Frequent questions asked of vegetarians: “But don’t you need meat to live?” “How do you get your protein?” “Are you sickly and anemic if you don’t eat beef?” Marion Nestle comes to the rescue with a blog post on why it’s just fine not to eat animals.

Bisphenol A – the little plastic that causes big problems. Looks like it’s finally getting the attention it desperately deserves. Nicholas Kristof reports in the New York Times.

“H1N1” or “Swine Flu”, which do you prefer? The name that reveals the link to factory farming, or the sanitized white house version? Tom Philpott suggests the media get more comfortable with “swine flu” on Grist.

Factory farmed products may be in the overwhelming majority of the food we eat, but it can be avoided with a bit of gumption. Nicolette Hahn Niman gives a detailed roundup of the steps to eating food you can be comfortable with on the Huffington Post.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, “Eating Animals”, is the latest in a line of books espousing conscientious thought in eating. Elizabeth Colbert published a fantastic review in The New Yorker giving it both praise and due criticism. What I want to know is, does the author have anything new to say, or is it the same information Pollan and so many others have already published?

Nicole Hahn Niman strikes again with an op-ed in the New York Times defending small livestock farmers. In the face of a new report stating that GHG emissions from livestock may be as high as 51%, Hahn Niman states that small family farms aren’t the problem - de-forestation and industrial agriculture are.  I think she and Safron Foer (above) may have some disagreements on this one.

A man by the name of Islam Siddiqui has been nominated for the position of chief agricultural negotiator in the office of the U.S. trade representatives. You may know him from such frightening organizations as “CropLife America”, which openly blasted Michelle Obama’s organic garden.  Seems to be a blatant oxymoron; The New York Times reports.

Cocoa Krispies boosts your immunity! Wait, I take that back, and so does Kellogg. The cereal giant is reneging on its claim that Cocoa Krispies and other cereals boost health with added antioxidants. It’s a tough time out there for fake healthy food. See Advertising Age for the full story.

For the December edition of Consumer Reports, a plethora of cans, bottles and bags were tested for BPA – the results were not good. Fooducate gives a very clear breakdown of the problems associated with BPA (toxicity, brain damage, cancer), and Civil Eats gives some further insight.

All of our food may be produced by major agriculture corporations, but at least our wine’s still safe, right? Unfortunately, the top 30 wines sold in the U.S. all come from major producers who buy “grape juice” in bulk from various locations and slap a label on it. But don’t despair, small wineries still do exist, just look for “produced and bottled by” on the label and you’re in the clear. Read the full story on The Daily Beast.

I knew they would find a use for all that poop! A Vermont dairy farm will be turning manure from 1,200 cattle into energy for 250 homes. Hopefully the energy won’t smell like the manure. Read the full article on Environmental Leader.

Coca Cola is launching 90 calorie cans of their most popular soda brands. While I applaud their effort to reduce soda consumption, I hope it doesn’t encourage people to drink two or three instead of one. How about a tall glass of tap water?

Baby carrots may look cute, but is it really wise to waste your money on whittled down roots? They so accurately reflect the American consumer’s desire for conformity in food. Read all about it on WiseBread.

Good news on the slaughterhouse front (is any slaughterhouse news good news?). Certain small, state run slaughterhouses will be approved to sell meat across state lines under proposed inspection policy. This is great news for sustainable farmers who abhor sending their precious cattle to large, dirty slaughterhouses. To learn more, read Chris Hunt’s article on The Green Fork.

Oh Grist, you provide us with so much useful sustainable food information. I could try and write a witty paragraph about each article, but there are so many, it would take me all day. Instead I’ll point our readers  in the direction of some good stuff on GMO’s and Bill Gates, antibiotics on feed lots, “Smart Choices”, and CAFOs “above the law”.

Up until recently, it was believed that live stock production contributed about 18% of the world’s global warming gases. An alarming new report by the Worldwatch Institute puts that number at 51% – half of the human contribution! Check out the report here, and Change.org’s analysis here. Coming soon: The American Meat Institute’s rebuttal.

Food brings us many things; memories, pleasure, guilt, nourishment. It is shaped by our culture and our beliefs, our families and friends. Eventually, we take all of that information and pass it on to the next generation. Jonathan Safran Foer, writing for the New York Times Magazine, expresses all of these ideas in a new Food Issue article.

“Two thirds of all High Fructose Corn Syrup goes into soft drinks.” “Each additional daily serving of soda increases a child’s chance risk for obesity by 60%.” Those are just a few of the gems that Fooducate picked out from UCLA’s Center for Health Policy’s recent study on soda consumption in California.

