by guest blogger Wendy Gordon. The lobster was delicious. Hauled in just hours before from the Gulf of Maine, where lobsters are more plentiful than ever. The waters, however, our host warned, were less brisk than I might remember when I was here in the mid ’90s.
Environment
The Secret Is in the Soil
by guest blogger Coach Mark Smallwood. The headlines are extreme: “Broiling Heat,” “Punishing Drought,” “Worst in 50 Years.” And the images are even worse. Miles of dry, cracked fields, crispy cornstalks, and stoic farmers holding tiny ears of kernel-less corn. More than half of the country is experiencing drought conditions, and counties in more than 25 states have been declared crop disasters by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Ten Ways I Embrace the Reality of Global Warming
I don’t know if you all noticed, but a) it’s summer, b) there’s a heat wave, and c) there’s a drought. I saw a headline that said all this extreme weather is making people finally believe in global warming. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I am doing what I can to do my part in keeping the planet healthy. Here is my list of 10 things I do to help the planet.
Top 8 Tips for Saving Water Outdoors
by guest bloggers from the EPA’s WaterSense program. This summer’s heat wave is expected to result in a serious spike in the amount of water being used outdoors. And if steps aren’t taken to make water use more efficient, communities will face major challenges managing droughts and depletion of freshwater resources. Here are the top 8 tips to save water this summer:
Drift Happens
by Marcia Ishii-Eiteman. Imagine an invisible cloud of a cancer-causing 2,4-D weedkiller drifting slowly across your state. Well, one just blew 100 miles across California. How much of that drifting cloud settled on play structures, parks, schoolyards, and clothes drying on the line on the hot summer day? It’s hard to tell, but this invisible threat puts us all at risk.
3 Dangers of Artificial Turf
by guest blogger, Maya K. van Rossum. Covering our community and school fields with plastic grass and rubber soil is a disturbing and concerning trend. While the science is far from settled, there is enough information to demonstrate that artificial turf may pose significant environment, health, safety, and quality of life threats to our communities.
Reform the Farm Bill
by guest blogger, Susan Prolman. This week, the full Senate is working through the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill spends $1 trillion over 10 years and sets food and agriculture policy for our nation. The bill’s title is the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, but how much reform does it really contain?
Total Recall
by guest blogger Coach Mark Smallwood. A crib rail pinches a finger and in short order the product is recalled. Why isn’t it the same true for 2,4-D or glyphosate? Why don’t we hold toxic, man-made chemicals to the same sort of standard we hold other products?
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
Order NowOrganic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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