EarthFix Snippets

A bunch of folks at the recent TedX event at Concordia University shared their stories of change with EarthFix and OPB. Here are a few who shared some of their work making environmental change.

Do you want to share your story? If you’ve got a SoundCloud account, you can join our group EarthFix Community.

A student science fair project goes legit! She found out fruit flies are healthier when they eat organic.

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.

Three years later, Ria’s exploration of fruit flies and organic foods has not only raised some provocative questions about the health benefits of organic eating, it has also earned the 16-year-old top honors in a national science competition, publication in a respected scientific journal and university laboratory privileges normally reserved for graduate students.

The research, titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster,” tracked the effects of organic and conventional diets on the health of fruit flies. By nearly every measure, including fertility, stress resistance and longevity, flies that fed on organic bananas and potatoes fared better than those who dined on conventionally raised produce.

Whole Foods is doing the right thing for consumers by giving them more information about what is in their food. We urge other business leaders to work with us to give every American the same right as consumers in 62 other countries. More than 90% of Americans want the right to know whether their food contains genetically engineered ingredients so that they can make the best choices for their families.

Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield Farm and board chair of Organic Voices on Whole Foods announcement that they will start labeling GMO foods.

Buying Local and Organic? You're Still Eating Plastic Chemicals →

Colorado Communities Take On Fight Against Energy Land Leases →

The above is from The New York Times. Here’s Denver Post’s take on the battle over energy leases.

If you look at the situation without prejudice, much of the debate, both in terms of anti-biotech and organic, is simply based on the naturalistic fallacy – the belief that natural is good, and artificial is bad. This is a fallacy because there are plenty of entirely natural poisons and ways to die, as the relatives of those who died from E.-coli poisoning would tell you.

Environmentalist, formerly of EarthFirst, Mark Lynas changes his position on GMOs and other sciency stuff. Via The New Yorker.

Sierra Club’s Mr. Green says organic wins over local. What do you think?

On the Sierra Club’s blog, Ask Mr. Green he tackles a reader’s question about local vs. organic. He notes the advantage of being able to talk directly to local farmers, but leans towards organics as a better overall choice. Would love to hear other thoughts. This on the heels of recent debate about whether or not organics are healthier.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there is nothing safe about the chemicals used in organic agriculture. Period. This shouldn’t be that shocking – after all, a pesticide is a pesticide.

Christie Wilcox writes a thought-provoking blog post in Scientific American about the safety and health of organics vs. non-organic food.

Unlike the back-to-the-landers of the 1970s, my generation wants the organic, natural pleasures of rural life without sacrificing the culture and convenience of urban life. In other words, we may hawk our garden produce at a farmer’s market but we are not about to give up good coffee or The New York Times…. Unlike the ’70s crowd, we have no intention of ‘dropping out.

Kristy Athens, author of Get Your Pitchfork On! The Real Dirt On Country Living, speaking to OPB.