2012 Farm Bill

From The New York Times:

"Agricultural subsidies have helped bring us high-fructose corn syrup, factory farming, fast food, a two-soda-a-day habit and its accompanying obesity, the near-demise of family farms, monoculture and a host of other ills.

Yet — like so many government programs — what subsidies need is not the ax, but reform that moves them forward. Imagine support designed to encourage a resurgence of small- and medium-size farms producing not corn syrup and animal-feed but food we can touch, see, buy and eat — like apples and carrots — while diminishing handouts to agribusiness and its political cronies."

--Mark Bittman, "Don't End Agricultural Subsidies, Fix Them"

Green Teen interview

A very cool thirteen-year-old blogger asks questions about Get Real: What Kind of World Are You Buying?

New York State's new e-waste takeback law

New Yorkers can now recycle their electronics--computers, TVs, DVD players, etc.--at no charge. The Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act requires manufacturers to take back electronics--no matter who made it--for recycling whenever customers purchase a new product.

That means if someone is buying a new computer from one manufacturer, that company is required to accept the person's used computer, regardless of what brand it is. It must then recycle or reuse the products, and not dispose of them in landfill or hazardous waste sites, the way so much of our e-waste is.

Your next car will be made of pineapples and bananas

Seventy years after Henry Ford unveiled his vegetable car . . .

Scientists have developed a new fiber from fruits like pineapples and bananas that is almost as strong as Kevlar, the fiber used in bulletproof vests. The new fruity “nono-cellulose” fiber is so strong that researchers plan to use it to reinforce plastics like those used to make automobiles. The new fibers will help bring in an era of plastics that are stronger, lighter, and more environmentally friendly than those in use today, reports PhysOrg.

Congress passes historic food safety bill

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Congress has passed a bill that substantially strengthens the FDA's ability to ensure food safety for the first time since 1938. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act grants the agency the authority it has been lacking to issue mandatory recalls for most tainted foods (particularly relevant in light of recent major outbreaks of foodborne illness), require more frequent inspections of food facilities, and demand accountability from food processors and producers. In a victory for sustainable agriculture, small and direct-to-consumer farms—such as those that sell at local farmers markets—were exempted from much of the law because their practices are not generally associated with food safety problems.

“Raise the Bar, Hershey!” Brand Jamming Contest

From Green America:

Create a clever mock tagline, mock print ad, or mock commercial video for Hershey's that doesn't sugar-coat (no pun intended) the truth. E-mail your submissions to fairtrade@greenamerica.org by March 24. Five entries in each category will be selected as finalists, and we'll run a public vote the first week of April.

Genetical engineering for good?

From Conservation via the Utne Reader:

Pam Ronald, a University of California, Davis, researcher, sees a future dominated not by Monsanto-like corporations but by small partnerships between farmers and scientists. By combining genetically modified crops with organic farming and other eco-friendly practices, Ronald believes, we can create a system that slashes pesticide use, insulates crops against floods and drought, and protects the livelihoods of poor farmers in the developing world.