Food Democracy

Two years into a four-year trial, about 35 tonnes of crushed glass has been laid at the base of pinot noir grape vines at Sandihurst winery in West Melton, New Zealand.

It all started with the idea that the sun reflecting off the glass mulch would produce better tasting grapes and better yields, so a pilot project was created to prove it.

Sandihurst director Hennie Bosman said he was ecstatic at the results because there was a noticeable improvement in the quality of the wine made from the trial batch. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine a grocery store in Wisconsin that doesn’t get its produce from warmer states hundreds of miles away. Instead, fruits and vegetables are grown right on the supermarket’s rooftop, making the produce as fresh as possible for consumers. This is the idea behind Sky Vegetables, a business venture being created by UW-Madison senior Keith Agoada and MBA student Troy Vosseller. Their concept won first place and a $10,000 prize in the G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition at the UW-Madison School of Business in April.

For the past year, Agoada worked as a manager’s assistant in the UW-Madison botany greenhouses. His rooftop idea came to him after watching a program about community gardens in Chicago, where people can rent inexpensive garden plots and grow their own vegetables. Agoada realized this practice could be expanded to other urban areas as well, and he did research on rooftop agriculture as part of an independent study project. “Rooftops made sense to me,” Agoada said, adding that supermarket rooftops were ideal because they eliminate the cost of delivery. Read the rest of this entry »

Pepsi announced that it has reduced the plastic used for a 500ml non-carbonated beverage bottle by 20 per cent, which, the company says “will eliminate approximately 20 million pounds of waste from the environment.” There will also be a 10 per cent reduction in the label size and a 5 per cent reduction in the shrink wrap film used to wrap the multi-packs, Pepsi said.

Robert Lewis, PepsiCo VP, said that the challenge had been to develop a lighter bottle that would provide the same shelf life, withstand the manufacturing and distribution process, and yet remain aesthetic. Read the rest of this entry »

Scientists around the world are researching or seeking the funds to research ways to produce meat in the laboratory—without killing any animals. In vitro meat production would use animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce. The result would mimic flesh and could be cooked and eaten.

PETA is now offering a $1 million reward to the first scientist to produce and bring to market in vitro meat.

Why is PETA supporting this new technology? More than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs, and cows are killed every year for food in the United States in horrific ways. Chickens are drugged to grow so large they often become crippled, mother pigs are confined to metal cages so small they can’t move, and fish are hacked apart while still conscious—all to feed America’s meat addiction. In vitro meat would spare animals from this suffering. In addition, in vitro meat would dramatically reduce the devastating effects the meat industry has on the environment. Read the rest of this entry »

New Delhi, India -The department of biotechnology (DBT) in collaboration with the Hyderabad based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) has developed a diagnostic kit for rapid detection of genetically modified (GM) traces in food by going to the level of DNA. Earlier a diagnostic developed by the Central Institute for Cotton Research could detect by going only to the level of protein.

Revealing this at a Press Conference in New Delhi today, Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, said that these diagnostic kits, developed under a collaborative research project funded by DBT, are ready for commercial launch and will be of immense use to meet the regulatory obligations and legal requirements as well as help to address consumer concerns.

“If this new kit is used it can resolve the claims of genetic contamination of conventional crops by GM crops. We can also use this diagnostic kit for checking imported food which may contain traces GM matter,” said the DBT secretary MK Bhan.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Now-a-kit-to-detect-GM-traces-in-food/293673/

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37168

In the UK, supermarket customers could soon be running out for a bag of milk instead of the traditional glass or plastic bottles or containers.  The environmentally friendly plastic sacs, called Eco Paks, were tested last year and the response was positive. The bags use 75 per cent less plastic than bottles. Customers can also buy a reusable jug to pour the milk into.

Experts believe that the milk bags could make a significant impact on recycling rates. At present, most supermarket milk comes in cartons or bottles made of high-density polyethylene, a type of plastic that can be recycled, although mainly in China. Recent figures showed only seven per cent are recycled.

In the US, it is estimated that 134.1 billion beverage containers were not recycled in 2005–43.6 billion PET bottles, 6.8 billion HDPE bottles, 55.0 billion aluminum cans, and 28.8 billion glass bottles wasted.  That’s an increase of nearly 4 billion from 2004’s total of 130.3 billion.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=512190&in_page_id=1770, http://www.container-recycling.org/

On paper, my wife and I are poor. How poor? In 2005 we made $4,303.84 combined; in 2004 we made half that. We’re in such a low tax bracket that I have trouble convincing the government of our tax return’s accuracy; they simply can’t believe Americans can live on that kind of money.

Read the rest of the story at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/2007-10-01/Live-on-Less.aspx

You may also want to check out Lose, Weight, Save Money With Healthy Food Portions, Homestead.org and Homesteading Today for more ideas on living a simpler, more self-sufficient life.

An Artist’s Statement (Fruit Sticker Artist that is)

by Barry “Wildman” Snyder
Almost World Renowned Food Sticker Mosaic Artist Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to throw out all those toxic cleaners and replace them with everyday, natural items from the cupboard. AOL put together a pretty interesting slide show in their Play With Your Food section. You’ll be surprised at what works. Check it out at: http://food.aol.com/play-with-your-food/weird-uses-for-food

by Michele Cempaka/Bali (edited)

Adi Kharisma began producing ubi, a purple sweet potato in January 2006. His motivation to produce this nutritious potato took hold when many people in his family started dying from cancer. What started as a personal search to find the key to a healthy, long life, has now turned into an amazing vision for a sustainable food source for Indonesia.

Adi is currently the owner of three Sela Boga outlets. Sela Boga means “food.”

In the beginning of his ubi project, Adi focused on the purple ubi because it is a natural anti-oxidant. He then turned to producing seedlings for yellow and orange ubi, rich in beta-carotene and good for the eyes. Many Indonesians are deficient in vitamin A resulting in a high occurrence of cataracts.

Adi also discovered that combining a dish of 70 percent rice with 30 percent ubi greatly enriched people’s diet as well as stretched Indonesia’s rice supply. Rice is in short supply in Indonesia mostly due to over-development and increased population. Read the rest of this entry »