Environment

Leaves, brush piles, fallen logs, plant stems, and flower heads might not be growing anymore, but they aren’t trash — they are natural homes for wildlife! A layer of leaves is vital insulation from the cold for the many animals that hide within (or in the soil beneath), like quite a few butterflies. Others, like many native bees, nest within stems, flower heads, or pieces of wood. Throwing out all of your leaves and other plant material isn’t just taking away options for shelter; there’s a good chance you’re tossing out many animals that have already settled in!

Animal agriculture manure is a primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface and groundwater. Manure runoff from cropland and pastures or discharging animal feeding operations and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) often reaches surface and groundwater systems through surface runoff or infiltration. Permitting discharging CAFOs to limit nitrogen and phosphorus discharge to surface waters, and implementing best management practices outlined in a manure management plan are critical steps to protecting water quality.

October is National Farm to School Month! Join us and thousands of schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations across the country as we celebrate food education, school gardens and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients.

The climate problem has been framed in a manner that emphasises temperature changes and carbon emissions, with renewable energy being positioned as the core solution. However, on taking a closer look at where all this energy is going—in food systems, construction, urban design, supply chains, and so on—tremendous inefficiencies can be observed in all these systems. This is accompanied by the realisation that the framing itself is limited.

Research by the Soil Association Exchange shows that farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock have about a third more carbon stored within their soil than those with only arable crops, thanks to the animals’ manure. This also has an effect on biodiversity: mixed arable and livestock farms support about 28 grassland plant species in every field, compared with 25 for arable-only and 22 for dairy-only.

In the early 2000s, the USDA developed a plan to require everyone who owned even one livestock or poultry animal to tag them with an electronic ID and report their movements. Large corporate operations could avoid the expense of such tags and simply use “group identification.” This regulation was originally slated to become mandatory in 2009.

A shocking new study found that nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer are being used in food packaging, and, worse yet, dozens of the carcinogens can find their way into the body. “There is strong evidence that 76 known or potential breast carcinogens from food contact materials recently purchased all over the world can be found in people,” Jane Muncke, co-author of the study and managing director and chief scientific officer of the Food Packaging Forum, a nonprofit foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, told CNN this week.