Climate Food and Agriculture
All Stories
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Life, uncontained: Fighting with weeds, squash — and GMOs
Living things have a habit of not doing what you expect them to. But sometimes plants and animals can go places you aren't intending, and the consequences can be minor ... or catastrophic.
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Wasted food equals wasted energy, new study makes clear
Americans' profligate food-tossing ways waste the energy equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil per year, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Texas. And that figure is probably low, says American Wasteland author Jonathan Bloom.
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A locavore in China, Pt. 1: Black-market melons, un-free birds, and masquerading mangosteens
Living in the capital of China's rich and fertile Zhejiang Province, I thought I was eating local. Wrong. With reusable water bottle in hand and organic cotton socks strapped tight, I set off to see where my food really comes from.
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PBR: ‘That softer, kindlier taste’ urban farmers love
In the 1940s, Pabst Blue Ribbon appealed directly to the grow-your-own brigade -- just as the beer now does to their irony-loving grandchildren.
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Transgenic crops' built-in pesticide found to be contaminating waterways
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have shown that the Bt toxin in genetically engineered crops is polluting waterways in Indiana.
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Peak soil is no joke: Civilization's foundation is eroding
Sometime within the last century, soil erosion began to exceed new soil formation over large areas. Countries all over the world -- including the United States -- are now expanding cultivation onto marginal land, a move that historically ends in disaster.
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Why I heart the Park Slope Food Co-Op
Brooklyn's Park Slope Food Co-op is a unique grocery store in which the shopper/members do most of the work. Like a great metropolis, on some level it shouldn't function. But it does -- spectacularly.
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A modest proposal for Congress: Ditch the extra funding for school lunch
In order to boost school lunches by pennies per meal, the Senate says it must take $2.2 billion away from the food stamp program. That's a bit like picking the pocket of one panhandler to put it in the hand of another. Here's why the House should kill the increase.
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Do Berkeley school gardens get an A or a C for motivating kids?
Supporters of school gardens were thrilled with a new report showing that Berkeley's gardening and cooking initiative made students more eager to eat vegetables and choose healthy food. But a closer look reveals that while fourth- and fifth-graders benefited, middle-schoolers actually regressed.
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Urbivore's Dilemma, Week 16: Food in a time of loss
On my way to my Greek grandfather's deathbed, I ponder life, love, good dinners -- and people who make you sick.
