RECOMMENDED READING

Developing World's Parasites, Disease Hit U.S.

"Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia...Government and private researchers are just beginning to assess the toll of the infections, which are a significant cause of heart disease, seizures and congenital birth defects among black and Hispanic populations." [Wall Street Journal]

In Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand

"Mato Grosso means thick forests, and the name was once apt. But today, this Brazilian state is a global epicenter of deforestation. Driven by profits derived from fertile soil, the region’s dense forests have been aggressively cleared over the past decade, and Mato Grasso is now Brazil’s leading producer of soy, corn and cattle, exported across the globe by multinational companies...But until now, there has been no financial reward for keeping forest standing. Which is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming." [New York Times]

Urban Farming Back in Vogue

"As economies around the world have faltered, abundant signs suggest growing interest among city dwellers in growing fresh produce and raising livestock. In Britain, the demand for plots of farmland on the outskirts of cities has been so strong that there are waiting lists in many places...In the United States, many groups have been fighting city ordinances that restrict or ban raising chickens and keeping bees." [Green Inc. - New York Times]

VIDEO

"Climate change, drought, population growth - they could all threaten future food supplies. But global agriculture, with its dependence on fuel and fertilisers is also highly vulnerable to an oil shortage, as Cuba found out 20 years ago." [BBC]

AUDIO

Saving Grassland A Matter Of Getting More Green

"The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers, primarily in the Midwest, an annual subsidy to leave their most easily-eroded land in grass, instead of using it for crops or cattle. But last year's farm bill cut back on the acreage covered in the program and, starting this summer, roughly two million acres — mostly in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado — will be turned back into farmland." [Weekend Edition - NPR]