Transition Island Blog

Organically grown foods generally hold more nutrition value than conventionally grown foods, according to a study co-authored by three researchers at Washington State University.

According to the study, organic plant-based foods contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of the health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants.

The study, co-authored by professor Neal Davies of the WSU College of Pharmacy, horticulture professor Preston Andrews and Jaime Yanez, Davies’ graduate student, is the first in-depth review of the published scientific literature on the nutritional benefits of organic food completed since 2003, Andrews said.

“Where there were overall combined results, there was a bigger difference more frequently in favor of organic foods,” Andrews said.

The study concluded that organically grown plant-based foods are on average 25 percent more nutrient dense, thus delivering more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed.

Read more at Organic Agriculture …

INVITATION to a free lunchtime talk on climate change, ponds and carbon storage 6 May 2008.

In recently published work, Professor John Downing from Iowa State University says that across the globe, ponds ‘may bury 4 times as much carbon as the world’s oceans.’

‘The world’s farm ponds alone may bury more organic carbon than the oceans and 33% as much as the world’s rivers deliver to the sea.’

To find out how ponds take up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and the implications for climate change, you are invited …

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California Plans to Use Citizens as Guinea Pigs: Why Every U.S. Resident Should Care

Taken from an American Blog

Beginning this summer, airplanes will fly 500-800 feet over California, spraying hundreds of thousands of California residents with untested pesticide called CheckMate.

The State’s Department of Food and Agriculture is initiating the largest aerial pesticide spray in the history of the United States because it’s afraid the light brown apple moth will take over our plants.

• Never mind that the evidence suggests that this moth has been with us for decades causing no harm whatsoever (and has, in fact, been controlled by natural predators).
• Never mind that scientists across the globe have dealt with this moth before, and advised California that widespread spraying will do no good.
• Never mind that the State’s previous spraying last year resulted in well over 600 reported ill health effects.
• Never mind that a man named Stewart Resnick, an agribusiness man whose farming company happens to own the manufacturer of CheckMate (the pesticide to be sprayed on us) has made generous political contributions to our State’s officials.
• And never, ever mind that 19,000 citizens and counting have said out loud that they do not want to be sprayed.

And why should anyone who lives outside of California care? One simple reason: we are the nation’s guinea pigs. The USDA recently announced plans to survey all 50 U.S. states to see if the light brown apple moth can be found anywhere else. If they do…

Read more…

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opinion:
I don’t know the facts of this case.
I do know this sort of protest is an expression of outrage from ordinary people about politics and big business behaving in scandalous ways. And I’m sure Californians are not the only Guinea Pigs in the world!

Pets are happy & healthy… right?

Let’s say, just for the sake of example, that you were a dog. Or a cat, if you prefer (although I can’t imagine why you would). You’d spend your days lazing about, taking naps, playing outside, and eating treats. Humans would pat your head and tell you how cute you looked.

Sounds like a pretty neat life, right? Lighthearted, carefree, simple. . . I bet you’re a little jealous.

Well, I thought it was pretty neat too, until I found out that pets are full of toxic chemicals.

Read more about the Environmental Working Group research.

Action:
Start planning organic food and natural cleaning products to protect your pets.

A new poll has found that majorities in 15 out of 16 nations surveyed around the world think that oil is running out.

People think governments should make a major effort to find new sources of energy.

Most think that future oil prices will be much higher.

So why do so few governments publish peak oil policies?

minority unconcerned

On average, a 22 percent minority believe that “enough new oil will be found so that it can remain a primary source of energy for the foreseeable future.”

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Transition Island will be at the Robin Hill Garden Show 26 & 27 April.

You can find out how green is your garden?

Report from Sue Lupton, Isle of Wight County Press

Visitors to the show are invited to visit a straw-bale house to learn from the experts how they can make their homes and gardens greener.

Dave and Vav Simon, of Aldermoor Earthworks, and a team of environmentally minded volunteers are creating a demonstration that is designed to inspire people to try green techniques at home.

Aldermoor Earthworks runs weekend workshops on country skills, ecological issues and green topics. Dave and Vav active campaigners on ecological issues and leading lights in Transition Island, a group that encourages people to take action on problems like climate change

Dave said: “In the past two years, show has been mainly about flowers and the organisers approached us because they wanted to extend it by encouraging people to ask `How green is my garden?’

“They invited us to do something about energy efficiency in the house and garden. What we want to do is to demonstrate how you can build a shed or lean-to with straw bales. You can collect water off it in water butts - that is called rain water harvesting. You can use the harvested water in the garden or to flush the toilet.

“We will also show how you can use water from the kitchen sink for watering the garden. People think that detergents will be a problem but plants are survivors, used to filtering out impurities.

“We wanted to demonstrate principles that might get people thinking, so they go home and try out some of the systems.

“This project fits in with the whole Eco-Island movement, which also ties in with what Transition Island is trying to do. Climate change is a long-term problem, while peak oil (the rising price of oil) is likely to affect us all in a matter of years. We believe there is a lot people can do themselves, but the problem is we are all addicted to the easy life. It is not easy to do without modern conveniences.

“We want people to understand these issues and apply them to their own homes and gardens. It is about getting people talking and thinking and doing, rather than waiting for the government to take the initiative.”

Sir David Attenborough is nearing the end of his sweeping natural history television career. He is fearful of what the future holds for the Earth and its inhabitants.

His ‘Life on Earth’ series has been seen by hundreds of millions of people over 30 years. He has long been highlighting in his programmes the damage that human beings are doing to the planet - every series ends with a comment on this.

“The plain, simple, overwhelming fact of the matter is that since I started making programs, there are three times as many people on the Earth,” he said.

getting worse

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High-altitude bands of fast winds that drive the paths of storms and other weather systems are now shifting - possibly in response to global warming.

The Jet Stream is a fast moving ribbon of air high up in the atmosphere (not to be confused with the Gulf Stream, an ocean current in the Atlantic).

These ribbons are only a few miles wide at a height above 20,000 feet (3 to 4 miles) and can have wind speeds of 300 to 400mph!

shoved about

Their position is not static: they twist and turn, changing route every day within a known band. However, research at the Carnegie Institution has found that between 1979 and 2001 (a 23-year span) the jet streams in both hemispheres have shifted toward the poles. They have both have risen in altitude, too. The jet stream in the northern hemisphere has also weakened.

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The UK’s thirst for bottled water appears to be drying up.

New figures show that sales are falling for the first time in years.

Shop sales of bottled water fell by 9 per cent to £284m in the year to March, according to independent retail analysts. Also, water cooler sales have also fallen, although not as dramatically.

environmental costs

Green groups said they hoped the figures suggested the public was turning away from bottled water because of the environmental costs of packaging and transportation. Some of it travels to the UK from the Fijian islands in the Pacific!

Production of a litre bottle of Evian or Volvic generates up to 600 times more CO2 than a litre of tap water.

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