Twinkies Vs. Carrots - Why we pay more for healthy.
Why is it that carrots (seed, plant, grow, eat) cost more than twinkies (complex product of years of research, over 40 ingredients, expensively designed packaging etc.)?
Food politics are not designed to protect you, your health or our environment. Be informed!
Check this out and be sure to visit the Nourish Life website.
What we spend on alternative energy vs. what we spend on other stuff.
(Source: jtotheizzoe)
Union of Concerned Scientists: Adds Up Monetary Benefit of the Clean Air Act Since 1970
$49 trillion and counting…
The ticker shows the increase in cumulative net benefits as a result of the Clean Air Act since 1970. The source data for this calculation comes from two EPA reports. In addition, data from the U.S. Department of Commerce was used to convert net benefits from the EPA reports to a common basis in 2010 dollars.
(Source: envirolutionary)
Panera Co. to open more pay-what-you-wish eateries
The idea for Panera’s first nonprofit restaurant was to open an eatery where people paid what they could. The richer could pay full price — or extra. The poorer could get a cheap or even free meal.
…Its cashiers tell customers their orders’ “suggested” price based on the menu. About 60 to 70 percent pay in full, Shaich said. About 15 percent leave a little more and another 15 percent pay less, or nothing at all. A handful have left big donations, like $20 for a cup of coffee.
(via brokelyn)
Thanks, Radiohead.
Incredibly cool stuff.
Foreign Policy: The Gulf Oil Spill ‘Winners’
Beach crews aren’t the only people cleaning up after the Deepwater disaster.A summary of those who are profiting from this mess.
FastCompany infographic on the size and cost of the BP oil spill.
Betting on species extinction from the oil spill…
Really? This is entertainment?
The gambling website PaddyPower.com placed odds today on what species would be first to become extinct as a result of crude belching from BP PLC’s ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico.
If you’re guessing the gulf sturgeon or elkhorn coral, you’ve got 20-1 odds!
In a statement announcing the extinction pool, the Irish bookmaker said it hoped the betting would “highlight the environmental catastrophe” and the “sure bet” that it would lead to the loss of some marine species.
Or exploitation. Not sure. Major pelican rookeries in the gulf wetlands are already coated with oil. And fare thee well sweet Kemp’s ridley turtle. Your odds aren’t so good.
Whole scoop at Greenwire.
DC’s Bag Tax: A Success?
GOOD posted about DC’s plastic AND paper bag tax that kicked in over new years. It’s a little bitty 5 cent tax on disposable bags, that storeowners are saying has cut bag use by 50%! Sure there are grumbles, yes the poor bag companies are losing money. But this sounds successful! Get the whole scoop here. Any DC readers notice change of habits?
Putting a price on nature
Interesting stuff…
from The Economist:
Environmental valuations aim to solve a problem that troubles both economists and ecologists: the misallocation of resources. Take mangrove swamps. Over the past two decades around a third of the world’s mangrove swamps have been converted for human use, with many turned into valuable shrimp farms. In 2007 an economic study of such shrimp farms in Thailand showed that the commercial profits per hectare were $9,632. If that were the only factor, conversion would seem an excellent idea.
However, proper accounting shows that for each hectare government subsidies formed $8,412 of this figure and there were costs, too: $1,000 for pollution and $12,392 for losses to ecosystem services. These comprised damage to the supply of foods and medicines that people had taken from the forest, the loss of habitats for fish, and less buffering against storms.
Price fixing - Why it is important to put a price on nature - The Economist
