How overuse of antibiotics and germ phobia may contribute to our most serious health problems.

We are more bacteria than human. More “other” than ourselves. It’s true. Bacteria cells in our bodies outnumber human cells by 10 to 1.

Scientists are just now discovering the role that the beneficial bacteria in our bodies play in governing how our bodies react to food, regulating appetite and digestion, and enhancing immunity to a host of chronic diseases. An article in May’s Scientific American (synopsis here) outlined the incredible diversity of the microbial systems living within us (our microbiome) and told how scientists are mapping the DNA of these bacteria to discover the important role microbiomes play in our health.

We’re pretty much sterile in the womb, only beginning to build our rich bacterial inner lives as we pass through the birth canal. Another early source of bacteria for infants is through their mothers’ milk and through interacting with family members, pets, and the world around them. Compared to two generations ago, children today have a deficit of beneficial bacteria in their bodies. The reasons for this include the increase in Cesarean births, formula feeding, antibacterial soaps and hand-sanitizers, and the prescription of antibiotics for childhood infections. Other possible reasons include the overuse of antibiotics in both human medicine and animal agriculture, and our modern American diet.

As scientists discover the specific roles some of the bacteria play in regulating functions such as digestion and appetite, they are beginning to hypothesize that a deficit in beneficial bacteria may be the cause of many of our modern health problems including obesity, food sensitivities and allergies, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.

For example, the bacteria, H. pylori regulates the hormones that govern hunger. In studies, people who lack the bacteria due to treatment with antibiotics gain more weight. According to Scientific American, less than 6% of American children have H. pylori in their bodies now, while 2 to 3 generations ago, 80% of Americans had it, corresponding with the generational rise in obesity.

The article also talks about another bacteria called B. thetaiotaomicron, which coaxes nutrients out of indigestible carbohydrates like whole grains. A deficit of B. thetaiotaomicron can create problems with digestion that lead to serious illness, and may be behind the rise in autoimmune disorders. Nishanga Bliss, Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine, licensed acupuncturist, and author of the book, Real Food All Year, on the benefits of eating seasonally from both a Chinese and Western medicine perspective, explains how this works.

“When your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs from food, it sets up an inflammatory cascade through your systems, and this can contribute to a lot of our chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune disorders.” Bliss goes on to tell EcoSalon, “About a decade ago, scientists started to figure out that inflammation is a factor in all of these diseases. At current rates, one in five people will be diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder within their lifetimes.”

Bliss adds that a lack of beneficial bacteria in the gut is likely the cause of many food allergies and sensitivities, which cause inflammation in the body that can lead to disease.

“Your body shouldn’t have an immune response to food unless it’s bad. It’s the microbiome’s job to tell your body not to freak out about the food you eat.” Without a healthy, balanced microbiome “your body attacks the food, causing an allergic response and inflammation,” Bliss says.

So what are five things you can do to make sure your microbiome stays healthy and keeps you healthy?

1. Eat Foods That Contribute to a Healthy Microbiome

These include fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented pickles, kimchi, yogurt, and a modest amount of beer or wine, and sourdough bread (even cooked fermented foods like sourdough have a positive impact on digestion according to Bliss). She also recommends fiber rich foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. The reason is because beneficial bacteria feast on these foods to make them digestible to our bodies. In turn, they gain nourishment and increase in numbers, said Bliss.

2. Stop Sanitizing

Lose the hand-sanitizer unless you’re in a dangerous or particularly dirty situation or working with an immune compromised individual. Soap and water are plenty effective for everyday hand washing. If we make our environments too sterile, our bodies won’t be able to handle stronger bugs they might come into contact with.

3. Use Antibiotics Sparingly and Replenish Gut Flora

Don’t take antibiotics unless you know you have an infection. If you do take them, make sure you finish your course so as not to create resistant survivors. Always up your intake of fermented foods to rebalance your gut flora. Bliss says go straight to food sources as the probiotic capsules available in health food stores, though perfectly fine, are made from fermented foods anyway.

4. Urge Regulators to Prohibit the Routine Use of Antibiotics in Agriculture

The overuse of antibiotics in healthy animals to make them grow faster or help them withstand the filthy conditions on factory farms is a growing problem that we talked about recently. This practice could be leading to drug resistant superbugs, and their residues might be finding their way into us, killing our good bacteria and affecting our health.

Industry representatives contend that meat and milk are routinely tested for antibiotic residues and that it isn’t a problem in our food supply. However, testing data from dairy cows presented here from 2008 show that scheduled inspections included only 1,099 of the 2.7 million dairy cows slaughtered for meat in total – less than half a percent. Inspector generated sampling, on the other hand, targets animals with signs of disease or animals from producers with questionable histories. In 2008, inspector generated sampling covered 80,131 dairy cows – still fewer than 3% of all dairy cows slaughtered for meat. But, 788 cows tested positive for a wide range of drugs, with many testing positive for more than one type.

5. Join Fix Food’s Campaign to Get the Drugs Out of Our Meat

In the absence of real regulation by FDA, a new campaign launched by Fix Food goes straight to consumers, asking them sign a petition demanding that Trader Joes sell meat raised without antibiotics. Robert Kenner, Director of Food Inc., is on the board, so you can see more of his great work in the video announcing the campaign.

Images: kaibara, AlegnaMarie, BeinKorean

The post Your Health Depends on Beneficial Bacteria appeared first on EcoSalon.

In celebration of the passing of the new Farm Bill.

