Sources
Sources from the Green Foodprint
Our food world is changing rapidly, with many positive developments and many sources of information. I consulted scholarly journals, books by experts, daily journalism, business and technology journals and magazines, United States government and United Nations reports, and environmental nonprofit group reports and newsletters. On some issues, I made personal contact with experts. Please note: web addresses were accurate at the time of printing.
PREFACE
$1 trillion: Economic Research Service of the USDA, “Food CPI and Expenditures” August 25, 2010.
$2,577: Calculated from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic News Release, “Consumer Expenditures 2009” October 5, 2010.
INTRODUCTION
“Like those big Industrial Age factories”: Dan Barber, “Change We Can Stomach,” New York Times, May 11, 2008.
How Can Food Be a Problem?
Dead zones: Robert J. Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg, “Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems,” Science 321 (August 15, 2008): 926–929 [Abstract]. See also Scott C. Doney, “The Growing Human Footprint On Coastal and Open-Ocean Biogeochemistry,” Science 328 (June 18, 2010): 1512–1516 [Abstract].
Rainforests cut down or burned: Rainforest Action Network, “New Report: Cargill Caught Destroying Rainforests, Endangering Orangutans” May 4, 2010. See also Rainforest Action Network, “The Problem with Palm Oil” September 22, 2010.
70% of previously forested land in the Amazon: Food and Agricultural Organization, Livestock’s Long Shadow (United Nations, 2006). See also Humane Society of the United States, “The Impact of Animal Agriculture on Global Warming and Climate Change” 2008. See also Greenpeace, “United Plantations Certified Despite Gross Violations of RSPO Standards” 2008.
Losing topsoil: Susan S. Lang, “Slow, Insidious’ Soil Erosion Threatens Human Health and Welfare, as Well as The Environment” Cornell University Chronicle Online, March 20, 2006.
“The prospect of 5 billion people”: Alan Durning, “The Fat of the Land,” World Watch Magazine, July, 1992.
Monoculture: Union of Concerned Scientists, “Industrial Agriculture: Features and Policy,” 2007.
“All-you-can-eat restaurant for pests”: quoted in Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999), 195.
1,060 United States food species endangered: Gary Paul Nabhan, Renewing America’s Food Traditions (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2008), 3.
“Biodiversity–the sum total”: Kenny Ausubel, Restoring the Earth: Visionary Solutions from the Bioneers (Tiburon, CA: H J Kramer, 1997), 42.
Organisms in a single field: Summarized from Vandana Shiva, Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000), 61-62.
Bees dying: Josie Glasiusz, “Beepocalypse: Across the Country, Honeybees are Vanishing,” Discover, June, 2007.
Almond trees: Gina Covina, “Nobody Home,” Terrain, Summer 2007.
Destroying fragrance: “Study: Flowers Losing Smell,” Live Science, April 11, 2008.
Virus-fungus combination: Kirk Johnson, “Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery,” New York Times, October 7, 2010.
“Nature bats last”: Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999), 316.
Good News for the Earth
Thousands of non-profits: Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest (New York: Viking, 2007). See the related website, Wiser Earth.
$3 trillion: “Socially Responsible Investing Facts”. In addition, institutional investors that represent $9 trillion in assets belong to the Investor Network on Climate Risk.
20% per year: Business Wire, “Eating It Up: Organic Market Booms as Consumers Seek Healthier, More Natural Food and Drink Options,” November 12, 2007. See also Carolyn Dimitri and Lydia Oberholtzer, “E.U. and U.S. Organic Markets Face Strong Demand Under Different Policies,” USDA, February, 2006.
Over 6,000 farmers markets: USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, “Farmers Markets and Local Food Marketing”.
Conservation tilling: David Huggins and John Reganold, “No-Till: The Quiet Revolution,” Scientific American, November, 2008.
1,667 land trusts: Hal Herring, “U.S. Land Trusts Make Huge Inroads: An Area Larger Than New England Now Protected,” Nature Conservancy Magazine, Summer, 2007.
8,000 cesspools: www.environmentaldefense.org, “Reform in the Heart of Hog Country,” Solutions 38 (5) (2007): 7. See also Environmental Defense Fund’s 2007 Annual Report, 13.
Environmental Defense and Frontline Farmers. “Cleaner Hog Farms in N.C. Could Be a National Model,” Solutions 39 (4) (2008): 6.
California Rangeland Conservation Coalition: “Campaign to Save California Range Unites Ranchers and Environmentalists,” Solutions 38 (5) (2007): 6. See also www.carangeland.org.
Fort Hood: Michele Amador Lopez and David Wolfe, “Cows, Tanks and Conservation: The Right Mix for Songbird Recovery,” October 10, 2007.
U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP): www.us-cap.org. See also Environmental Defense, “U.S. Climate Action Partnership Doubles, More CEOs Call for Cap on Carbon,” May 8, 2007,.
Turning off truck engines: “Wal-Mart Sees the Light,” Environmental Defense Fund Annual Report 2007, 7. See also “Wal-Mart Steps Forward on Solar Power,” Solutions 39 (4) (2008): 8.
Cities doing their share: Seattle: King County Solid Waste Division. Lafayette: Sophie Braccini, “Food Scrap Recycling Giving Back to Nature,” Lamorinda Weekly, July 25, 2007, 1. Lille: “From Plate to Engine: French City Powers Buses with Food Scraps,” Agence France Presse, September 19, 2007.
Tom Furrer: Shelah Moody, “Petaluma Creek Burbles Again Thanks to High School Teacher and Students,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 20, 2008.
Friends of the Earth/Middle East
The New Green Mainstream: Hartman Group, “Food and the Environment: A Consumer’s Perspective,” 1997. See also Tibbett L. Speer, “Growing the Green Market,” American Demographics, August, 1997. See also Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World (New York: Harmony Books, 2001).
Steward of the land: American Farmland Trust, “2008 Steward of the Land: Nash Huber of Nash’s Organic Produce”.
Human demands have tripled since 1961: World Wildlife Fund, Living Planet Report (Gland, Switzerland: WWF International, 2006): 1.
Gap: Jeffrey M. Jones, “In the U.S., 28% Report Major Changes to Live Green,” April 18, 2008.
Technology–Boon or Bane?
Green revolution now brown: Daniel Pepper, “India’s Green Revolution Gets Second Look,” San Francisco Chronical, July 28 2008.
GPS: Sandra Postel, “Growing More Food with Less Water,” Scientific American, February, 2001.
In vitro meat: I. Datar and M. Betti, “Possibilities for an In Vitro Meat Production System,” Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies 11(1) (2010): 13-22 [Abstract].
The scoop on poop: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions,” New York Times, December 4, 2008.
Satellite surveillance: L. Coulibaly, “Africa Turns To Satellites To Curb Fish Poaching,” Reuters, July 27, 2007.
“Bottling sunshine”: Michelle Locke, “Vintners Bottle Sunshine with Solar Powered Harvest,” Associated Press, September 27, 2007.
