Better marketing helps urban agriculture programs keep kids off the streets

(NaturalNews) Urban market gardens are a great way for inner-city neighborhoods to unite around a common cause and improve the social fabric of their local community — all while reaping a delicious harvest in the process. And a new study published in the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education has found that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs that build upon this concept can become highly effective and successful, especially when they are driven with proper marketing. Recently, NaturalNews featured a piece about the growth of local food and how community organizers in Detroit are reviving the city’s dying landscape with urban agriculture programs (http://www.naturalnews.com/030071_good_food_agriculture.html). And as part of the new study, researchers highlighted Seattle Youth Garden Works (SYGW), a program of Seattle Tilth that has been working for years to help and provide job training for local homeless and troubled youth through urban agriculture. In its early days, the organization had trouble maintaining the program because it lacked proper marketing outlets, but faculty from Washington State University (WSU) helped the group develop a CSA system that would end up helping it to thrive. Poor, inner-city neighborhoods are typically the most undernourished in terms of access to fresh produce. Many grocery stores that once carried such products have since moved out of these areas, leaving locals with little access to any fresh food. But successful CSA programs have been able to fill that gap, as well as provide hope and new opportunities for the people who live in these communities. But making it all happen requires effective marketing to clients. And part of SYGW’s goal is to utilize its passion for helping homeless and misguided youth to attract more customers to CSAs, which in turn brings in more vendors. According to reports, the popularity of CSAs and local agriculture in general has risen dramatically over the past several decades. Direct-to-consumer agriculture sales more than doubled between 1997 and 2007. So integrating them with inner-city social programs like SYGW is a great way to expand the growth of local food, as well as help provide the least among us with new life opportunities. Sources for this story include: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-10/asoa-gci102510.php

Feds cracking down on artificial marijuana

(NaturalNews) U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials recently announced a temporary ban on a popular new marijuana substitute known as “K2″ or “Spice”, that contains various natural herbs and a synthetic spray coating that makes the blend have a marijuana-like effect on the body. According to officials, the synthetic spray contains five dangerous chemicals that are sending users to the emergency room. “Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that ‘fake pot’ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case,” explained Michele Leonhart, acting administrator at the DEA, in a statement. “Today’s action (banning the chemicals) will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products.” Currently, the chemicals are not a controlled substance, which means they are fully legal. And since makers of such products label them with disclaimers saying they not intended for human consumption, there is really no course of action that authorities can take to curb use. Subsequently, the popularity of artificial marijuana, especially among young people, has risen dramatically in recent years. An ABC News report explains that the number of people harmed and sent to emergency rooms because of artificial marijuana has “risen exponentially” over the past year and a half. And according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there have already been 500 cases of adverse reactions to the drug this year, which include severe seizures and losing consciousness. “You’re basically playing Russian roulette with these chemicals,” explained Gary Boggs, a special agent at the DEA, to ABC News. “Hallucination, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure … these chemicals appear to bind to certain parts of the brain, so the potential for long-term effects are very deadly.” Sources for this story include: http://abcnews.go.com/US/synthetic-marijuana-dea-moves-temporarily-ban-powerful-drug/story?id=12234682

European support for GMOs continues to plummet

(NaturalNews) Europeans are growing weary of all the pro-GMO (genetically-modified organism) propaganda being spewed by multinational biotechnology companies like Monsanto, and polls now show that strong support for GMOs has reached a low of roughly five percent. In other words, somewhere in the vicinity of 95 percent of Europeans now view GMOs with skepticism, while the majority perceive them as outright unsafe and lacking any supposed benefits. The Eurobarometer survey used to determine the current popularity of GMOs has seen a downward trend in the popularity of GMOs since at least the mid-1990s. Even in Spain, the most pro-GMO country in Europe, support for GMOs has dropped by 20 percent in the last five years. The study found that 70 percent of Europeans believe GMOs are fundamentally unnatural, while nearly 60 percent believe they are a threat to the health of themselves and their families. Fifty-eight percent believe GMOs are not safe for future generations. “The survey provides EU (European Union) decision-makers with an unequivocal answer: the majority of Europeans are opposed to the development of GM food in Europe,” explained Marco Contiero from Greenpeace, concerning the study. “This clearly shows that public opposition to GM food is based on knowledge and choice, not on ignorance as the biotech industry has claimed for years.” In a recent U.S. poll conducted by The Economist , 62 percent of respondents indicated their belief that biotechnology, and GMOs in particular, are not compatible with sustainable agriculture (http://www.naturalnews.com/030370_GMO_biotech.html). However in the U.S., GMO products are not transparently labeled like they are in Europe, so many Americans are still unaware of how pervasive GMOs actually are in the food supply. Sources for this story include: http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/12660-eurobarometer-more-europeans-opposed-to-gm-food http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_winds_en.pdf

Surge in infertility tourism leads to Viking babies

(NaturalNews) In vitro fertilization (IVF) has become a popular method by which women who are having trouble getting pregnant are able to use donor sperm to achieve pregnancy. In the UK, however, there is a shortage of donor sperm that is causing British women to have to travel to countries like Denmark in order to find some. A 2005 British law change outlawed the donating of sperm anonymously. UK law also has a long-standing rule that prohibits men who donate from receiving any sort of monetary compensation. Because of these rules, and the fact that many men fear having to provide their identities with the donation because the children may eventually try to find and meet them, few British men are donating sperm these days. As a result, the waiting list to receive IVF in the UK is several years. In 2007, Denmark changed its laws and now permits anonymous donors, which has led to a surge in foreign women coming there to receive IVF treatment. Danish donors are also compensated between $60 and $200 for their donations which has helped to facilitate a large number of casual donors. The Danish sperm bank, Cryos, is the largest sperm bank in the world and is a popular destination for “infertility tourists” seeking to have children. Denmark is one of the few nations that allows anonymous donations as well as monetary compensation for them. For this reason, Danish clinics are flourishing with increased business. DanFert in Copenhagen more than doubled its IVF customers since 2007. Vita Nova in Copenhagen has seen a 40 percent increase in women seeking IVF from Britain alone. Danish clinics also cater to single women who are trying to have children, a controversial scenario rejected by many other nations who aim to serve couples trying to conceive. Such liberal laws have attracted all sorts of women from around the globe who wish to bear children but are otherwise unable. Because of the popularity of the program, Danish banks have begun opening up franchised fertility clinics in other countries that permit it, including in the US and India. In these countries, men who are looking to make some extra cash often donate to the clinic, a practice that has all but ceased in Britain due to the laws. Many women are hoping that UK laws will once again allow for anonymous sperm donors. They believe it will help to increase supply and end the shortage that has prevented many women from receiving IVF there. Sources for this story include: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8298465.stm