Now that healthcare’s out of the way, Washington’s on to the next hot-button issue: farming. On Friday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stressed the importance of passing the new five-year farm bill, which will support farmers and agricultural producers in America. Get up to speed on this important piece of legislation, as well as the state of farming and agriculture around the world, with this series of informative infographics.

The Hidden Costs of the Farm Bill: A breakdown of one of the year’s most controversial pieces of legislation, from TakePart.com.

The Global State of Agriculture: A big picture look at farming around the world, from the knowledgeable folks at USAID.

Factory Farm Map: A sobering interactive infographic that visualizes the effect of factory farms on communities, consumers, food safety, health, and animal welfare. [click for interaction]

Farmville vs. Real Farms: In case you were wondering, there is a difference.

Interesting Facts About Farm Water Conservation: An infographic on the inseparable relationship between water and agriculture.

The Female Face of Farming: While agriculture is usually seen as a masculine industry, it’s often women who bear the weight of the work. This interactive infographic shows more. [click for interaction]

How Big a Backyard Would You Need to Live Off the Land?: Urban gardeners, take note.

Agriculture in the Green Economy: In this interactive infographic and video series, Farming First explains how agriculture plays into the economy and the environment. [click for interaction]

Urban Agriculture in DC: Take a tip from residents of the nation’s capital and cultivate food in your own backyard (or rooftop).

Teach a (Wo)man to Farm: This interactive infographic from GOOD and One/Living Proof shows why investment in agriculture, particularly woman farmers, is a powerful tool for economic development. [click for interaction]

ALSO CHECK OUT:

10 Earth Day Infographics

10 Food Infographics That Have Us Consciously Consuming

10 Infographics on Energy

Check out more infographics here.

Image: Kevin Dooley

The post 10 Infographics on Farming and Agriculture appeared first on EcoSalon.

 We love bees.

Two years ago we told you how vandals had attacked bee hives at Hayes Valley Farm, San Francisco, resulting in the loss of over 60% of the resident bees. We’ve just heard it’s happened again, as part of a sustained campaign of vandalism over the last 2 weeks. If you want to show them a little support, you can reach them at the Facebook page for their nonprofit organization, SF Bee-Cause.

(Let’s hope they get a camera soon and catch these wretches before they do even more damage).

Bees, it barely needs to be said, are vital elements of the food cycle that keep us alive. Was Albert Einstein exaggerating when he said the end of bees would mean humanity had 4 years left before its own extinction? Let’s hope we never find out. In celebration of this incredible, species-saving creature, here are our best bee-related posts of the last 2 years, from beautifying honey therapy to the Chim Chimney backyard bee-keeping movement sweeping through London…

Check your local ordinances and if backyard beekeeping is legal in your area, determine where you’d put your hives. A sunny spot that’s not directly situated next to a recreational area like a picnic table or playground is ideal. It’s best to plant a hedge or put up some kind of barrier around your bee colonies to prevent vandalism, protect the hive from wind and induce the bees to fly upward when leaving the hive (rather than through your neighbor’s yard.) Speaking of neighbors, you’ll need to talk to them about your plans. As long as none of them are allergic to bees, a little bribery with some honey should put them at ease.

The Buzz On Backyard Beekeeping For Beginners

In the last two years, California’s crops were affected by a mysterious disappearance of bee hives. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, the worker bees simply fly away and never return. Since October 2006, over 35% of the honey bee population in the United States has vanished. In some states, as many as 90% of bees have disappeared. Scientists don’t know what causes CCD, but theories range from stress due to travel (bees are trucked across thousands of miles, in some cases, to pollinate), or pesticide exposure. A case for local, organic food?

Mysterious Mass Deaths Redux

Recent history: Bees are dying all over the place, “colony collapse disorder” enters the national consciousness, a leaked EPA memo points to a particular pesticide, Army researchers enter the fray. In the midst of all of this news, just as it seems scientists might be closer to identifying the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, a new mysterious bee die-off is happening – right now – in San Francisco.

I discovered this entirely by chance when I met a fellow cookbook author named Penni Wisner at a professional gathering. The day we met, she had just learned that the beehive in her Lower Castro San Francisco backyard had collapsed, practically overnight.  As she told the story of how the process unfolded, everyone in the room was swept away by the heartbreaking mystery of the hive’s demise.

Exclusive: EPA Ignores Its Own Science And Approves Bee-Killing Pesticide: Mysterious New Die-Off Unfolds

Brightly colored clothing might be fun for summer, but certain hues can bring bees buzzing. If you’re worried about yellow jackets don’t wear bright yellow, orange, florescent red or light blue.

How To ‘B’ At One With Backyard Bees

Conventional beekeepers place sheets made of plastic or wax in their hives for their honeybees to build upon, but the problem is, bees aren’t too fond of plastic and the wax is contaminated by chemicals and pesticides. The hexagonal cell pattern on the sheets is often too large, encouraging the growth of oversized bees that may gather more pollen and make more honey, but are also more susceptible to mites and thus require chemical treatment.

The Backwards Beekeepers – made up of Kirk Anderson, Charles Martin Simon and Michael Bush – believe that this just plain unnatural system is adding unnecessary stress to bee populations. Their own system relies on wood strips painted with chemical-free beeswax taken from their own previous harvests.

Backwards Beekeeping: Natural Care Of Feral Bees

It really started at age five when my grandmother slathered honey on my morning waffle. I distinctly remember my senses awakening. The scent of the honey mixed with the melting butter on the crisp waffle and then the flavor exploding in my mouth. I was hooked at that moment and somehow knew that bees would play an important role in my life. However, it wasn’t until about five years ago when a colony of bees built their home in my garden wall. When I learned that my landlord was set to exterminate them because he was told they were “killer bees,” I called a local beekeeper to help me move them from the garden wall to my newly purchased house. Many exterminators use the term “killer bees” as a scare tactic.

