Going With the Grain for Good Health When I was growing up in the 1960s, I thought the breads my grandparents served—dark, coarse pumpernickels and ryes "to sop up the sauces"—were peasant food, the last vestiges of their hard lives in Russia. Like most American children of my generation, I considered soft, white Wonder Bread […]
Over the past several years, a series of highly publicized recalls have sent panicky consumers running to the fridge to check for tainted meat. In 1998, Sara Lee recalled millions of pounds of hot dogs and deli meat after 21 people died in a Listeria outbreak from a Michigan processing plant. In 2000, a three-year-old […]
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies indicate that indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times—and occasionally more than 100 times—higher than outdoor levels.
The headlines are full of corporate scandals involving Enron, WorldCom, Xerox and even Martha Stewart Omnimedia, with the result that big business is under scrutiny as never before. In an effort to improve companies” social and environmental practices while also maximizing long-term revenues, many public and private pension funds are discovering the benefits of investing […]
Mesmerized by a Mini-Continent Along the road in rural Madagascar, giant baobab trees sit like vegetable elephants and malnourished children dance in hopes that travelers will toss them money. Our van, lurching over the rutted Malagasy National Highway, had long passed the last wooden shanty when the front tire fell off and rolled away. Some […]
Working with the low-income, primarily Latino population of East Austin, Texas, Susana Almanza and Sylvia Herrera of People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources led a successful fight to shut down a chemical tank farm and move a rodent-infested landfill.
Despite findings which link the pesticide atrazine to sexual mutations in frogs, EPA is considering a 3-4-fold increase for atrazine in drinking water.
The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve is a loosely defined 425,000-acre expanse of land in the center of Mexico’s Chihuahua Desert. It’s home to at least 300 vascular plants, 30 types of cacti and 249 vertebrate species, including mountain lions, bobcats and weasels. Much to the chagrin of Reserve scientists, however, it’s also a destination for hundreds of tourists with no interest at all in the natural environment.
At Connecticut’s Weston High School, in a small town where cars rule and pedestrians are in danger, the most important rite of passage is getting a driver’s license. "Having wheels" in Weston, as in many other suburban towns, means freedom from dependence on the dreaded soccer mom.Weston’s two-acre zoning, paired with a near-total absence of public transit, results in an inefficient series of residential cul-de-sacs with three-car family garages.
In 1992, when he ran an independent candidacy for the presidency, consumer advocate Ralph Nader nailed a democratic agenda known as The Concord Principles on the church door of American politics. Presidential campaigns, it said, "have become narrow, shallow, redundant and frantic parades and horse races which candidates, their monetary backers, and their handlers control unilaterally."
