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The FDA has announced plans to investigate the “Smart Choices” initiative, an industry-led nutrition labeling program, arguing that the labels may mislead the public by implying that sugary foods are healthy.

I’m amazed that the “Smart Choices” label has gotten this far, considering it was trying to suggest that Froot Loops are somehow nutritious, and happy that the FDA is taking decisive action to curtail the manipulative marketing scheme.  However, given that Kraft has announced that they are phasing out the label, and General Mills, Kellogg and Unilever plan to follow suite, I have a feeling the label will not be around for much longer regardless of what the FDA does.

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While there may be some question about who will attend the UN Climate Change Conference, and what they will accomplish,  you can be sure that the public will have an opportunity to discuss climate change in Copenhagen at the KlimaForum09.

Billed as The People’s Climate Summit, the free event will simultaneously take place only a few blocks from the UN gathering, and will feature guest speakers (including Naomi Klein!), over 150 open debates, 60 exhibitions, as well as music, film and art concerning climate change.  KlimaForum09 provides an open space for ordinary citizens, grassroots movements and organizations to develop constructive solutions to the climate crisis.  Special efforts have been made to invite people from countries that are and will be most directly affected by climate change, and who have limited opportunities to participate in the global discussion.  Read the rest of this entry >>

One of the most popular food trends in the past year or two has been local food. So why is eating local all the rage, and what can you do to be part of this growing movement?

What is local?

We need to start by defining the word local. It has different meanings to different people, but I define local as being as close to home as possible. With food, that would mean buying food raised or produced as close to your home as possible.

To purists, or locavores, local means buying food within a set radius, such as 50 or 100 miles. To others, local means as far as a day’s drive from where you live. Because geography and growing is different around the country (and world), I opt for a more flexible definition.

Technically, this means that any food you buy close to your home is local, even conventional or industrially produced food. So inherent within the local label is the concept of sustainable. Try to avoid food from a large industrial operation, no matter how close to your home it is. The best way to tell if a farm is industrial is to find out how big it is and how diverse its products are. A very large farm producing only one crop is most likely industrial – when you plant the same crop on many acres, you attract pests, which means you have to use pesticides. So focus on smaller farms, ones that have different types of crops, and find out what their growing practices are.

When you’re shopping for local food, look for local sustainable food from a small independent family farm. That means minimal chemical pesticides and fertilizers were used, the land and everything on it was treated with respect, and every effort was made to provide you with the most wholesome, nutritious food. In general, smaller farms are more sustainable because they tend to grow a variety of crops and undertake conservation practices such as crop rotation, so they usually have less problems with pests. But it’s always wise to find out exactly how your food was produced before you make the decision to buy and eat it.

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Developing countries have threatened to walk out of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen if rich nations did not commit to greater reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and more funding for climate costs.

While I can understand being  frustrated by talk that the United States and other heavy emitters may not commit to a binding, enforceable climate treaty in December, I don’t think a walk-out is an effective way of dealing with the forestalling.  Read the rest of this entry >>

Just yesterday, we talked about how it seems that Congress won’t be passing a climate change bill prior to Copenhagen, and we noted how that could be an impediment for the climate change talks to take place there. Unfortunately, it seems like the United States’ reticence to get its act together on a bill will, in fact, greatly diminish the possibility of a binding, enforceable treaty on climate change this December.

Though many members of Congress have been very cautious on the progress of the climate change bill, I had been holding out a very slim and naive hope that perhaps our negotiators might go ahead and pull a fast one in Copenhagen and agree to a treaty that hadn’t been approved by Congress. Nope. From the Guardian: Read the rest of this entry >>

Glenn Beck is almost always frustrating to watch.  And while I try not to post about too often because it seems like it would just be giving him more of a platform, I was so enraged by his rant on vegetarianism and Meatless Mondays last week that I couldn’t help but respond with a post.

Well, I’ve calmed down a bit since then but I couldn’t hide my joy at Jon Stewart’s clever and right on Glenn Beck impersonation from last night’s Daily Show.  In the skit Stewart takes on the subject of Glenn Beck’s recent appendicitis and uses it to show how ridiculous Beck is night after night after night.

It might just be the perfect segment to get your weekend started right.

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Going into Howard Hawks’ Hatari! at BAM this past Wednesday night I had a feeling I would like it.  I mean the film’s description is kind of amazing:

“John Wayne has never been better than as the leader of a pack of big-game hunters on the African plains who tackle rhinoceroses, elephants, and giraffes to sell to American zookeepers. Hawks’ late-career masterpiece is funny, tender, and thrilling, with some truly awesome scenes of capturing wild animals.”

However, even knowing that I was going to really enjoy the film, I was still surprised by  how much I truly really loved it.  Simply put Hatari! is kind of like hanging out with great old friends for 2.5 hours with occasional bursts of action and animal capturing.  Wayne, Red Buttons and the entire crew are warm, funny and make you want to be a part of their world.  And that world is where we get to the issue part of this post, capturing animals to be put in zoos. Read the rest of this entry >>

I love pets and dream one day of having a lifestyle and an apartment that will make is possible for me to have a dog.   And when I do I want to get awesome cool things for them, like Etsy seller Handmade Green’s Vintage Elevated Dog Feeder.

This Etsy Pick of the Day is made out of two one-quart stainless steel bowls and a reused vintage wooden crate, which are, in the words of the seller, “98% recycled materials, just reused parts and sweat equity.”  This makes the feeder not only good for the environment but also really nice looking.  Read the rest of this entry >>