prions from veggies?

This just in from the American Society of Mammalogists' newsletter...

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to be a Vegetarian!

  

Prions similar to those that cause chronic wasting disease can be taken up from the soil by plants such as corn, alfalfa, and tomatoes.  The plants can then be infectious to lab mice.  The findings from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin document a new potential pathway for exposure to this fatal brain disease.  Spread of CWD has previously been shown via direct contact with infected deer and contaminated soil.  

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One more reason why we need to take care of our animals.  Chronic Wasting Disease has been hypothesized to jump to wild animals from captively-housed animals in excessively high density conditions...

The deleterious effects of 'big food' on our health

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
         

The Pulse: Facts You Need from Experts You Trust                     

http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=g1-GbW7kCtvPjBPJqQLgsQ

It's no secret--the American diet of unhealthy, processed foods is killing us. More than 725,000 Americans die from heart disease and stroke each year. We can shrink this number through healthy eating, but we need our government working for--not against--us. Our new report, The $11 Trillion Reward, shows just how damaging current U.S. food policy is--favoring cheap, processed foods over fresh fruits and veggies--and what we can do to improve it. 

Check out the new report:

http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=pxc5GYikCGYvvqRtnZDnSA

Read the Pulse in full online: 

http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=pfuD85iOTKSmv-I2r57Wgw

Considering a ban on deep sea trawling

An excellent essay in Nature by Les Watling points out the damage caused by deep sea trawling and challenges key industry claims that trawling can be managed.  The take-home message:  avoid buying seafood harvested by trawling.

"Trawling the bottom of the ocean, dragging heavy metal equipment along the seabed at high speed, is the most destructive form of deep-sea fishing in the world. The fishing industry loves it because it is very effective. But it is indiscriminate and leaves behind a trail of devastation.

This month, the European Union (EU) is scheduled to vote on a proposed ban on deep-sea bottom trawling. If passed, the ban would be the first of its kind, although it would build on existing prohibitions on trawling in shallower water. It could give the seas some breathing space and fish stocks a chance to recover."

Read more at Nature.

Looks like a fun read!

From The Economist:

Economics and eating

Thought for food

THE dismal science has been getting a makeover. Long associated with the abstruse art of mathematical modelling, economics has become the discipline of choice to explain all sorts of phenomena, from human decision-making to the mysteries of the housing market. Economists such as Steven Levitt have been making their fortunes by grappling with real-world problems in books such as “Freakonomics”. Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University with a widely read economics blog called “Marginal Revolution”, joins the crowd with a book on food, now out in paperback.

read more

Let's not lose site of the big picture and big problems in the future...

I read Dot Earth pretty regularly and think Andrew Revkin has some really insightful points and great debates about climate science.  This one stopped me in my footsteps.  He shows a graph that plots the decline in arguments/discussions about long term climate consequences and the rise of arguments/discussions focusing on the immediate consequences...like a superstorm...by environmental groups.  He wisely points out that this really misses the point that our earth will change in some big ways in the medium and longer term and these are the issues that really need discussing.  Read the essay and talk about this at this weeks dinner party!

growing food to feed people is more efficient than growing food to feed animals or make biofuel...

A nice Scientific American article about how we can feed 4 billion more people if we focus on feeding people...

excellent article about seafood labelling...

The Conversation has an excellent article about seafood labelling in Australia.  The issues are universal.  Is sustainable seafood possible?