RecycleBank: Keith Naughton and Daniel McGinn, “Saving the World for a Latte,” Newsweek, October 6, 2008.
Ancient methods revived: Christian Caryl, “Cool, Clear Water,” Newsweek, October 1, 2007.
Solving a gas problem: Brita Belli, “Better Cow Burps,” E Magazine, September 17, 2010. See also Leslie Tamura, “Burping Cows Add to Climate Change,” Washington Post, September 21, 2010,.
Marker-assisted selection: Union of Concerned Scientists, “High Yields From New Breeding Technique,” Food and Environment Electronic Digest, January 8, 2008. See also Kansas State University press release, “Feeding the World without Genetic Engineering,” September 28, 2007, and Richard Manning, “Super Organics,” Wired, May, 2004.
Four Birds on One Branch
Yossi Leshem: Ben Winograd, “Barn Owls Unite Israelis, Jordanians,” Associated Press, July 15, 2007. See also www.foeme.org.
PART 1 – YOUR 5 MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS
“Ecological restoration”: Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest (New York: Viking, 2007), 189.
EAT FOOD NOT CHEMICALS – The Truth about Pesticides
1 billion pounds a year: Earthjustice, “The Faces and Voices of Pesticide Poisoning”.
Crop losses: Pesticide Action Network, “Pesticides 101–A Primer”.
“Pesticide treadmill”: Lester R. Brown, Michael Renner, and Brian Halweil, Vital Signs 1999 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), 124.
160 known or suspected carcinogens: Physicians for Social Responsibility, Cancer and the Environment: What Health Care Providers Should Know (Washington DC: PSR, 2002), 3. See also Physicians for Social Responsibility, Environmental Endocrine Disruptors: What Health Care Providers Should Know (Washington, DC: PSR, 2001).
Contamination of human milk: Francesco Massart et al., “Human Breast Milk and Xenoestrogen Exposure: A Possible Impact on Human Health,” Journal of Perinatology 25 (4) (2005): 282-288 [Abstract].
Exporting banned pesticides: Carl Smith et al., “Pesticide Exports from U.S. Ports, 2001-2003,” International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health 14 (3) (2008): 176-186 [Abstract].
Only 1% inspected: Marian Burros, “Who’s Watching What We Eat?” New York Times, May 16, 2007.
What the USDA labels mean: USDA, “Understanding Organic Labeling,” February 5, 2010.
Most important to buy organic: Elson Haas, Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide: Feed Your Family Safely (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1999), 112-113. Also personal communication from Susan Kegley, Pesticide Action Network. See also Environmental Working Group, www.foodnews.org.
Definition of organic: USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), “Transitioning to Organic Production“, 2006.
Organic and Health
Conventional produce less nutritious: Charles Benbrook et al., “New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods,” 2008. Also Alyson Mitchell et al., “Ten-Year Comparison of the Influence of Organic and Conventional Crop Management Practices on the Content of Flavonoids in Tomatoes,” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55 (15) (2007): 6154-6159 [Abstract]. See also Donald R. Davis, “Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence?” HortScience 44 (2009): 15-19 [Abstract].
Real Organic vs. Greenwash
Some producers pretend to be green: Joel Makower, State of Green Business 2008 (Oakland, CA: Greener World Media, 2008), 7. See also Charlotte Vallaeys et al., “Behind the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry,” Cornucopia Institute, 2009 [Executive Summary].
Dairy processor stalled investigations: Mark Kastel, “Clout-Heavy Dean Foods Kills USDA
Investigation of Their Horizon Label,” Cornucopia, May 12, 2008.
EAT LOWER ON THE FOOD CHAIN – The Protein Myth
Nutritionist Michele Vivas, personal communication, quoting Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The Truth about Meat
General description: Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, “Putting Meat On The Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America” (2008) [Executive Summary].
Grain to produce meat: See Vaclav Smil, Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000), 157. See also Lester R. Brown, Michael Renner, and Brian Halweil, Vital Signs 1999 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), 19. See also Robert Goodland and David Pimentel, “Environmental Sustainability and Integrity in the Agriculture Sector,” in Ecological Integrity: Integrating Environment, Conservation, and Health, ed. David Pimentel, Laura Westra, and Reed. F. Noss (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2000).
What Are We Eating?
10 billion land animals: Humane Society of the United States, “Follow the Three Rs,” 2006.
10 billion fish and 19,011 animals per minute: Melanie Joy, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (San Francisco, Conari Press, 2010), 37.
What about Hunger?
Fish catch goes to livestock: Jennifer Jacquet, “Farm Animals Consume 17% of Wild-Caught Fish,” Grist, June 27, 2008.
10 times as much grain: Rosamond Naylor of Stanford, quoted by Mark Bittman, “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler,” New York Times, January 27, 2008.
“If all the grain”: Jim Motovalli, “The Meat of the Matter: Our Livestock Industry Creates More Greenhouse Gas Than Transportation Does,” E Magazine, August 22, 2008.
Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change
Worldwide greenhouse gases: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock’s Long Shadow (2006): 136. See also Humane Society of the United States, “The Impact of Animal Agriculture on Global Warming and Climate Change,” 2008. See also Anthony J. McMichael et al., “Food, Livestock Production, Energy, Climate Change, and Health,” The Lancet 370 (October 6, 2007): 1253-1263 [Abstract]. Also Dr. Julika Weiss of the Institute for Ecological Economy Research, personal communication.
“Living smokestacks”: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions,” New York Times, December 14, 2008.
Don’t Drive a Cow Man
2 pounds of beef greenhouse gases: Daniele Fanelli, “Meat Is Murder on the Environment,”
New Scientist, 2007
Camry vs. Prius: Gidon Eshel and Pamela A. Martin, “Diet Energy, and Global Warming,” Earth Interactions 2006, Volume 10, Paper No. 9.
33 million automobiles: Center for Science in the Public Interest, quoted in Jim Motovalli, “The Meat of the Matter: Our Livestock Industry Creates More Greenhouse Gas Than Transportation Does,” E Magazine, August 22, 2008.
Water
5 to 10 times: “E-Conference Synthesis: Virtual Water Trade–Conscious Choices” (World Water Council, 2004) 4.
50 times as much as eggs: Vaclav Smil, Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000), 160.
Water pollution: Nancy Lawson, “An Even More Inconvenient Truth,” All Animals 10 (1) (2008): 10-13, citing U.N.’s FAO Livestock’s Long Shadow report of 2006.
Manure
13 times the amount: EPA Office of Water, Standards, and Applied Science Division, “Environmental Impacts of Animal Feeding Operations,” 1998.
22 tons a year: Alexia Retallack, “California’s Dairies: Where Product Quality and Environmental Integrity Meet,” Outdoor California 60 (3) (1999): 20-24.
1,600 dairies: “Animal Waste Pollution in America, An Emerging National Problem: Environmental Risks of Livestock and Poultry Production.” Report compiled by the minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, December, 1997.