Gourmet Magazine’s demise sent shock waves throughout the food-focused world. While some pegged its style as pretentious, others defended the editorial skill and content. Either way, there is no question that Gourmet was ground breaking in its critique of modern agriculture and support of sustainable food. Read Grist’s opinion here, and check out Gourmet’s “Food Politics” section.

The Farm Bureau, showing a depressing amount of short-sightedness, is trying to knock down a new congressional bill to derail climate control. Apparently, the bill will mean higher fuel and fertilizer costs, hitting the heart of American Ag. Yes, fuel guzzling, hormone injecting, pesticide-spraying, Big American Ag. See the New York Times for more.

Michael Pollan was recently asked to speak at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Sounds simple enough, right? World renowned agricultural author goes to speak at world renowned agriculture school? Wrong. Read about the “controversy” that ensued in the Los Angeles Times.

The entire country of Ireland is banning GM products. Yes folks, while they have weaseled their way into 65%-70% of American food products, Ireland is cutting them out completely. It seems like if a country, a whole dang country, is banning GM products, maybe we should take a close look at why they are doing so.

There are many factors that affect obesity: diet, exercise, genetics. But now a new player has entered the game – plastics. Yes, that useful, jack of all trades material found throughout your house could be a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Newsweek reports and Tom Lawsky at Grist provides some analysis.

Homemade food is certainly healthier, but is it tastier and cheaper than fast food? I would certainly say yes, but would a bunch of teenage boys agree? Sally Sampson at the Washington Post puts it to the test by whipping up some staple fast food cuisine at home.

First Lady Michelle Obama was honored by the American Public Gardens Association at the opening of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh for planting the White House Garden. While the USDA is moving forward with the “Know Your Food, Know Your Farmer” program, and those of us in the non-profit world are always pushing for public interest in sustainable food, Michelle Obama has given the movement a huge boost simply by planting some seeds. Obama Foodorama reports.

A recently completed study by the USDA states that education is the biggest factor in determining whether a person buys organic foods regardless of age, ethnicity or number of children they have. So I guess that’s the solution - send everyone to college, and we’ll all eat organic food. Simple enough, right? Read the full report here.

When most people think of a farmer, they think of a big guy in overalls, driving a tractor over the crop-studded land. But did you know that 65%-75% of the worlds food supply is grown by women and that two in ten American farms are run by women? Nicole Sugarman writes about being a female farmer on Beyond Green.

There are still many people of the mindset that genetically modified seeds can save the world – and they met, on Tuesday, to hash that out. The Global Harvest Initiative, which was founded by chemical and agriculture giants DuPont, John Deere, Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland, is trying to make a buck on developing nations even though the method has failed miserably in the past. Paul Crossfield at Civil Eats has more.

People look so happy in Dannon yogurt commercials; they’re all “it’s got extra bacteria” and “I’m so happy”. But don’t be fooled by their over-enthusiastic marketing! In Activia yogurt, you’ll find just as much pro-biotic bacteria as any other yogurt along with four teaspoons of sugar. If you’re like me, you’ll stick with your goat yogurt. Check it out on Fooducate.

There are lots of problems with tuna. It may be delicious, but it’s filled with mercury, the endless demand for it is driving it to extinction and thousands of dolphins are killed in the process. As a solution, some companies try to solve the latter problem and offer dolphin-safe Tuna, but the blog Southern Fried Science now informs us that it’s a hoax as well!

Continuing on with seafood, La Vida Locavore gives us a good rundown on how shrimp is farmed. Some of the chemicals used in shrimp farming are urea, superphosphate and Diesel oil. Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?

If all this talk of terrible seafood makes you sad, don’t you worry! McDonalds is never more than 107 miles away!

Senate Ag. Chair Blanche Lincoln hasn’t held the position for long, but she’s already showing her true colors. She’s against the climate bill, against estate tax, against the Clean Water Act – yikes! Read more on La Vida Locavore.

Jonah Sachs, founder of Free Range Studios and developer of The Meatrix, is interviewed in the SFGate. He proposes an alternative method of propagating progressive ideas – appeal to emotions rather than just giving the facts. While the conservatives have mastered this method of visceral reaction (think “death panels”), progressives need to start focusing less on peoples minds and more on their emotions.

The New York Times profiles the Glynwood Center, a non-profit group supporting rural conservation as well as a 225 acre working farm. They recently held an event bringing together people from all walks of life – farmers, micro financiers, land-use planners – an unthinkable thought merely ten years ago!

