM foods, […]

Spirited Away

Teshima Island — one of many islands in Japan’s Inland Sea, where the nation’s first national park was established — has for decades served as a dumping ground for trash and toxic waste. The practice was illegal, but advantageous for the nation’s powerful industries (and, according to rumor, its powerful mob). Now, after a 25-year […]