Section » Sustainability
Fertilizer overuse can acidify soil
Another reason to dislike the N-word: Fertilizer overuse creates many problems, like aquatic dead zones, resource depletion and blue-baby syndrome. One impact that has been mostly out of sight is soil acidification.
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Out of conservation, back to production
Good soil deed about to be uprooted: Millions of acres of environmentally sensitive lands are being pushed out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program and, most likely, back into production. The program was created to stabilize commodity prices while saving topsoil, improving water quality and creating
Dispatch from Germany No. 2: Visiting three small but innovative farm-to-table enterprises
By Renee Ciulla As I wrote in my first post for Ethicurean, I’m a graduate student learning about Sustainable Agriculture in Europe who recently spent a semester
Farm Labor Experts: The Solution is Not For Sale
Friend o' Ethicurean Twilight Greenaway writes about sustainable food for San Francisco's Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), which nourishes, inspires and educates SF residents and visitors by running the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and other
If biotechnology won’t feed the world, what will? Knowledge, says GE expert Doug Gurian-Sherman
Earlier this week, I asked plant pathologist and molecular biologist Doug Gurian-Sherman to explain some of the science behind genetically engineered crops and their potential — or lack thereof — to feed a more populous, climate-changing
Can biotechnology ‘feed the world’? Not likely, says genetic engineering expert Doug Gurian-Sherman
With food shortages provoking riots in recent years, and the world’s population increasing exponentially, Congress will soon be debating the next big U.S. aid package for developing countries. America currently
McDonald’s Europe to showcase “sustainable farming”
Potemkin potato growers?: McDonald’s Europe has launched a PR campaign to highlight those of its suppliers using "sustainable agricultural practices." The Flagship Farms program will showcase innovative farming practices on seven (to start) of the 500,000 European farmers supplying the company. (That's
Nobu’s no-no: The rise and fall of the bluefin tuna
With the Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin stocks plummeting to shockingly low levels, chef and restaurateur Nobu Matsuhisa (24 prestigious restaurants around the world) is under pressure from a battalion of critics to remove the fish from his menu until populations are sustainable. So far, Nobu's restaurants
Lack of hippo manure tips ecosystem into failure
Hippo-suction: From Lake Edward in war-torn central Africa comes another example of the complexity of nature. The lake was once a rich and reasonably well-managed source of fish for the region, but now fishing nets are coming up empty. Reasons include unlicensed boats, fishing in the normally off-limits
Postcard from the Sustainable Foods Institute in Monterey
I'm here in Monterey for the Sustainable Foods Institute, which the Monterey Bay Aquarium (creator of the Seafood Watch pocket guide) puts on for members of
Beef industry not fans of Meatless Mondays, surprisingly
Moderation or abomination?: The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future has called on Obama to re-institute "Meatless Mondays," something previous presidents did in wartime. The Center says it is making the request to promote better health and better environmental practices. The beef industry, of course,
Agrofuels are not the answer for CA’s low-carbon energy needs
This guest post has been unpublished at the request of the contributor due to timing issues. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Agrofuels are not the answer for CA’s low-carbon energy needs", url: "http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/04/22/agrofuels-are-not-the-answer-for-cas-low-carbon-energy-needs/" });
‘Killer’ movie tells who to charge for the large
"Killer at Large," a new documentary DVD, is a veritable banquet of obesity information, serving up copious facts and personal tales about the American obesity epidemic that threatens to shorten the life span of the current generation of young people. Alas,
What two 19th-century cities can teach us about community-based food systems
While compiling this week's (long overdue) Digest, I came across the excellent infographic above in Yes! magazine's April issue, which is all
Transgenic seeds are toast(ed): New report says GE crops have not increased yield
Couched deep within the earth-mother rhetoric of a recent Monsanto ad (which you can also see on the back cover of the current
