Early Spring Drives Butterfly Population Declines

Early snow melt was cited as the reason for two linked effects on the environment: decreased number of flowers and decreased butterflies. Butterflies depend on the nectar of flowers to live and produce eggs resulting in fewer butterflies. This in turn affects the pollination process for flowers and a vicious cycle begins. Lower snow packs and frosts also damaged caterpillars lowering numbers again. I found this quiet depressing.

Natural farming offers less hassle to producers than organic

This article dealt with the issue of falling numbers in the organic food trade in the Prairies. The cost, hassle and rules of being an organic farmer we sighted as the main issues for this decline. However, Quebec has increased its organic farming practices and on the whole numbers are slowly rising. The article mentioned “natural” products and I was not exactly sure what that meant.  “Farmers have learned it’s possible to sell “natural” meat and vegetables for a premium price without the hassle and cost of organic certification.” To my limited knowledge this seems like it means that farmers are trying to con people into buying products that are no better for the environment at a higher cost simply to increase profit. This reminds me of the “heath check symbol” that is sometimes bought my companies to make their food more attractive to buyers, when no actual health benefits are present. However the article did end on a positive note stating that Canada was the fifth largest market in the world for organic food and ninth highest in the world for per capita consumption of organic products, showing that there is a pretty solid market for organic food, should Canadian famers take more of an interest.

Push For New Genetically Engineered Corn Divides Agribusiness

From about the 1980's a less harmful (compared to some of the other strait up poisons, so still pretty harmful) herbicide called "Roundup" was used. However, some weeds have become resistant to round up (nicknamed Pigweed) and are becoming a big problem for some farmers. The idea to create plants (such as corn and soy) that are resistant to a more toxic herbicide called 2,4-D which was one of the ingredients used in Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. However, several cancers such as Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and many others are linked to this chemical. There are the used debates about how less herbicide could be used and it would actually be less harmful but at the end of the day poison is poison. I believe that if Roundup stopped working so will 2,4-D and then we will need to use something stronger. If the resistant genes are being modified in to corn and soy then I don’t think it is rocket science to assume that they will transfer to weeds as well.

Burger burden: UN proposes junk food tax

Basically this article entertained the idea of taxing unhealthy foods to help cut down on obesity and undernourishment. The idea includes a "10% tax on non-alcoholic drinks that undermine health would result in an 8%-10% cut in their consumption". Some countries have already adopted this idea. The first was Denmark, where they taxed fattening foods an extra €2.15 surcharge. Finland also did this and put the tax money back into heath care. I think this is a fantastic idea. One of the reasons I buy junk food is because it is so cheap. I can get a full meal (?) at McDonalds for about $5. This will hardly get me a drink at Whole Foods. If healthy foods were the cheaper option it encourages less wealthy families to eat more healthy food. Not all families have the space or time to have their own gardens; this shortcoming should not doom them to a life of fast food, obesity and a shorter life expectancy because it is all they can afford. The idea of putting the money back into community health is also great.