DailyDirt: Growing Food Safely
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Modern farming isn't as low-tech as it used to be. There are invasive species of insects to deal with and growing concerns over using various pesticides to control them. But until we figure out the perfect formula for Soylent Green, the economically-viable options for producing cheap and plentiful food seem a bit limited. Here are just a few examples of problems in the food industry.- A study of over 200 pregnant women indicates that there is a possible link between eating rice (grown in the US!) and consuming potentially harmful levels of arsenic. Apparently, the arsenic comes from years of pesticide use where rice is grown, and unfortunately, there aren't any legal limits for arsenic in most foods sold in the US. [url]
- Farmers are looking to kill off stink bugs without pesticides using parasitic wasps. But first, researchers need to determine if releasing the wasps won't cause even more problems with farm crops and the environment. [url]
- Strains of Escherichia coli on bean sprouts that caused food poisonings and deaths in Germany may have come from human sources. Japanese researchers suggest a remedy of soaking the veggies in strong vinegar to kill off these nasty bugs. [url]
- To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]
Filed Under: arsenic, e coli, farming, food poisoning, insects, pesticides, rice