Oklahoma suing Arkansas chicken producers: Juliet Eilperin, “Pollution in the Water, Lawsuits in the Air,” Washington Post, August 28, 2006.
Waco settlement from dairies: Christopher Law, “Oklahoma-Arkansas Dispute Exposes National Problem,” DC Bureau, August 28, 2006.
A Cesspool by Any Other Name
Description: Nancy Lawson, “Transforming an Industry,” All Animals 10 (20) (2008): 8-9.
Property values go down: Union of Concerned Scientists, “The Hidden Costs of CAFOs,” Earthwise (Spring, 2009): 2. See also Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations,” Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008.
Or maybe you should drive a cow….. Edward Humes, “The Latest from the Labs,” Sierra, September-October, 2010. See also www.harvestcleanenergy.org/conference/HCE7/PDFs/Leonhardt.pdf.
Antibiotics
Resistance: Alicia D. Anderson et al., “Public Health Consequences of Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Food Animals in the United States” Microbial Drug Resistance 9 (4) (2003): 373-379 [Abstract].
70% of antibiotics resistant: Mary C. Pearl, “Antibiotic Use on the Farm Hurts Human Health–And it Doesn’t Even Help the Bottom Line,” Discover, September, 2007.
“Meat equivalent of Miracle Gro”: Paul Roberts, “The Cost of Steak,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2008.
Over two thirds of antibiotics given to livestock: Union of Concerned Scientists, “70% of All Antibiotics Given to Healthy Livestock,” January 8, 2001. See www.ucsusa.org.
Agencies clamping down: Katherine Shea, Karen Florini, and Tamar Barlam, When Wonder Drugs Don’t Work: How Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Children, Seniors, and the Medically Vulnerable (Washington, DC: Environmental Defense, 2001).
$1.5 to $3 billion a year public health costs: Union of Concerned Scientists, “The Hidden Costs of CAFOs,” Earthwise (Spring, 2009): 2. See also Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs Of Confined Animal Feeding Operations,” Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008.
“The trouble with factory farms”: Editorial, “Antibiotic Runoff,” New York Times, September 18, 2007.
Hormones
Age of puberty: Sandra Steingraber, The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know (San Francisco: Breast Cancer Fund, 2007).
Land and Biodiversity
Description: Barbara McDonald, “Crossing the Species Boundary and Natural Resource Management” (paper presented at the 8th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Bellingham, WA. June 17-22, 2000). See also Center for Biological Diversity, “Grazing”.
Keystone critters: Defenders of Wildlife, “Prairie Dogs Moved to Safer Ground at Thunder Basin”.
Well-managed ranches: Union of Concerned Scientists, “What Is a Smart Pasture Operation?” August 23, 2008.
Your Tax Dollar
Cleaning up environmental damage: Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations,” Union Of Concerned Scientists Report, 2008.
$245 billion dollars in farm subsidies: Environmental Working Group, Farm Subsidy Database, “The United States Summary Information”.
$1.35 a month per cow and calf: Center for Biological Diversity, “Grazing”.
Subsidies: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, “Health vs. Pork: Congress Debates the Farm Bill,” Good Medicine, Autumn 2007.
Not too many, not too few: American Farmland Trust, “AFT Awardee Embraces Stewardship”.
Meat and Human Health
Heart disease: A.M. Bernstein et al., “Major Dietary Protein Sources and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women,” Circulation 111 (9) (2010): 876-883 [Abstract]. See also R. Micha et al., “Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk of Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meat-Analysis,” Circulation 121 (21) (2010): 2271-2283 [Abstract].
Infertility: J.E. Chavarro et al., “Protein Intake and Ovulatory Infertility,” American Journal of Obstetric Gynecology 198 (2008): 210e1–210e7 [Abstract].
Breast cancer: Janet Gray, “State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment,” Breast Cancer Fund 6th edition, 2010. See also Eunyoung Cho, “Premenopausal Fat Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 95 (2003): 1079–85.
Lung, esophagus, and liver: A.J. Cross et al., “A Prospective Study of Red and Processed Meat Intake in Relation to Cancer Risk,” PLoS Medicine 4(12) (2007): e325.
Colon/rectum: S.C Larsson and A. Wolk, “Meat Consumption and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies,” International Journal of Cancer 119 (110) (2006): 2657-2664 [Abstract]. See also A. Flood et al., “Dietary Patterns as Identified by Factor Analysis and Colorectal Cancer Among Middle-Aged Americans,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 88 (1) (2008): 176-184 [Abstract].
Vegetarian diet and less obesity: P.R. Newby et al., “Risk of Overweight and Obesity Among Semivegetarian, Lactovegetarian, and Vegan Women,” Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81 (2005): 1267-74 [Abstract].
“The results of an evidence-based review”: “Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109 (7) (2009): 1266-1282.
“The lacto-ovo vegetarian diet”: David Pimentel and Marcia Pimentel, “Sustainability of Meat-Based and Plant-Based Diets and the Environment,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78 (supplement) (2003): 660S-663S.
Prescription Produce: Natasha Singer, “Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders),” New York Times, August 12, 2010.
Dairy and Eggs
Parkinson’s: H. Chen et al., “Consumption of Dairy Products and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease,” American Journal of Epidemiology 165 (9) (2007): 998-1006 [Abstract].
Breast cancer: E. Cho et al., “Premenopausal Fat Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 95 (14) (2003): 1079-1085 [Abstract].
Ovarian cancer: S.C. Larsson et al., “Milk, Milk Products, and Lactose Intake and Ovarian Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiological Studies,” International Journal of Cancer 118 (2) (2006): 431-441 [Abstract].
Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome: D.A. Lawlor et al., “Avoiding Milk Is Associated with a Reduced Risk of Insulin Resistance and the Metabolic Syndrome,” Diabetic Medicine 22 (6) (2005): 808-811 [Abstract]. See also M Goldfarb, “Relation of Time of Introduction of Cow Milk Protein to an Infant And Risk of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus,” Journal of Proteome Research 7 (2008): 2165-2167.
Fish
By the middle of this century: Boris Worm et al., “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services,” Science 314 (November 3, 2006): 787-790. See also Jacqueline Alder et al., “Forage Fish: From Ecosystems to Markets,” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 33 (2008): 7.1-7.14.
Overfishing
Overfishing: Michael Berrill, The Plundered Seas: Can the World’s Fish be Saved? (San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1997). See also Jeremy B. C. Jackson et al., “Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems” Science 293 (July 27, 2001): 629-638, and Casson Trenor, Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores Are Emptying Our Seas (Washington DC: Greenpeace, 2010).
“Underwater clear-cutting”: John S. Rosenberg, “Of Ants and Earth,” Harvard Magazine, March-April, 2003, 36-41.
