Water Rights March in Detroit
On Friday, July 18, thousands of people marched through downtown Detroit to call attention to a major public health crisis as the city shuts off the water for residents who are behind on their bills.
Health
Feeding Hawai'i, a Special Report
For Chris Kobayashi and her husband, Dimi Rivera, it all started with Japanese cucumbers. "In 1997 we said, 'OK, let's grow Japanese cucumbers, but let's grow it organically,'" Kobayashi tells me as we walk around her farm in Hanalei Bay on Kaua'i's North Shore. "You know, because they are crispy, crunchy, and yummy and you can eat the skin and everything."
NPR's "The Salt" Blog Muddies the Issue of Sewage Sludge
In a muddled attack on the Center for Media and Democracy and those who are concerned about produce grown in sewage sludge, "The Salt," parroted sewage sludge industry PR and misled readers.
Over 300,000 West Virginians Face Tap Water Ban After Coal Mining Chemical Spill
West Virginia residents in eight counties and part of a ninth were told Thursday evening not to drink, cook with or wash with water supplied by West Virginia American Water after a leak earlier in the day at a chemical facility along the Elk River.
FDA Finally Moves to Regulate Proliferating Antibacterial Soaps
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told manufacturers of antibacterial soaps and body washes to demonstrate that they are both safe and effective within the next year.
ALEC's "Nuclear Option" to Kill the Affordable Care Act
ALEC is pushing a new "Obamacare kill bill" based on a thin legal argument, and even some ALEC legislators are calling it "the nuclear option."
Outsourcing America: Sodexo Food Service Contractor Siphons Cash from Kids and Soldiers while Dishing Up Subprime Food
-- by Rebekah Wilce and Mary Bottari
Since the 2008 financial crisis, cash strapped states have accelerated the outsourcing of America in hopes of delivering the same services more cheaply. "Desperate government is our best customer," said one executive specializing in infrastructure purchases.
USDA's Reckless Plan to Privatize Food Safety
My friend Jim, a farmer, jokes about bringing a bowl of manure and a spoon to the farmers' markets where he sells his beef. "My beef has no manure in it, but you can add some," he'd like to tell his customers.
I'm sure you'd pass on manure as a condiment. But unless you're a vegetarian or you slaughter your own meat, you may have eaten it. And if the USDA moves forward with its plan to make a pilot program for meat inspection more widespread, this problem can only get worse.
"Pandora's Lunchbox" -- Ingredients in Processed Food Products May Surprise You
"The vitamin D in your milk ... is almost surely a derivative -- after many chemical stages -- from lanolin from Australian sheep wool, concocted in a factory in China. ... Vitamin A, is often synthesized from acetone, a principal ingredient in nail polish remover," notes George Kenney based on his interview with Melanie Warner, a former writer for the New York Times.
The Tiniest New Technology Poses Unanswered Safety Questions
You might use nanotechnology in the sunscreens you squirt or lather on your kids. You might lick your lips and taste it in your favorite lip-gloss. You might even eat it in your Jell-O pudding. But is it safe?
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