September 15th, 2010

High fructose corn syrup is back in the news this week, with the Corn Refiners Association’s appeal to the federal government on Monday to be allowed to rename HFCS “corn sugar.”
The corn refiners have asked for this re-labeling because “…current labeling is confusing to American consumers” who now think that HFCS is worse for them that table sugar.
HFCS, the refiners maintain, is a natural product with a similar composition to table sugar, and no more responsible for the obesity epidemic than any other sweetener.

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July 12th, 2010

A decline in planting and an increase in demand have led to a predictable conclusion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Exporters, livestock feeders and ethanol makers are exhausting the corn stockpile faster than farmers can produce supply. Despite record crops in each of the past three years and potential for a third this year, the USDA expects corn carryover to shrink to the lowest level since 2006-07.

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May 6th, 2010

Once upon a time, before plastic water bottles and giant plasma TVs and prepackaged foods and paper towels, there were moms who went about their days doing Earth-friendly things. For some of them it’s a vague memory. For others it may be only legend and lore. But yes, there was a time without liquid detergents and big grocery stories and electric dryers.

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March 26th, 2010

Green Right Now Reports

Coca-Cola company announced it will be observing Earth Hour tomorrow by turning out some iconic lighted signs in cities around the world, including those in Times Square in New York, Piccadilly Circus in London, San Pedro Sula in Honduras and Kings Cross in Sydney.

The global soft drink maker also will darken corporate offices in Atlanta to observe Earth Hour on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. local time. Hundreds of countries, thousands of cities and many other corporate entities will be turning out the lights for one hour, supporting of the symbolic show of unity against climate change.

Unintentionally, Coca-Cola also took another Earth-friendly step this month, issuing a kosher version of Coke for Passover that is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

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July 7th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Food, Inc. could easily have turned our stomachs upside down. There’s lots of raw material – cows mired in manure, pig carcasses whacked about on conveyor belts, immobilized chickens locked in dark crowded coops – to make the point about how mass food production can be an unhealthy affair.

The film does dish up selected gross-out shots of slabs of beef, downer cows, dead hens and grimy CAFOs. There are a few gasp-aloud moments, such as when chickens are beheaded (inexplicably, this hard-to-watch scene is on a small sustainable farm operation). But the beauty of this wonderful documentary lies in its restraint. Rather than beating up corporate culprits Smithfield, Cargill and others with the big stick of blood and guts, Food Inc. strolls confidently and methodically into our packaged food wonderland, armed with words, telling anecdotes and revelations of corruption and greed that make its case more compelling.

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May 22nd, 2009

From Green Right Now Reports:

As toxicologists see it, our chemical world is neither as dangerous as portrayed by the mainstream media and environmental groups, nor as safe as the American Chemistry Council and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) would have us believe.

That’s according to a survey of 937 members of the Society of Toxicology in early 2009. The survey, released Thursday, was administered by Harris Interactive and conducted by the nonprofit Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) and Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University.

“This survey suggests that the public doesn’t get a full and balanced picture of chemical risk,” said Dr. Robert Lichter, the survey director.

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January 31st, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Oh for the days when all we had to worry about was a little pesticide residue on our apples. This past week brought two reminders that what we don’t know is in our food can hurt us.

The peanut butter snack recalls continued flying off the conveyor belt, noteworthy for the sheer number of products potentially tainted with salmonella – more than 400 at last count. All that contamination from one little ole peanut processing plant in Georgia. Best to heed the advice of the Food and Drug Administration’s Dr. Stephen Sundlof, “If you don’t know the source of the food that contains peanuts, don’t eat it.” At the same time, the FDA has declared that “national name brand peanut butter” sold in jars at retail has not been contaminated.

We also learned last week that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), that controversial, cheap and ubiquitous sweetener might contain more than just the empty calories blamed for our flourishing flab. A study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) reported finding traces of mercury in 17 of 55 tested foods made with HFCS.

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