Big Gulps for all! NYC ban on big sodas canned

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Big Gulps for all! NYC ban on big sodas canned

Big sodas can stay on the menu in the Big Apple after New York state’s highest court refused Thursday to reinstate the city’s first-of-its-kind size limit on sugary drinks.

from the curator:  It’s a sad situation when we’re more concerned with fixing symptoms instead of drafting solutions for true problems.  So, whether someone wants to pound a 64oz. Mountain Dew, or double-fist 32oz “smalls” – does it really matter?  And what problem is this fixing? The problem is actually the refined sugar causing unprecedented damage as it’s mainlined through our systems.  Damage that no one wants to tackle because of the underlying pressure that can and will quickly spill over causing a sticky mess for many “decision makers” involved.  Instead of focusing on a solution for change, we instead try to federate volume of consumption in a “single serving” without being concerned with regulating of how many servings a consumer can consume. As this foolish dance continues, the only true solution with this HFC problem, and so many more food consumption issues is accountability for one’s actions as an eater, and a regulator.  That is a big gulp no one seems to want to swallow…

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“Natural” helps in $40B of US food sales & means nothing!

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Nothing makes Americans buy a food product quite like the fabulously ambiguous word “natural.”  The top 35 health claims and food labels include words most anyone who has been to a supermarket in the past five years should recognize—ones like “natural,” yes, but also “organic,” and “fat free,” and “carb conscious,” and “100 calories.”  These phrases helped the food industry sell more than $377 billion worth of masterfully marketed food items in the United States during the past year, according to data from market research firm Nielsen.

The list of lucrative food labels is long, and, at times, upsetting.

Sasaki GENIUS – Songzhuang Arts and Agriculture City

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Sasaki GENIUS – Songzhuang Arts and Agriculture City

Awarded the American Planning Association’s (APA) 2014 Pierre L’Enfant International Planning Excellence Award! The Sasaki plan for the quickly evolving countryside offers an innovative approach to the integration of agriculture within a vibrant urban environment.

Sasaki’s master plan proposes a series of self-sustaining communities with farmland located at the core and urban development along the periphery. This approach allows for more diverse internal edge conditions that foster greater interaction between the cultivated landscape and urban fabric. “The Songzhuang Arts and Agriculture master plan incorporates novel strategies that combine urbanity and agriculture, resulting in new developments that are integrated with natural systems,” said Ann C. Bagley, FAICP, 2014 APA Awards Jury Chair. “The resulting new communities in Songzhuang will facilitate a higher quality of life for all residents." 

Through a systems-based approach, the plan responds to critical issues in the region. "In a country where farmland is being lost in the name of development at an alarming rate, and where nearly one-sixth of existing arable land suffers from soil pollution, it is imperative that future growth seriously consider food security as a priority,” said Michael Grove, the principal in charge of the project for Sasaki and director of the firm’s Shanghai office. “The master plan for Songzhuang offers a model approach which suggests that agriculture can coexist with development, as well as help to generate new economic opportunities.”

The Sasaki master plan for Songzhuang reconfigures traditional relationships between the city, open space, and farmland, and forms a new paradigm for urban living. “The Songzhuang arts and agriculture plan enables live-work communities that still retain a uniquely Chinese identity,” said Shanshu Wu, Chief Engineer for the plan’s initial National Creative Cluster component. “Today, creativity and fresh ideas are becoming a valued part of China’s cultural identity. Songzhuang’s new cluster communities will foster this spirit of innovation.”

Vision for a Local New England Food Future – Free Press – Maine

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Vision for a Local New England Food Future – Free Press – Maine

Ambitious (FANTASTIC) Vision for a Local Food Future for NE!

Right now, 90 percent of the food consumed by New England’s 14.5 million residents comes from somewhere else, according to a recent report published by Food Solutions New England that also found that the region’s population consumes 16 million acres of food products, of which less than 2 million acres is actually in New England.

Factoring in population trends, land availability, water resources and dietary habits, New England could be producing 50 percent of all of the food it consumes by 2060, according to the 44-page report authored by agriculture, fisheries and nutrition experts. 

They contend that New England could once again become a food basket – by developing policies that spur local agricultural production, environmental sustainability, a more diverse diet and a more equal income distribution. 

