Would Shoppers Be Happy If They Know Organic Trade Groups Use Member Fees For Hate Speech?
Organic food has managed to wrap itself in both a health and ethical halo and a lot of the credit for that has to go to outstanding marketing and the work of trade groups that represent organic farmers. They have turned what was once a niche market focused on a different process into a $100 billion juggernaut where mothers chide other mothers as bad parents if they don't buy organic.That will be taught in business classes for decades.
A Ghostbusters Tour Of Manhattan
It's Halloween and I am in New York and I wanted to do something local. But since Sleepy Hollow does not have a way to get there by subway (I don't even know where I would rent a car in Manhattan, I suppose I could get there by bus, but even using a subway is a populist stretch for me) I instead decided to get up and create a Ghostbusters tour. Why? Because even though only three actual weeks of filming took place here, it is strongly associated with the city.
Fortunately I am just a few blocks from Spook Central where all of the real action takes place, and almost all of it was on a subway line, minus some technology hiccups.(1)
Would We Be Ready For A New Pandemic?
In 2014, one person confirmed with Ebola set off a panic in the United States. Though 28,000 people died of heart disease while media attention focused on that outbreak, and anti-vaccine parents on the West Coast were suddenly prepared to spend any amount of money to get their kids immunized against it, what happened with pandemic preparation after the fear subsided was...not much.The fact is, we tend not to think about disaster preparedness unless disaster is already upon us. This makes some sense, of course, because people may be hungry right now so there isn't much point to spending money worrying about a volcano - but pandemics are so devastating and so rapid in their effects that it almost demands there be some level of preparedness.
Science On Tap In Manhattan Starring…Me
If you are in Manhattan or one of the five boroughs or New Jersey or Long Island and want a free beer and to talk about science communication, you are invited to join me as guest of honor at the Science On Tap event, October 28th from 6:30-9:30 PM. The location is Connolly's Pub&Restaurant at 121 West 45th Street.
It’s “Back To The Future” Day! Where’s my Reagan-Themed Restaurant?
The sci-fi comedy "Back To The Future" is a seminal piece of modern cinema. Like "Blade Runner" (and unlike most movies of any kind, much less science fiction, where special effects are important) from the same period, it holds up really well.My Talk At The Western Plant Health Association Meeting
Last week, the Western Plant Health Association, which represents California, Arizona and Hawaii companies involved in plant nutrients, soil amendments, agricultural minerals and crop protection products (basically, technologies such as fertilizer and pesticides), held its annual meeting in Maui and I was invited to speak about the issues involved in bringing agricultural science to a public that is increasingly removed from its food.
Coral Worth $10 Trillion In Pretend Money
A pilot Earth Index commissioned by BBC Earth using data from the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) sets a new standard for estimating pretend money. It values coral at $10 trillion for the global economy. Trees are worth even more, at $16 trillion, which means the pretend value of trees are almost as much as all of the real value of the people in the United States (GDP $17.42 trillion.) Heck, the Grand Canyon is worth $700 million and it just sits there looking stoic.Mother Jones Hates Scientists – And Their Bias Shows
In an effort to keep the pressure on scientists who accept the overwhelming consensus on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the hard-left political magazine Mother Jones has written another article using emails provided to the organic lobbying organization US Right To Know(1) to undermine science it has chosen not to accept.
Process labels: Bridging the informational gap or confusing consumers?
In the early days of food labeling and regulations, it was just about honesty. If you go to buy mayonnaise, you shouldn't have to wonder if it is mayonnaise (1), but then it became a marketing distinction. Better ingredients. Then it became self-identification with a world view.But at what point do these process labels - organic, kosher, natural, shade grown, do more harm for public understand of food than good?
American Council On Science And Health Embraces Transparency: Will Others Follow?
If you get money from a corporation, are you for sale?
It’s obviously a silly question, since almost everyone in America signs the backs of checks ratherr than the front of them, yet much of the public tends to think that if a scientist gets funding from the government or a corporation, they are mandated to produce a specific, pre-chosen result, even though those same people would not agree that their own “funding source” — an employer — controls their beliefs.