Estimates of the World’s population in the year 2050 range up to as high as 10 billion.  I think it will be less as the current trend towards lower population growth continues.  The world is a 6.8 billion now and growing.  This is an interesting site where you can see the growth in real time.  Whatever the real number as the years go by, how everyone will eat is a real problem.  Many of us in the developed world, and especially those that are not poor citizens of the developed countries, tend to lose sight of the reality of food issues for the majority of people.  For most people of the world, organic carrots, grass fed beef, or non-gmo soybeans are as foreign as the concept of “disposable income”.  Of course I am one of the lucky ones who can try my best to buy healthy, ethically produced, food.  I can buy local produce, shop in a food co-op, and generally afford to be an ethical consumer.  If you are also fortunate in that regard, you should be shopping ethically also.  But what about everyone else?  It is not a pretty picture.

As discouraging as it can be, I sometimes I have a hard time seeing how 8 billion people will eat without the practices of modern agribusiness, genetically modified crops, and the vast array of chemicals I often rage against.  The world’s population is mostly poor and those people are moving from the countryside, where they once grew their own food, to cities.  They need to eat and they have very little money.  In the world of science and agriculture there is not even a debate over what will be needed to feed the world beyond the gates of the privileged populations of the developed world.

What got me thinking and somewhat discouraged today was reading a couple of articles and press releases that came through my news reader this week.  Here is just one example. Tell me what you think please.  I really believe that we are doing right by spending our money on food that has been ethically produced, on food that is healthy and wholesome, and whenever possible, on food that is produced in our local communities.  Is that a naive concept?  I don’t think so.  We do our best and if only 10 percent of the world’s population will ever be able to afford this diet, at least it is 10 percent.  But right now even though 10 percent might be able to afford to eat ethically, perhaps 2 percent currently are doing it.  It is that other 8 percent we need to convince.

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Can The World Really Afford To Eat Ethically?

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Wordless Wednesday 3-10-2010

This week’s search is very strange: “where do you think people is going with“

I did the search myself and found this post.  There are a bunch of interesting comments on the post and sometimes it is a comment that brings in an odd search result.  I don’t see the logic in this one though.  Somehow Google did though!

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Sunday Search of the Week 3-07-2010

At first, I thought this was an bad, early, April Fool’s Day joke.  But, after reading several explanations, it seems to be a fact, our days are now shorter as a result of the recent huge earthquake in Chile.  Except for the unfortunate souls that perished in the quake, we will all live a bit longer than we would have as measured by time spent on earth.  Weird eh?  Here is a link to an article that explains it pretty well.

 I would not be too concerned with this though.  It falls into the same sort of category as the whole “the faster you go, the slower you age” thing.  You know, someone speeding down the freeway is aging slower that someone asleep in the sun at the beach.  Interesting in concept, but irrelevant to everyday life… my favorite sort of thinking!

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Did You Know? Quake Shortened Day Length

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Wordless Wednesday 3-03-2010

Recently several news stories got me wondering again why it is that so many problems get discussed, then forgotten, then discussed again, then ignored, and so on with nothing ever happening to address or fix the issue.  I think the two recent examples caught my attention because they were both things I have written about in the past.  By no means am I the only one that has raised these specific concerns so the people responsible for the recent stories have no excuse for acting like they were breaking news.  I suppose it could be looked at that any publicity is better than none, but at what point will we as a society stop talking and actually get something done?

The first example was a one hour program on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show that talked about how water will be in short supply in the future.  Now Diane Rehm is a great, one of the best actually, talk show hosts.  But sometimes I wonder if her producers research what has already been said and written about the topics they pick for their shows.  Often it seems like the host believes that their topic is being discussed for the first time.  At one point during the show on water shortages, Ms. Rehm asked the guest something along the lines of “will water be the next oil’?  Where have we heard that before?  Yes, there and in many other places as well.