Fish getting smaller: Laura Helmuth, “Our Imperiled Oceans: Seeing Is Believing,” Smithsonian, September, 2008. See also Jeffrey A. Hutchings, “Collapse and Recovery of Marine Fishes,” Nature 406 (2000): 882-885. See also Daniel Pauly et al., “Fishing Down Aquatic Food Webs,” American Scientist 88 (1) (2000): 46-51. See also Greenbiz, “Supermarkets Failing to Adopt Sustainable Seafood Buying Practices,” June 18, 2008.
Dredges: Consumers Union, “America’s Fish: Fair or Foul?” Consumer Reports, February, 2001.
Mudtrails: “Bottom Trawling Impacts on Ocean, Clearly Visible from Space,” Science Daily, February 20, 2008.
85% of species in Mediterranean: Nicole Itano, “On Emptying Seas, A Vanishing Way of Life,” Christian Science Monitor, January 16, 2008. European fleets sent to Africa: Sharon Lafraniere, “Europe Takes Africa’s Fish, and Boatloads of Migrants Follow,” New York Times, January 14, 2008.
Cod fishery has yet to recover: World Resources Institute, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 2005), 18.
72,000 jobs lost: Environmental Defense, “Sustaining America’s Fisheries and Fishing Communities,” 2007, Executive Summary, 2.
Catch share programs: www.sustainingfisheries.com; Environmental Defense, “For Fishing Communities, a Bridge over Troubled Waters,” Solutions 38 (3) (2007): 4; also “A Lifeline for Gulf Fishermen,” Solutions 41(3) (2010): 10. See also Environmental Defense Special Report, “Turning the Tide: Fishermen Embrace a New Approach to End Overfishing” (Fall, 2010). See also Christopher Costello et al., “Can Catch Shares Prevent Fisheries Collapse?” Science 321 (September 19, 2008): 1678-1681 [Abstract].
Sea Change Investment Fund: Ilana deBare, “Cleanfish: Helping the Small Fish Make It in Big Marketing Pond,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 2008. See also Ilana deBare, “Sea Change: Venture Fund Is Sold on Focusing on Sustainability,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 2008.
Clean Fish. See also “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs,” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 3, 2009.
Bycatch and Competition
Dolphins in Japan: Personal communication, Andy Snow. See also Environmental Investigating Agency, “Japan’s Seas Run Red in Annual Porpoise Hunt,” March 10, 2010.
For every pound of shrimp: “Biodiversity and Your Food: Did You Know?” American Museum of Natural History.
Big Business and the Golden Goose
“You are thinking”: Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, and Jorgen Randers, Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1992), 187-188.
“Fishing in the ocean is no longer sustainable”: “When Will We Tame the Oceans?” Nature, 436 (July 14, 2005): 175-176.
Dead Zones and Dams
Runoff flows to oceans: Sarah Simpson, “Shrinking the Dead Zone,” Scientific American, July, 2001.
Dead zones around the world: R. J. Diaz and R. Rosenberg, “Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems,” Science 321 (August 15, 2008): 926-929.
Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone 7,900 square miles: Dan Ferber, “Keeping the Stygian Waters at Bay,” Science 291 (February 9, 2001): 968-973. Dams and salmon: Fen Montaigne, “A River Dammed,” National Geographic 199 (4) (April, 2001): 2-33.
Manatawny Creek: EPA, “Pennsylvania: Manatawny Creek and Tributary Stream Restoration, Dam Removal Restore Waterbodies”.
Buying the Dams: Penobscot River: Penobscot River Restoration Trust, “Penobscot River Restoration Trust Purchases Three Dams from PPL Corp”. See also Madeline Bodin, “Freeing the River,” Nature Conservancy 60 (2) (2010): 32-41.
Poisoned Streams and Oceans Threaten our Health
Mercury and birth defects: Bob Ludwig, “EPA’s Methylmercury Guideline Is Scientifically Justifiable for Protecting Most Americans But Some May Be at Risk,” Press release from the National Academy of Sciences, July 11, 2000. See also “Methylmercury’s Toxic Toll,” Science News 158 (2000): 77.
Gold miners: Jim Doyle, “Hydraulic Gold Mining Blamed for Mercury-Poisoned Fish,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 2000. See also John Krist, “Gold Rush Leaves State Toxic Legacy,” Ventura County Star, May 12, 2001.
New York restaurants test for mercury: Marian Burros, “More Testing of Seafood to Address Mercury Concerns,” New York Times, January 30, 2008.
Compassion in action: John Heilprin, “Shark Attack Survivors Don’t Forget but Do Forgive,” Associated Press, September 13, 2010.
Fish Farming
Two or three pounds of wild fish: Ed Stoddard, “Eating Fish: Good for Heart, Bad for Environment?” Reuters, August 10, 2007. See also S. Milius, “Carnivorous Fish Nibble at Farming Again,” Science News 158 (July 1, 2000), 7.
Five to one: R.L. Naylor et al., “Effect of Aquaculture on World Fish Supplies,” Nature 405 (2000): 1017-1024. See also Julio E. Perez et al., “Aquaculture: Part of the Problem, Not a Solution,” Nature 408 (November 30, 2000): 514.
Net protein loss: Editorial, “The Protein Pyramid,” New York Times, November 10, 2008.
Coastal forests and wetlands destroyed: Vaclav Smil, Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge: MIT, 2000), 177. See also Isabel de la Torre, “The Unpalatable Prawn,” Earth Island Journal (Spring, 2000): 28.
Tuna ranches. Richard Ellis, “The Bluefin in Peril,” Scientific American, March, 2008.
Treaties poorly enforced: Daniel Jack Chasen, “The Rusted Shield: Government’s Failure to Enforce–Or Obey–Our System of Environmental Laws,” Report commissioned by the Bullitt Foundation, 2000. See also “Experts Call For Halt to Bluefin Tuna Fishing in Mediterranean,” Agence France Presse, September 11, 2008.
Japan’s whale “research”: C. Scott Baker et al., “Scientific Whaling: Source of Illegal Products for Market?” Science 290 (December 1, 2000): 1695-1696. See also Dennis Normile, “Japan’s Whaling Program Carries Heavy Baggage,” Science 289 (September 29, 2000): 2264-2265.
Sanctuaries not guarded: Janet Raloff, “Underwater Refuge,” Science News 159 (April 28, 2001): 264-266.
Pirates ignore treaties: Lester R. Brown, Michael Renner, and Brian Halweil, Vital Signs 1999 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), 36.
20 nations agreed to restrict: “Nations to Limit South Pacific Trawling,” The Washington Post, May 5, 2007.
3.8 million acres: Colin Woodard, “Saving Fish and a Fishing Industry: 3.8 Million Acres off California Protected from Trawling,” The Nature Conservancy Magazine, 2008.
Sustainable tuna fishery: “World’s First Sustainable Tuna Fishery Certified,” Focus, January-February, 2008, 1.
California Fishers Fund: “A Lifeline for California Fishermen,” Environmental Defense Annual Report (2007), 21.
