Conservation
Panettone is a traditional Italian holiday bread.
Italy's agriculture minister asks Italians to choose among the 4,500 foods of Italian origin - sausage-like zampone, cotechino or panettone, oranges, apples, kiwi - this holiday and to skip the items that travel 2,500 kilometers to market. Coffee, he says, is exception. And: panettone recipe (click 'See also').
By Colleen Barry
The Associated Press; International Herald Tribune 2008-12-18 (entry)
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One president-elect, 30 environmental groups, 391 pages of recommendations. Transition to Green (click 'See also') farming proposals include renewing conservation contracts for 18 million acres, better enforcing erosion control rules, ending crop subsidies for newly broken native prairie. Most need neither Congressional approval nor new spending authority.
By Philip Brasher
The Des Moines Register 2008-12-07 (entry)
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New Atlantic bluefin tuna quota creates danger of catastrophic species collapse. Sharply reduced quotas or, better, moratorium on tuna fishing, may be radical, but only radical move will save the fish that drives a billion-dollar industry. And: Same mistakes that led to collapse of Atlantic cod are being repeated with bluefin, says advocacy group (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-12-08 (entry)
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The mackerel population is abundant, though a mercury advisory has been issued for King and Spanish varieties.
Now that we have caught large portion of all the fish in the sea and we're feeding fish to animals, not people, we have two choices. Either allow overfished species to return to sustainable levels while we broaden our appetites to include mackerel, sardines, anchovies and herring (click 'See also'), or face future of industrially farmed, flavor-deficient fish and accompanying environmental degradation.
By Mark Bittman
The New York Times 2008-11-16 (entry)
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Citing urgent need to retain viable fishing industry, European Commission proposes drastic cuts in fishing limits and ban on several others to let populations recover from overfishing. But EU governments regularly ignore pleas from EU and scientists to limit fishing. And: Anchovy populations now unstable, UK group says (click 'See also').
By Jessica Aldred (and agencies)
The Guardian (UK) 2008-11-10 (entry)
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By feeding small fish to farmed fish, pigs and poultry, humans are out-eating the aquatic species that depend on those forage fish for existence - and threatening foundation of oceanic life. We must encourage less meat-based eating habits as true sign of affluence, and support sustainable agriculture in developing world. And: These small, tasty fish could feed people, says researcher (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-10 (entry)
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Wood-devouring beetle chews into valuable maples, threatening New England's syrup industry, leaf peeping, timber. Calling it a national emergency, government commits to spending tens of millions of dollars to fight 62 square-mile invasion; 1,800 trees must be destroyed. Eradication efforts in New York, New Jersey, Illinois have cost $268 million over past 11 years.
By Rodrique Ngowi
The Washington Post 2008-11-05 (entry)
Florida cuts soft-shell turtle catch limits while crafting conservation plan for native amphibians found in lakes, ponds, canals. Biologist says that China's demand has wiped out most of Asia's native turtle populations; Florida seafood dealer buys 3,000 pounds of live turtles per week. And: Limit of 20 a day is too many, biologists say (click 'See also').
McClatchy Newspapers; The Guardian (UK) 2008-10-29 (entry)
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Beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet declared endangered over Gov. Sarah Palin's objections. Listing means that new offshore drilling, new bridge, other activities must show they won't harm the 375 whales. And: Alaska Natives have been allowed to hunt the whales for subsistence, but there was no hunt for belugas in 2008 (click 'See also').
By Kenneth R. Weiss
Los Angeles Times 2008-10-17 (entry)
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Annual forest loss cost of $2 trillion to $5 trillion dwarfs current economy problems, analyst says. As forests decline, nature stops providing free services- clean water and food for foraging, plus absorption of carbon dioxide. Heartening signs: developing trade in natural ecosystems (similar to carbon trade); attention of government, business officials.
By Richard Black
BBC 2008-10-10 (entry)
In restoration effort, Chesapeake Bay groups enlist waterfront property owners in oyster-growing venture using cages built by inmates at nearby prison. Maryland has planted more than 485 million oysters in the bay this year, a record, governor reports.
Chesapeake Bay Journal 2008-10-01 (entry)
Farming, hunting, fishing, forest-clearing, pollution and climate change push one quarter to one-third of all land mammals toward extinction; one in three marine mammals is on the same path. 'Without the political and public will to spend money on species conservation we are pressed up against the wall,' says study director.
