'Meatless Mondays': LA Urges Residents To Turn Vegetarian One Day A Week

Los Angeles is hoping to persuade people to become vegetarian – at least one day per week. Under a resolution unanimously approved by the city council this week, all future Mondays in the City of Angels have been declared “Meatless Mondays.” It’s part of an international campaign to cut down on meat consumption for health and environmental reasons.

U.S. Kids Consuming Fewer Calories, Report Finds

“Hopefully if we teach children the importance of appropriate calorie intake and nutrient balance, we will reverse the obesity problem over the next several decades.”

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Fascinating article focusing on the making and marketing of highly-processed foods…

“As a culture, we’ve become upset by the tobacco companies advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food companies do the very same thing. And we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by a poor diet rivals that taken by tobacco.”

Farmers Anticipate A Bumper Pumpkin Crop

The devastating drought that hurt many crops was gentler on pumpkins. Pumpkins are actually one of the few crops that do pretty well in drought conditions. The rind of a pumpkin is incredibly susceptible to diseases that come from too much water. The lack of precipitation hasn’t been too bad for the pumpkin crop. And by using irrigation, most farmers are able to control when and how much water gets put on the crop and so that’s led to overall good quality.

Illinois is the largest producer of processing pumpkins. The top producing ornamental states are California, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

By 2030, Obesity Rates Could Top 60% in 13 States

America’s weight report card is in. The grades aren’t good, and they’re on a path to get much worse.

Mississippi had the highest rate, with 34.9% of its residents obese, defined as a body mass index or BMI of 30 or more.

Colorado has the lowest obesity rate, with 20.7% of residents obese. However, by 2030, 13 states could have obesity rates topping 60%, according to the report’s predictions.

“If we stay on the current course, we could see obesity rates that are already unacceptable double in some states.”

Cutting Down On Red Meat Shrinks Carbon Footprint

Minimizing the consumption of red and processed meat would not only lower the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and bowel cancer by three to 12 percent, but also shrink the carbon footprint by 28 million tonnes a year, new research suggests.

Previously published evidence shows that the risks of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer rise by 42 percent, 19 percent and 18 percent respectively, with every additional 50 grams of red and processed meat eaten daily.

Monsanto's Roundup Is The Most Used Herbicide In NYC

Despite piles of research suggesting that Roundup is dangerous, the Big Apple continues to douse its parks with the stuff—potentially exposing millions of New Yorkers to toxic effects.

According to the Department of Health’s report on city pesticide use in 2011, Roundup, the weed-killing key to Monsanto’s agribusiness empire, is the city’s most heavily used liquid herbicide. Roundup is Monsanto’s signature blend of glyphosate—a compound that works by disrupting an enzyme key to plant growth—and other ingredients to destroy weeds.