Avoid Chilean sea bass: Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Who ya gonna call?: Katherine Harmon, “Sustainable Fishing at Your Fingertips,” Scientific American, January, 2009. See also www.blueocean.org/files/FishPhone_ContestDetails.pdf.
More Humanely Raised Meat, Dairy, and Eggs
Conditions in factory farms: Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations,” Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008. See also Melanie Joy Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (San Francisco: Conari Press, 2010).
Compass Group: Nancy Lawson, “Transforming an Industry,” All Animals 10 (20) (2008): 8-9.
“Every hour in the U.S.”: The Humane Society of the United States, “Humane Eating and the Three Rs”.
EAT SHORTER ON THE FOOD CHAIN
1,500 miles: R. Pirog, T. Van Pelt, K. Enshayan, and E. Cook, Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa Perspective on How Far Food Travels, Fuel Usage, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Ames, IA: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 2001).
The Global Cornucopia and its Cost to the Earth
Bees from Australia: Singeli Agnew, “The Almond and the Bee,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 14, 2007.
Fish from Norway: Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Movable Feast Carries a Pollution Price Tag,” New York Times, April 26, 2008; See also Sarah Murray, “Sacred and Mundane from Ocean to Plate, A Posthumous Migration,” Orion, 2007.
“Global supply chains have grown so long”: Nicholas Zamiska and David Kesmodel, “Tainted Ginger’s Long Trip from China to U.S. Stores,” Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2007.
1,000 fewer miles a year: Ewen Callaway, “Food Miles Don’t Feed Climate Change–Meat Does,” www.NewScientist.com, April 18, 2008.
The Adventure of the Curious Locavore
“Distance is the enemy”: A. Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally (New York: Harmony Books, 2007).
$7 billion by 2011: “Locally Grown Foods Niche Cooks Up at $5 Billion as America Chows Down on Fresh,” Packaged Facts, June 20, 2007.
University of Vermont: University Dining Services, “Sustainability”.
Critics: James E. McWilliams, “Food That Travels Well,” New York Times, August 6, 2007.
Life cycle: Sarah Murray, “The Deep-Fried Truth,” New York Times, December 14, 2007. See also Sarah deWeerdt, “Is Local Food Better?”
Stretching the definition: Kim Severson, “When ‘Local’ Makes it Big,” New York Times, May 13, 2009.
Eliminating meat is even more powerful: Christopher Weber and Scott Matthews, “Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the U.S.” Environmental Science and Technology 42 (10) (2008): 3508-3513 [Abstract].
What’s green and grows in all 50 states?: Sharon Rolenc, “Minnesota Schools ‘Digging’ their Local Farmers This Week,” Public News Service, 2010 and www.farmtoschool.org.
Fresh food in season: Jessica Prentice, Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2006).
Support Your Local Farmer
2,500 CSAs.
Pike Place. Ron Strochlic and Crispin Shelley, “Community Supported Agriculture in California, Oregon, and Washington: Challenges and Opportunities,” 2004, Report from California Institute for Rural Studies, funded by USDA.
Persuasive locavore: “New American Dream and Designer Jim Pollack Make One Family’s Dreams Come True,” Press release from New American Dream, September 12, 2007.
EAT WIDER ON THE FOOD CHAIN
Diversity in Danger
¾ of world’s calories: Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999), 194.
Corn fungus, 1970: American Museum of Natural History, “What’s the Connection between What We Buy and Biodiversity?”.
“Seeds are the software”: John Archer, “Arctic Vault Takes Shape for World Food Crops,” Reuters, September 20, 2007.
Eccentrics to the Rescue
Tuscan crops abandoned: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “Plant Diversity Future May Depend on Europe’s Backyard Gardeners,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 1, 2007.
Wine detective: Aaron Maines, “Italy’s Ancient Vines,” Wall Street Journal, July 5-6, 2008.
Potato rainbow: International Potato Center (Centro Internacional de la Papa), www.cipotato.org.
Diversity in Protein
20% of livestock endangered: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, “Special: Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture–Farm Animal Genetic Resources,” February, 1998.
Eating insects: William F. Lyon, “Insects as Human Food,” Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet HYG 2160-96. See also Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio, Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998) and David George Gordon, The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998).
Diversity in Sweeteners
16% of our calories: USDA, “What We Eat in America”. Also see Center for Science in the Public Interest, “America: Drowning in Sugar,” August 3, 1999. See also Pat Kendall, “Sweet Talk: Moderating Your Sugar Intake,” Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, May 22, 2001.
The Fat of the Land?
Obesity statistic: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Vital Signs: State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults–United States, 2009,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August 3, 2010.
Obesity, many causes: Kim Hiatt, Linda Riebel, and Harris Friedman, “The Gap Between What We Know and What We Do About Childhood Obesity: A Multi-Factor Model for Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention,” Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences 1 (1) (2007): 1-44.
Noah’s archives: Global Crop Diversity Trust, “Svalbard Global Seed Vault”.
NUDE FOOD
Less Packaging
Andy Keller: Ilana DeBare, “Bag Business: Green Entrepreneurs Retool Humble Grocery Sack,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 21, 2007.
215 billion beverage containers a year: Jon Mooallem, “The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration,” New York Times, May 25, 2007.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “De-mystifying the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch”.
BPA: Tara Parker-Pope, “A Hard Plastic Is Raising Hard Questions,” New York Times, April 22, 2008.
Health problems of BPA: Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis et al., “Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement,” Endocrine Reviews 30 (4) (2009): 293-342.
A little quiz: Tyler Colman (2008), “Drink Outside the Box,” New York Times, August 18, 2008.
Less Processing
French fries: In this section, I am indebted to the books by John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning, Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things (Seattle: Northwest Environment Watch, 1997) and Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001).
“Choreography of ingredients”: Michael Pollan, “Behind the Organic-Industrial Complex,” New York Times, May 13, 2001.
Eat less junk food: “Eating Less Meat and Junk Food Could Cut Fossil Energy Fuel Use Almost in Half,” Science Daily, July 24, 2008.
Less Waste
$48 billion is wasted by households: World Business Council for Sustainable Development, “Wasted Food Is Also Wasted Water,” Environmental News Network.
1 hamburger takes 600 gallons of water: World Wildlife Fund, “How Much Water Does It Take To Produce Common Products?” Focus (May/June, 2009): 5.
New Jersey food waste digester: Evelyn Lee, “Profits from Wasted Food,” New Jersey Biz, April 21, 2008.
Waste? Not a concept: Personal communication.
Glamour Water and its Sins
Multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry: National Resources Defense Council, “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp. 8.8 billion gallons in 2007: National Resources Defense Council, quoted in Rob Lever, “Bottled Water Debate Hits a Boiling Point, Agence France Presse, June 29, 2008; also Environmental Working Group, “Harmful Chemicals Found in Bottled Water,” October 15, 2008.
25,000 bottles a year: Tali Arbel, “Feeling Thrifty, the Thirsty Reach for Tap Water,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2008.
