By mid-century, 10 million people a year are projected to die from untreatable infections. Can Cassandra, an ethnobotanist at Emory University convince Steve that herbs and ancient healing are key to our medical future?
Tag: food security
The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke — ProPublica
The U.S. has one agency that regulates cheese pizza and another that oversees pepperoni pizza. Efforts to fix the food safety system have stalled again and again.
— Read on www.propublica.org/article/the-low-and-slow-approach-to-food-safety-reform-keeps-going-up-in-smoke
Reducing sodium and increasing potassium may lower risk of cardiovascular disease | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Large-scale study of more than 10,000 adults with accurate sodium measurements from individuals strengthens link between sodium intake and cardiovascular disease
— Read on www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/reducing-sodium-and-increasing-potassium-may-lower-risk-of-cardiovascular-disease/
Chocolate contains cadmium that can increase cancer risk
But behind its delicious taste, cacao contains cadmium, a chemical substance harmful to kidneys. It also increases the risk of cancer.
If we compare it to other harmful heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium may not seem to be that bad. But, exposure to cadmium for a long time, even in small amounts, can be dangerous as it accumulates in the body. Our body needs ten to thirty years to digest cadmium.
This is why the European Commission last year decreased the safety threshold of the amount of cadmium in processed chocolate in the region. The cadmium threshold is between 0.1 and 0.8 milligrams per kilogram of chocolate, depending on the type of chocolate.
Dark chocolate, for instance, has a lower ceiling than milk chocolate. All chocolate imported to Europe have to comply with the limit.
Europe’s decision was based on research that showed even though cadmium exposure in adult non-smokers in the region is still below WHO’s upper limit, exposure through food in children reaches twice the safe limit.
— Read on theconversation.com/amp/chocolate-contains-cadmium-that-can-increase-cancer-risk-131155
UN Committee Finds Violation of Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Traditional Lands | ASIL
The community complained that the process killed their animals and plants, and had an adverse impact on the environment. The Committee found that Paraguay failed to prevent contamination in violation of the their right to traditional lands, and recommended that Paraguay complete the relevant criminal and administrative proceedings. This decision affirms that the term “home” in the context of the indigenous community should be interpreted “within the context of the special relationship between them and their territories including their livestock, crops and their way of life such as hunting, foraging and fishing.”
— Read on www.asil.org/ILIB/un-committee-finds-violation-indigenous-peoples-right-traditional-lands
Volcanic Grit, Water Shortage Threaten La Palma’s Banana Crop
Once the ash lands on the bananas, it is almost impossible to remove.
And it causes further damage in the handling, transport and packing, with the huge bunches, which are known as “pineapples” and can weigh up to 70 kilos (150 pounds), carried on the shoulders.
“You have to blast it off with water or something — to be honest, I don’t know how to do it,” said Sanchez, 60, who owns a small plantation. “When the dew forms overnight, it really makes the grit stick, and in the morning it just won’t come off.”
Can’t be sold
The skin blackens in the form of a scratch but nothing like the brownish-black markings that show the fruit is ripe.
And although the banana is perfect, it is rejected and cannot be sold.
“European quality regulations ban the sale of bananas with more than four square centimeters of scratches per fruit, even if they are perfect inside and can be eaten without risk,” said Esther Dominguez of ASPROCAN, which represents banana producers in the Canary Islands.
The volcano’s eruption has predominantly hurt the Aridane valley on the western flank of La Palma, although the problem caused by volcanic ash and grit has affected a much wider area.
— Read on www.voanews.com/a/volcanic-grit-water-shortage-threaten-la-palma-s-banana-crop/6263865.html
EPA Is Banning Pesticide Chlorpyrifos On Food Crops : NPR
Agency officials issued a final ruling on Wednesday saying chlorpyrifos can no longer be used on the food that makes its way onto American dinner plates. The move overturns a Trump-era decision.
— Read on www.npr.org/2021/08/18/1029144997/epa-will-ban-a-farming-pesticide-linked-to-health-problems-in-children
Threshold Conversations with John Noksana, Caroline Behe, and Mumilaaq Qaqqaq
In this episode, John Noksana, Carolina Behe, and Mumilaaq Qaqqaq sit down with Threshold producers Amy Martin and Nick Mott to discuss Inuit food security and Inuit sovereignty in the North.
John, an Inuit hunter from Northern Canada, and Carolina, the Indigenous Knowledge and Science Advisor for the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Alaska, discuss how food security fits into a bigger picture of Inuit self-determination. Then, we hear from Mumilaaq, who’s addressing that bigger picture on an even larger stage: in Canada’s Parliament.
— Read on www.thresholdpodcast.org/conversations-inuit
Short Cuts #311 – Standoff At Fairy Creek – CANADALAND – Omny.fm
Covering BC’s anti-logging protests raise issues about journalists’ decorum, access, and how stories about land protectors are framed. And Native Twitter gets a CNN pundit fired for spewing racist views about Indigenous people.
— Read on omny.fm/shows/cndlnd/short-cuts-311-standoff-at-fairy-creek
Arctic-Superpower Jostling Heats Up as Russia Takes on Key Role | Financial Post
Arctic-Superpower Jostling Heats Up as Russia Takes on Key Role | Financial Post
— Read on www.google.ca/amp/s/financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/arctic-superpower-jostling-heats-up-as-russia-takes-on-key-role/wcm/cc62f7b5-ab13-46e9-99eb-bf7c15d5fdb8/amp/