People who want to avoid genetically engineered sugar this year should think twice about one of the alternatives. Sucralose, or Splenda, is reportedly pervasive in Norway and Sweden's wastewater, leaving some scientists worried about the sugar-like substance's effect on the environment.

Data shows that Splenda is excreted by humans nearly 100 percent unchanged, and can persist in the environment for years. Some scientists say the substance could change organisms' feeding behaviors and interfere with plant photosynthesis. They report, for example, that it could possibly shut down CO₂ uptake in algae.

Splenda was approved in the 1990s for human consumption in Canada and the US, followed by EU countries. None of these countries thought it necessary to conduct an environmental impact assessment since the chemical wasn't considered toxic in any way.

Now, as questions about the unintended consequences of the chemical's persistence in the environment mount, testing for such impacts may be tricky. As one scientist reported, testing methods for potential impacts of a sugar-like substance on ecosystems don't exist.

Sweden has started discussions with the EU about other food additives on the market that may warrant environmental review, citing the lack of inquiry into potential impacts of these substances on the environment.

Source: Environmental Science & Technology

Maryland is doing impressive work when it comes to preserving agricultural tradition. Kent County, for instance, has about 85% of its land zoned for agriculture. A quarter of those acres are under preservation easements which ban development and encourage sustainable practices. Farmers get paid to give up their development rights, which gives them incentive to do what they do best.

Another county in Maryland, Prince George's, has two bills in the state legislature that would provide funding for agricultural preservation. One bill would provide property tax credit to farmers who participate in preservation easement programs. The other bill would secure funding for preservation programs.

Currently, farmers make money only when they sell their land (“live poor, die rich”) giving virtually no incentive to carry on tradition. Most small- to medium-scale farmers understand the agricultural risks of market and weather. But as we all know, subsidies for commodity crops and other industrial farming incentives don't make it easy (or fair) for the average agrarian-type.

Sources: Baltimore Sun and Maryland's Gazette.net

Branching out from now-blasé plastic bag bans, Seattle has banned city purchases of bottled water.

Officials in Seattle say they’re motivated by economic and environmental reasons - as well as regional pride in their water supplies. Seattle’s tap water comes mainly from rainfall and melting snowpack from two protected watersheds.

Seattle predicts it will save $58,000 of public money by asking (okay - telling) city employees to drink from the tap, which costs pennies on the dollar compared to eight bucks a gallon for bottled water. In addition, the city won’t be contributing to the massive fossil fuel use in transportation of or waste disposal problems associated with plastic water bottles.

City employees don't need to worry about the safety of tap water - municipal water supplies are continuously tested against at least one hundred federal EPA standards; but standards for bottled water are merely suggested by the FDA.

These days, feng shui seems destined for furniture arrangement. But the practice of achieving harmony has had much grander purposes over history including the lay out of Chinese villages, burial site design and construction of agriculture plots. Chinese Kings used feng shui to build palaces in a way that reiterated their power and wealth.

Recently, an LA McDonald's redid its décor to reflect the feng shui philosophy of wind-water. It has a wooden ceiling, waterfalls and a door that doesn't align, so as to confuse the evil spirits. The switch came when the franchise owner noticed that the population in the area had risen to 40% Asian.

He also says there's nothing ironic about a McDonald's being feng shui. Maybe not, considering the materialistic journey feng shui has taken anyway. But surely there's some irony in the melding of positive spiritual energy (Qi) with the kind of meat that brings down rainforests and fattens up the country.

Feng Shui has been considered taboo in the PRC for some time now. So what does it mean that McDonald's is feng shuing itself? Is McDonald's confirming its food feudalship over the world? Saying “screw you” to Communism? Probably nothing so profound. Just a pretty little waterfall to go with some addictively bad-for-you food.

Source: NPR and Indobase.com

Photo by: Richard Harbaugh (NPR article)

A farmer for Bioland – the largest German organic farming association – had to destroy part of his crops due to pesticide contamination, with $1 million in damages. Bernd Kuglemann bought fennel plants from a Holland company called the West Plant Group, but when he noticed that the seedling seemed too clean and that there were bluish pellets in the soil, he had them tested. Sure enough, the plants had been soaked in pesticides.

One of Bioland's largest clients, a discount supermarket called Lidl, dropped Kuglemann immediately. Lettuce, celery and much of the soil had become contaminated and unusable. Kuglemann lost more clients and says he is now almost broke but still trying to rebuild his organic reputation. The Dutch suppliers, in the meantime, claim that the seedlings they sent were perfectly organic, and refuse to pay compensation. After a Dutch inspection service found pesticide residue in West Plant Group's supplies, they pulled a permit for one site.

This incident appears to part of a larger problem of trust in the organic trade. Another issue is simply that organic standards often says nothing about organic crops being grown next to conventional ones. Such close proximity often ends up in the pesticide slathered crops contaminating the organic ones, with no accountability for the damage.

Source: Spiegel Online International

The shortage of U.S. grain has been a recurrent headline lately, yet a portion of this shortage – the organic grain industry – is not a new story.

Though part of the organic grain scarcity is attributed to a dearth of producers, part of the problem is the increasing contamination of organic grain by genetically engineered (GE) crops – patented organisms now pervasive in much of the American landscape.

This week, organic industry players are meeting in Anaheim, California to discuss testing for transgenic material in organic products and possibly coming up with standards for certification. (Testing is currently not mandatory.)

You might recall that the organic movement fought hard to exclude GE organisms from the organic label a decade ago. Now an additional certification is needed to relay that this product is truly organic?

Our new tool shed has beautiful old-growth larch boards in the walls, huge timbers for the floor joists, and an expansive hardwood floor. Of course, the best part is that all these materials were reclaimed.  

Many American consumers – as many as a half million now – have long fought for the right to purchase raw milk. Demand for the controversial product is growing by leaps and bounds, with more and more dairies filling requests from consumers and grocery stores for raw milk products.

But as demand grows, so does resistance.

Recently, California state agriculture officials temporarily banned sales of raw cream from Fresno-based Organic Pastures after finding high bacteria levels. This action follows a controversial law that took effect on January 1, which spurred political battles over the requirement that raw milk had to meet the same safety standards as pasteurized milk.

The founder and owner of Organic Pastures, which is believed to be the largest raw milk dairy in the nation, has filed a lawsuit to overturn the law. He welcomes the temporary ban on his cream, because now he can cite economic damages resulting from the law (which have grown to a loss of $10,000 per week since the ban).

Raw milk is not pasteurized (heat-treated), and supporters assert that the beneficial properties otherwise destroyed through pasteurization (such as good bacteria and enzymes) help ease lactose intolerance, digestive disorders, and allergies, and can boost the immune system.