Foods that are Killing the Planet
Five Foods That Are Killing the Planet
Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you can't live without Quarter Pounders, packaged pastries, or expensive sushi. —Avital Andrews
Bluefin
We'll let Pulitzer Prize–winning food critic Jonathan Gold get on his soapbox for this one:
"People need to stop eating BLUEFIN TUNA. Period. It'll be difficult because bluefin is uncommonly delicious and tends to be served at high-end sushi bars, where the fashion is to say 'omakase' and submit to the chef's will. But the numbers of these magnificent fish are dropping fast. If we don't stop eating them now, we'll stop in a few years anyway because there won't be any more." Carl Safina, who founded the Blue Ocean Institute, adds, "Because they're long-lived, bluefin populations don't stand up well to heavy fishing pressure—that's why they're so depleted. It's just too sad to eat them. Plus, big fish are high in mercury." To rein in your share of the overfishing disaster currently unfolding—bluefin stock is down by more than 96 percent from unfished levels—order a vegetarian roll instead.
Coffee
The problem with CONVENTIONAL COFFEE, according to Stephen Madigosky, an environmental science professor at Widener University, "stems from manipulating this shade-loving plant into one that's grown in full sunlight and requires substantial use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers." He adds that biologically rich forests are cleared in favor of coffee crops, which devastates tropical species, especially migratory birds. Order organic java to cut out the pesticides, and choose shade-grown to protect rainforest biodiversity. Marc Lash, sustainability ambassador for FrontStreet Facility Solutions, points out that how you take your coffee makes a difference: "At Starbucks, a black cup of coffee has a carbon footprint of about 30 grams, whereas a venti caramel latte has one of about 420 grams."
Beef
"Cheap burgers are environmental assassins," says Logan Strenchock, Central European University's sustainability officer. Feeding cows to turn them into FACTORY-FARMED BEEF often requires replacing tropical forests with fields of genetically modified corn and soy, which are laced with pesticides that pollute local waters. "It takes 10 to 14 pounds of grain-based feed for a cow to gain 1 pound of flesh," Strenchock says. "Once harvested, that flesh needs to be kept cold, consuming massive amounts of energy." If you must eat a dead cow, eat a grass-fed one, but even then, consider these words from Mary O'Brien, who directs the Utah Forests Program for the Grand Canyon Trust: "In the western U.S., cattle have the single most pervasive impact on public lands, depleting native biodiversity, increasing invasive exotics, diverting water, fouling streams, and baring the soil."
Corn
"GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN violates so many sustainability boundaries—destroying habitats, depleting soils, breaking nutrient cycles, polluting air and water, contaminating native maize varieties, and on and on," says Douglas Fox, a professor of sustainable agriculture at Unity College. Terry Walters, author of Clean Food (Sterling Epicure, 2012), says that such monocrops "put our bee population at risk and are creating superpests." She adds that corn's unhealthy offspring, high-fructose corn syrup, "takes a huge toll on the land, requires more pesticides and fertilizers over time as soil is depleted, and requires extensive processing." Lee Greene, who runs heirloom-food company Scrumptious Pantry, adds that relying on genetically modified crops "will continue to dramatically reduce biodiversity and drive historic fruits and vegetables to extinction."
Palm Oil
"PALM OIL is one of the largest causes of rainforest destruction," says Laurel Sutherlin, a Rainforest Action Network spokesperson. According to RAN, U.S. palm oil use has ballooned by 500 percent over the past 10 years—it's now in about half of all packaged foods. Christy Wilhelmi, author of Gardening for Geeks (Adams Media, 2013), points out that this oil can be produced only in tropical areas—so huge swaths of ancient rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia have been bulldozed to plant new palms. "Eight million acres have been cleared and burned already," Wilhelmi says, "and as a result, the orangutan is on its way to extinction." In Indonesia, deforestation-related carbon emissions—most of which are from expanding palm plantations—surpass the amount of pollution caused by all U.S. cars, trucks, planes, and ships. To avoid palm oil, read the ingredients on packaged goods, especially cookies, crackers, and instant-noodle soups.
