Food and Farming
You’ve Got Food
Armed with hefty grants from the Pentagon, squads of food technologists are on a mission to supplant nature with a great leap forward into the Brave New World of synthetic foodstuffs. Not satisfied merely to tinker with the genetic makeup of nature's products, these...
The War on Hen-Pecking
Chickens had plenty to celebrate on New Year’s Day. Supposedly. After a long wait, California’s 2008 ballot measure to improve conditions for laying hens finally went into effect. Instead of living in cramped cages that give each bird less room than a sheet of paper,...
Your Holiday Guide to Avoiding Slave Labor
Pope Francis got into the holiday spirit this year by calling on shoppers not to buy products made by modern-day slaves. This is, of course, excellent advice. Odds are, most of us — whether Catholic or not — would love to take it. But how? Most products don't come...
Chris Christie’s Pork Barrel Politics
As the weather turns colder in this month of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice, our hearts grow warmer and our thoughts turn to kindness and goodwill toward all. Unless, of course, you're Chris Christie. The governor of New Jersey is a mighty big...
Why You Should Meet Your Meat
A beloved organic farm in San Diego recently canceled a gourmet dinner it had planned to host. Guests had already paid $150 for a local, organic five-course meal prepared by several top chefs from the region. The dinner was called Death for Food. Whose death for whose...
The Poor Suffer from Hunger — Not the Munchies
Thanksgiving is an occasion when we gather with our families for festive meals. It’s also a time when many of us donate to help the less fortunate celebrate with their families. This holiday binds us all together: At least once a year, you should be able to sit around...
A Bigger Threat to U.S. Health than Ebola
Despite all the panic, Americans don't face any great risk from Ebola right now. But we do need to worry about a home-grown medical catastrophe of our own that we’re failing to address: the erosion of antibiotic effectiveness. Doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat a...
A Prescription for Better Health
Here's a typical scene in any American checkup: The doctor walks in to find the patient sitting on the table. "Well, your cholesterol is too high," the doctor tells the patient. "I can prescribe something for it, but the real solution will be diet and exercise." The...
A Free Fruit-for-All
I got back from the airport just in time for the last half hour of Cider Fest, one of the Bloomington Community Orchard's large public events. This publicly owned and volunteer-run organic orchard occupies a single acre. Entering its fifth year, it has become an...
The Real Public Health Threat
As airlines, cruise ships, and hospitals cope with waves of Ebola jitters, I'm wondering whether the panic the deadly virus is inducing will distort Halloween traditions this year. No, I'm not talking about Ebola-related costumes. There are real precautions we must...
