Tim Egan has a great article today about GM salmon and humility.
And I've been wanting to get my hands on some lionfish filets for some time... anyone have a hook up?
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuna Company Announces Move to More Sustainable Buying Practices
In The Independent today:
"Britain's biggest tinned tuna brand has bowed to pressure from campaigners and agreed to end a destructive form of fishing.
* * *
"The company announced the U-turn yesterday after a two-month campaign from Greenpeace that saw activists dress up as sharks and play the Jaws theme tune outside the Princes headquarters in Liverpool."
Bravo activists, including Greenpeace (who recently achieved a related success with Costco), and Fish Fight.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"Britain's biggest tinned tuna brand has bowed to pressure from campaigners and agreed to end a destructive form of fishing.
* * *
"The company announced the U-turn yesterday after a two-month campaign from Greenpeace that saw activists dress up as sharks and play the Jaws theme tune outside the Princes headquarters in Liverpool."
Bravo activists, including Greenpeace (who recently achieved a related success with Costco), and Fish Fight.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
Coffee-growing Affected by Global Warming?!?
I've long been a proponent of taking aggressive action to combat human-caused global climate change, but now it's personal.
Green Agriculture Can Feed the World
One of my pet peeves is the conventional "wisdom" that organic and sustainable agriculture may be all right for your typical upper middle class granola-eating yoga-doing Whole Foods shopper, but feeding the world may only be accomplished through chemical-based agriculture. Tom Philpott and Mark Bittman have both written excellent pieces debunking this conventional wisdom, and both are must-reads.
Grist article by Tom Philpott
New York Times Op-Ed by Mark Bittman
This debate reminds me of the debate over the Iraq war, when those who said invading Iraq and Afghanistan would be a disaster were ridiculed by the "serious" people. The same thing happened with climate change - weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels would wreck the economy! Now it is happening with the economy - all "serious" people say we need focus exclusively on the national debt. Of course, when push comes to shove, the true agenda is revealed.
Grist article by Tom Philpott
New York Times Op-Ed by Mark Bittman
This debate reminds me of the debate over the Iraq war, when those who said invading Iraq and Afghanistan would be a disaster were ridiculed by the "serious" people. The same thing happened with climate change - weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels would wreck the economy! Now it is happening with the economy - all "serious" people say we need focus exclusively on the national debt. Of course, when push comes to shove, the true agenda is revealed.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Proposed Shark Fin Ban in California
A bill in the California legislature would ban the possession and sale of shark fins, including the serving of shark fin soup. From the front page of today's New York Times:
Sharks like the great white are slow to reproduce and can take up to 15 years to mature, making farming virtually impossible.
Scientists say that as many as 90 percent of sharks in the world’s open oceans have disappeared. “They’re among the ocean’s most vulnerable animals,” Dr. McCosker said. “The whole food web becomes bollixed when you take out the top-level predator."
Sharks like the great white are slow to reproduce and can take up to 15 years to mature, making farming virtually impossible.
Scientists say that as many as 90 percent of sharks in the world’s open oceans have disappeared. “They’re among the ocean’s most vulnerable animals,” Dr. McCosker said. “The whole food web becomes bollixed when you take out the top-level predator."
Friday, February 25, 2011
Suggested Fish Mobile Phone Lists!
When you're going out to dinner this weekend, don't forget to check the Monterey Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program, and to carry with you the appropriate Pocket List! Too cool! If you're browsing from your mobile, go to this link to be automatically directed to the latest online pocket guide.
The "Realist" View of Sustainable Agriculture
I suppose I am a bit late to the punch on this one, but a friend just alerted me to this apparently infamous article by respected agriculturalist Robert Paarlberg. The article depicts organic agriculture as merely a preoccupation of the privileged class, and argues chemical-based agriculture is the only way to feed the growing world population.
In response, I found this article, which mostly dismisses Paarlberg's claims and argues organic agriculture can in fact feed the world more effectively than chemical-based agriculture. The article has the added bonus of referencing one of my favorite books in the title.
Of course, I tend to agree with the second article, both from a normative standpoint and because Paarlberg's article appears to ignore the significant support provided to chemical-based agriculture by government subsidies and low-priced fossil fuels, among other things. Paarlberg's article also diminishes the importance of evaluating the negative externalities generated by chemical-based agriculture, such as its environmental and long-term nutritional consequences.
However, it is an interesting debate, and if anyone has anything to add I would be interested in hearing it.
In response, I found this article, which mostly dismisses Paarlberg's claims and argues organic agriculture can in fact feed the world more effectively than chemical-based agriculture. The article has the added bonus of referencing one of my favorite books in the title.
Of course, I tend to agree with the second article, both from a normative standpoint and because Paarlberg's article appears to ignore the significant support provided to chemical-based agriculture by government subsidies and low-priced fossil fuels, among other things. Paarlberg's article also diminishes the importance of evaluating the negative externalities generated by chemical-based agriculture, such as its environmental and long-term nutritional consequences.
However, it is an interesting debate, and if anyone has anything to add I would be interested in hearing it.
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