From eNewsletter 9/2/2019
DID YOU KNOW that a study published in Public Health Nutrition found stark differences between conventional and organic milk?
Antibiotics and pesticides were undetectable in organic milk but prevalent in conventionally produced milk samples, with multiple samples exceeding federal limits. Higher bGH and IGF-1 levels in conventional milk suggested the presence of synthetic growth hormone.
BEST WAY TO LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT AND IMPROVE HEALTH
Steve and Bonnie: All of this noise about switching from eating animal protein to chemical-laden faux meat protein will do little to help the environment, especially when one mechanism for reducing our carbon footprint has finally been examined.
Eat less.
Researchers in Frontiers in Nutrition measured the ecological impact of global food wastage due to excessive consumption.
First, the researchers estimated the net excess bodyweight of each country's population, based on BMI and height data, and distributed its energy content among foods groups according to national availability.
Direct food waste, which is food that is thrown away or lost, is a mere appetizer compared to the impact of overeating.
Excess bodyweight corresponds to roughly 140 billion tons of food waste globally. This dwarfs current annual direct food waste, which is only 1.3 billion tons.
The researchers have deemed this "metabolic food waste". Fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers have the highest direct wastage rates, but excess energy consumption is dominated by more calorie-dense foods. These typically entail more land, water and greenhouse gases to produce.
So much so, that growing the world's metabolic food waste would be expected to generate the equivalent of 240 billion tons of CO2. This is roughly the amount humankind released burning fossil fuels over the last seven years combined.
Notably the EU, North America and Oceania together contribute as much to this estimate as the rest of the world combined.
These numbers are monstrously high.
Simply, overeating is bad for our planet's health, not just our own.
VARIETY IS QUEEN: PROBIOTIC UPDATE
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