The next example is less specific, but no less frustrating.  Several articles recently in large news outlets have talked about the problem of pharmaceuticals in much of the world’s drinking water.  Again, many of these addressed the issue like it was breaking news.  Now of course it isn’t, but I guess these writers need to feel they are on the cutting edge of their profession or something rather than pointing out themselves that they are raising old news and that it might be time to stop talking and start doing something.  There is no way that people taking medicine are going to stop using toilets so can it really be that hard to start filtering out these drugs from the water supply.  It could be done either or both at the waste treatment side and the drinking water purification side of the supply line.

I have always been a person who, (naively?), thinks that problems should just be identified and solved without the endless years of talk and do nothing grandstanding.  I probably would have been a terrible politician eh?  On the other hand maybe what we need is a Congress full of problem solvers… and a lot leaner on the preening peacocks!

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Water Wars and Pharmaceutical Waste – Again

This week’s search is another odd one. I have no idea what post the searcher landed on, but a Google search for the phrase turns up almost nothing. A search for just “Tuna Fruit” returns 29,000 results though. Anyway, this week’s search is:
“how to eat tuna fruit”

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Sunday Search of the Week 2-28-2010

I have written so many times about why all of you should stop using your plastic coated non-stick cooking pans. Here are just some of those articles. Of course the push back I get from this advice is that any health concerns about their use is overshadowed by the fact that the coated pans are just so much more convenient to use and easy to clean. I have mainly used stainless steel cookware over the years and with a little care and lower temperatures have never had any trouble cooking anything I want in them. Recently I purchased a set of ceramic pans to see how they compared to Teflon and I am very impressed. I purchased the 4 piece set on Woot for the unbelievable price of $70.00. This deal is long gone, probably never to be seen again, but they are also available on Amazon for a discounted price. SafePan 4 Piece Eco-Nonstick Cookware Set. One thing to keep in mind is that even though this is advertised as a “4″ piece set, the 4th piece is a lid that fits two of the pans. So the set consists of 3 pans and a lid.

We have used these pans every day for several weeks now and I can vouch for their quality. Nothing sticks to them. They conduct the heat from our gas stove burners like nothing I have used before. They are amazingly easy to clean. They flip your pancakes, omelets, and cheese sandwiches, without any effort on your part! (Well maybe this last part is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.) It is great to have an affordable alternative to plastic coated cookware. So far these pans seem like they will last at least 20 times longer than any Teflon pan you may own, so the higher cost is not a reason to resist buying these. I highly recommend them. So toss your old, cheap plastic pans and move on to ceramic fry and saute pans and stainless steel steamers and pots. This will be a good move for your health and the health of your family and guests.

An interesting side story I saw about these pans is that they are “bird safe”. It seems that if you have a bird in your kitchen, the off gassing from cooking on Teflon pans can kill your pet. Now that should tell you something about how safe plastic coated cookware is for you too!

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Safe Non-Stick Cookware

This week’s search is a funny one.  I have written a few times about why you should not be eating farmed salmon, but this is a reason I had never heard of.   I also wonder what “pool walking” is?  Anyone know?

“farmed salmon gives me gas while pool walking”

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

Sunday Search of the Week 2-21-2010

This winter in Southern Oregon has seen very little rain and snow, but lots of cold, foggy days.  Starting work with dense fog and temps from the mid 20’s to low 30’s has been a common occurrence.   Many days the fog never lifted.  This past week started the same way, plus I had a bad flu and a very sore back from a deep muscle spasm or something that occurred 8 days ago.  The end of the week has seen a big change though, with the weather being sunny, in the 60’s, daffodils starting to bloom, my flu subsiding, and my back feeling a bit better.  Hope springs eternal!

  According to the garden journal I keep every year, I am a bit behind on my greenhouse work this spring.  I have started some lettuce and spinach which as you can see from the photo has sprouted well.  Another couple of weeks and I will move them out under a row cover and the outdoor vegetable gardening season will have begun!  I need to get some early tomatoes and flowers started in the greenhouse so those will be ready to go out come mid April.

 I think the happiest creature of all come the start of the greenhouse season is our cat Cosmos.  Click the photo to see the big version and take in all her true beauty. She owns the greenhouse year-round, but really enjoys my company once I start working in there every spring.

Original Article From: Healthy Living For People And Planet Earth

From The Fog of Winter to The Sun of Spring