Q & A with Los Angeles beekeeper, Staci Valentine

According to the British Beekeepers Association, the number of registered Chim Chimney Beekeepers in central London has more than doubled within the past couple of years. There are over 2,500 hives and more than 700 beekeepers. The posh are in on it (the queen’s bees are kept at Buckingham Palace) as well as the middle class, who keep bees in allotments and on rooftops. The enthusiasm for London beekeeping and the resulting honey (considered to be among the best in the world) has prompted annual festivals, international beehive design competitions,eco products, and amendments to the school curriculum.

The Chim Chimney swarm has become so avid that last year the North London Beekeepers Association had to start turning away members. The Guardian calls it the latest environmental movement; we’re calling it the new chicken coop.

Chim Chimney Beekeeping: The New Homesteading

Want a centuries-old beauty trick? Tie on your sunbonnets and lean in. (Yes, now I am whispering.) Honey is the secret to everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but it comes pretty darn close. It’s the multi-tasker of natural beauty. Cleopatra made milk and honey baths infamous. Poppea, wife of Rome’s Emperor Nero, used milk and honey to maintain a youthful appearance. And best of all? It is everywhere and it is relatively cheap.

5 Reasons Why Honey Is The Ultimate Beauty Must-Have

Among its clearly outlined beliefs and commitments, Burt’s Bees believes that natural products should be 100 percent natural. Together with the Natural Products Association and other leading Natural Personal Care Companies, Burt’s pioneered The Natural Standard for Personal Care Products, a set of guidelines that helps to define what a “natural” personal care product is and what it is not. Products that fill the bill are branded with a Natural Seal, which indicates that the product has met guidelines related to natural ingredients, safety, animal testing, and packaging. While only half of Burt’s Bees’ existing products qualify as 100 percent natural, the company is open about working toward complicity across the entire product line, and each product’s “percent natural” is clearly indicated on its packaging.

Burt’s Bees also works to ensure safe working conditions in the sourcing of its ingredients, maintain a strong stand against animal testing, and use packaging made with high levels of post consumer recycled materials. The company also pledges at least 10 percent of all burtsbees.com sales revenue to partners through The Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation.

Behind The Label: Burt’s Bees

Images: Don Hankins, aussiegal, gregav, hr.icio, Mike Baird, Staci Valentine, vickyb, and alsjhc.

The post From The Vault: Let It Bee appeared first on EcoSalon.

Island life is a fragile thing.

Deciding to live on a remote island is to enter into a complex balancing-act with the local environment. Your arrival puts an unusual drain on the carrying capacity of the land – something you need to offset if you want to survive. You gamble that the climate will help rather than hinder you. You trust that bouts of extreme weather will be fleeting. However hard you work to establish a toe-hold, you could be knocked off your feet by any number of factors – including sheer bad luck.

Such is the case with the remote Scottish archipelago of St. Kilda.

Head forty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, deep into the Atlantic Ocean, and you’ll find a cluster of fang-like islands forming the archipelago of St. Kilda, one of the most savage-weathered parts of Britain (waves up to 5 meters high; recorded windspeeds as high as 130 mph). Its forbidding cliffs, often inaccessible from the sea, include the sheerest drop to sea level in the whole of the UK. This is not a place you linger.

Tell that to its previous inhabitants. There have been people on St Kilda for 2,000 years. Or rather, there were, until 1930. Thanks to a tragic combination of crop failure, accidental contamination of the land and an unsustainably low population (70 people in 1920; 37 in 1928), the delicate ecological balance that had sustained a hundred generations of human inhabitants was broken. The St Kildans were a dying community – even with their dwindled numbers, the land couldn’t support them. They were too far from the mainland to rely on food deliveries until the soil recovered. They had no choice. On August 29th 1930, the remaining inhabitants were evacuated off the low-lying main island (Hirta) and back to mainland Scotland.

Since that day, the island has had no permanent population. It’s now a World Heritage Site and an important seabird breeding station, a place of scientific interest…and a poignant reminder of our relationship with the land we stand on.

Images: CaptainOates.

The post Ecological Lessons From History: St Kilda, Abandoned appeared first on EcoSalon.

Agribusiness spinmeisters reach new level of sophistication.

I recently received no fewer than three press releases (plus a phone call) regarding a Food Dialogues event to be held in Hollywood. I thought, “Wow, they must really want me to go.” The event was billed as a series of discussions about the “realities” of food production, promising to bring together, “entertainment movers and shakers, chefs, academics, large restaurant operators, journalists, local leaders, and farmers and ranchers,” to discuss how food is grown and raised.

At first glance, I thought it sounded great. After all, I mostly write about food production so I’m always keen to learn more from a broad range of perspectives. Though I have my ideas about the kind of food system I’d like to see (ecologically based, small-medium scale, humane, diverse production) I recognize that I’m not a farmer and probably could use an education on the “realities” of food production from the farmers’ point of view. There was even a tour of a famous Hollywood urban farm listed on the program. I got excited until I looked a little more deeply into the group (and its PR company) organizing the event. That’s when I realized I’d almost been had.