5 billion bottles a year, recycle only 25%: Marc Gunther, “The End of Garbage,” Fortune, March, 2007. See also Jon Mooallem, “The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration,” New York Times, May 25, 2007.
86% become litter or garbage: Emily Arnold, “Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain,” Earth Policy Institute, February 2, 2006, quoting Container Recycling Institute.
1.5 million barrels of oil: Alex Williams, “Water, Water Everywhere, But Guilt by the Bottleful,” New York Times, August 12, 2007.
2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, Pacific Institute quoted by Mark Boslet, “Bottled Water’s Impact on Environment,” San Jose Mercury News, December 16, 2007.
Thousands of miles. Elizabeth Royte, Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It (New York: Bloomsbury, 2008).
Less pure than tap: Environmental Working Group, “Harmful Chemicals Found in Bottled Water,” October 15, 2008.
“The rationale”: Marian Burros, “Fighting the Tide, a Few Restaurants Tilt to Tap Water,” New York Times, May 30, 2007.
San Francisco banned bottled water: Mark Boslet, “Bottled Water’s Impact on Environment,” San Jose Mercury News, December 16, 2007. See also Christopher Heredia, “Water Fight,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 2007.
Groundwater a commonly owned resource: Felicity Barringer, “Bottling Plan Pushes Groundwater to Center Stage in Vermont,” New York Times, August 21, 2008.
PART II – FINDING EARTH-FRIENDLY FOOD
“Green is the new red, white, and blue”: Thomas L. Friedman, “The Power of Green,” New York Times, August 15, 2007.
Grocery Stores
Whole Foods scores high on sustainable fish: Casson Trenor, Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores Are Emptying Our Seas (Washington DC: Greenpeace, 2010).
Green Power Partner: Environment News Service, “EPA Salutes 18 Green Power Partners: Banks, Cities, Corporations and a Zoo,” 2010.
The really green grocer: Erin Killian, “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” Washington Business Journal, July 21, 2006.
Farmers’ Markets and Roadside Stands
Over 6,000 farmers markets: USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, “Farmers Markets and Local Food Marketing”.
Restaurants
Fast food. $100 billion: Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 3.
Best of all: Chefs Collaborative.
Brooklyn bicycle: Deirdre Donovan, “Five Paths to a Greener Restaurant,” Zagat Buzz, August 24, 2007.
Caterers
Earth-friendly ever after: Jennifer Hattam, Sierra (May-June, 2007): 31; Mireya Navarro, “How Green Was My Wedding,” New York Times, February 11, 2007; Kristin Dizon, “Nice Day for a Green Wedding,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 21, 2007.
Picnicking, Camping, and the Back Yard Barbecue 2,300 acres of forest: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Fourth of July No Picnic for the Nation’s Environment,”
ReleaseNumber=mr20030703-00.
At Work, at Play, and on the Road Zoos: American Zoo and Aquarium Association at www.aza.org.
Take me out to the food fair: See www.cuesa.org.
Bioneers conference: “Connecting for Change: Guardians for Future Generations,” Bioneers 2006 Yearbook, 22.
Coffee, Wine, and Other Beverages Tyler Colman: Andrea Thompson, “The Carbon Footprint of Wine,” Live Science, November 10, 2008.
60% of aluminum: Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999), 50.
Coffee growing and processing: This paragraph draws heavily on John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning, Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things (Seattle: Northwest Environment Watch, 1997).
Birds: National Resources Defense Council, “Coffee, Conservation, and Commerce in the Western Hemisphere”.
Underground food economy: Linda Riebel, “Urban Foragers and Citizen Harvesters,” The Examiner, July 1, 2010. www.examiner.com http://exm.nr/cVvpDA.
PART III MEALS AT HOME
“The kitchen is the center”: Annie Berthold Bond, The Green Kitchen Handbook (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 1.
Use Energy Skillfully
Refrigerator biggest energy user: Michael Brower and Warren Leon, Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999), 68-69.
2009 Energy Star savings: EPA, “Energy Star Overview of 2009 Achievements”.
Use Water Wisely
Agriculture uses 2/3 of water: World Wildlife Fund, Focus, 31 (3) (May-June, 2009): 4. See also Nels Johnson et al., “Managing Water for People and Nature,” Science 292 (May 11, 2001): 1071-1072.
Almost as much as we use: Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, and Jorgen Randers: Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1992), 56.
Ogallala aquifer: Jane Braxton Little, “The Ogallala Aquifer: Saving a Vital U.S. Water Source,” Scientific American, March, 2009.
Water to produce meat: Thomas Kostigen, “Virtual Water,” Discover, June, 2008.
Reduce Waste
Over 90 billion pounds: Linda Scott Kantor et al., “Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses”.
One cup of coffee: Thomas Kostigen, “Virtual Water,” Discover, June, 2008.
One egg, World Wildlife Fund, “How Much Water Does It Take to Produce Common Products?” Focus, May-June 2009, 31 (3), 5. See also World Business Council for Sustainable Development, “Wasted Food is also Wasted Water,” Environmental News Network, August 22, 2008.
Share the Bounty
1 billion hungry people: David Pimentel and Marcia Pimentel, “To Improve Nutrition for the World’s Population,” Science 288, (June 16, 2000): 1966-1967.
Clean Up Harmlessly
100% recycled paper towels
#1 Best Company on the Planet: Ellis Jones, The Better World Shopping Guide (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 2006).
Annie Berthold Bond, Clean and Green: The Complete Guide to Non-Toxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping (Woodstock, NY: Ceres Press, 1994).
Maximize Materials by Recycling
245 million tons: EPA, “Recycling and Reuse–Reducing Our Waste and Resource Use”.
58 Boeing 747s: National Resources Defense Council, “Trash Landings: How Airlines and Airports Can Clean Up their Recycling Programs,” 2006.
Recycling 82 million tons: EPA, “Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006”.
Recycling employs 1.1 million people: Marc Gunther, “The End of Garbage,” Fortune, March, 2007.
Prevent hardening of the pipelines: Charles Burress, “Greasy Path to a Clean Future,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 20, 2007. See also Carolyn Jones, “From Grease to Fuel,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 28, 2008, and www.sfgreasecycle.org.
Build Topsoil by Composting
Confessions of a wormophile: Lawrence Downes, “A Box of Worms,” New York Times, September 7, 2007.
“Do the rot thing”: See www.stopwaste.org.
Gourmet dirt: SFEnvironment.org, “Our City’s Programs, Composting”. Also Robert Haley, personal communication.
PART IV JOIN THE MOVEMENT
“Suddenly, everywhere I look”: Deborah Rich, “Cooking Up a Delectable Feast for the Body and the Soul,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 23, 2008.
Sustainable and More Humane Agriculture
Koan: James Prichard, “Hogs Help Battle Beetle In Apple Orchard,” Associated Press, March 5, 2008; also personal communication from Jim Koan.
“Unlike industrial agriculture”: Michael Brower and Warren Leon, Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choice (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997), 97.
