The Food Movement’s Final Frontier: Taking Care of Workers

Rita has worked for the same Missouri-based pork processing company for 13 years. And yet she feels like she could lose her job at any time. If this 49-year-old mother of four is late for work by as little as five minutes, that’s one strike. If she takes more than her allotted seven minutes to race to the bathroom and back, that’s another strike. Three strikes is all it takes. Read more here...

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To Truly Fix Food System, the Farm Bill Should Restore Fair Markets

The Farm Bill debate is currently in full-swing in the U.S. Senate this week. The sprawling legislation covers food stamps, subsidies, international food aid, research grants—it literally dictates what and how we eat. And right now, the Farm Bill gives all the power to the biggest food companies, which they wield with impunity over farmers and consumers. But an amendment to the bill–the Packer Ban, introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)–could begin to address this unfair advantage that giant food companies have over farmers. Read more here...

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Smart Shopping for Organic Food

Once the bastion of health food stores and food co-ops, organic food has gone from rarefied to mainstream. In the 10 years since the green "USDA organic" seal began appearing on supermarket shelves, the word "organic" has become part of our vernacular. It is a world that has expanded beyond the brown rice and wheat germ stereotypes of the '70s to include every possible type of food, from chips and salsa to ketchup for those frozen organic fries.

When you buy a product with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic seal, it means it has been grown or processed without chemicals, drugs or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Although organic food has been touted as more nutritious and better for the environment, it is often (and justifiably) perceived as more expensive than its non-organic counterparts. But there are ways to save and stretch your organic dollar.

Here are a few tips to get started, plus how to make the most of non-organic offerings... Read more here.

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Today in Research: Why Eating Fast Food Regularly Is So Sad

Discovered: Eating McDonald's will make you very sad, preventing cancer is easy, the Earth's clock is all wrong, and picky women help a species survival.

• Eating McDonald's is sad. Or, rather, it will make you sad. But being sad is sad, isn't it? A study of 9,000 fast-food eaters found that those who ate the junk on the regular were 51 percent more likely to develop depression than those who abstained for healthier options. "Even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression," explained researcher Almudena Sanchez-Villegas. These fast-food eaters also had less fun sounding lives in general; the research found them to be more likely to be single, less active, smoke, and work more than 45 hours a week.  [The Telegraph]

• Preventing cancer is easy. Alright hypochondriacs, get ready for this: Over 50 percent of cancers are preventable. Of the estimated 1,638,910 new cancer cases that will be diagnosed this year in the United States, more than half could have never happened. How? "Only, After working in public health for 25 years, I've learned that if we want to change health, we need to change policy," said researcher Sarah J. Gehlert. A lot of cancer development has to do with our poor lifestyle choices. (Like, eating McDonald's.) Unlike DNA or luck, that's easy-ish to change. "Stricter tobacco policy is a good example. But we can't make policy change on our own. We can tell the story, but it requires a critical mass of people to talk more forcefully about the need for change," she continued. [Wash U]

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Is Drug Resistance in Humans Coming from Chickens?
Maryn McKenna, Wired Magazine
The CDC says there is enough similarity between drug-resistance genes in E. coli carried by chickens and E. coli infecting humans that the chickens may be the source of it.

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Joan Nathan demonstrates 60 minute Challah
Famed Jewish food writer Joan Nathan has come up with a technique that makes two loaves of fresh-baked challah in less than 60 minutes. The recipe, in her new book "Quiches, Kugels and Couscous," flavors the bread with anise and studs it with sesame seeds. Read more here.

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Earth Based Judaism – Reclaiming Our Roots, Reconnecting to Nature
A wonderful article in Zeek by Zelig Golden, Co-founder of Wilderness Torah. Click here to read>>

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Sustainable Food, Sustainable Faith
A great piece in the Huffington Post by Rabbi Ari Hart, Co-founder, Uri L'Tzedek (Awaken to Justice): Orthodox Social Justice, about the Jewish movement to promote sustainable, ethical eating. Click here to read>>

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Bringing Organic Sweet Corn back to Long Island
Eve and Chris Walbrecht from Garden of Eve Organic Farm experimented with pheromone trapping and fertilizers to grow organic corn. Click here to read more>>

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Eat Less Meat, Eat Better Meat
The list of Meatless Monday supporters continues to grow across the globe, and surprisingly to some, many of the latest enthusiasts make their living either cooking meat, such as chef Mario Batali or producing it, like rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman. What makes Meatless Monday so successful is its simple and inclusive message which promotes moderation with the goal of improving public health and the health of the planet  Read more here.

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