The event is to be presented by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and their PR Company, Ketchum, part of a program for which the partnership has won a prestigious PR award in the brand building and reputation management categories. From their press release, USFRA is “a newly formed alliance consisting of a wide range of prominent farmer and rancher led organizations and agricultural partners.” I have to give them credit for transparency. Their list of affiliates, partners, and board members is easy to find. It includes a number of state farm bureaus, industry groups such as the National Pork Board, United Egg Producers, the National Corn Growers Association, and the National Milk Producers Federation. There are no individual farmers on the list, but it’s not that surprising, as farmers (like in other industries) organize into groups to help them advance their interests. A look at the industry partners and advisors section, however, is going to raise a few eyebrows in sustainable food circles. The premier partner advisory group consists of DuPont, John Deere, Pfizer Animal Health, and of course, the food movement’s favorite whipping boy, Monsanto. Industry partners include some biggies too: Archer Daniels Midland and Dow AgroSciences to name two.

So what are these stalwarts of the conventional, industrial food system doing masquerading (sort of) as movement types? From their press release, USFRA “recognizes that Americans have important questions about our food and how it is produced,” and the alliance can “help farmers and ranchers answer consumers’ and influencers’ questions, including the tough ones, about food production.”

I still wanted to keep an open mind about these food discussions. Because, after all, agribusiness is a reality, and everyone in the food production business should be talking to one another and sharing best practices. I thought, optimistically, that maybe these groups are beginning to see the impossibility of sustaining the current chemical and petroleum-dependent system and really do want to engage in discussions with consumers and influencers.

I chose to look at one issue covered on their website, antibiotic use in agriculture, and compare the alliance’s presentation of the “facts” with published facts from other sources.  Here’s what I found:

USFRA Fact number 1:

Producers consult with veterinarians about antibiotic use: Veterinarian involvement is mandated for all antibiotics approved since 1988.

Real World Fact: It wasn’t until April 11, 2012 that the FDA announced a rule requiring farmers to get a prescription from a vet before issuing antibiotics. The USFRA claim that prescriptions were “mandated” since 1988 refers to a rule issued that only applied to new drugs. According to the source document USFRA provides from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), “many of the older antimicrobials are available for over-the-counter sale to producers.” The entire source document serves as a strong plea to farmers to use antimicrobials judiciously and under the supervision of a veterinarian. USFRA must not have thought anyone would read the source document they provided, as it doesn’t help make their case. I came away convinced that the veterinary community is concerned about overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, although, probably due to close ties with powerful farmer/rancher groups and drug companies, they don’t actually say it.

USFRA Fact Number 2:

All Milk Tested for Antibiotics: All milk is strictly tested for antibiotics on the farm and at the processing plant. Any milk that tests positive cannot be sold to the public.

Real World Fact: This is mostly true. Every tanker load of milk is tested before processing and if antibiotic residues are found, it is dumped. Farmers are not required to test their milk, though many do.

USFRA Fact Number 3:

Meat and Poultry for Food Are Rigorously Monitored By Law: Meat and poultry for human consumption must pass inspection and monitoring by FSIS (Food Safety Inspection Service).

Real World Fact: In addition to recent moves by the FSIS to privatize poultry inspection, the sheer number of food poisoning cases requiring hospitalization a year (around 50,000) makes this claim of “rigorous monitoring” by FSIS debatable. Current numbers on food contamination cases can be found here. 

USFRA Fact Number 4:

Many Antibiotics Sold for Animal Use Are Not Used to Treat Humans: According to FDA statistics, 35 percent of antibiotics sold for animal use are in classes not used in human medicine. And all antibiotics are carefully examined for any human health implications before approved and incorporated into labeling. This means they have no possibility of contributing to antibiotic resistance bacteria in people.

Real World Fact: According to the AVMA’s antimicrobial fact sheet, “the vast majority of antibiotic classes are used in both humans and animals.” And the same New York Times article referenced above notes that 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animals. Of these, about 80 percent are given through feed, with an additional 17 percent given in water. Just 3 percent were given by injection. This indicates that the antibiotics are not being used “judiciously” to treat sick animals, but as a matter of course. Furthermore, the same article goes on to say that public health officials began to worry about resistance way back in the 1970s but industry lobbying has prevented much action on banning certain classes of antibiotics until recently, when the Obama administration moved to restrict certain classes of antibiotics for use in food animals.

USFRA Fact Number 5:

When Organic Animals Are Sick, They May be Treated with Antibiotics: When an animal raised for food on an organic farm becomes ill, organic livestock producers utilize natural remedies. If these remedies are ineffective then it must be given medical treatment including antibiotics if appropriate for the illness. Once an animal is treated with antibiotics, it cannot be sold as organic.

Real World Fact: The above statement is true, but it’s pointless. Most people are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on healthy animals or to induce growth. Few would argue against treating sick animals (organic or conventionally raised) to alleviate their suffering and prevent the spread of disease. The problem is with the routine use of antibiotics commonly practiced in agriculture today, not in using antibiotics to treat illness.

USFRA Fact Number 5:

FDA Approval Process Is Stringent: FDA has a stringent approval process for veterinary medicines and antibiotics – much like that for human medications. In fact, antibiotics for use in animals require the same testing as those used in humans, with the additional requirement that they must be tested to ensure meat and milk from the animal given the medicine will be safe for human consumption.

Real World Fact: This is a sweeping generalization that doesn’t really address the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Safe or not, it’s resistance we’re worried about. Not to mention, despite the FDA’s approval process, examples abound of cases where approved drugs were found to have deadly side effects.

USFRA Fact Number 6:

No Cases of Animal Antibiotic Use Leading to Antibiotic Resistant Superbugs: There has been no proven link to antibiotic treatment failure in humans due to antibiotics use in animals for consumption.

