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Despite environmentalists’ worries, cattle don’t guzzle water or cause hunger—and can help fight climate change People who advocate eating less beef often argue that producing it hurts the environment. Cattle, we are told, have an outsize ecological footprint: They guzzle water, trample plants and soils, and consume precious grains that should be nourishing hungry humans. Lately, critics have blamed bovine burps, flatulence and even breath for climate change. As a longtime vegetarian and environmental lawyer, I once bought into these claims. But now, after more than a decade of living and working in the business—my husband, Bill, founded Niman Ranch...

Dodge City — Earlier this month, more than a hundred thousand South Koreans demonstrated against newly elected president Lee Myung-bak as his entire cabinet offered to resign. At the root of this massive protest was not a declaration of war against North Korea, a boycott of the Chinese summer Olympics, or even escalating oil prices. It was a treaty allowing U.S. beef imports. Beef production accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. Its insatiable demand for feed grains has raised world food prices to levels beyond the reach of the world’s hungry and the relief agencies that support them....

As the human population continues to multiply -- and our biological footprint on the planet becomes larger -- so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock, says the New York Times. For example, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: At present, there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats in the world. Global livestock grazing and feed production use 30 percent of the land surface of the planet. Livestock -- which consume more food than they yield -- also compete...

Who's Hungry? We're hungry... Seahawk... It's what's for dinner. posted by Goose at 11:34 AM  

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 - The FDA said this week that eating tomatoes and tomato sauce may reduce the risk of prostate cancer and food companies can make that claim in ads and on product labels if they wish. According to the FDA, the cancer-protection bottom line is maybe for tomatoes and tomato sauce with prostate cancer and probably not for pancreatic, ovarian, and gastric cancer. That said, the FDA this week said food companies can claim cancer-fighting benefits for tomatoes and tomato sauce in ads and on labels. On the other hand, the agency ruled that companies selling the tomato-based...

NORFOLK, Va.,, July 12 (Reuters) - With a cat snoozing on her desk and clad in a rumpled "Love Animals" T-shirt, Ingrid Newkirk hardly looks like a woman who could make corporate titans tremble. As the founder and the passionate force behind People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Newkirk says her organization is made up simply of "kind people" who want only to end animal abuse and exploitation. But try telling that to the corporate retail and food giants who have seen -- and felt -- PETA's claws. Using tactics that sometime make even avid animal lovers squirm, and...

This week the nation is collectively preparing to overdose for the Superbowl. We will consume more than 30 million pounds of snacks during the game. From past estimates this includes 8.5 million pounds of nachos, 11.3 M of potato chips, 4.3 M of pretzels, 3.8 M of popcorn and 2.7 M pounds of nuts. We've written recently about the heart health benefits of dark berries and dark beer (See Archives) but now comes the coux de gras. High quality dark chocolate has health benefits. According to the savory Aphrodite Handmade English Luxury Chocolates web site, Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor, noted...

The last few months I've seen an increasing trend for FReepers to start going for each others jugular. Sometimes we forget (I've certainly done it myself) that in the grand scheme of things, we are on the same team. We may disagree on priorities or how far we are willing to go, but we have enough enemy in the left without creating more amongst ourselves. We can disagree but be civil to each other. We can debate nuance, but not believe that our personal positions are more important than the health of the whole. Let's argue vigorously but remind ourselves...

SAVANNAH, Ga., June 8 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, showing he himself had no qualms about U.S. beef -- banned in Japan due to concerns over mad cow disease -- ate beef tenderloin when he lunched with President George W. Bush on Tuesday. "The beef was delicious. And the prime minister ate it too," said a senior Japanese official who accompanied Koizumi to the lunch at the Georgia resort of Sea Island ahead of the Group of Eight nations summit. Tokyo, who was the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. beef, imposed a ban on U.S. beef imports after...

What do we offer the world? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 19, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern "So, how do we advance the cause of female emancipation in the Muslim world?" asks Richard Perle in "An End to Evil." He replies, "We need to remind the women of Islam ceaselessly: Our enemies are the same as theirs; our victory will be theirs as well." Well, the neoconservative cause "of female emancipation in the Muslim world" was probably set back a bit by the photo shoot of Pfc. Lynndie England and the "Girls Gone Wild" of Abu Ghraib prison. Indeed, the filmed orgies among...

A California author and filmmaker who became famous for trekking to Alaska's remote Katmai coast to commune with brown bears has fallen victim to the teeth and claws of the wild animals he loved. ...The fearless former drug addict from Malibu, Calif. -- who routinely eased up close to bears to chant "I love you'' in a high-pitched, sing-song voice --