Access to all articles, new health classes, discounts in our store, and more!
News for Now Update: Week ending May 13, 2023
Today’s News for Now alert contains vital information to empower your health and wellness!
Topics this week include: a farming fund empowering Black farmers with $20 million of financial investment and other forms of support to counteract historic inequities, a report that calculates the environmental impact of lab-grown meat at up to 25 times greater than conventionally produced beef, a new tool that quantifies the economic value of breastfeeding to society, and more—stories to keep you informed of health news in your community and worldwide.
In our #TBT Pioneer Archives post, Royal Lee, DDS, in 1957, explores hydrophilic colloids like pectin, clay, and comfrey, which were common in traditional remedies for digestive issues from diarrhea to constipation, and emphasizes the value of organic foods whose complexity can’t be artificially replicated.
This week, tune in to the Food As Medicine Global online conference, where our executive director, Steven J. Schindler, will be giving a plenary talk entitled, “Forgotten Discoveries of Health Pioneers: How th Wisdom of Ancestral Nutrition Can Save People and Planet,” on Friday, May 19th, at 11:15am Pacific. Register here!
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
Black Farmer Fund Investing $20 Million
The Black Farmer Fund, created by Karen Washington and Olivia Watkins, is investing $20 million to empower Black farmers, agricultural businesses, and food entrepreneurs in the Northeast. The fund provides financial support, tools, and training to help address the enormous disparities Black farmers face as a result of historic inequalities and discrimination; in the long-term, they aim to build community wealth and promote local food sovereignty. Read more at Civil Eats.
Lab Grown Meat: 25x Worse for the Planet
Unsurprisingly, artificially growing animal cells in a sterile laboratory environment, using highly refined growth mediums, may be considerably more energy and resource intensive (and thus environmentally costly) than allowing nature to produce meat in a biological system. Although still only a pre-print, one UC Davis study referenced by IFLScience calculates this cost at up to 25 times the environmental impact of real meat, challenging cultured-meat sustainability claims. Read more at IFLScience.
Supreme Court Rules on Pig Welfare
Concluding a story we shared last October, the Supreme Court upheld a California law banning the sale of pork from pigs raised in extreme confinement. The court ruled that the law does not violate the Constitution and affirmed states’ rights to set their own laws. While a win against animal cruelty, some raise concerns about the precedent for states’ differing moral standards to restrict interstate commerce in other ways. Read more at MSN.
How Much is Mothers’ Milk Worth to Society?
The Mothers’ Milk Tool helps reveal the hidden value of breastfeeding (trillions of dollars in the US alone), emphasizing its importance as a national asset for enhancing food security and improving the health of both mothers and children. The findings demonstrate how some countries effectively capitalize on this value, while others suffer substantial losses, and suggest that cultural shifts supporting breastfeeding can have wide-ranging benefits for society. Read more at News Medical.
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Protective Colloids Found in Ancient Remedies, by Royal Lee, DDS
In this 1957 #TBT article, Royal Lee, DDS, discusses the use of hydrophilic colloids such as pectin, clay, and comfrey in folklore and Indigenous remedies, noting their use in treating many digestive issues, from diarrhea to constipation. He also reinforces the importance of relying on the wisdom of Mother Nature for organic foods, whose complexity we can’t begin to unravel or outperform with artificial food production. Read more in our Pioneer Archives Post.
In case you missed last week’s News for Now Update, you can find it here:
News for Now Update: Week ending May 6, 2023 (HealCon Edition)
Check our social media channels daily (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and LinkedIn), and keep your eye on your email for weekly News for Now Updates from carefully curated sources you can trust.