Copenhagen – a missed opportunity or a turning point?
Now the dust has settled after the "chaotic" COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen last week, the blame game is in full swing with British and Americans accusing China of vetoing an agreement on emissions, and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez deriding the West stating if climate was a bank "they would have saved it." But given that…
Motiviation to give up meat? (and save the planet, maybe)
My colleagues and I have blogged about how eating less meat could reduce one's carbon footprint. But how to motivate people to do this is a problem – people like meat. Here is a reason for men to consider giving up meat – I stumbled over it while searching on Nutrition and Food Sciences Database.…
Can music feed our love of food?
Many people like a little music while they dine, but does music have the potential to improve the meal itself? A delve into the CAB Direct database shows that there have been many studies on the impact of playing music to animals, but little consistency in the results, other than a general negative response to…
A dramatic approach to Cocoa farming
Street/community dramas are often used to try to get a message across to a local audience, but have you ever seen a street drama about pesticide use? Well thatâs what theyâre doing in Nigeria â a dance/drama approach is being used by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) to educate farmers about which chemicals…
Dark chocolate this Christmas?
With a complete lack of imagination, at least one person in my family normally receives a chocolate gift from me each Christmas. Should I find myself uninspired again this year, maybe I can convince a recipient of some good quality dark chocolate, that I am also thinking of their heart, improving their brain performance, reducing…
The state of our planet told in âHard Rainâ a film released today to set the scene for the UN climate talks
Each time I check my work email inbox lately, I find itâs inundated with notifications, press releases and invitations to events during the COP15 Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. One email, which caught my eye and prompted me to share it here, was a press release and invite to the launch of the filmâHard Rainâ…
Grow your own Christmas tree
Have you ever considered trying to grow your own Christmas tree? Or wondered what paper made of reindeer poo would be like…? How about combining the two – a little natural fertlizer perhaps? Well somebody has… The Exotic Paper Company, better known for its Ellie Poo and Rhino Poo papers (made from elephant and rhino…
Is local food environmentally costly?
Many consumers feel that they should be buying âlocal foodâ to help combat climate change â but could âlocal foodâ actually result in more carbon emissions than food distributed through conventional supply chains? David Oglethorpe raises this possibility along with some other surprising ideas in a paper in CAB Reviews. Oglethorpe, of the Newcastle…
Flu – can we say goodbye to yearly vaccines soon?
I was at the CDC's session on H1N1 influenza at the American Public Health Association annual meeting in Philadelphia recently and the problems of getting a flu vaccine out to the population fast was brought home to me. It takes about 5-6 months at present to grow and manufacture new flu vaccines and in a…
The Carbon the World Forgot
Image courtesy of "The Carbon the World Forgot" report. Boreal forests, found in northern areas like Canada, Russia, Scandinavia and parts of the United States, cover 11% of the earth and store 22% of all carbon on the land surface in soil, permafrost, peatlands and wetlands. They also store nearly twice as much carbon as…