Spirulina was a staple food for me growing up. My mom gave it to me for an energy boost before soccer games, especially. So, it’s sort of a normal condiment for me. But, for most, it is still a rather foreign and mysterious food. This hit me recently when a friend mentioned it and was having trouble figuring out how to eat it. So, I thought I’d write up a quick post on ways I like to eat it.
Monsanto Lobbyist at FDA Needs to Go — Tell Obama
One of the sad things about U.S. government today is the revolving door between industry and politics. Politics is for industry these days, not for the people. One “revolving door poster child” is Michael Taylor. Taylor was a Monsanto attorney and chief super lobbyist and (re)joined the FDA in July 2009. He was eventually named the Deputy Commissioner of Food. Conflict of interest?
Boston Bike-Sharing Program is Rockin’ It
D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare bike-sharing program has been a great success (despite its rather small size). Paris’ Velib bike-sharing program rocked the world with its tremendous, unprecedented success. Barcelona’s Bicing program was much more successful than originally anticipated. And so on and so on. Now, it’s being reported that Boston’s new bike-sharing program is a great success, even much more successful than originally anticipated.
Millions Against Monsanto (Take Action)
The Organic Consumers Association has a kick-a** campaign going on, Millions Against Monsanto. It is trying to get as many people as possible to campaign in the streets on October 16, 2011 for mandatory labeling of GM food and is looking to get 1 million to sign a petition pushing for this.
Shareable Future of Cities (Alex Steffen TED Video)
As a city planner by education, I’m a big fan of Alex Steffen, since he talks all about reworking cities (especially U.S. cities) to be more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly, more efficient, more enjoyable. But this TED video of Steffen shared with me by Eat Drink Better and Feelgood Style director Becky Striepe talking about the place of sharing in greening our cities is beyond the typical talking points and is quite interesting. I highly recommend checking it out:
Corn Rootworm Now Resistant to Monsanto’s Genetically Modified Corn
As Ken Roseboro wrote earlier today, Monsanto GM sweet corn is about to be much more ubiquitous in the U.S. Interestingly, this announcement comes at about the same time as the release of a new study out of Iowa State University showing that some organisms that are supposed to be repelled by this GM corn are becoming resistant to it (and passing on that resistance to their offspring).
Crop Species Loss Over Last 100 Years (Tremendous)
I ran across the graphic below on my sister’s tumblr blog this weekend and, though I already knew crop species loss was pretty dramatic, found it to be pretty shocking.
“Bones” Star Emily Deschanel is Walk for Farm Animals’ New National Spokesperson (VIDEO)
I love Farm Sanctuary. It’s making the world a livable place for countless farm animals around the United States and Canada, and extending their lifespans as well.
Crowdfunded Sustainable Start-Ups on the Rise
I received an interesting email a couple weeks ago on a topic I’m not that familiar with but follow a bit — crowdfunding of green projects and start-ups. As the writer pointed out, “the market for sustainable and locally sourced products and startups is continuing to grow, but at the same time, our current economy is making it harder than ever to raise the capitol necessary to get off the ground.”
Shocking Ocean & Ocean Animal Facts
This awesome infographic below, created by a Reusable Shopping Bags, is sure to present you with a handful of shocking ocean facts. In fact, I’ve never seen an infographic with so many amazing facts I wasn’t previously aware of. From the facts about marine animals to those about the ocean as a whole to those about oil and pollution in the ocean, there’s a lot of both fascinating and disturbing stuff here. It doesn’t discuss the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patches, but I guess that’s old news now….