Nobel Conference Blog

Author: heldke

  • Expired, but still good? An ethical musing

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    heldke

    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.”

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    heldke

    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?

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    heldke

    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.

  • Would you like water with your wine?

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    heldke

    Guest blogger, Associate Professor of Classics  Matt Panciera, writes: The food science writer Harold McGee recently wrote on the benefits of adding water to various beverages. He found that gin, coffee, and wine all improved their aroma and taste when diluted with water.(See his “Curious Cook” piece on the subject in the New York Times.)…

  • Genetically engineered salmon: FDA considers approval

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    heldke

    A salmon that grows at twice the ordinary speed is being considered by the FDA to be the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption. The fish was engineered at AquaBounty Technologies of Waltham, Massachusetts, a small firm that argues that the fish could “help feed the world.” This article about the fish quotes …

  • Federal court overturns FDA approval of genetically engineered sugar beet

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    heldke

    A California federal judge has rescinded the approval of Roundup-Ready sugar beets, according to a post on the Center for Food Safety website, and an article in the New York Times. “In September 2009, the Court had found that the USDA had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by approving the Monsanto-engineered biotech crop…

  • That’s disgusting!…and immoral?

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    heldke

    Would you eat a cockroach? If you find the very idea disgusting, would you be surprised to learn that some researchers believe that your disgust–a so-called “moral emotion”–is one of the drivers of humans’ higher moral judgments? Psychologists and philosophers at a recent conference on disgust discussed (heh heh) this issue in considerable detail. Some…

  • Russian seed bank “one step closer to destruction”

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    heldke

    A Russian court refused to interfere with a Russian housing agency’s plans to develop new housing units on the site of a seed bank containing more than five thousand varieties of fruits and ornamental plants. Cary Fowler is quoted in an article in The Guardian as saying “It is a bitter irony that the single…

  • Nourishing the Planet interview with Cary Fowler

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    heldke

    Cary Fowler is a member of the “Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group,” a subgroup of the Worldwatch Institute. In this interview with him in the Nourishing the Planet blog, he discusses the significance of crop diversity, the role of the seed bank in safeguarding diversity, and some of the things that individuals might do to…

  • Is this your brain on meat?

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    heldke

    A story on Morning Edition today discusses anthropological arguments showing that a meat diet is what enabled our ancestors to develop bigger brains. A diet of cooked meat, to be more specific.