No-till: David Huggins and John Reganold, “No-till: The Quiet Revolution,” Scientific American, July, 2008. Also David Montgomery, “Pay Dirt,” Scientific American, July, 2008.
Integrated pest management. EPA, “Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles”.
Ceago Vinegarden: Lisa McLaughlin, “Virtuous Vino,” Time, February 22, 2007.
Biointensive: John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables, 6th Revised Edition (Berkeley, Ten Speed Press, 2002).
One farm could feed 200-300 families: Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, quoted in article from Science Daily, “Study: Vegan Diets Healthier for Planet, People Than Meat Diets,” April 14, 2006,.
CAFOs: Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal
Feeding Operations,” Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008.
FOOD PROFESSIONAL
Chefs
Chefs Collaborative. See www.chefscollaborative.org.
Wolfgang Puck. “Changing Tastes,” Newsweek, May 7, 2007.
Restaurateurs
Alice Waters: Susan Ives, “Feeding Hearts and Minds,” Land and People 11 (2) (1999): 29-32.
Vertical integration: Olivia Wu, “Digging Biodynamic,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 2007. See also Harlan Clifford, Interview with Tod Murphy, Orion, May/June, 2007.
Urban Agriculture
Added Value Farm and Growing Power: Tracie McMillan, “Urban Farmers’ Crops Go from Vacant Lot to Market,” New York Times, May 7, 2008.
Kids plant their own pumpkin patch: Linda Riebel, “Urban Gardeners Engage in Pumpkin Planting with their Kids,” Examiner.com.
Master Gardeners
Volunteering: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, “Horticulture More than a Hobby”. This is the only document that I could no longer locate when I was reconfirming websites.
Good food–pass it on: California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
Beekeepers
Urban beekeepers: Katherine Harmon, “Urban Beekeepers Keep Cities Abuzz with Pollinators,” Scientific American, March, 2009. See also Niki Stojnic, “Buzz Kill: Can Urban Beekeepers Save the World?” Common Ground (July, 2007): 60-63.
Farmers
Average age of farmers: USDA, “2007 Census of Agriculture, Farmers by Age”.
Military veterans: Janet Fletcher, “Farmers Recruit Combat Veterans,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 24, 2008. See www.farmvetco.org and http://ncta.unl.edu/web/ncta/CombatCowboyBoots.
Artisanal creameries: Marian Burros, “The Dairies Are Half-Pint, but the Flavor Isn’t,” New York Times, February 20, 2008.
Food Pro Smorgasbord
Off-beat careers. Ilana DeBare, “These Firms are Bite-Sizing,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 29, 2007.
The town that was saved by food: Marian Burros, “Uniting Around Food to Save an Ailing Town,” New York Times, October 8, 2008.
GROWING YOUR FOOD
Jo Murphy: “Eggplants, Activism Crop Up at Wellesley,” Wellesley Alumnae Magazine, Fall, 2007; also personal communication.
Kids outstanding in their field: “The Organic Movement,” Roots & Shoots Newsletter 27 (Fall-Winter, 2006): 8-9.
Why Grow Food?
Victory gardens: Ron Sullivan and Joe Eaton, “The Victory Garden Sprouts Anew,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 23, 2008.
Sensible investment: Marian Burros, “Banking on Gardening,” New York Times, June 11, 2008; See also Anne Marie Chaker, “The Vegetable Patch Takes Root,” Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2008.
70% of households garden: National Gardening Association, “Garden Market Research: Lawn and Garden Sales Up 3 Percent to More than $35 Billion in 2007”
Where to Grow
California school gardens: Sabine Muscat, “Bringing Green to Urban Schools,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2007.
Brooklyn roof farm: Marian Burros, “Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun,” New York Times, June 17, 2009.
The perk that grows on you: Kim Severson, “The Rise of Company Gardens,” New York Times, May 12, 2010. See also Kim Palmer, “Growth Opportunity,” Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune, July 17, 2009.
Messiah College: Messiah News, “Sustainability Efforts at Messiah College Celebrated in ‘Green Awakenings’ Report by Renewal”.
Presidents’ Climate Commitment: “Signatory List by Institution Name”.
Northland College: “Food for Thought”.
Food from the fringe: Matthew Green, “San Francisco’s Farmland,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 4, 2008.
Getting Help
Gardening coach: Christina Gillham, “Put Me in (The Garden), Coach,” Newsweek, February 10, 2008.
“Remote-controlled backyard gardening”: Kim Severson, “A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss But No Muss,” New York Times, July 22, 2008.
Andy Snow. Personal communication.
Veggies in the city: See www.newrootsurbanfarm.org.
Spice Up Your Social Life
Slow Food: See www.slowfoodusa.org.
National Gardening Association: See www.garden.org.
PART V FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“Most of the things worth doing”.
DUELING DATA: TRADE-OFFS AND THE LEARNING CURVE
Livestock diversity threatened: Andrew Rice, “A Dying Breed,” New York Times, January 28, 2008.
Organic’s success: Michael Pollan, “The Organic-Industrial Complex,” New York Times, May 13, 2001.
Biofuels: Timothy Searchinger et al., “Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Changes,” Science 319 (February 7, 2008): 1238-1240.
Chemicals not tested: Mark Fischetti, “The Great Chemical Unknown,” Scientific American, October, 2010. See also Environmental Defense, http://notaguineapig.org/page.cfm?tagID=57051.
The Learning Curve
Catch shares: Environmental Defense Special Report, “Turning the Tide: Fishermen Embrace a New Approach to End Overfishing”(Fall, 2010). See also sustainingfisheries.com and “’Catch Shares’ Transform a Troubled Fishery,” Solutions 39 (2) (2008): 9. Also “New Life for a West Coast Fishery,” Solutions 39 (4) (2008): 7. Also Christopher Costello et al., “Can Catch Shares Prevent Fisheries Collapse?” Science 321 (September 19, 2008): 1678-1681. See also “One-Year Review Shows Major Success of Catch Share Program as a Model for Recovering Fisheries”. Also Environmental Defense report “Sustaining America’s Fishers and Fishing Communities” (2007).
The man in between: David Mas Masumoto, “Married to Walmart: What Was I Thinking?” The Atlantic, June 28, 2010.
You Be the Judge
Food-wrapping film: Mark Jewell, “Green Plastics Find Cautious Market,” Associated Press, October 22, 2007. See also Morgan Kelly-Pittsburgh, “Plant Plastics Not So Green After All?” 2010.
Soybeans: Charlotte Vallaeys et al., “Behind the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry,” Cornucopia Institute, 2009 [Executive Summary].
HELP ENDANGERED SPECIES
41,000 species worldwide: International Union for Conservation of Nature.
RAFT, 1,000 threatened food plants and animals: Gary Paul Nabhan, Renewing America’s Food Traditions (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2008).
Imported
Palm oil: Rainforest Action Network, “Problem with Palm Oil Factsheet,” 2010, www.ran.org/content/problem-palm-oil-factsheet. See also Greenpeace, “United Plantations Certified Despite Gross Violations of RSPO Standards,” 2008.
