health

Growing Organic

28 May, 2009 | Bob Burtt

The number of farmers clad in their traditional black suits in attendance at this year’s organic conference in Guelph, Ontario should put smiles on the faces of people hoping to see an increased supply of chemical-free produce in Southwestern Ontario. A group of Mennonite farmers in and around Waterloo Region, many of whom use horse-drawn buggies or bicycles as their mode of transportation, are at the forefront of a new movement that aims to produce more locally grown, organic food.

Published in: Saving the Land that Feeds Us 34.3
Tags: health, food, agriculture

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The Smallest Revolution

26 May, 2009 | Stephen Bocking

As revolutions go, this is no big deal: stain-resistant pants, sunscreens that go on clear, hockey sticks with extra zing. But perhaps that’s the point with nanotechnology. When the real transformation is occurring in spaces dwarfed by the thickness of this page, the results may seem inconsequential at first. Yet with science and capital now collaborating in manipulating atoms, these products are only the start. Its promoters predict that nanotechnology will become as common as plastic. Its critics agree, and warn of impacts as inescapable as the plastic jetsam now littering the globe.

Published in: Sustainability Taken Seriously 34.4
Tags: technology, scale, nanotechnology, health

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Skewing Science

29 April, 2009 | Stephen Bocking

The Bush era is over but the stain, including a string of last-minute legal changes, lingers. These “midnight regulations” made some things easier, such as dumping mine waste in streams and building power plants near parks. Other things became harder, such as using science to protect endangered species or to reduce workers’ exposure to hazards. Continuing that administration’s usual practice, these cuts to health and environmental safeguards were justified by manipulating the way science relates to policy.