Some food for thought on Earth Day
(photo by Neil Wilkinson)
Here’s a quick round-up of five of the most fascinating food issue articles I’ve read lately:
Our personal actions to halt climate change can sometimes seem depressingly insignificant, says Michael Pollan in the New York Times. But the best way to start is to grow some–even just a little–of your own food. (registration required)
Genetically modified crops are not the solutions to world hunger that Monsanto claims they are, says The Independent. In fact, a major study has found that GM soyabeans produce 10% less food than their non-GM counterparts.
George Monbiot, writing in the Guardian, says never mind the credit crunch–the real crisis is global hunger. And if you care about it, eat less meat.
Forget carbon: you should be checking your water footprint, says Amol Rajan in The Independent. A new Dutch web site, waterfootprint.org, can help you work out how much water is used to grow, manufacture, and transport common foods and products.
Japan is a market pioneer again–it’s the first industrialised nation to run out of butter. This surprising shortage proves that even wealthy countries are not immune from the issues of self-sufficiency and food security, says Leo Lewis in the Times of London.
