Posted by Caitlin Kenney, September 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
New York Daily News
It's exactly the kind of thing you would expect to see in a county fair contest—a giant 6-foot-long zucchini. But while some farmers spend months carefully cultivating their prize-winning fruits and vegetables, a Queens woman says fertilizer, water, and a little TLC is all it took for her to grow this giant vegetable (technically an immature fruit, in proper botanical terms) in her backyard.
At just over six feet, this zucchini is a foot taller than its owner Apollonia Castitlione, and it's just shy of the world record of a 7-foot, 10-inch zucchini grown in India three years ago, reports the New York Daily News.
Although this zucchini could be used in a lot of tasty dishes, Castitlione says it won't be on her dinner table anytime soon. She is going to save its potent seeds for next year.
Previously
Photo of the Day: Kids Playing with Giant Zucchini
Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off at Alaska State Fair
Posted by Caitlin Kenney, September 10, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Photograph from iLoveButter on Flickr
Organic agriculture is good for the earth, keeps soil healthy, fosters biodiversity, and recycles organic material without using any of those nasty synthetic chemicals. So if it's good for the earth, then it's good for us, right? Maybe, maybe not.
We know that conventional farming leaves nasty metals like arsenic, lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury and zinc behind, but could these same toxins exist in organic soil?
Yes, says Slate.
Scientists have known since the 1920s that organic fertilizers used by farmers to supplement conventional systems—composted animal manure, rock phosphates, fish emulsions, guano, wood ashes, etc.—further contaminate topsoil with varying concentrations of heavy metals. Organic advocates, who rely exclusively on these fertilizers, remain well aware of the problem today, although they rarely publicize the point.
The verdict is still out on whether organic soil is worse than soil treated with chemicals, but some studies have documented higher levels of metals in organically grown produce, and we know the effects these metals can have on our health: cardiovascular and neurological disorders as well as kidney and liver damage.
So, now we might risk our health by eating organic?
Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 12, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Slate Magazine says: Maybe. As much as companies like Monsanto and Syngenta might position themselves as the solution to the global food crisis, Slate claims that they would have to significantly change the way they operate first.
The article gives the GM industry some specific suggestions for policy change, such as no longer requiring poor farmers to buy new seeds every year, as well as increasing investment in nutritious, easy-to-grow crops like cassava, sorghum, millet, and chickpeas. Slate also urges GM companies to be more honest about the amount of time, energy, and technological development that will be necessary to achieve the kind of crop yields they're promising. Finally, the article proposes that GM companies adopt a more open attitude towards public concerns, whether that means supporting studies on long-term health effects of GM crops or allowing food companies to market food as "GM free."
Related
GMOs Slipping Through the Cracks
To GMO, or Not to GMO?
Posted by Sarah Wolf, July 1, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Bee rental costs may be to blame for the price of produce these days. Since honeybees started mysteriously disappearing, growers of products like pumpkins, cucumbers, and almonds have been forced to rent bees by the colony in order to pollinate their crops. Most crops require one to two beehives per acre, and each hive now costs somewhere between $10 and $180, depending on the season and the grower's intended use for the bees—a burden which is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher food prices. Not only is this a significant cost, but with scientists still perplexed as to the cause of the bee blight, there's no readily apparent solution to the problem of higher bee fees. At least the House Committee on Agriculture met on Thursday to discuss the issue—a small comfort, but it's a start.
Related:
Save Bees, Eat Ice Cream
Scientists Buzzing About Honeybee Deaths
Japan's per capita consumption of rice—the symbolic staple of the Japanese diet—has dropped to half its 1960 level as bread, pasta, and other wheat-based goods have grown in popularity. Farmers and retailers find new ways to sustain its popularity—by offering designer rices, incorporating rice flour into baked goods, and marketing Japanese rice to other countries.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 24, 2007 at 2:00 PM
In what's essentially a rehash of a story from late February, the New York Times is reporting that honeybees are vanishing. What's new is that about 60 scientists met yesterday to figure out why. "So far, known enemies of the bee world, like the varroa mite, on their own at least, do not appear to be responsible for the unusually high losses."
Researchers have turned to bee autopsies and genetic testing to unlock the mystery and have found the "unusual" presence of fungi also found in humans suffering from AIDS or cancer.
The insects' disappearance has much to do with our food supply: "They are the principal pollinators of hundreds of fruits, vegetables, flowers and nuts."
Photograph from ndrwfgg on Flickr
Posted by Lia Bulaong, February 27, 2007 at 10:46 AM
An alarming number of bees are inexplicably going missing across the USA, and if you're tempted to make an alien abduction joke, first consider how important they are to the food supply: "A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation."
A 20% loss of bees in the offseason is normal, but West Coast beekeepers have been losing 30 to 60%, and beekeepers on the East Coast and Texas more than 70%. Is it the cold weather? Mites? Viruses? What's going on with the honeybees?
