Category Archives: Public Health

Good Luck with the Corn, RFK You A-hole

Posted on December 10, 2024 by GDS

The point is that hundreds of businesses, laws, political allegiances, rural landscapes, and even the American palate have been shaped by this history for a century now. Our national integration of agriculture is the country’s biggest and most dysfunctional case of path dependence. Bummer that HFCS makes us fat and diabetic, but it’s part of a system that long ago metastasized throughout our economy. Poor RFK, that’s what he’s up against: its deep history. Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture, Public Health | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Unload DDT

Posted on August 25, 2015 by GDS

What a bloodbath on Wall St — XOM down 5%, UNH down 5%, DIS down 4%.  But the biggest loser this week was DDT. DDT featured prominently in the recent blog highlighting the ongoing studies by Berkeley’s Barbara Cohn.  Despite … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Industrial Agriculture, Public Health | 8 Comments

GM Foods: A Moment of Honesty

Posted on July 29, 2015 by GDS

As the latest controversy over GMO’s unfolds – this time it’s about a House Bill that would ban labeling laws – it’s time for a moment of honesty about science and safety. Of course safety is hardly the only bone … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Public Health, Regulation | Tagged , , , | 57 Comments

Three stories on the factory farm

Posted on February 15, 2015 by GDS

Three items crossed my desk this week concerning the factory farm scene, i.e. CAFO’s or Confined Animal Feeding Operations.  Two were scientific studies with troubling implications for our health, and one was a dumb piece of clickbait concerning bestiality. Guess … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Industrial Agriculture, Public Health | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

A century later, we find out…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by GDS

These two items appeared in separate sections of the NY Times yesterday: There was an obituary for Elizabeth Whelan, who started the American Council on Science and Health back in 1978. This was an industry-supported initiative claiming to represent “Science, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biotechnology, Food, Public Health, Regulation | 6 Comments

Dutch Treat

Posted on February 12, 2014 by GDS

We now know the “best and worst places in the world to eat,” courtesy of Oxfam.  The best is the Netherlands; the worst is Chad.  (Here is an explanation of their analysis, and here is where you can explore their country-specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Public Health | Tagged , , | 1 Comment