Sea life
Loss of diversity: Boris Worm et al., “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services,” Science 314 (November 3, 2006): 787-790.
ANIMAL FARM
CAFOs: Doug Gurian-Sherman, “CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations,” Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008. Melanie Joy, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (San Francisco: Conari Press, 2010); Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, The Face on Your Plate: The Truth about Food (New York: W. W. Norton, 2009). Also Joby Warrick, “Modern Meat: A Brutal Harvest. They Die Piece by Piece,” Washington Post, April 10, 2001. See also Humane Society of the United States, “‘No Battery Hens’ Campaign Exposes The Hard-Boiled Truth About Laying Hens”. See also Diane DeLouzor-Dan, “At Our Mercy: The Eating of Animals,” In Defense of Animals, 3 (2000): 20-22. Humane Society of the United States, “A Brief Guide to Egg Carton Labels and Their Relevance to Animal Welfare,” 2009. Also Gene and Lorri Bauston, “Brutality: Main Crop of Factory Farms?” Earthsave: Healthy People, Healthy Planet. 10 (3) (1999): 1. Michael W. Fox, Eating with Conscience: The Bioethics of Food (Troutdale, OR: New Sage Press, 1997). See also Humane Society of the United States, “An HSUS Report: The Welfare of Animals in the Meat, Egg, and Dairy Industries” 2010.
American Humane Certified: American Humane Association, “The Humane Touch”.
Some good news
Cage-free egg market growing: Humane Society of the United States, “Consumers, Companies, Science Favor Cage-Free Eggs,” October 27, 2010.
Grass-fed: Jo Robinson, “Grass-Fed Basics,” 2010.
Kleinpeter Farms: “American Humane Certified Producer Profiles”.
THE NUTRITION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Food share of income: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Expenditures in 2008,” March, 2010. See also USDA Economic Research Service, “FOOD CPI and Expenditures: Table 7,” June 17, 2008.
$1 trillion: Economic Research Service of the USDA, “Food CPI and Expenditures,” August 25, 2010.
Four meatpacking firms: Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 137-139.
Sysco: Ulrich Boser, “Every Bite You Take: How Sysco Came to Monopolize Most of What You Eat,” Slate, February 21, 2007.
Industry actions: Marion Nestle, Food Politics: How The Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002). Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit: How The Food Industry Undermines Our Health–And How to Fight Back (New York: Avalon, 2006).
Food Safety
Causes: Felicia Nestor and Wenonah Hauter, “The Jungle 2000: Is America’s Meat Fit to Eat?” (Washington, DC: Public Citizen, 2000).
Salmonella outbreak of 2008: Larry Margasa, “How Food Industry Lobbying Slowed Salmonella Search,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2008.
“Our food system is broken”: Marian Burros, “Who’s Watching What We Eat?” New York Times, May 16, 2007.
Advertising and Public Relations
$1.6 billion. Adam Voiland, “10 Things the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know,” U.S. News and World Report, October 17, 2008.
“Share of mind.” Diane E. Levin and Susan Linn, “The Commercialization of Childhood: Understanding the Problem and Finding Solutions,” in Tim Kasser and Allen Kanner (Eds.), Psychology and Consumer Culture (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004).
Public relations: Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, Trust Us, We’re Experts! How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future (New York: J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001).
“The denial machine”: Sharon Begley, “The Truth about Denial,” Newsweek, August 13, 2007, 21-29.
“An impediment to public health”: The Alliance for Food and Farming, “The Real Dangers of ‘Dirty’ Produce Lists,” www.safefruitsandveggies.com. According to Source Watch (a project of the Center for Media and Democracy), this Alliance is a front group for the fruit and vegetable industry. Also see Barry Estabrook, “When Big Ag Attacks: Government-Sponsored Pesticide Propaganda“, November 4, 2010.
Lobbying and Co-opting Legislators
Country-of-Origin Labeling Law: “Origins of Our Food,” Editorial, New York Times, July 4, 2007.
Workplace injury reporting: Roger Horowitz, “The Jungle 2008: Government Manipulates Data on Workers Injuries at Slaughterhouses,” 2008.
Weakening the regulatory agency: Dina Cappiello, “EPA Tells Staff Don’t Talk to Investigators, Press,” Associated Press, July 28, 2008.
Business can be green–they’ve proved it
Undermining Free Speech
Sugar Association: Elizabeth Querna, “No, It’s Not Just Your Sweet Tooth,” U.S. News & World Report, March 28, 2005.
Spying. Eric Schlosser, “Burger With a Side of Spies,” New York Times, May 7, 2008.
Hormone-free milk label: Jeff Deasy, “A Major Legal Victory in the Fight for Hormone-Free Milk,” Alternet, October 19, 2010.
Why Do They Do All This?
Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (New York: Random House, 2008).
The Positive Side of Big Business
Walmart local sourcing: “Wal-Mart to Source More Local Produce,” GreenBiz, July 1, 2008.
Makower’s Paradox: Ilana deBare, “Buying Public Is Becoming More at Ease with Renewable Products,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 12, 2008.
GOOD INTENTIONS
Fair Trade.
Andrew Downie, “Fair Trade in Bloom,” New York Times, October 2, 2007. See also Lauren Wilcox, “Going with the Grain,” Smithsonian, September, 2007.
Sweet success: Jill Santopietro, “When Chocolate is a Way of Life,” New York Times, November 5, 2008.
Vegetarianism
American Dietetic Association: “Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109 (7) (2009): 1266-1282.
Eating Lightly for the Earth
Larger portions: Editors, “Obesity: Portions Out of Proportion,” Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 7 (12) (2000): 1.
Overeating an environmental issue: Linda Riebel, “Consuming the Earth: Eating Disorders and Ecopsychology,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 41 (2) (2001): 38-58.
3,800 calories a day: USDA, Agriculture Fact Book 2001-2002, 14. See also Center for Science in the Public Interest, “Why It’s Hard to Eat Well and Be Active in America Today”.
“Diseases of dietary excess”: Worldwatch Institute, State of the World (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), 71.
Obese by 2030: Y. Wang et al., “Will All Americans Become Overweight or Obese? Estimating the Progression and Cost of the U.S. Obesity Epidemic,” Obesity 16 (10) (2008): 2323-2330 [Abstract].
Many causes of obesity: Kim Hiatt, Linda Riebel, and Harris Friedman, “The Gap Between What We Know and What We Do About Childhood Obesity: A Multi-Factor Model for Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention,” Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences 1 (1) (2007): 1-44. Read Online
Food scientists: David Kessler The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (New York: Rodale Books, 2009).
TIME AND MONEY
“Small changes in our lives”: Interview with Environmental Defense, June 13, 2007.
THE WIN-WIN-WIN SITUATION
”All over the world”: Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, and Jorgen Randers, Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1992), 209.
© 2016 The Green Foodprint. All Rights Reserved.