Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’

Scientists are to warn world leaders that increasing numbers of deadly new pandemics will afflict the planet if levels of deforestation and biodiversity loss continue at their current catastrophic rates.

A UN summit on biodiversity, scheduled to be held in New York next month, will be told by conservationists and biologists there is now clear evidence of a strong link between environmental destruction and the increased emergence of deadly new diseases such as Covid-19.

Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of farming and the building of mines in remote regions – as well as the exploitation of wild animals as sources of food, traditional medicines and exotic pets – are creating a “perfect storm” for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people, delegates will be told.

Almost a third of all emerging diseases have originated through the process of land use change, it is claimed. As a result, five or six new epidemics a year could soon affect Earth’s population.

Source: Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’ | Environment | The Guardian

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Keto diet works best in small doses

A ketogenic diet—which provides 99 percent of calories from fat and protein and only 1 percent from carbohydrates—produces health benefits in the short term, but negative effects after about a week, Yale researchers found in a study of mice.

The results offer early indications that the keto diet could, over limited time periods, improve human health by lowering diabetes risk and inflammation. They also represent an important first step toward possible clinical trials in humans.

Source: Keto diet works best in small doses, researchers find

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Another Diet Fad

I get a chuckle from all the health articles and people promoting intermittent fasting. You know the new diet craze. The premise is you’ll lose weight if you fast for 16 hours of the day. Well I’m sorry folks but this has been around forever. It’s called drinking coffee and skipping breakfast which I’ve done most of my adult life. Even as a kid I didn’t like to eat in the morning. Many people are like this, it’s part of our hard wiring. I never thought of it as fasting and it sure ‘ain’t’ new. But go ahead and jump on that bandwagon if it floats your boat. Me, I’ll just sit over here and quietly sip my morning coffee without any fanfare.

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Nearly 100 percent of Trump funds designed to help farmers went to white farmers

President Trump has made a big deal out of his admiration for farmers, calling them “some of the most incredible people in our country,” and “patriots.” But, based on newly acquired data on federal subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, his administration may not have been thinking of all farmers — mostly just the rich, white ones. According to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by New Food Economy, the Trump administration funneled 99.5 percent of funds from its approximately year-old Market Facilitation Program, the largest current source of federal farm subsidies, to white farm operators.

According to a Department of Agriculture census, there were around 45,000 black farmers in the U.S. in 2017; compare that to nearly 1 million black farmers in 1910. Even though most farmers today are white (3.2 million, or 95 percent of farmers), black farms tend to be smaller and generate less income compared to white farms.

It’s not yet clear if farmers of color applied to the program at the same rate as their white counterparts, but the distribution of funds still reveals disparities between white and black farmers in certain regions. In Mississippi, for instance, where 38 percent of the state’s population is black, about 14 percent of farms have a black principal operator, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture; however, only 1.4 percent of the $200 million in MFP funds distributed to farmers in the Magnolia state went to black operators.

The funding disparities didn’t just have to do with race: According to a new report released on Tuesday by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, the vast majority of MFP funds went to the wealthiest 10 percent of recipients — the country’s biggest and most successful farmers.

Keep reading, follow link.

Source: Nearly 100 percent of Trump funds designed to help farmers went to white farmers | Grist

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‘People are dying’: how the climate crisis has sparked an exodus to the US

“My children have gone to bed hungry for the past three years. Our crops failed and the coffee farms have cut wages to $4 a day,” he says, playing nervously with the white maize kernels in a plastic trough strapped to his waist.“We hope the harvest will be good, but until then we have only one quintal [46kg] of maize left – which is barely enough for a month. I have to find a way to travel north, or else my children will suffer even more.”

Source: ‘People are dying’: how the climate crisis has sparked an exodus to the US | Global development | The Guardian

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The Best Restaurant in Every State

The ratings are out for the Best Restaurant in every state. Click through the slideshow to find your state.

Slideshow here:

 

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”
François de la Rochefoucauld

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McDonalds Dropping Antibiotics from Chicken

News from the world of fast food and health – From the AP Mar. 04, 2015

McDonald’s says it plans to start using chicken raised without antibiotics commonly used in humans, and milk from cows that are not treated with an artificial growth hormone.

The company says the chicken change will take place within the next two years. It says suppliers will still be able to use a type of antibiotic called ionophores that keep chickens healthy and aren’t used in humans. The milk change will take place later this year.

This is good news! Especially for all the parents of little ones who love chicken nuggets. My only criticism is why is it taking two years to implement the chicken changeover? They’re a little late in coming to the table, most of their competitors have already made this change.

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Good Supermarkets May Not Prompt Better Eating

Well this is discouraging news! Although not surprising. Healthy eating is a lifestyle and incorporated young. The availability of healthy food does not necessarily mean people will buy it.

THURSDAY, Feb. 26, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Having good full-service supermarkets in poor neighborhoods doesn’t mean children will have healthier diets, a new study suggests.

"Low-income and ethnic minority neighborhoods are underserved by supermarkets relative to their higher-income counterparts, and it would appear to be logical that increasing availability of healthful foods could improve diets," said study author Brian Elbel, an associate professor of population health at New York University in New York City.

"However, we do not yet know whether or under what circumstances these stores will improve diet and health," Elbel explained in an NYU Langone Medical Center news release. "Food choice is complex, and the easy availability of lower-priced processed foods and pervasiveness of junk food marketing have implications for behavior change as well."

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Winter Fruit

What’s your favorite winter fruit? Mine has to be clementines, I absolutely love these little oranges! Actually it’s not an orange, it’s a cross between an orange and a Chinese mandarin. They’re small, sweet, seedless and easy to peel.

History:

The origin of clementines is shrouded in mystery. Some attribute their discovery to father Clement, a monk in Algeria, who tending his mandarin garden in the orphanage of Misserghim, found a natural mutation. He nurtured the fruit tree and subsequently called it "clementino". Others, like Japanese botanist Tanaka, believe that clementines must have originated in Asia and found their way through human migration to the Mediterranean. Whatever their origin, the fact is that clementines found their natural climate and soil in Spain, where they developed their particular aroma, sweetness and taste. Commercial production of clementines began in Spain in 1925. Today there are 161,000 acres dedicated to the cultivation of clementines.

Season:  Late October – February

Nutritional Info: Very low in Sodium, also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Folate and Potassium, and Vitamin C. There are 80 calories in 2 clementines.

If you haven’t tried this delectable little fruit pick some up next time you’re at the grocery store. I warn you though… these little things are addictive! You can’t eat just one.

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