Climate Food and Agriculture
All Stories
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I Am the Toxic Walrus
Arctic Natives, Minding Own Business, Suffer From Our Pollutants Toxic industrial chemicals, carried north by wind, ocean, and river currents, are polluting the traditional diet of native Arctic peoples in Greenland and Arctic Canada. The pollutants, including PCBs and up to 200 other hazardous compounds, are first consumed by zooplankton, then travel up the food […]
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It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Cow
Demand Rises for Organic and Natural Beef What’s bad news for most ranchers may be great news for growers and purveyors of organic and natural-fed beef. In the wake of the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., folks who still like to chomp on a nice, juicy steak are increasingly seeking out beef […]
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Which ‘cide Are You On?
GM Crops Linked to Rise in Herbicide and Pesticide Use Pesticide and herbicide use on genetically modified (GM) crops in the U.S. has risen markedly over the past eight years, surpassing the concentration of agrochemicals sprayed on conventional crops, according to an analysis of U.S. government data. This research appears to blow a hole in […]
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Umbra on washing produce
Dear Umbra, Does one really need to wash produce off the shelf or out of the bag? I’ve been eating vegetables as they are for years. Does it really do any good to wash them? If they are contaminated internally, then washing the outside won’t help, will it? JaneSteubenville, Ohio Dearest Jane, Please wash your […]
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Starlink Trek: The Next Generation
Banned Biotech Corn Variety Still Showing Up in U.S. Food Supplies Genetically engineered StarLink corn is still contaminating U.S. food supplies, three years after it was pulled from the market. StarLink, which produces its own pesticide, was approved in 1998 — but only for use in animal feed or industrial processes because of concerns that […]
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Make your Thanksgiving and holiday meals go easy on the Earth
Sharpen your knives and hone your appetite — it’s that time of year again. Every fall, we stuff ourselves at Thanksgiving, take a quick break, then fill up again over the winter holidays, sometimes gorging at event after event to accommodate multiple sets of family and friends. But environmentalists, beware: The industry set up to […]
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Winged Victory
Endangered U.K. Bird Coming Back from the Brink of Extinction Now, for a bit of good species news: One of the rarest birds in Britain, the cirl bunting, has made an impressive comeback from the brink of extinction, thanks to a proactive government plan that pays farmers to maintain their fields in cirl bunting-friendly ways. […]
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Step into the Meatrix, and help take down factory farms
Click on the graphic to watch the Flash movie.
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The Whole Shebang
Fix Whole Ecosystem, Not Bits and Pieces, Klamath Water Report Says Both environmentalists and farmers were vindicated by a report released yesterday by the National Research Council on the contested waters of Oregon’s Klamath Basin. The report, the final and most comprehensive one in an ongoing battle over the region’s water sources, recommended sweeping repairs […]
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The Bees’ Knees Are Knocking
Major British Study Pans GM Crops as Harmful to Wildlife Bad news just keeps on coming for British backers of genetically modified foods, a group whose most high-profile member is Prime Minister Tony Blair. The latest: A three-year government investigation billed as the world’s largest study of the environmental effects of GM crops has found […]
