Post Script

Update: outpouring of protests over GE alfalfa

We recently alerted our readers to pending USDA action on genetically engineered alfalfa, since it appeared the product was poised for an approval vote.  

We believe that consumers do not want to eat genetically modified food, and given a chance, would speak out against a vote to approve GE Roundup Ready alfalfa. As the Center for Food Safety so eloquently puts it: "USDA's Environmental Impact Study claims that organic consumers do not care about GE contamination of their food, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Consumers surveys show that 75 percent or more of respondents repeatedly say that they do not want to eat GE contaminated food and cite their desire to avoid GE foods as one of the top five reasons for buying organic."

The Center for Food Safety and other groups spearheaded the call to action (which was linked on the right side of this blog), encouraging readers to submit their opinion to the USDA during the extended feedback period. The deadline of March 3 has now passed and the government is no longer accepting public feedback.

The good news is that many people responded to the call, with total numbers exceeding 200,000. Some reports have the figure at 300,000.

We are hopeful that it was enough. Watch this blog for updates on this important issue.

The link between pesticides and Parkinson's

Online and in print, some studies are being cited arguing that there's no nutritional benefit to eating organic produce over conventional produce. Some experts say it might not be worth the premium you can sometimes pay. 

One thing is certain; it does pay to look at who is funding those studies. And aside from the nutritional aspect, what about the potential harm caused by pesticides and chemicals?

This Onearth.org article tells the story of a young mother diagnosed with Parkinson's disease; a condition that usually afflicts older males. It also mentions a bevy of studies supporting a link between Parkinson's and the pesticides on conventional food and fields. Here's an excerpt:

Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging, a report co-authored by the Science and Environmental Health Network, a consortium of advocacy groups based in Ames, Iowa, included a summary of 31 population studies that have looked at the possible connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's. Twenty-four of those studies, according to the report, found a positive association, and in 12 cases the association was statistically significant. In some studies, the group found, there was as much as a sevenfold greater risk of Parkinson's in people exposed to pesticides. In addition, in April 2009, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), published a provocative study connecting the disease not only to occupational pesticide exposure but also to living in homes or going to schools that were close to a pesticide-treated field.

Cedarburg fundraiser supports pole expeditions

Cedarburg is coming out in support of local-boy-turned-intrepid-polar-explorer with a fundraiser, May 20th, 6:30 p.m. at the downtown cultural center.

Renowned explorer and Wisconsin native Eric Larsen is embarking on an unprecedented journey to the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mt. Everest all in one year. This feat has never been completed in one year. To date, only 15 people (no Americans) in history have been to all three poles. The expedition's objectives are:

• Complete the first-ever expedition to Mt. Everest, the North Pole and South Pole in a continuous 365-day period.
• Promote clean energy solutions, advocate strategies for reducing carbon emissions post Kyoto 2012 and collect relevant scientific data.
• Produce a documentary film, book and educational CD-ROM that focuses on global warming, teamwork and the spirit of adventure.
• Develop a post expedition multi-media lecture series.

Mount Everest and the North and South Poles represent the harshest and most extreme environments on the planet. Yet as inhospitable as these places are to humans, they are also the areas most affected by people. By summer 2040, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free. Recently, the 1,250 square mile Larsen B Ice Shelf collapsed off of Antarctica and disintegrated into the Southern Ocean. Snow and ice once stretched to Edmund Hillary's Everest base camp but now ends five miles away. 

The money raised from ticket sales and the silent auction in Cedarburg will support the non-profit Save the Poles Expedition. Larsen will be on hand to show a multimedia presentation about the expedition, and the band Michael Lee Ammons & the Water Street Hot Shots will entertain while guests munch away on hors d'oeuvres.

Here's the nitty gritty:

Wednesday May 20th, 6:30 p.m.

Cedarburg Cultural Center, W62 N546 Washington Ave.

Prices are $15 for adults, $6 for students, free for kids under 5. 

The first 150 people through the doors will get a t-shirt and gift bag. 

A cash bar will be on site.

Reservations are encouraged by calling Judy at (262) 377-5767 or Ljudithwve@aol.com.

And here's the web site:

www.SaveThePoles.com

From the frying pan into the engine

When I was a little girl growing up in an industrial city in England, my mum (like all mums I knew then) would deep-fry delicious "chips" for dinner. Think steak fries with a mouth-watering crispy shell and unbelievably fluffy potato filling. Just don't think about the fat. One of the (many) problems with this way of cooking was the issue of oil disposal. Not wanting to clog drains or send vats of fat down the city pipelines, my mom would pour the oil into an old coffee can and let it solidify before throwing it away.

Yeah... pretty disgusting. I'm glad we have evolved in our cooking habits.

But the oil from french fries is not a thing of the past (just look inside any diner's kitchen), and two Wisconsin entrepreneurs have looked at the disposal problem with an eye to the future... they are recycling it as biofuel.

The Appleton Post-Crescent recently profiled John Harrod and Robert Osowski of Mosinee, and their $7,500 processor. According to the newspaper, the processor "cleans water, bread crumbs, soap, glycerin and other contaminants from the used grease and turns it into fuel that can power diesel car engines, tractors, generators and heaters."

The company that grew out of this one idea is named U.S. Freedom Bio Fuels, and you can read more about it here.

~ Liz

A chemical link to obesity?

New studies are raising concerns that chemicals widely used in the plastics industry may be linked to our obesity epidemic. Link: Chemicals May Play Role in Rise in Obesity - washingtonpost.com.
These chemicals, which can act like hormones in the body, are called endocrine disruptors. Now researchers say they have seen some of these same chemicals promote fat-regulating cells in labratory mice, causing the cells to reproduce – and making the mice obese.
Scientists point out that these chemicals are widespread in our environment. One of the so-called endocrine diruptors, bisphenol A, was found in 95 percent of the people tested – at amounts at or beyond the levels observed to affect the lab animals. It is commonly used in the manufacturing of many plastic items, such as the lining in food containers and in baby bottles.