Real World Fact: Proven is the key word here. The use of antibiotics in agriculture is so prevalent (remember 80% of all antibiotics are used on animals) that establishing a causative link between specific human cases of resistant infections and specific cases of farmers using antibiotics is impossible. But the links are getting stronger, as recent investigative pieces in the Los Angeles Times, and Self magazine indicate. And a recent study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) found that a resistant strain of MRSA has jumped from animals from humans. It’s time that farmer groups and regulators start paying attention to this because waiting for a proven link could prove to have widespread and deadly consequences.

I get that farmers are tired of being demonized for the failures of the food system, but the professional organizations to which they belong seem intent on preserving the status quo and ignoring the very real threats to the continued viability of the current system. As a long-range business plan, I find this lacking. Instead of spending money on PR to influence the conversation, why not break away from the agribusiness sponsors such as Monsanto and DuPont and start having some real, honest conversations among their diverse membership about how to start to shift away from some of these practices that the public has very good reason to be worried about?

Images:AtomicPope, Lee Cannon, Wongaboo, andyarthur

The post Ag Industry Leaders Turn to Hollywood to Influence Public Opinion appeared first on EcoSalon.

A look at the people and practices behind California’s foie gras ban.

Considering the number of people who have actually eaten foie gras it’s surprising the amount of attention California’s pending ban of the sale and production of foie has generated.

Last week a group of big-name chefs made headlines by coming out against the ban. Calling themselves the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards, the chefs traveled to Sacramento to ask lawmakers not to enact the ban, offering this charter instead. The bill, SB 1520, was passed seven years ago, with a grace period until July 2012 to allow producers to explore alternatives to the controversial practice of force-feeding.

Leaving aside the fact that their coalition name conjures up images of Astroturf why would chefs such as Thomas Keller, Charles Phan, and Michael Mina advocate in favor of a feeding practice that expands ducks’ livers to 10 times their normal size, by inducing a fatty liver disease called hepatic lipidosis (basically hepatitis). Many would say, “It’s delicious,” others would say, “it’s a culinary tradition,” and still others would say, “I don’t want the government telling me what I can cook.”

The crux of the chefs’ argument is that they only source from humane suppliers and a ban would put these good producers out of business, leading to a black market. Most of these chefs source from the one foie gras producer in California, Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras.

The two other producers in the U.S. are in New York, and both use methods that chefs who serve foie would describe as humane. After a visit to one of these farms, Sarah DiGregorio concluded in The Village Voice, “The fact that some industrial farms elsewhere are making foie gras in inhumane ways doesn’t mean that all foie gras production is inhumane.”

According the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) the humane standards put forth in the charter by the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards basically seek to continue the practices that are already in place in virtually all U.S. operations, such as regular visits by animal health care professionals, USDA inspections, hand feeding, and cage-free living quarters. This chart shows side-by-side comparisons of the charter and current practices.

Regardless of feeding methods and living conditions, the question of whether or not the practice of force-feeding a duck up to three pounds of food a day is a humane practice has been the subject of much debate. Even the veterinarians can’t agree. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has considered resolutions opposing the practice on humane grounds, but has stopped short of taking a position, due to concern by food supply veterinarians that it would lead to the group having to take a position on other much more large-scale factory farming practices.

The AVMA says that empirical research regarding the health and welfare of birds during and after the feeding process is limited, but the group’s backgrounder does say: “force feeding (sic) overrides animal preference and homeostasis. Although ducks may, under some conditions, voluntarily consume large amounts of food, if force feeding (sic) is interrupted they will fast for a period of 3 days or longer, indicating that ducks have been fed past the point of satiety.”

What do chefs who aren’t a part of The Coalition have to say?

“I’ve eaten foie gras a number of times,” said Aaron French chef at the Sunny Side Cafés, in Albany and Berkeley, CA, and author of The Bay Area Homegrown Cookbook. “The last time I had it I thought, ‘I don’t really need to eat this ever again,’” adding, “It’s inherently unnatural, and I don’t believe in eating any meat that’s not raised according to the animals’ natural cycles.”

In addition to being a chef, French is also an ecologist and ornithologist. He concedes that migratory water birds do have a natural tendency to store fat, but taking it to the extreme of foie gras is “kind of silly.” He tells me there are some producers producing a foie gras-like product (faux gras) without force-feeding, but says, “It’s not really the same. It’s a choice we’re making to choose this force-fed foie gras as the best. Why can’t we as a society choose the qualities of a naturally fattened liver as superior?” He likens it to the production of feedlot beef, in which the cows are fed an unnatural diet of corn, as compared to 100% grass-fed beef, in which the cows are allowed to graze naturally. As a society, we’ve decided we prefer the taste and texture of feedlot beef, but that’s starting to change.

French thinks that, rather than a ban on current practices, which he believes will create an alternate market for the current product, we should use this opportunity for education to shift our perspective away from force-feeding and toward a more benign product that doesn’t require the practice, much like we’re starting to shift our tastes to prefer grass-fed beef.

Samin Nosrat, an Oakland-based chef and writer and founder of the pioneering Pop Up General Store echoes some of French’s thoughts.

“Foie isn’t one of my go-to ingredients,” she says, “I don’t condone force-feeding ducks or geese. On the other hand, I care about food traditions, and I feel sad whenever a family business goes away,” adding, “this could be a great opportunity to look into other ways of producing it.”

Besides the farmer in Spain known as the Duck Whisperer, made famous in this TED talk by Dan Barber, there doesn’t seem to be anyone producing a product that is truly foie gras, without the use of force-feeding.

Charlie Hallowell, owner and chef of Pizzaiolo and Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland, CA, doesn’t serve a lot of foie gras. “I serve rustic Italian food,” he says, but, “I don’t get the justification for banning. It’s misplaced. It’s a cheap and easy target for animal rights activists. We should f*cking ban McDonalds!”

Adding, “it’s a teensy market.” “We should ban corn syrup and other things that are part of a large structural apparatus…There are things in the food system that have a widespread impact on our communities and the way we live our lives and foie gras isn’t one of those things.”

Hallowell adds, “I’ve been to foie gras farms and I’m most concerned about the labor practices on these farms.” He goes on to tell me that for the really high quality livers, the same worker has to feed the duck throughout its life because ducks become stressed by new people, and stress damages the liver. The workforce on foie gras farms is mostly an immigrant workforce, and it’s not uncommon for a worker to go without a day off during the entire feeding cycle of 20-30 days. This information makes me wish the chefs’ charter had taken up humane treatment of workers.

By press time, no California legislators have offered to champion the chefs’ proposed charter and the ban is still scheduled to go into effect. The city of Chicago repealed an earlier ban in 2008. Many countries prohibit force-feeding of animals, but the only country with a large foie gras industry to ban the practice has been Israel, whose Supreme Court ruled against force-feeding in 2003. When it comes to agriculture, the impact of any action in California cannot be overstated. California’s ban on battery cages for egg-laying hens led directly to United Egg Producers pledge to work with HSUS toward enacting federal legislation banning the practice. Perhaps a ban on a food of the 1% is just the first baby step toward banning some of the large-scale factory abuses that will have a much larger impact on the health of animals and our environment.

Images: Stu Spivak, VirtualErn, and Just Chaos

The post What the Foie? A Close Look at California’s Ban on Force Feeding Ducks appeared first on EcoSalon.

What will the future hold? It’s hard to say, but here are ten entities, industries, or trends that will impact it in various ways. 

In the past several years, we have all felt out of control of our lives. We have been hit by economic hardship, rising cost of living, plummeting home values, stagnant salaries, and waves of layoffs. Even as things slowly rebound, there are still many factors that affect our lives that we might not be able to control, but we have found ways to communicate our opinions and, in some cases, make a change. Our society is tackling new and old problems, setting new trends and following a new path, and in many ways, this is a tipping point where the decisions we make now will have a ripple effect far into the future.

Who are the people making these major life decisions for us? You might be surprised.

1. Pharmaceutical Industry

Although prescription prices went up in 2011, Americans are veering away from both doctor visits and excessive prescription use. At the same time, new government healthcare regulations over prescriptions that some women do want to take stirred up debate and crossed boundaries into local government, religious and business realms.

2. Oil & Gas

After the BP spill and the continuing aftermath, no one could fail to see the impact the oil and gas industry has on our lives. Prices have continued to rise and all indications are that they will not go down again for any significant length of time. Car companies have even come to the realization that we need transportation improvements and new higher mileage, hybrid and electric vehicles are emerging onto the market. Unfortunately, they only account for a small percentage of the vehicles on the road but they are gaining in popularity. Alternative energy solutions have become the next big thing, but we are still teetering on the edge of a precipice where we are consuming more energy than these solutions can meet, so oil and gas are still necessary evils. For how long, no one knows. While they still dominate, consumers will not only bear the financial costs, but environmental, political, and health costs as well.

3. Banks

Even before our economy hit a wall in 2008, many mistrusted banks and lenders and feelings deteriorated even further as the situation worsened. The financial landscape is changing. People are becoming more aware of the benefits and pitfalls and are speaking up. When Bank of America saw fit to tack on an arbitrary fee, account holders noticed and protested. After a storm of bad press, Bank of America canceled that fee scheme, but now they are looking to impose more.

The recently passed JOBS Act will also affect small businesses financially in ways we can’t see yet. Now that the gates have opened for people to crowdfund small businesses, this could enable organizations who might not have been able to get traditional or angel funding. Small businesses currently account for 65 percent of new jobs. Perhaps it took a major fall in order to make a change.

4. Supreme Court

We don’t think of many Supreme Court decisions as affecting our day-to-day lives, but recently the Court has weighed in on some pertinent issues. The justices pushed back against physical GPS tracking of a suspect, but the argument exposed the bigger issue of individual privacy. Justice Sotomayor articulated the future concern of eroding personal privacy, pointing out that “physical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of surveillance,” which puts into question freedom of expression online, information sent in email and data stored in the cloud. The laws as written by our founding fathers cannot keep pace with the speed of our technological innovations and our society’s increasing dependence on virtual communication, so this issue is sure to come up again.

5. State Government

While the Supreme Court makes decisions felt across the nation, state governments have been flexing their power lately. States have passed a number of measures chipping away at Roe v. Wade and imposing limitations and requirements on abortion that vary state to state.

Arizona went further and crafted legislation that would allow employers to opt out of covering birth control as part of their benefits package. If women wanted reimbursement for prescription costs, it then proposed to compel them to justify to their employers that if they are using birth control, they were using it for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Using birth control for its intended purpose could be grounds for dismissal.

The legislation (in that form) failed, but this trend of state interference in personal and medical privacy seems to be gaining momentum.

6. Work

The job landscape has been a tough one. The last few years have seen layoffs, stagnant salaries, and overworked employees who had to take on the tasks of vacated roles. New opportunities lean toward freelance or contract work and fewer permanent positions with benefits, while our nation is still known for its culture of overwork.

However, mobile tools are giving rise to more work-at-home arrangements to cut down on commuting, eliminate the need for expensive, wasteful office space, and encourage more work/life balance. Will work weeks get shorter? Will more people without location-based jobs (doctors, teachers, etc.) work remotely? The current tide is toward leaner work infrastructure and roles, so expect remote work arrangements to continue to be popular, but as for Americans working fewer hours? It’s a future hope, but not likely to become a reality soon.

7. Utilities

The utility bill is a growing part of monthly budgets, factoring in landlines, smart phones, tablets, cable, internet, as well as basic heating/cooling and water. We use more energy and spend more money, while the big utility fish are gobbling up the smaller ones, so we have fewer choices. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Verizon recently decided to follow in Bank of America’s footsteps and have added an additional fee onto their customers bills. And again, people noticed and protested. Will the future improve people’s abilities to read and comprehend their cell phone bills? Probably not, but hopefully conservation and alternative energy solutions will lessen our utilities’ control over our energy, and impact on our budgets and our planet.

8. Food

Hundreds of emerging books and blogs examine the content of food on the supermarket shelves and have found much of it full of unsavory ingredients. Despite the higher prices, organic food is gaining popularity and gardening has become cool again. Consumers are more food savvy than ever before and are scrutinizing their fare. The demand for healthier food is a positive trend, but it may come at a price, putting it out of reach for many that are still recovering economically or live in a food desert. How consumers shape this industry now will set the tone for the future.

9. Water

It’s easy to forget that water is precious. For most of us, it comes out of the tap when we need it and goes down the drain when we don’t, but water shortage is fast becoming one of the biggest issues of this century. Businesses are realizing how much water impacts their daily manufacturing processes and their profits. Lack of water can shut down a factory for days, while floods can impact crops and cause materials shortages and price hikes.

The price of water varies by region and abundance, but even here in the U.S., wars over water are becoming more intense. In the future we may see prices rise or simply see availability fall. CDP Water Disclosure Project’s Chris Hedemann believes that people will only start to care about conserving water when a water crisis hits.

10. Consumption

As our economy slowly recovers, many facets have changed. Consumer consumption and excessive waste have fallen out of favor, and frugality has spawned a new, sharing economy, also called the access economy. Companies like Zipcar and Airbnb promote swapping and lending, while anti-waste crusader Annie Leonard is seeing her dream of community and sharing start to come true. We’re replacing shopping bags with reusable cloth totes and borrowing from our neighbors rather than buying an item we may only use once or twice a year. Our economy has been hit before during the Great Depression, inspiring a generation of savers. Perhaps this economic disaster will inspire future generations of savers, lenders and borrowers.

Images: Bethan, Frederic Poirot, Julie Falk, Gisela Giardino, Garry Wilmore, Wally Gobetz, Blake Patterson, Chuck Schneider, Evan Leeson, Wester, aamy.

The post 10 Industries and Trends That Will Shape Our Future appeared first on EcoSalon.

From farm, to table.

The farm-to-table movement has been around for ages, even before locavore was named Word of the Year. But in recent years, it’s gained serious momentum, especially in urban areas. Yuppies are going vegetarian and joining CSAs, and it seems like everywhere you look there’s a new artisanal cheese maker or organic pomegranate purveyor.

But it’s one thing to hear about where your food comes from. It’s a whole other to see where it comes from. These photos of farms, farming, gardens, and crops showcase the beauty of agriculture, both here in the United States and abroad. Eat them up.

(above) Sussex County, New Jersey, USA

British Columbia, Canada

Washington, USA

Vinschgau, Italy

Pennsylvania, USA

Bourrou, France

Villach, Austria

Ross County, Ohio, USA

Oostzaan, The Netherlands

Oakland, California, USA

France

Hungary

Hesse, Germany

Wuppertal, Germany

San Rafael, California, USA

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Fowler, Indiana, USA

Shizuoka, Japan

Caledon, Ontario, Canada

United Kingdom

Vietnam

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Rushcutters Bay, Australia

Piketon, Ohio, USA

Japan

The Cotswolds, England

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Manthralaya, India

Ventura County, California, USA

Napa Valley, California

SEE ALSO:

40 Gorgeous Photos of Europe

40 Gorgeous Photos of North America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Latin America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Asia

40 Gorgeous Photos of Africa

25 Photos of Islands Threatened by Climate Change

25 Images of Female Adrenaline Seekers

40 Photos from Flea Markets Around the World

30 Gorgeous Photos of Winter Snowscapes

The post 30 Gorgeous Photos of Farming and Agriculture appeared first on EcoSalon.

In a state which owns the role as largest agricultural exporter in the country, how its largest city deals with food policy is important, not only for the state, but the nation as a whole. Such is the case with Los Angeles, California, a place where local produce runs abound. The problem is, it’s not only support for local food production that’s integral for regional food policy, but it’s the distribution of it.

According to the 2005 LA County Health Survey, only 14.6 percent of adults eat over five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Add that to a population over half (55.5 percent) of which is either obese or overweight, and it’s easy to posit the correlation between good food and improved health.

This week the Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force, established last year by the L.A. Board of Public Works, released a its report, “Good Food for All Agenda: Creating a New Regional Food System for Los Angeles.” The report focuses not only environmental concerns related to the LA food system, but also the political and social side of things. With studies showing that there is a direct correlation between income and health, these are the issues that local, and national, leaders have to start taking a serious look at, and it’s good to see one of the nation’s most abundant agricultural regions starting to do so.

In the land of plenty, the report paints a grim picture of the reality for many LA residents:

A block from backyard vegetable gardens whose vitality could make you gasp, displays of cheap-calorie, high-profit, chemical-laden snacks, and vivid, sugary sodas all but crowd out the produce sections of neighborhood markets. Children eat prepackaged school lunches designed to ease the problems of distribution rather than nutrition. Billions of consumer dollars that could go towards sustainable, fairly priced locally grown food goes out of the region and out of the country. Improbably, even here, many thousands of Angeleno families go hungry each day.

Local food can’t just be a trend or a movement, it has to be practical, affordable and accessible, and when we’re talking about environmental, social and political issues, this is something that all cities across the country should be considering.

The report also calls for the city to establish a Good Food council, which would aid in connecting the dots between all the groups within the city that are doing work that’s related; focusing on local food means strengthening the community around it. University researchers can work with soup kitchens and activists can work with industry professionals.

You can read the full report here.

Image: djjewelz

The post Accessible and Affordable: LA Calls for a Better Local Food Policy appeared first on EcoSalon.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Chinatown, in which private investigator Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) stumbles upon a gigantic water scandal in the course of investigating an adultery case in Los Angeles, then you know that California’s water issues go way back.

Water is contentious here because we have so little of it and need so much. California is one of the world’s most valuable agricultural areas. The state supplies over half of U.S. fruits, nuts and vegetables and over 90 percent of U.S. almonds, artichokes, avocados, broccoli and processing tomatoes, yet, most of the water used to grow these crops comes from the extreme northeast part of the state.

Early in the history of California, we built a series of dams, canals, and aqueducts to transfer the Sierra snowpack to agricultural and urban areas. Without this water, most of the areas where we grow crops and many of our urban centers would be virtual deserts.

Warmer temperatures over the past few years and irregular precipitation have left the state with a less dependable Sierra snowpack. Court decisions to protect fish, such as the endangered Delta Smelt, have meant that the water diverted from the delta to farms and urban areas has been cut by as much as 30 percent. And the state’s population is still growing and expected to continue to do so.

With lower deliveries, water agencies across the state are worried about being able to supply their growing customer base. The issue has been framed as a fight between farmers and fishermen, north and south, and rural and urban.

The current situation recently led to the revival of an old idea that was once one of California’s most contentious water battles – a Peripheral Canal. The original Peripheral Canal was proposed in the early 1980s as a way to divert water south from the Sacramento River and the delta. It sparked an epic north vs. south campaign battle, with the north accusing Southern California of attempting to abscond with water that wasn’t rightfully theirs.

The California Water Bond of 2010, (or Proposition 18) created a new water war this past spring and summer until it was removed from the ballot in September by the California Legislature. The unpopular bill was not expected to pass in November so lawmakers postponed it until 2012, in hopes that the public would be more receptive to the bill at a later date.

The bill was to provide ecosystem restoration, groundwater cleanup, funding for safe drinking water, water education, recycling, and drought relief, but the bulk of the money was to go to dams (which, under the bill, could be partially owned by private corporations) and a new peripheral canal. This Civil Eats article summarizes the different issues well. Despite several worthy environmental projects contained in the bill, many activist groups saw it as a way to subsidize water for large agribusiness concerns, while leading the way toward privatization at taxpayer’s expense. Other environmental groups saw the restoration efforts as nothing more than remediation for the damage caused by the new diversion and storage systems that were the true crux of the bill.

The list of groups that opposed the bill included The Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, United Farmworkers, Restore the Delta, the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermens’ Association, and many more. Supporters included Meg Whitman, California Chamber of Commerce, and most of the state water agencies, and a few environmental groups such as Save the Redwoods League and the Nature Conservancy.

Because the bill is due to be resurrected in two years, environmental groups, government agencies, and ag groups are working to educate the public about the state’s water issues.

I recently attended a panel discussion entitled Portioning California’s Water for Farms, Fish, and Families at the David Brower Center in Berkeley CA. The event was sponsored by the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, the San Francisco Professional Food Society (SFPFS), the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), and Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE).

The panel was billed as an educational session for food professionals and concerned citizens. Panelists were to discuss the need to consider fish, wildlife, farms, and urban areas when setting water policy. Unfortunately the panel was largely made up of bureaucrats and water lawyers talking to one another in insider water language. Panelists summarized the positions of their various constituencies on the water issues, failing to connect the dots in a way that would have helped the audience relate. These long individual summaries did not leave much time for questions from the audience that could have served to bring the discussion closer to home. I can’t say I didn’t learn anything, but as an educational session, it was mixed.

The panel’s moderator was Tina Cannon Leahy, Principal Consultant, California Assembly, Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. Panelists included: Laura King Moon, Assistant General Manager, State Water Contractors; Campbell Ingram, Program Manager, California Water Program, The Nature Conservancy; Barry Epstein, Partner, Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLC; Brian Leahy, Assistant Director, Division of Land Resource Protection, California Department of Conservation; and Tim Ramirez, Natural Resources Division Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and Dave Runsten, Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

Here’s what I did learn: Almost everyone on the panel seemed to be for the Water Bill. One audience member spoke up and asked how delta farmers could be expected to subsidize developers and big ag. She identified herself as a 3^rd generation delta farmer and stated that the delta farmers are NOT for this bill. I would have liked to have seen some other viewpoints represented on the panel, and not just in the audience. There was some valuable talk of conservation efforts by municipalities and farmers, but I would have liked to have heard more.

Bottom line is this: We don’t have enough water, yet we need to continue to produce food, supply our cities, and protect our ecosystem. Therefore, we need to educate ourselves about where our water comes from and how it’s used, learn how to conserve, and get involved in 2012. And this isn’t just a California problem. It’s a global problem.

Here are some good places to start to learn more about water as a global problem:

Film: Blue Gold: World Water Wars

Book: Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Image: DSearls

The post California Water Issues Divide Farmers, Fishers, and Urban Dwellers appeared first on EcoSalon.