Students Compete To Win Organic Lunch Options At School

When I went to high school in Colorado my school had a 7-11 on campus as well as a choice of Chic-Fil-A and Dominoes pizza depending on the day of the week. We had vending machines that were filled with soda and candy, and a dessert selection of sugar and chocolate chip cookies.

Fast forward some years later and now schools across the country are competing to win organic choices over unhealthy lunch options for their school. I’m jealous!

The Organic Trade Association is hosting a national contest to award a lucky school with an organically grown garden or the option to have an organic vending machine on campus. The initiative “Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools” aims help schools access more organic food.

According to a survey by the OTA, more than half of the individuals polled feel that the best way to encourage children to make healthy food choices is by improving education about health and nutrition. A good way to start is by offering it!

So, if you want to enter your school to win a really cool organically grown garden or an organic vending machine, act now!

Visit www.OrganicItsWorthIt.org through May 1 and enter your school’s name and address when you sign up for an electronic newsletter to win. Similar to a petition, your school must receive at least 1,000 newsletter sign ups to win.

Posted by:

Krysten Hughes

Enviromental Protection Agency Getting Its Bars Up!

Just hopped off a video announcement from Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and definitely a top pick on the short list of D.C. insiders who are really taking their title/mission to heart.

On what is coincidentally (purely surely) the first day of the international COP15 summit, the EPA announces that their thorough (musta been really thorough) analysis of all the available facts leads to one simple conclusion: greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.”

There’s more:

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Great talking point from Mrs. Jackson and my instinct thinks she’s legit. When asked on the call about the timing of the EPA’s announcement, when House reps have indicated no movement on environmnetal legislation until early Spring (months from now), Lisa Jackson said the EPA did not want to wait to get the ball rolling and hoped that Congress would “follow the ball.”

Translation: watch out, world. Apparently it’s not a pre-requisite of American political power to actually lose total touch with the land and your people!

Keep it up, Mrs. Jackson.

Posted by:

Sam Patton

Homes with a History Sicken Occupants

Been feeling sick lately? According to the New York Times, it might not be heat or a flu that’s to blame, but rather, your house. A steady increase in crystal meth use coupled with loose clean up laws means that more and more people are moving into homes contaminated with meth, remnants from former meth labs. This leaves unsuspecting home buyers with two choices: pay astronomical costs for a cleaning, or suffer the consequences of exposing their family and pets to high levels of a potent drug.

Since when is moving into a new home a cause for worry instead of celebration? And how the hell is no one responsible for ensuring old meth labs are cleaned out properly?

Find out more about this this teeth-rottin’ facial disfigurin’ menace at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/us/14meth.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss.

Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy

Who’s at Fault with Youth Obesity?

We’ve all heard about the “childhood obesity epidemic,” but the truth is it’s not about kids who are too lazy to exercise or parents who are too lazy to cook healthy food. It’s about the ways that we’ve built our communities and designed our food system over the last fifty years. Why don’t our schools stay open after hours so that families have a safe place to hang out and play? Why don’t local stores offer anything besides liquor, cigarettes, and junk food? The 40 youth leaders who run werefedup.com get that obesity is a lot more complicated than people making bad choices, and they’re doing something about it.

Let’s tip the scales after the jump! … Continue Reading

Posted by:

Ali Uscilka

Eating Disorders Are NOT Racist

For years eating disorders have been considered a “white girl” problem. However, it has become more and more obvious that illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia do not discriminate, affecting males and females of all races.

According to Doctor Noelle Kerr-Price, eating disorder specialist, “One thing to keep in mind that we don’t even really know the full extent of how many people have eating disorders because many cases aren’t reported out of shame or people are misdiagnosed– if they are diagnosed at all. And those are the fortunate ones with access to health care and other recovery resources.” Kerr-Price, along with many other eating disorder specialists, argues that shame from other community members may prevent many minorities to fessing up about their EDs. Not to mention the problem of cost. The high cost of treatment can make it unrealistic for people with low-incomes. Even for those with health insurance, many policies have limits regarding care for mental illnesses. Some treatments can cost up to $10,000 a week, even forcing families to take out second mortgages. EDs may not be only for rich kids but the treatment sure is! If people of low-income backgrounds are ashamed to seek help or simply can’t afford it, they will not be accounted for statistically. … Continue Reading

Posted by:

Kiera Aaron

Farming: An Urban Hobby?

Who says we can only farm in rural areas? Despite the obvious challenges of urban farming, community gardens are popping up in parks, vacant lots, and even on rooftops across the nation.

And with good reason. While it may be difficult to find space, fertile soil, and even people interested in the cause, the benefits are endless. Researchers have found that urban farming can foster good health and community involvement, while being easier on the wallet. In fact, every $1 invested in community garden results in $6 of vegetables.

Yet saving money is just the beginning. Urban farming increases the sustainability of our cities, promotes concern for the environment, and fosters community involvement. Considering that most urbanites hardly even know their next-door neighbors, we certainly can’t expect to always know who produces our food. Urban farming, however, can alleviate both problems simultaneously.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Kiera Aaron

Paul McCartney Promotes “Meat Free Mondays”

Guess how many cows are killed every hour in the US, just so you can have your burger? A whopping 660 000 of them.

Paul McCartney, best known from his part in the Beatles, wants to change this. He believes we can fight global warming simply by not eating meat on Mondays.

McCartney supports the Meat Free Mondays campaign in order to encourage people to give up eating meat or at least to reduce their meat consumption. He states, “Having one designated meat free day a week is actually a meaningful change that everyone can make, that goes to the heart of several important political, environmental and ethical issues all at once.”

Sacrificing meat just once a week could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, according to Greenpeace. But can sacrificing a burger or chicken sandwich just ONCE a week really affect change?

The answer is yes! 3 times as many fossil fuels are needed for a diet that includes meat than are needed for a vegetarian one. Depending on where and how it is produced the FAO estimates that the livestock industry is responsible for between 13.5 and 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions…Some of these are from the methane emitted from livestock. Half of all US water-usage is devoted to livestock, with each cow needing enough water to float a destroyer! … Continue Reading

Posted by:

Kiera Aaron

Less Condoms=More Teenage Pregnancy

Being a teen is hard enough. Being a teenage mother is infinitely harder—and according to a study by John Santelli of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, there are more and more teens who are becoming moms. Nearly 4 in 10 American teens will be preggers by age 20, and a whopping 445 000 of them will give birth. At those rates, America is the teenage pregnancy capital of the Western World.

Having a baby is a wonderful, beautiful act—but there is a time and a place for it. When a teenager gives birth, the odds of her or her baby having a fulfilling life are significantly lower than if she had waited until she was in her twenties. Teen moms are more likely to drop out of school, receive welfare, and have more children within a couple of years. In turn, the children of teen moms will statistically have poorer health and inferior results in school than their peers who had parents who gave birth later on. Children from teen pregnancies are also more likely to end up in prison (if they’re sons) or giving birth while still teenagers (if they’re daughters).

Which is why Santelli’s study is so disturbing. It shows that teenagers are having kids at a higher rate, not necessarily because they desire children at that stage in life but because they are not taking simple precautions to prevent it. The use of contraceptives is going down, leaving health educators wondering where the f*%# they went wrong. Because, instead of using a condom, youth are trying the “withdrawal method,” and even the “let’s not use anything” approach—otherwise known as the “I’m playing Russian Roulette with my girlfriend’s future” approach. Hell, the guys should be worried too, because STIs tend to spread a lot faster when there’s no condom to stop them (and by “tend to” I mean DO).
… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy