News for Now Update: Week ending April 2, 2022

Regenerative Farming Boosts Food Quality and Human Health
A recent PeerJ journal study concluded that regenerative farming practices substantially improve food quality, specifically in vitamins, minerals, and important phytochemicals, known to boost human health.
Side-by-side comparisons were an important component of this study, with regenerative and conventional farm plots literally bordering one another. Researchers involved believe the key to this improvement in nutrient levels stems from the abundant microbes and fungi present in regenerative soil biology. Read more at Agri-View.

Our Hidden Water Footprint—and What You Can Do to Shrink It
Many of us have heard about shrinking our carbon footprint, but what about our water footprint?
Across the globe, 70% of water resources are used for agriculture and 20% for industrial purposes. What we don’t know is that a “hidden” amount is being used in the production chain of many industries, including coffee and cotton. Even technology is a demanding water usage industry.
Though big ag and industry is often where major water conservation efforts are concentrated, there are ways we all can help to preserve our water supply. Cutting back on consumption broadly, and food waste, and recycling as much as possible in our own households, can make a difference. It’s no joke that our choices will help to preserve our most precious resource. Find out more in this DW News article.

Challenge to CA Measure Protecting Farm Animals
A California measure designed to reduce animal cruelty is at risk of modification by the Supreme Court, which agreed on Monday to consider an out-of-state pork producers’ constitutional challenge to the measure’s minimum 24 sq. ft. pig pen space requirement. California voters approved Prop. 12 in 2018 to phase out extreme farm animal confinement and improve the health and safety of consumers by reducing the risk of food-borne illness. Read about it in this Los Angeles Times report.

Microplastics Found in Human Bloodstream
The global proliferation of microplastics has taken a dangerous turn for the worse. In a new and predictable report from The Guardian, plastics have been found in the human bloodstream for the first time. Babies and children are at the greatest risk as they are more vulnerable to chemical and particle exposure. Learn more in the Guardian.

Pioneer Archives Post: Dr. Weston A. Price’s Field Study of Alaskan Natives, Published in 1934
The impact of modern foods on facial and dental development among Alaskan Natives—specifically looking at foods’ chemical and activator content—is the subject of Dr. Price’s eleventh travelogue, published in The Dental Digest in 1934.
Compared with people consuming modern foods, he observed that those eating ancestral diets enjoyed excellent dental health. But he knew that even they could suffer tooth decay by loss of their immunity when they abandoned their native foods for modern foods. Read more in our Pioneer Archives Post.