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Food & Water Watch is asking for a comprehensive and transparent plan to monitor and test for radiation.
Let’s start with the bottom line: the National Academy of Sciences says that exposure to even low levels of radiation can be harmful. They originally shared this finding in a report published back in 2006. This is critical information to consider since we all have legitimate reasons to be concerned with the current situation regarding Japan’s nuclear reactors.
News has spread quickly that evidence of radiation is turning up in several states in the United States. But rather than explain how they will protect people from potential exposures, our government is simply telling us that the levels of radiation are minor and that we shouldn’t worry about it. Did they read the NAS report? Read the full article…
Over the last decade, the sustainable food movement has brought much needed attention to U.S. agricultural policy and how it influences which foods Americans grow, buy, and consume. From chefs and policy wonks to teachers and bloggers, everyone interested in food has an opinion on subsidies and how to craft the 2012 Farm Bill. One of the most common focuses is moving subsidies away from commodities like corn and soy, which are used to make junk food and factory farmed meat, to fruit and vegetable production. This simple fix misses the bigger picture—the consolidation and the inability of diversified farms to compete in our industrialized food system. Read the full article…
A Kona Blue Water Farms boat heads out to sea with a few pieces of "fishing" gear.
Kona’s goin’ fishin’, but it seems to have lost both of its fishin’ poles! Kona Blue Waters Farms, the company that is waiting on a “fishing” permit for its fish farm operation off the coast of Hawaii, has officially reported to NOAA that both of its cages broke free while they were being towed behind a boat. That was really fast. NOAA hasn’t yet green-lighted Kona’s controversial fish farm experiment, but Kona has already lost their cages faster than you can say, “that’s not fishing.” The good news is that the cages were empty, so no fish escaped and there isn’t a risk of spreading the diseases that are typically associated with fish farms. But will this incident be enough of a red flag for NOAA to proceed with necessary caution on such projects? Considering the fact that there will be little opportunity for the public to comment on whether or not Kona should be allowed to set up a fish farm in federal waters, is it possible that this is nature’s public comment? More importantly, will Kona be fined for littering? Read the full article…
The federal government suddenly considers factory fish farms like this one worthy of a "fishing" permit.
In the classic song Fishin’ Blues, roots and blues legend Taj Mahal romanticizes the simplicity of going down to his favorite fishing hole to partake in one of our oldest traditions. He sings, “Many fish bite if you’ve got good bait. Here’s a little tip that I would like to relate. With my pole and my line, I’m a-goin’ fishin’, yes I’m goin’ fishin’, and my baby’s goin’ fishin’ too.” Apparently, even if you want to bring along a few giant round fish cages and set them up off the coast of Hawaii, soon you can go fishin’ too. According to our federal government – fish farming is the same as fishing.
There are some in the seafood industry who want to expand factory fish farming into open ocean waters, similar to the industrial factory farms we already have on land. Open ocean aquaculture (factory fish farming) has a lot of companies seeing dollar signs, but there are lots of reasons why it’s a bad idea. Unfortunately, this bad idea is taking another step in the wrong direction thanks to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – the agency tasked with conserving and managing our ocean’s natural resources. Read the full article…
The Coalition of Organizations for the Right to Water and the Urban Popular Movement partcipated in a rally for World Water Day in Mexico City.
We asked our colleague, Claudia Campero, to tell us about a World Water Day event she attended yesterday in Mexico City…
On World Water Day, the Coalition of Organizations for the Right to Water and the Urban Popular Movement met at the Tlaloc sculpture outside the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. Tlaloc was the god of the rain for the Aztecs, an appropriate symbol for our mission, and one that is still important today. Read the full article…
If you and your family were hit with tough economic times, what do you think you would do to adjust? If your family is like most, you might reassess your financial priorities, ensuring that you can continue to meet critical needs. Among those needs, you would probably place things associated with health, food and safety toward the top of your list and go out of your way to make sure you could continue to meet needs in this area.
The Take Back the Tap Curriculum is designed to teach kids about the importance of protecting our most essential public resource: water.
A great way to prepare to face the challenges of the future is to invest today in the knowledge of tomorrow’s leaders. Thus, on this World Water Day, Food & Water Watch is happy to launch a special initiative developed to teach the next generation about how to protect our water resources. The Take Back the Tap Curriculum is designed to educate young students about the critical importance of defending water as a public resource and to demonstrate the negative impact of bottled water on the environment and the community. Read the full article…
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water and 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year.
Many of us typically take clean water for granted, especially those of us who merely need to turn a handle for instant access to it. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people do not have access to water that is safe for drinking, bathing or cleaning, and 2.3 billion are exposed to water-borne diseases. Sadly, most deaths that occur from lack of clean water are children.
While the demand for water has increased tremendously due to population booms, the world supply is diminishing. Of the fresh water to which we have access, 70 percent is used for agriculture, 22 percent is used in industry and eight percent is used for domestic purposes. Water activists around the world have been fighting to establish water as a human right. Every day, coalition partners unite to fight against water privatization and to protect water as a public and affordable resource.
Today, millions of people around the world will participate in World Water Day. On this day of international recognition, Food & Water Watch board member Maude Barlow asks the question, “Do we need a new relationship with water?” Read her Inter Press Service (IPS) interview on the importance of World Water Day and help us by promoting the recognition of the international human right to water.
A hauling company was recently charged in Pennsylvania with dumping wastewater from fracking into waterways and mine shafts.
You can always count on the natural gas industry to tell you how careful they plan to be with the dangerous chemicals associated with fracking. You can also count on federal legislators to believe that putting regulations in place will be enough to protect the environment and the public from fracking chemicals. Yet, here we are, looking at a newspaper article that proves that careful is never enough. Pennsylvania prosecutors have charged a man for dumping fracking wastewater and sludge into various locations throughout six counties from 2003 to 2009. Robert Allan Shipman of Allan Waste Water Service, Inc., seems to have provided an answer to the question: What happens to the fracking fluid after it’s no longer needed. Read the full article…
Net pens, used for factory fish farming, are destructive to the marine environment. Even if you change their shape and keep them underwater, they are still destructive to the marine environment.
Coke’s Dasani brand has introduced a new kind of plastic bottle, 30 percent of which is made from plant-based materials. (Please explore this phenomenon further via Jennifer Grayson’s blog at The Red, White and Green.) The ad declares that the bottle is made with “100 percent recyclability.” This, of course, refers to the idea of consumers placing their empty water bottles into a recycling bin to be reconstituted for further use at a later time. But, if only 25 percent of plastic bottles actually reach the recycling bin, does 100 percent recyclability have much meaning? I think it does — it’s meaning is to distract consumers from how damaging the product is to the environment, especially since the remaining 75 percent of plastic bottles end up in landfills.
Seeing an ad with a vibrant green plant blooming into a plastic bottle from the heart of its lovely pedals is enough to convince many consumers that a product is eco-friendly, but it’s merely a distraction. It’s up to us to know that the product within that fancy, useless bottle is actually something that already belongs to us, regardless of what kind of bottle is used to contain it. Plant bottle or plastic bottle, buying bottled water is destructive and not at all necessary. Read the full article…