“I want to emphasize that this is not a prediction of what will happen,” said Brian Donahue, an environmental studies professor at Brandeis University and co-author of the report, “A New England Food Vision,” at MaineFare in Belfast last weekend. “It’ll take an awful lot of work for it to happen. It’s just a vision of what could be achieved. It’s a set of ambitious, but plausible aspirations, based on a set of core values.”

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VIDEO – The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States

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Launched in October, 2013, the Risky Business Project focuses on quantifying and publicizing the economic risks from the impacts of a changing climate.

Risky Business Project co-chairs Michael R. Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, and Tom Steyer tasked the Rhodium Group, an economic research firm that specializes in analyzing disruptive global trends, with an independent assessment of the economic risks posed by a changing climate in the U.S. Rhodium convened a research team co-led by climate scientist Dr. Robert Kopp of Rutgers University and economist Dr. Solomon Hsiang of the University of California, Berkeley. Rhodium also partnered with Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world’s largest catastrophe-modeling company for insurance, reinsurance, and investment-management companies around the world. 

One-third of beginning farmers are over 55 years old!

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One-third of beginning farmers are over 55 years old!

Though new agricultural enterprises typically demand long hours and physical stamina, many retirees turn to farming as a way to keep active and earn an income — or, like Mr. Noble, to at least supplement Social Security. The White House’s 2013 Economic Report of the President notes that “the average age of U.S. farmers and ranchers has been increasing over time.” One-third of beginning farmers — defined by the federal government as having been in business fewer than 10 years — “are over age 55, indicating that many farmers move into agriculture only after retiring from a different career.”

…She acknowledges that working for a giant multinational corporation was “ego satisfying,” but she finds that life on the farm is “soul satisfying” — and humbling, especially when she must ask for help from more experienced colleagues. “I can tell you this,” she said near her raised beds of asparagus and strawberries. “I wasn’t humble at Cisco. My daughters have said, ‘You are so much nicer now.’ ”

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NASA Says Marine Phytoplankton Most Important Plant on earth

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Do you know what marine phytoplankton is? According to NASA and other scientists, marine phytoplankton could be the most important plant in the world as it provides the earth with over 90% of it’s oxygen. That’s more than all the forests in the world put together. Marine phytoplankton is not only an important source of oxygen it is a critical food source for ocean life and apparently, for us too.

Marine Phytoplankton is a superfood:

One of the main superfoods getting attention today is marine phytoplankton.  Marine phytoplankton is a micro algae which feeds the entire population of the ocean.  It could be the oldest known food source.  Marine phytoplankton actually makes up a quarter of all vegetation on the planet and is easily reproduced. It is food for everything and may be the very meaning and essence of what food is, according to David Wolfe – superfood and longevity specialist. 

What’s Your Local Food Culture? terrior should help…

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What’s Your Local Food Culture? terrior should help…

Where ever your local may be, it’s underpinned by some kind of food culture and connection to regional biodiversity.  Wine has terrior, the central plate looks to ‘local’ as a way to better connect food system with community, culture and family.

Eating international cuisine isn’t a problem—but, as Simon Preston points out, there are benefits to having a local food culture, as well. So he asks this interesting question: is it possible to invent a food culture in the 21st century? He decided to try and create one in the rural Aberdeenshire (UK) town of Huntly:

It’s an interesting idea, especially for many American who have lost the culinary cultures of their past, due to the burgeoning influences of other cultures and food chains in their homelands. Excepting certain cities with distinctive gastronomic traditions, like New York City or Philadelphia, many American towns don’t have dishes to call their own. But as Preston points out, it’s never too late to begin examining local ingredients again: our states, counties, and cities offer us a wealth of history, terrain, crops, and animals with which to build a local food culture.

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SHORT VIDEO:  The Truth about Fat – TIME magazine

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For years, the advice from the USDA has been to reduce the level of saturated fat in your diet, in order to lower your overall cholesterol. However, a new meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has thrown that whole approach in to question.

The removal of fats from our diet has led to an increase in consumption of carbohydrates and processed low-fat alternatives, which has contributed to record levels of diabetes and obesity.

When you consider that most low-fat or non-fat products are laden with salts, sugars and preservatives, continuing to seek out fat-free alternatives could be doing you more harm than good.