By Ian Sample
The Guardian (UK) 2008-10-06 (entry)
Gorillas, elephants, other animals at risk of extinction as starving population in central Africa struggles to eat and more people move to region for jobs in illegal logging and mining industries. Granting local peoples limited hunting while managing specific populations of animals in jungle may be only way to conserve, study authors say.
Scientific American 2008-09-15 (entry)
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Anchovies added to list of 69 unsustainable fish, shellfish that ethical consumers should not eat, UK conservation group says. Assessment includes biology, stock status, management and impact of farming or fishing method and site of catch. And: For Monterey Bay Aquarium's sustainable fish choices, click 'See also.'
By David Adam
The Guardian (UK) 2008-09-04 (entry)
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Reflecting industry ties, California forestry board turns down emergency salmon protection bid. Board regulates logging on private land. Coastal coho salmon numbers have plunged 73 percent since last year and may be near extinction. And: Logging and conversion of timberland have harmed coho salmon, fisheries group says (click 'See also').
McClatchy Newspapers/The Guardian (UK) 2008-08-07 (entry)
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Conservation program land won't be released for planting without penalty because of good harvest projections and because many farmers have already paid their way out of program, returning 288,726 acres to farming, USDA says. Decision disappoints bakers and livestock owners, who face high grain costs; hunters, conservationists pleased.
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times 2008-07-30 (entry)
USDA decision expected soon on whether millions of acres it rents from farmers to maintain soil, wildlife habitat, grasslands, trees, wetlands and buffer areas along streams and rivers can be plowed for corn crop without penalty. Amid rising food prices, last year's corn crop was used for ethanol; Congress has mandated increased ethanol use this year.
By Joel Achenbach
The Washington Post 2008-07-11 (entry)
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Wild salmon collapse sends message: Don't eat it. Farm-raised is no better: Offshore net-cages dot long stretches of the west coast of the Americas. In Chile, overcrowding in those feedlots led to epidemic salmon anemia, fatal to millions of fish; in Canada, which supplies U.S. with 40 percent of its farmed salmon, sea-lice - a type of parasite - breed on farmed fish and then infect wild pink salmon.
By Taras Grescoe
The New York Times 2008-06-09 (entry)
Despite crisis, there is little attention to underpinning of all of our food systems - biodiversity and services provided by ecosystems, such as soil, water and resilience to disasters. We must change food systems from existing manufactured model to more environmentally-friendly inputs. Other complications: inequitable trade rules, agricultural subsidies and marginalization of small producers.
By Gonzalo Oviedo
BBC News 2008-06-02 (entry)
Reducing food, water waste - estimated at 30 percent of food production worth about $48.3 billion, and up to half the water - must be part of the political agenda, say authors of report for UN. Effective conservation strategy aids farmers, business, ecosystems, and the hungry.
By Stephanie Blenckner
Stockholm International Water Institute 2008-05-14 (entry)
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West Coast ocean salmon fishery declared disaster, the first step in allowing those affected in Washington, Oregon and California to apply for federal disaster assistance. A federal fishery has been declared for West Coast salmon two years out of three. West Coast delegation hoped to attach a disaster aid measure to the Iraq war supplemental appropriation bill.
By Jeff Barnard
The Associated Press; The Seattle Times 2008-05-01 (entry)
With precious few salmon returning to Sacramento River last fall, it's clear that salmon need help. California's leaders have duty to save them by protecting their habitats from effects of logging, by removing Klamath river dams and restoring waterways to their free-flowing nature. Water diversions must be calculated for minimal damage to fish.
The editors
San Francisco Chronicle 2008-03-23 (entry)
After largest collapse of Pacific salmon stocks in 40 years, fishing council considers closing waters from Oregon to Mexico. More water from Sacramento River, site of many salmon runs, has been diverted for farms and cities. Costs to fishermen and their communities estimated in millions of dollars.
By Felicity Barringer
The New York Times 2008-03-13 (entry)
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Major fish populations off northwest Africa are collapsing because of industrialized overfishing,mostly for Europe. Area governments have chosen big money from foreign fleets over long-term fishery health. Lucrative fish processing and exporting are controlled by others, while one-boat livelihoods along coastal towns are idled and owners contemplate illegal immigration.
By Sharon LaFraniere
The New York Times 2008-01-14 (entry)
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To save the planet and ward off diet-related disease, walk or bike half an hour a day instead of driving, and eat less red meat, say physicians and climate scientists. In global economy, the meat sector alone causes 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, says UN report.
