Articles by Sarah K. Burkhalter

An alternative to FEMA trailers

In Grist's November roundup of post-Katrina bills and plans, the Other Sarah mentioned October's Mississippi Renewal Forum, organized by Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and the Congress for a New Urbanism. As we (and when I say "we," I mean "we have the same name so I can refer to us in first-person plural") said then, "A comprehensive plan was produced; we're holding our breath for full follow-through."

Can you see where this is going already?

One of the outcomes of the forum was the Katrina Cottage, a compact, sturdy alternative to FEMA trailers. A two-bedroom cottage prototype was unveiled in Louisiana this week, joining the one-bedroom cottage being displayed in Mississippi. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco joined Barbour and other high state officials in asking FEMA to order Katrina Cottages instead of unstable trailers. Why, why would they want to do that?

Sorry, optimists, it’s not your day

(Note: Due to previous misinterpretations of my sarcasm -- no, I do not actually believe that vegetarians are sinners -- I feel it necessary to mark all occurrences of sarcasm in the below post in bold.)

Gosh, there's just so much good news in the environmental world -- I feel it's my duty, in the name of balanced journalism, to bring you some bad news.

The U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer -- I think I want that job just for the fancy title -- unveiled a budget yesterday that would exempt low-polluting cars from an excise tax. You would think this would be good news, but you would be wrong:

The only car that would qualify for the break, Honda Motor Co.'s Insight, hasn't been sold in Britain since it finished its five-year production run last year. ... No cars qualify for the exemption to the tax.

"I want to do more to encourage cleaner fuels and cars," said the Chancellor (presumed sarcasm mine).

Insidious, but clever, I must say.

It may not be as eco as you think

The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog organization, has released a report (PDF) on the "organic-ness" of 68 dairy name brands and private labels. While cow-conscious consumers might assume that the word "organic" on the label means that their milk mustache comes from a happy cow grazing in non-pesticide-laden pastures, that's not always the case; guidelines for organic certification can be variously interpreted, and the USDA is lax on enforcing regulations. Says the Cornucopia press release:

[The report] profiles the growth and commercialization of organic dairying and looks at the handful of firms that now seem intent upon taking over the organic dairy industry by producing all or some of their milk on 2000- to 6000-cow industrial-style confinement dairies.

The report finds that while the majority of name-brand organic producers do hold to high legal and ethical standards, 20 percent garnered a "one-cow" substandard rating (out of a possible five).

A booming, lucrative $15 billion market for organic food and a severe national shortage of organic milk are two factors that industry observers mention as driving the "get organic milk from any source" philosophy.

The top companies -- Aurora Organic Dairy and Dean Foods, which owns Horizon Organic, Organic Cow of Vermont and Alta Dena -- did not respond to the survey that Cornucopia sent out, for which they received a score of no cows. The two producers control 60-70 percent of the organic dairy market.

Read a New York Times article on the report or search for your favorite organic dairy provider on this alphabetical list.

Consider me one of the deluded

Repent, all ye pesticide-haters:

Organic Egg Brainwashing

Today, November 8, 2004, a shopper at the local Whole Foods market was observed buying a half dozen (6) brown, organic, cage free chicken eggs for $2.49. She could have purchase five dozen (60) regular eggs at the nearby Costco Wholesale store for $2.89. She paid 8.6 times or 760 percent more for eggs that are no different than the regular eggs. The organic food craze has reached the level of mass delusion.

I mention this only because it comes from the delightfully non-sequiturious http://www.biblelife.org/eggs.htm. Bible Life? Eggs? Did someone forget to tell me that Robert Atkins was Jesus reincarnated?