The Think Eat Save Student Challenge

Sensitizing children to the ecological impacts of food waste is important and the Think.Eat.Save Student Challenge is a great example of an powerful educational project. Vast quantities of food are wasted each year and this phenomenon is sadly a part of many western cultures. To help reorient children to this issue, UNEP has launched a new campaign that calls schools and students to start a wasteless revolution.

The campaign challenges students and to find out how much food gets wasted in their schools. Then students are encouraged to organize a project and take action to reduce or eliminate food waste.

Each student is asked to think of the food items that they discard. Then they are asked to multiply these items by the number of students in their school, and the number of schools worldwide. Students are also asked to assess how much food is wasted in their cafeterias and then take action to reduce waste.

The goal is to reduce food waste by sensitizing children to the fact that when they throw away food they are wasting money and the earth’s precious resources.

Students are encouraged to raise awareness among classmates and teachers at their school as well as friends, and families outside of school. Social media also factors prominently in the initiative as students are encouraged to spread the word through their digital networks using the hashtag #ThinkEatSave!

In addition to doing something positive for the sustainability of our planet, winning schools will be awarded cash prizes to further support the initiative. Winners will also gain online exposure.

For more information click here.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Make sure to see the article titled, "Comprehensive Green School Information and Resources." It contains links to over 200 articles covering everything you need to know about sustainable academics, student's eco-initiatives, green school buildings, and college rankings as well as a wide range of related information and resources.

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© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Event - Creating a GMO-Free Holiday

Creating a GMO-Free Holiday will take place on December 19, 2013, from 6:30 pm - 8 pm at Collingswood Library, 771 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood, New Jersey. GMO Free NJ meets to explore ways to avoid the genetically modified organisms that are in our food supply.

From 7-8, they will discuss creating a GMO free holiday, the latest on GMO labeling legislation and other projects.
From 6:30-7, we will have a holiday cookie exchange. Participation in the cookie swap is optional--bring a batch of your favorite non-GMO cookies to share (along with an ingredients list) and leave with a variety pack!

There will be plenty of time to mix and mingle. Free and open to the public.

To learn more click here, to RSVP write to GMOfreeNJ@gmail.com.

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Video - Sustainable Meat: Trailer from the Documentary "American Meat"

American Meat, is a feature documentary about a grass-roots revolution in sustainable farming. This film explains how America arrived at its current industrial system, and shows you the feedlots and confinement houses, not through hidden cameras but through the eyes of the farmers who live and work there. The story shifts to the burgeoning movement of farmers, chefs and everyday folks.

"The film makes a powerfully persuasive case for the benefits of small, grass-based organic farms and local sourcing…. it presents its arguments forcefully but without strident didacticism." – Fred Scheck, the Hollywood Reporter

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Event and Seminar - GMO Labeling at the Natural Products Expo and All Things Organic

The event and seminar GMO Labeling at the Natural Products Expo and All Things Organic takes place on Friday, September 27, 2013, 10:00 - 11:00 am EDT at the Baltimore Convention Center, Room 319. Washington State's I-522, the Federal Just Label It effort and Lessons Learned from California's Prop. 37 GMO labeling advocates are rallying to support Yes on 522, the People's Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, in Washington State.

Washington's I-522 is the only GMO labeling bill heading to voters this fall, and is a critical front in the battle to label genetically engineered foods. Learn how I-522 can withstand opposition from big biotech and the junk food industry, which considers the I-522 GMO labeling bill a serious threat and has already raised more than $11 million to defeat it. Also, hear from leaders about lessons learned from California’s Prop. 37 and what’s happening on a federal level to require labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Speakers 

* Elizabeth Kucinich, Director of Policy, Center for Food Safety; Executive Producer of the documentary film GMO OMG
* Delana Jones, Campaign Manager, Washington State Yes on 522 Campaign
* Scott Faber, Executive Director, Just Label It; VP of Government Affairs, Environmental Working Group * David Bronner, CEO, Dr. Bronner’s; Finance Chair, Yes on 522 Moderator
* Steven Hoffman, Director, Compass Natural; Finance Committee, Yes on 522; Former Organic Industry Fundraising & Outreach Director, Prop. 37

For more information and to contribute to the Yes on 522 Campaign to label GMO foods, contact Steve Hoffman, steve@compassnatural.com, tel 303.807.1042.

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Event - Second Annual Bionutritional Summit

The second annual bionutritional summit will be held on October 23, 2013 at Seelbach Hilton located near the GIE & EXPO in Louisville, Ky. The Summit will be hosted and sponsored by Holganix.

This year’s keynote speaker is Judith Guido, former sales, marketing and strategy executive of Service Master’s TruGreen Landcare. She will focus on how to leverage the green phenomenon and make a profit from it. Guido’s presentation is entitled, Leveraging the Green Phenomenon & Building a Profitable Green Company.