By Seth Borenstein
The Associated Press 2007-11-11 (entry)
Saving the world, one cupcake at a time, Brooklyn bakery has cut its energy use by installing glazed windows, reduced water use and reduced its trash by switching to biodegradable bags and utensils; response from tradition-bound Italian neighborhood has been overwhelmingly positive.
By J. Alex Tarquinio
The New York Times 2007-11-01 (entry)
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New amendments to farm bill may provide more money for land stewardship, rural development, energy and public nutrition, but increased payments to farmers of wheat, barley and canola in new legislation could spur challenges from World Trade Organization, Senate Agriculture chair says.
By Charles Abbott
Reuters 2007-10-30 (entry)
Whether in miniscule back yards or near abandoned houses, urban farmers find every sunny spot and put it to use in effort to connect to their food; backyard chicken and egg trend in Salt Lake City is nothing short of coop d'etat.
By Chris Adamson
Salt Lake City Weekly 2007-08-23 (entry)
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Program that last year brought 35,000 pounds of hunter-donated venison to low-income clients of southern Wisconsin food pantry endangered by budget cuts; testing the deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) reduced by 60 percent; experts predict explosion in deer population.
By Christina Beam
Reedsburg Times Press (WI) 0000-00-00 (entry)
Judging from plastic bottles clogging the landfills and SUVs clogging the highways, the news that we're killing ourselves and our world hasn't kicked in, so that makes "The 11th Hour," an unnerving, surprisingly affecting documentary, essential viewing.
By Manohla Dargis
The New York Times 2007-08-17 (entry)
Emaciated grey whales seen off the coast of Baja California may show a crucial break in ocean's food chain; algae mats, home to shrimp-like creatures that whales, walrus and sea ducks feed on, have disappeared as ice melts.
By Leonard Doyle
The Independent (UK) (entry)
Overfishing, poaching and pollution have depleted worldwide fish stocks to 10 percent of normal; for every pound of shrimp harvested, 10 pounds are discarded, along with turtles and dolphins, conservationists report.
By Eviana Hartman
Washington Post (entry)
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It's a stretch to blame the precipitous worldwide decline of marlin, swordfish, tuna and sharks on Hemingway, even figuring spawning rates over four generations, but quest for sportsman-trophy fish photos like his have targeted the at-risk bluefin tuna.
By Paul Greenberg
The New York times (may require subscription) (entry)
To irrigate crops, farmers have pumped billions of gallons annually from the Ogallala Aquifer, a lake under parts of Great Plains states, but now, water table has dropped steeply, forcing new "dryland" methods of farming for conservation.
By Debbie Elliott
National Public Radio (entry)
"The Zen of Fish," and "The Sushi Economy," offer lessons in how global economy works, dangers of over-fishing and how it thrives on demand, and why trout might not be the best choice for eating raw (think tapeworms).
By Stuart Biggs
bloomberg.com 2007-08-08 (entry)
Local food advocates trumpet food miles, but the Life Cycle Assessment, with comprehensive accounting of all resources that go into food network, from fertilizer to electricity, offers clearer picture; meanwhile, air shipping is the most fuel-intensive, and the fastest growing sector of food transport.
By Drake Bennett
The Boston Globe (entry)
New interactive map allows users to tract proliferation of factory farms by state and county - even number of animals - and it raises questions of whether we pursue the logic of industrialism to its limits, and how badly will it harm the landscape, the people who live in it and democracy itself?
The editors
The New York Times (may require subscription) (entry)
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In northeastern Brazil, farmers use simple technologies and great persistence to harvest, pick, raise and slaughter, despite high temperatures, little rain and unfertile soil; they begin with a mud-patch, to hold rainwater to create oases of production.
By Isaura Daniel; translated by Mark Ament
Brazil-Arab News Agency (entry)
Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Läckeby Water Group join other food, drink producers in UN agreement to use water more efficiently; lack of access to clean water and sanitation undermines humanitarian, social, environmental, and economic goals.
By Ahmed ElAmin
foodproductiondaily.com (entry)
Current agricultural policies distort food costs, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and subsidize a handful of large farming operations that raise a few selected crops - and subvert subsistence farmers across the globe by dumping cheap surplus goods at below-market prices.
By Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Ron Kind
The Modesto Bee (CA) 2007-07-15 (entry)
It's a $70 billion annual bill, and before, only agribusiness cared, but a tsunami of activists now believes that its subsidies for corn and soy encourage diet-related disease and climate change; instead, they advocate money for sustainable and organic food production, agricultural conservation and for a priority on fresh, local fruits and vegetables.
By Carol Ness
San Francisco Chronicle (entry)
