Archive for 2010Page 3
Race to the genome, redux
Remember when two rival organizations were racing to sequence the human genome? Well, it’s happening again; this time with something that is, to some, nearly as precious as their own life: chocolate. The USDA and Mars (the candy company, not the planet nor the god of war) have just this morning announced that they have […]
Confessions of a pusher
In my office desk drawer, I have a jar of dark chocolate. I distribute pieces of this chocolate to colleagues and students who visit me. According to a recent opinion piece by Gary Wenk, I should probably be considered a pusher. Chocolate contains phenethylamine, a molecule that resembles amphetamine, and a small amount of a […]
Frances Moore Lappe at TED
Frances Moore Lappe, whose talk will conclude the 2010 Nobel Conference, delivered this TED talk.
FDA: genetically modified salmon safe to eat
On the Friday before Labor Day, the FDA released its findings that a salmon, genetically modifed to grow fast, is “as safe as food from conventional Atlantic salmon,” according to this story in the New York Times.The fish features a growth hormone from the Chinook salmon, which is kept “turned on” by a “switch” from […]
Finding: Diet, not environment, the best indicator of “personal pollution levels”
From an article in Chemical Engineering News: Research directed by Emma Undeman, a Swedish chemical engineering student, and Frank Wania, an environmental chemist at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, shows that diet is a “key factor” in determining the load of pollutants that a given individual will carry. The region of the world in which […]
What’s Biomimicry?
The August 19 issue of Now, a weekly news magazine from Toronto, features several articles on “biomimicry,” a concept developed by biologist Janine Benyus (Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature). One short article in the issue, “Plagued by the Plow,” by Wayne Roberts suggests that the agro-ecology long practiced in Latin America and Asia, constitutes a […]
Expired, but still good? An ethical musing
On the blog for his CSA, Paul Thompson reflects on whether or not it’s ethical to donate food that passed its “best by” date.
“When a woman has assets, it impacts more directly on the access to nutrition for all members of the family than when only the man has assets.”
India’s Congress Party president, Sonia Gandhi, has recently called for a constitutional right to food, according to this article in the New York Times (“India Asks: Should Food be a Right for the Poor?”). She also advocates expanding the existing food entitlement program, to ensure that each family “would qualify for a monthly 77-pound bag […]
Optimistic news on the Russian seed bank?
Following a surprise inspection at the the Pavlovsk station (the Russian seed bank being threatened with destruction to make way for a housing complex), the auction has reportedly been “postponed for an uncertain period.” Read more here about the August 31 happenings.
Can we grow corn in Minnesota and still have wild-caught shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico?
Guest blogger Joel Carlin writes: CNN published a story this week on Tony Thompson, a farmer in Windom, MN (just 75 miles southwest of St. Peter). Thompson is a super-fun guy who is very excited about keeping up the family tradition of farming in a way that is kinder to nature and consumers. Tony has met […]