Highlights include, Understanding the size and opportunities with the green market, how to leverage the green opportunities within your market, creating differentiation and a competitive advantage with green and how to build and position an profitable green company.

Attendees will have time to select two out of the five options listed below. RSVP with Nicole Wise at Nwise@holganix.com.

• The Science Behind Holganix by Holganix scientist and inventor Stephen T. Lange
• Marketing with Bionutrition by marketing specialist Brian Bacigalupo from Real Green Systems and Holganix Head of Marketing Nicole Wise.
• Bionutritional Tree and Shrub Program with tree specialist Elliot H. Schaffer.
• Equipment 101 with Holganix VP and COO Dave Thompson, along with representatives from Gregson Clark and LT Rich.
• User Panel comprised of several Bionutritional Summit users with discussions led by Holganix CEO Barrett

For more information or to register click here.

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Video - The Passage of the "Monsanto Protection Act"

A new law protects GMO companies from liability and takes away American's right to know what is on their plates. Congress approved and President Obama signed a bill that gives Monsanto and other GMO companies immunity from liability against the deleterious effects of the foods that they provide. The Protect Interstate Commerce Act (PICA), is an amendment inserted into the 2013 Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives' Agriculture Committee. It revokes the ability of individual states' lawmakers to pass GMO-labeling laws.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. Steve King, a California Republican, protects companies that make genetically modified and genetically engineered seeds, which grow into GMO crops and find their way into an estimated 70 percent of processed foods in American grocery stores.

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Video - International Day Of Protest Against Monsanto & GMO Foods MAY 25, 2013

An international protest is planned for May 25, 2013 against biotechnology company Monsanto in more than 250 cities in six continents and demonstrations are planned in tens of countries. Monsanto, a titan of the emerging biotech industry, has come under attack from environmentalists, agriculturalists and average consumers over the company's conduct in the realm of genetically-modified organisms and genetically-engineered foods. Monsanto has lobbied hard in Washington and around the globe to be able to continue manufacturing lab-made foods without the oversight that many have demanded. This protest comes in the wake of the passage of the "Monsanto protection act" that will protect GMO companies from assuming any liability.

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Insects are a Sustainable Food Source

As the impacts of climate change worsen, extreme weather including drought will make it harder to grow enough food to feed the world. In addition, rising population levels, particularly in urban centers, will put added pressure on already constrained food resources.

By 2030, over 9 billion people will need to be fed, along with the billions of animals raised annually for food and as pets. Meanwhile, land and water pollution from intensive livestock production and over-grazing are leading to forest degradation, thereby contributing to climate change.

A new book released today by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says insects like beetles, wasps and caterpillars are an important potential source of nutrition that can help address global food insecurity.

The book, Edible Insects: future prospects for food and feed security, stresses not just the nutritional value of insects, but also the benefits that insect farming could potentially have on the environment and on addressing the rapidly increasing demand for food worldwide.

There are numerous health benefits associated with insects as a food source. Insects are high in protein, fat and mineral contents. They can be eaten whole or ground into a powder or paste, and incorporated into other foods. Insects already supplement the diets of some 2 billion people and have always been part of human diets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In cities such as Bangkok and Kinshasa, and there is high demand for insects from urban consumers.

Of the 1 million known insect species, 1900 are consumed by humans. Some of the most consumed insects include beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets.

One of the offshoots of this initiative could be insect farming. Another benefit of insect farming is that their greenhouse gas profile is much lower than that of livestock. (eg pigs produce 10-100 times more greenhouse gases per kilogram than mealworms). Insects also feed on bio-waste, use significantly less water than livestock, and can be farmed more easily.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Climate Change and Biofuels on World Food Day 2012

October 16 is a special day for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Each year at this time food becomes the center of attention and this year agricultural cooperatives are the focus of World Food Day 2012. The day is intended to raise awareness and understanding of approaches to ending hunger. The 2012 theme was chosen to highlight the role of cooperatives in improving food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger. Interest in cooperatives and rural organizations is also reflected in the decision of the UN General Assembly to designate 2012 “International Year of Cooperatives.”

Two major issues that directly impact World Food Day are climate change and biofuels. In 2012 climate change induced extreme weather has wreaked havoc on world food prices and threatens to increase global hunger. The use of agricultural lands for Biofuels have also increased the likelihood of global hunger. In the US, 40 percent of maize yields are converted to ethanol to power vehicles. The UN estimates that 1 in 8 people on the planet are now living in chronic hunger conditions.

Grain reserves around the world are dangerously low and key agricultural foods are forecasted to fall dangerously low in 2013 due to devastating droughts that have hit the US, Russia, the Black Sea region and Australia. Conversely excessive rain has destroyed wheat, maize and apple crops in parts of northern Europe.

The inadequacy of agricultural yields is partly attributable to large scale chemical-dependent farming. There is evidence to support the contention that ecological farming methods are more effective than the methods employed by corporate agriculture.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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