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201401/enjoy-five-foods-killing-the-planet.aspx?utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm heading over to read the article now. 
Thank you so much! 
I'll go check out Trader Joe's next time I buy groceries.
Carob
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratonia_siliqua
...but of course there's nothing really like coffee...
I'll check on those. I have some bizarre allergies so I have to be cautious of which herbs I get involved with. But the upside to weird allergies is that they made me aware of herbals and marketing schemes all in one fell swoop!
Mine, the most important one, is mint... all of them including catnip. I had to stop flying on commercial flights due to the closed air system and all those lozenges and gum and lifesavers!! Another is hops, no beer for me! I compensate with wine or spirits when the need arises! Fortunately I drink alcohol about three times a year, like during the holidays at social gatherings.
I do use herbs for medicines and just for flavor when cooking. And teas are good, I should enjoy them more, maybe I can wean myself from coffee - done it before but I got re-addicted and not regretting it yet!
my hubs face blows up like a chipmunk if he drinks beer. So he avoids it too. But that mint allergy is really annoying I bet, esp if it just has to be in the air (!) Wow--could you wear a face mask? That's like my friend who has chemical sensitivity and when everybody's using the dryers with those obnoxious chemical-laden dryer sheets she can't even go outside in her neighborhood to work in the yard. Excuse me for going off on a tangent but people really need to save money and wise up about those *#% polluting dryer sheets:
http://ecowatch.com/2013/04/05/why-you-need-to-ditch-dryer-sheets/
And America is finally getting the message about chemical perfumes in laundry detergent. We need to be using "All-free" or one of the Seventh Generation products or Ecos (sold at Costco). We are really stressing our bodies with having to deal with all these airborne chemicals. I'm sure you agree. And I notice that people are using less perfumed body products too. My nose is sensitive to that stuff. My hub won't even go into a store that has detectable scents in the air--he says "potpourri alert" and walks out. And those plug-in things are really diabolical--instant headaches. (Don't get me started on Febreze...)
There are so many good kinds of green tea or white tea--if you can use them to cut down on coffee (not out 
-- they have much less caffeine. Those barley coffee substitutes are really a hurdle (I keep wishing for the real thing). No-caffeine herbal teas are my choice, but I have to read all labels for chamomile --daisy family allergies are fairly common. I like hibiscus teas, calming and actually lowers blood pressure (but if you have low BP, may not be the best choice). Depending on your body type & BP, coffee may not be so bad. My hub has extremely low BP so starting the morning with a cup of coffee is probably all right for him. Everything in moderation.
Blah blah blah I know...but medicinal aspects of food is a fascinating topic...
I still appreciate the suggestion. The flavoured teas they sell in those shops are also amazing. It's like going on a treasure hunt in there.
I was appalled the day I went with a friend to Peet's, the go-to chain in the Bay Area, and discovered that they only had bagged tea for her! 
The hell of it is, they sell tins of tea leaves, but won't brew them. 
I agree, all it takes is a cup of boiling water and a little finesse/timing. 
I could have easily gone another couple of blocks to a locally-owned place that serves actual tea. 
if I should try their coffee. I am very tempted! 
If one is to take all three of the requirements in this article--that the coffee be certified fair trade, certified organic, and shade-gown, I'm not sure any of us could afford it (even if we could easily find it).
Just because a web site says it sources its coffee through "fair, direct relationships" does that mean it is technically "fair trade"? I don't know.
This sounds like great coffee, but I'm not going to order my coffee all the way from MD--that really adds to the carbon footprint enormously if you have to ship it via UPS or FedEx.
Life is too complicated sometimes
Any food that contains the words "mechanically separated chicken" as a key ingredient should never be eaten by anyone. 
How dare they criticize GMO corn? Everyone knows it's just the same as organic corn.
