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As Tim King, a conservation geneticist with the US Geological Survey in West Virginia, told Chase, “We’re at the vanguard of an environmental catastrophe.”

Why? Because bats are insect-eating machines, capable of consuming nearly half their body weight in insects each night. Take them out of the equation and we’ll have an explosion of pests, including disease- carrying mosquitoes and agriculturally destructive beetles, moths, leafhoppers and other foes of the farmers, who may be forced to use more pesticides as a result.

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Can’t Reach the Summit Only one G8 leader has confirmed attendance at next week’s Hunger Summit in Rome (Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, who’s hosting) and many stakeholders are not impressed.
GM Export Snafus The EU doesn’t want our GMO soy (or anything else) but that’s not stopping traces of it from winding up in the feedbins of [...]

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In one Brooklyn community, neighborhood residents are fighting to keep their farm. Bed-Stuy Farm, once a neighborhood garbage dump, was transformed into an urban oasis that produces over 7,000 lbs of fresh food every year, helping feed more than 4,000 people a month through the Brooklyn Rescue Mission.

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Eating Animals, the searing indictment of factory farming that Jonathan Safran Foer spent three years painstakingly researching, has got the champions of cheap chuck circling their wagons and denouncing the celebrated novelist’s latest work as just another piece of fiction.
Chuck Jolley, writing for the Cattle News Network, even questions Foer’s very identity, describing him as [...]

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In dispute is whether the specialized method of drilling, called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for short, should be conducted in the heart of New York City’s watershed, putting its drinking water supply in danger. Besides the chemical-laden fracking fluid that goes into the ground, wastewater that is pulled up contains naturally occurring carcinogens like cadmium and benzene, as well as a gritty mixture of salt and minerals called Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which can decimate aquatic life in high quantities.

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Processing —> Depression? A new study from London’s University College indicates that a diet high in processed foods may lead to depression.
Processing —> Diabetes? Diets high in processed meats “may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by 40 per cent, according to a new meta-analysis from Norway and the US.” This article suggests that [...]

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So why not try a few marketing gimmicks to break through the misunderstanding? Perhaps you’re a fan of Greenpeace’s banner-dropping skills. Maybe you prefer the Maldivian government’s underwater cabinet meetings that demonstrated the potential devastation of rapid sea level rise on the low-lying island nation. Or if sinking isn’t your concern, how about melting? The Nepalese Cabinet plans on holding a meeting at the Mt. Everest base camp to highlight the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. The Yes Men’s culture-jamming exploits are hard to ignore, whether they’re pretending to be the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reversing its stance on climate legislation or tumbling down the front steps of the U.S. Capitol dressed in “Survivaballs.” Perhaps the best strategy is a tad less post-modern, like the International Climate Day of Action’s 5,200 events organized by concerned citizens in 181 countries. Or, maybe all we need are some supermodels stripping for the sake of climate change awareness.

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Last week the Brooklyn Food Coalition, in partnership with the Healthy Steps Committee of PS 10’s PTA, and the Park Slope Food Circle, hosted a food policy debate with candidates for New York City Council in Brooklyn’s 39th district (which includes parts of Bensonhurst, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace).

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Millions of Americans will turn out to vote today, and millions more won’t. It’s pretty weird when you think about it. Not voting is like going to a restaurant with some friends, and then, when the waiter brings you the menu, deciding that you can’t be bothered to look at it, so you’re just going to let somebody else decide what you should get.

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No H1N1 here, but who would know? The Washington Post reports that pork producers are testing less for swine flu (as well as other infectious ailments, like MRSA) than they were before the virus made its global debut last spring. Hat tip to Tom Philpott @ Grist.

Welcome to Farmville, Pop: 62 million If your experience with the Facebook sensation is anything like mine, it’s been limited to “hiding” notices about friends’ wandering cows, and apparently, we’re missing out on something. Takeaway: Online faux farmers outnumber actual farmers 60 to 1.

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