‘Diet for a Hot Planet’ Explores Links between Diet and Climate Change

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Anna Lappé’s new book Diet for a Hot Planet is critical. It is critical because it helps fill a significant gap in the literature that was previously identified by the Johns Hopkins Center for Livable Future.
And thus, in an accessible and comprehensive manner, Diet for a Hot Planet is critical to understanding how inextricably linked [...]

Response to Professor Mitloehner

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Dear Professor Mitloehner,
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post.  What you wrote was informative, but your response also raised additional questions for me.  I will lay them out here and you are welcome to respond again.
From your response:
“I did not write the press releases and feel that a lot of the [...]

Unsupported Claims About Livestock and Climate Change in the Media

Monday, March 29th, 2010

As a public health doctoral student, I have been taught the importance of communicating scientific information to the public, journalists, and policy makers in a careful manner, especially when dealing with complex issues.  Scientific research almost never provides clear answers, but as a scientist you should never make statements that overstep the conclusions of your [...]

How Can You Combat Climate Change? Nobel Laureate & Music Legend Say Eat Less Meat One Day a Week

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Nobel Laureate Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Sir Paul McCartney, former Beatles superstar turned environmental activists addressed the European Parliament (EP) today (Dec. 3. 2009) in hopes of encouraging legislators to consider what actions Europeans can personally take to combat global warming, such as going Meatless on [...]

Could ‘Vertical Farming’ Work?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Dickson Despommier brought his idea for vertical urban farms to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on Friday, and his audience of more than 100 people responded with a mixture of enthusiasm and skepticism.
Despommier is director of the Vertical Farm Project and a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School [...]

How Much Does U.S. Livestock Production Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

A round of applause for Washington Post reporter Ezra Klein for pointing out last week the undeniable fact that meat production is a major contributor to global warming, and that consumers can make a difference by cutting out their meat consumption just one day a week. How big a difference in greenhouse gases reduction it [...]

Why Industrial Meat Production is Inefficient

Friday, April 24th, 2009

It looks like Meatless Monday’s “Inspiring a Movement” video is doing just that, but the meat industry is already grumbling. In particular, industry leaders have a beef with the video’s claim that, “Meat mass production, as currently practiced, is extremely inefficient.” The claim makes sense to me, especially when you consider research that suggests the [...]

Early Death Attributed to High Diet of Red Meat

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

A new study has found that high intakes of red or processed meat may increase the risk of mortality. The research, just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, examined more than a half-million middle-aged and elderly Americans and found those who consumed four ounces of red meat a day were more than 30 percent [...]

Mark Bittman Makes Appearance on The Colbert Report

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Check out Mark Bittman’s appearance on Tuesday night’s Colbert Report. It’s hilarious! Bittman, who discusses his book, “Food Matters, A Guide to Conscious Eating,” make great points about the connection between diet and climate change. Jokes Colbert: “Are you implying that I’m eating while being unconscious?” Colbert clearly has an interest in environmental issues, hosting [...]

Study: Eating Less Meat Could Save $20 Trillion in Climate Change Costs

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

An article published in today’s NewScientist Magazine says cutting back on meet intake could save $20 trillion in the fight against climate change. According to the article, researchers involved say that reducing intake of beef and pork would lead to the creation of a huge new carbon sink, as vegetation would thrive on unused farmland. “The [...]