Besides the fact that biofuels are creating massive carbon debts, the conversion of food crops to biofuels is really screwing with global food prices.

Via Christian Science Monitor

Have you ever avoided meat in the grocery store that was “discolored”? Maybe it was darkening or developing a pearlescent sheen - and you reached behind it for the next Styrofoam package that had glowing red meat?

Turns out, color is not a good freshness detector in meat. That bright red meat that we associate with freshness is often artificially prolonged with the addition of carbon monoxide. As if our meat didn’t have a high enough carbon footprint, with the costs of land use, processing and transportation, now it's topped off with a dollop of extra greenhouse gas and human toxins.

Carbon monoxide can impersonate oxygen so well that the hemoglobin in our cells pick it up instead of oxygen. The decrease in pure oxygen tires our body out, and can cause irreparable brain damage and death at relatively low concentrations. The myoglobin in meat will also pick carbon monoxide up, even post-mortem, extending the decomposition process.

But it does make meat red longer! Ugh. Have we told you how much we love our local farmers?

So far, the FDA has been willing to look the other way on regulation of this “freshness-extender." But in this all-too typical absence of FDA regulation, the possible good news is that some private companies are now considering labelling their meat as "carbon monoxide free" to inform consumers.

Traveling overseas introduces us to all kinds of food bacteria that can wreck havoc of the gut. But scientists have found that feta cheese made with raw sheep's milk contains a lactic acid bacteria which combats food poisoning. Small farms in traditional places like Macedonia and northern Greece don't use cheese and milk preservatives, and rely on this bacteria to give unique flavor. Now it's also being recognized as a natural antibiotic that can kill terribly debilitating poisoning like Listeria.

Interestingly enough, this friendly bacteria has a villainous side when encountered under different circumstances. The bacteria is called Enterococci and it's the same bacteria found with urinary tract infections and meningitis. It has shown up as a virulent strain in hospital epidemics.

Scientists are trying to find ways to harness the bacteria and use it for good, while minimizing the bad. Many scientists see the dangers of using additives and preservatives in foods, and they want to use the bacteria-fighting properties of enterococci instead.

So enterococci in my cheese? Yes, please. Enterococci during hospital surgery? No, thank you.

Source: Science Daily

We’re already dealing with a worldwide wheat shortage thanks to biofuel demands for corn crops. So it’s definitely not good news that an ancient wheat rust – a mush-inducing strain called Ug99 - has mutated its way past the rust-resistant, currently popular strains of wheat.

In 1954, stem rusts wiped out over 40% of U.S. wheat crops. During the Cold War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. both held reserves of the fungus as a potential biological weapon. Rusts have plagued the crops of humans as far back as the Romans, who scrambled to keep the wheat rust god, Robigus, placated.

Twenty-eight years ago, Norman Borlaug (also known as the father of the so-called “Green Revolution”) won the Nobel Peace Prize for developing a strain of wheat resistant to stem rusts. Although Borlaug's strain was not genetically engineered, the new focus on disease resistance and high yields held the door open for biotech food. Genetically modified corn with bacterial genes poisonous to pesky caterpillars! Genetically modified soybeans that could stand herbicide baths! The sky was the limit.

And I suppose if nothing ever evolved, transgenic crops might have worked.

One day I'm writing about wine's cancer-fighting properties, the next that some wine is loaded with cancer-causing pesticides. (We all knew the list of benefits to drinking wine had to end somewhere.)

Here's the scoop: The Pesticide Action Network of Europe uncovered a substantial amount of pesticide residues in conventional wines sold in the EU. Although grapes only account for 3 percent of EU farmland, the crop receives a whopping 15 percent of the region's pesticide applications (almost more than any other crop). Some of the organization's findings include:

• All 40 bottles tested positive for an average of 4 pesticides
• Some bottles tested for as many as 10 pesticides
• Out of 6 organic wines, one showed a small trace of residue
• 24 different pesticides turned up, 5 of which are known carcinogens
• Pyrimethanil, a possible carcinogen, showed up in 75 percent of the samples tested
• Some of the wine samples were from world famous vineyards

You've probably noticed that more organic wines are hitting the beverage aisle. Because these wines are made with grapes not applied with pesticides, they remain a pretty safe bet against pesticide residues. Of course, drift does occur. That is, the intended target of pesticide sprays is often times not the only injured party. And it's up to organic viticulturists to protect their vines from nearby pesticide applications by creating buffer zones and taking other precautions to avoid drift. (It still amazes me how much responsibility is on the non-chemical farmers to protect their farms from unwanted substances.)

Source: Pesticide Action Network Europe

Bats are so underrated. A recent study shows that these winged – and sometimes loathed – mammals are just the ticket for stripping pests off organic crops. University of Michigan researchers experimented with bats on a shade-grown coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico.

The plantations don't use pesticides, but both bats and birds provide protection from devastating pest explosions. Birds, we knew about already. But the test plots (which used combinations of birds, bats and control areas) showed that in the wet season, bats do most of the work. In fact, when bats were excluded from a plot the bug density went up by 84%.

Bats' incredible role in natural pest management has been overlooked for several reasons. One reason is that people often think bats just eat bugs out of the air. But scientists found that bats actually wait for the sound of insects chewing on a plant, then swiftly go in for the kill.

Other facts:

• Bats can eat more than half their body weight
• Bats pollinate wild plants and disperse fruit seeds
• There are at least 45 species of bats on the Chiapas coffee plantation
• There are 200 types of insects feeding on coffee plants

Source: Science Centric (University of Michigan)

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), one of the most prominent and oldest organic certifiers in the U.S., reached the half-million acre mark last month, a sign of the times for the organic industry. In one year, nationwide sales of organic food jumped by $4 billion, from $13 billion in 2006 to $17 billion in 2007.

Established in the 1970s by a group of farmers, CCOF certifies farms in 29 states and five countries. The half-million acres are almost equally divided between livestock and produce farms.

CCOF has seen a 129 percent growth in certified acreage over the last two years, and, in 2007 alone, the organization certified 141,317 acres, a 40.7 percent growth in one year. And the rise in organic dairy and meat products has influenced the rapid increase in certified pasture, which grew from 38,611 acres in 2004 to its current 241,511 acres.

A lot of the growth also stems from farms seeking to expand their operations to include infrastructure for processing, handling, and packaging in order to add value to their products. (These facilities require certification under the National Organic Program, too.)

There may always be disagreement within the organic movement about the National Organic Program and certification in general, but this announcement should be celebrated by all who support organic food, because at the end of the day, it's a half million more acres that aren't soaking in chemical pesticides, harboring transgenic seeds, or contributing to those algal blooms carpeting your nearest waterway.

Source: California Certified Organic Farmers

Scientists have discovered “callus hairs” in the flesh of Fuji apples that may cause early internal browning. No need to get squeamish. These “hairs” are just those little white tufts you sometimes see around apple seeds, and they are neither real hairs nor a fungus.

That said, the hair isn't exactly great for farmers who harvest the apples and find the insides browned. More studies need to be conducted to find out why these hairs turn good apples bad, but scientists think the hairy tufts restrict the continuous flow of C02 and oxygen throughout the apples' cells.

If, indeed, these hairs are the culprit, Fuji apple farmers can begin to breed parent apples that have good traits but lack the fuzz. The only thing is, those callus hairs are rich in phytonutrients. It's hard to say if this is just another case where fruit is bred for hardiness over healthiness.

Currently, scientists are looking to investigate how growth conditions and orchard management may also affect the development of apple hair.

Source: Science Daily