Tom Philpott talks about the legacy of Norman Borlaug, founder of the “Green Revolution” on Grist. Borlaug’s initial, commendable goal was to increase food supplies in poor nations using modern technology, but he failed to recognize the political, social, economic and environmental factors which would jeopardize this objective. Hopefully Gates and others can learn from his experience that boosting yield alone is not the solution to world hunger.

A recent RAND Corporation study states that Americans could cut $18 billion in health care costs if they lowered their salt intake. About one third of Americans suffer from hypertension, and meeting sodium guidelines could eliminate 11 million cases of high blood pressure. Looks like the original unhealthy food will be seeing a resurgence in bad press. See USA Today.

Have you ever seen the movie “Thank You For Smoking”? Basically, it’s about a guy who lobbies for Big Tobacco. Well, I think they should make a movie called “Thank You For Drinking Soda”, because the folks involved in the beverage industry are working hard to make sure that soda does not get taxed. They deny any involvement in the nation’s obesity problem, and compare a soda tax to life under the Soviet Union. See more in the New York Times.

The Nation just came out with a “Food For All” issue and there’s so much great stuff I can’t sum it all up here. Instead, I’ll just point you in the right direction and you can explore for yourself – Dave Murphy, Raj Patel, Alice Waters…

Professor, HuffPo contributor and all around environmentalist Simran Sethi is very disappointed in SIGG. Her beloved water bottle, which she has promoted on numerous talk shows including Oprah and the Today Show, turns out to contain BPA!

You may remember a piece a while back entitled “The Omnivores Delusion“, I think the title is pretty self explanatory. There have been many responses to the piece, but this rebuttal on Change.org by Greg Plotkin was especially poignant and balanced.

New York City has introduced a new anti-soda campaign starring what else? Human Fat! See coverage in the NYTimes as well as Grist.

So apparently, French fries and potato chips may be toxic, much to my dismay. Marion Nestle blogs about Canada’s addition of the substance Acrylamide to its list of known toxins. Acrylamide is a carcinogen which is created when carbohydrates and proteins are cooked together at high temperatures.

Many of us make a conscious decision to eat sustainably raised and organic eggs, but the fact is, the chickens that hatched those eggs were born in the same sad place as those who hatch conventional eggs – many males are culled in the process as well. Read more at change.org.

Americans eat an average of 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, 355 calories! The American Heart Association reports that we need to cut back – it is adding to the growing problem of obesity and cardiac disease. Why am I not surprised? Check out more commentary at Fooducate and on Food Politics as well.

Another food movie recently on our radar, Good Food, delves into sustainable food and farming in the Pacific Northwest. Sustainable food is certainly starting to get the attention it deserves!

For vacation this year, many Americans have been taking “staycations”, but how about a “Haycation”? This New York Times article reports on the growing trend of farm vacations, already popular in Europe.  Not the cheapest alternative, but certainly supports farmers who could use the extra help.

I can’t say it much better than Meg on BuzzFlash.com, “I don’t like it when scientists feel the need to explain that they’re scared out of their wits, or use exclamation marks.” A recent Johns Hopkins Magazine article speaks to the devastating effects of antibiotic use in factory farms.

The New York Times states in a recent piece that they support dairy subsidies for small struggling farmers. While generally I think subsides are harmful, in this case they are spot on.

Sustainable taco trucks…local beer…Oakland CA…Eat Real Festival…Be there!

What do small farms, Subway, and smelly feet have in common? Slow Food prez Josh Viertel answers these questions in an article for The Atlantic.

To summarize the recent NYTimes article on school food, I’ll pull a quote from Renegade Lunch lady Ann Cooper, “All of a sudden I am not the fringe idiot trying to get everyone to serve peas and carrots that don’t come out of a can, like that’s the most radical idea they have ever heard of”.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey made quite a stir with a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the proposed health care plan blasting a public health care option. Zachary Adam Cohen of Farm to Table and Jill Richardson of La Vida Locavore both chimed  in with some poignant commentary.

If you’ve been following the news on our decaying food system for a while, then nothing that this Time Magazine article says will be particularly new to you. It is however fantastic that such a mainstream magazine is covering the topic of food sustainability – it has awesome slide shows too!

Obesity has become a national epidemic, and the solution to this crisis has been hotly debated. Whose responsibility is it – personal, societal, governmental? How do we solve it – soda tax, higher health care costs, child nutrition? The NYTimes “weighs” in.

There has been lots of talk in the last year or so on all things food: industrial, conventional, organic, sustainable – lots of attacks, lots of defense. Vanessa Barrington of EcoSalon thinks it means sustainable food is winning!