September 15, 2012 • 231 notes • motherjones
motherjones: No, Dudes, Organic Food Is Still Good for You:Five Ways the Stanford Study Sells Organics Short Is organic food little more than a trumped-up marketing scheme, another way for affluent consumers to waste money? A just-released paper by Stanford researchers—and the reaction to it by the media—suggests as much. Here are a few reasons that shallow analysis doesn’t hold up. (photo via)

motherjones:

No, Dudes, Organic Food Is Still Good for You:
Five Ways the Stanford Study Sells Organics Short

Is organic food little more than a trumped-up marketing scheme, another way for affluent consumers to waste money? A just-released paper by Stanford researchers—and the reaction to it by the media—suggests as much. Here are a few reasons that shallow analysis doesn’t hold up.

(photo via)

July 29, 2012 • 18 notes

UCF Trustees consider an Organic food store on campus.

seenatucf:

life-one—step-at-a—time:

Wow!  Even if this is just an idea to help them offset the budget cuts, this would be cool!  I could grab a few staples without having to ask for a ride somewhere else :)

EDIT - The vote went through!  We’ll definitely be seeing an organic food store on campus sometime soon :)

June 28, 2012 • 4,278 notes • berryhealthy

haydenrodgers:

Good to know!

February 4, 2012 • 491 notes • vimeo.com

poptech:

vimeo:

Meet Mr. Toilet | Jessica Yu by Focus Forward Films

For those without access to a simple toilet, poop can be poison. Businessman-turned-sanitation-superhero Jack Sim fights this oft-neglected crisis affecting 2.6 billion people.

Inevitably, 2010 Social Innovation Fellow Ryan Smith opened his presentation with a poop joke.

“It was irresistible,” he said of the “Poop!Tech” logo on the screen behind him. Natch. Smith, after all, is co-founder and chief technical officer of Micromidas, Inc., a biotech company that uses an innovative microbial process to convert raw sewage into high quality disposable plastics.

The plastics made by Micromidas’ sewage-eating bacteria are completely bio-degradable and the implications of the technology are obvious. A non-petroleum plastic made from organic waste that completely degrades in six months to a year? What’s not to love?

October 1, 2011 • 345 notes • jtotheizzoe

Organic farms shown to be more productive than conventional farms

The more you know!

jtotheizzoe:

A 30-year study by the Rodale Institute (disclaimer: It’s an organic research institute) found that the return per acre of organic farms was almost three times that of conventional farms, and yields were higher for organic crops in drought years.

Part of the gain comes from the premium prices paid for organic goods, but there’s still very meaningful advantages to farming organic:

  • Organic farms used 45% less energy than conventional
  • Production efficiency was 28% higher for organics
  • Soil health increased over time in organic farming systems, as opposed to worsening or remaining constant for conventional
  • Organic farms had less water run-off and recharged groundwater reservoirs
  • Organic farms were shown to create more rural jobs than conventional

If these organic methods can be expanded to developing nations, the UN thinks that food production worldwide could double in 10 years.