I have a difficult time accepting genetically modified (GM) foods at
face value. My primary concerns have to do with what we know, and, more
importantly don’t know about how this “promising” technology may or may
not be impacting human health and our environment.
What caught my eye was not just the ashtray sitting forlornly on the
yard-sale table. It was the sign that marked it “vintage,’’ as if we
needed to label this relic of mid-century America.
Ashtrays that once graced every airline armrest, coffee table, and
office have gone the way of spittoons. Today the car’s cigarette
lighter is used to juice up the cellphone. Ask any restaurant for the
smoking section, and you’ll be shown the doorway.
Father Edilberto Sena arrives at Rural
Radio station and takes up his position behind the microphone. He
reaches into his pocket and pulls out his script for today's show. One
question is scribbled on it for the daily debate: ‘Why is this
happening?'
The head of the World Food Program announced
on Friday that an additional 105 million more people have become hungry
in 2009, adding to the one billion plus who were already food insecure.
The day before, Secretary Clinton gave a speech
about hunger in the world, speaking in broad strokes: "[H]unger belies
our planet's bounty. It challenges our common humanity and resolve.
In the battle for the hearts and minds (and pocket books) of
everyday Americans, the large corporate players in today's industrial
food system must be pleased.
Sadly, the green I'm referring to is the color of money. As Tom Philpott reports,
Big Ag is trying to get an agricultural technique known as "chemical
no-till" established as a legitimate carbon offset in the Waxman/Markey
legislation. There's only one problem, all the research out there says
that chemical no-till doesn't actually sequester carbon:
