Last week’s news about Amazon purchasing Whole Foods has left consumers in a tizzy. On the one hand, it will make high quality food even more accessible. On the other hand, as is always the case, it presents new problems to be addressed. One of these issues centers around the proliferation of shipping boxes. Americans […]
Roundup and Monsanto have been taking some pretty hard hits from environmentalists, farmers, scientists and others because of the highly toxic main ingredient glyphosate. Even though the EPA, now being strong-armed by our current administration, never finalized its findings about the chemical’s toxicity, there’s plenty of evidence around the world that this […]
Editor’s Note: The following article was published in the March-April 2017 issue of AgMag magazine. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley used to mean being surrounded by citrus orchards and farmland. Today, residents are surrounded by strip malls, countless restaurants, pawn shops and automotive repair places, many reminiscent of junk yards. “There’s a big [ […]
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the December-January issue of AgMag magazine Compost – a decaying mixture of organic matter that can include dead leaves, food waste, animal manure, even coffee grounds – is a solution to many soil-related problems. It’s long been used to help enrich soil. As early as 1760, George Washington […]
A growing number of consumers are looking for healthier choices, particularly when it comes to grains. According to a new report from CoBank, a $120 billion cooperative bank that provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states increased consumer deman […]
In the corporate world, money talks. And more corporate giants have been jumping on the organic bandwagon over the past few years. That’s due to the ever-increasing popularity of and demand for organic food product offerings.
But this trend has made for some very strange and sometimes suspicious bedfellows. After all, when titans of junk food, processed food and sugary beverages acquire brands long known for their top quality organic products, shouldn’t consumers be concerned that the quality will change? And isn’t that concern justified?
Trees are a really good defense against climate change. They sequester a large amount of CO2 and add oxygen to the air. They also help prevent erosion and add nutrients to the soil, along with providing habitat to a variety of birds and other creatures.
And adding trees to an urban landscape also helps provide shade, cool and beauty to an urban jungle. So why promote the idea of adding fake trees to cities as a potential and partial solution to climate change?
The news yesterday was excitingly hopeful. Ringling announced plans to retire its elephants this May rather than wait another year and a half as originally planned.
They are going to retire like everyone does – to Florida,” said Stephen Payne of parent company Feld Entertainment, ABC News reported. Payne said that the 11 elephants currently on tour will travel to roughly 14 more cities before May, at which time they will be transferred to the company’s 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida.
The Netherlands has one-upped the rest of the world yet again. Previously it was with their solar powered bike path, which opened in 2014 in a suburb outside of Amsterdam. In a country where there are admittedly more bikes than people, the government’s commitment to sustainability and innovation is inspiring.
