11 Year Old Speaks Out Against Bio-engineered Food

Watch this brilliant kid teach the world what he has learned about genetically engineered foods and the problems with our food systems.

Watch "11 YRS OLD EXPOSES MONSANTO AND TELLS MONSANTO WHERE THEY CAN SHOVE IT .. BRAVE CHILD." on YouTube

Urban Farming Safety Tips

Nothing is more satisfying than eating heirloom tomatoes tossed in with spinach - all grown from your very own mini urban farm.  

Growing your own food was something most people enjoyed generations ago and was just a simple fact of life.  Along came the industrial revolution and slowly the people became so disconnected with the land and farming that today, many urban kids have no idea where their food comes from.   We are a no longer in control of our food sources which has wreaked havoc on both the environment and our own health.
Unless organic, our foods are grown with the aid of carcinogenic pesticides and fertilizers not to mention the carbon footprint required to transport the produce from the farm to our tables.

Urban farming has gained a lot of attention in recent years as a solution to help break this change particularly in disenfranchised urban areas such as the Bronx.  Kids are now being exposed to such positive programs throughout the borough teaching them the importance of food justice issues.

The following article from the Huffington Post is an excellent read on making sure that your urban garden is safe from harmful chemicals such as lead paint or even oil and gasoline which unfortunately are present in city land through years of environmental abuse and decay.  

Just remember, though, that this is not a reason to stop or not start an urban garden for the benefits far outweighs the risks.   The article is just a simple reminder and resource on how to make the best out of your garden.

Is Your Garden Safe?: via HuffPost

CLOSE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

In a much needed boost to the cause for closing the nuke plant,  NYS Governor Cuomo wants Indian Point Power Plant shut down.

This isn't a surprise as he has been on record on not being too fond of this plant.  However, in light of the recent disaster in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami as well as a report which just came out which alarmingly calls Indian Point the most vulnerable nuclear power plant in America, he is calling for the closure of this potential ticking time bomb.

READ MORE:

Cuomo Wants Indian Point Power Plant Closed After Earthquake Report

A Case Against Nuclear Energy

With the recent devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11th and the nuclear disaster at the atomic energy plants caused by those events we must rethink our energy strategies.

We in the Bronx are the closest to a nuclear power plant, (Indian Point in Westchester is just 24 miles to our north) and frankly that is completely unacceptable to be in such close proximity to NYC.

Reports are now coming in that the food supply in Japan is now contaminated in the affected areas. 

Can we afford the same thing at Indian Point, so close to the city and our water supply?  Did you know that a FAULT LINE is directly underneath a reactor at Indian Point? 

Now you know so it's time we begin writing our local officials that this plant needs to shut down!

Radiation Detected in Milk, Spinach From Near Japan Plant - Businessweek

Image courtesy of: http://www.life.com/image/1430116

I Heart Green Developments - Just Not Near Me

The city is doing its part for the environment.  The Bloomberg administration has been adding miles and miles of bike lanes at the cost of removing existing car lanes. Fabulous, right? I mean less car lanes equals less cars and therefore less pollution, right? Less car lanes, more bike lanes encourage people to hop on a bicycle and pedal to their destinations instead of dirty, toxic spewing cars and that's a good thing, right?
Not everyone thinks so.  Park Slope residents (why am I not surprised) are sharply divided over one such lane in their neighborhood.  Typical nimby (not in my back yard) response but rather hypocritical because these residents are some of the most liberal in the city.
People generally hate any sort of change even when it's in line with their views and beliefs.  This problem of nimbyism if you will is not endemic to NYC but as you will read in the following article, there are such battles brewing in Martha's Vineyard and over in Berkeley, CA.
Can you imagine if we were like that in the Bronx? Not only are we the greenest borough in terms of park land but we are also the greenest in terms of new green developments. Melrose is the ONLY LEED certified neighborhood district in not just all of New York City, but the only one in the entire state of New York! Not bad for a neighborhood that was just rubble two decades ago.

READ MORE:  NYTimes: Green Development? Not in My (Liberal) Backyard http://nyti.ms/eIOgsW

Over 800 Earthquakes Linked To Fracking

As if we needed another reason to stop fracking from taking place in our region, a commission in Arkansas recently came to the conclusion that such activities were the cause of a recent swarm of earthquakes in that state. 
In the past six months over 800 earthquakes have been recorded, the strongest of which was a 4.7 this past Sunday.
More information on this as it comes.

'Fracking' Sites Suspended, Likely Linked To Earthquakes: via HuffPost

Snowy Winter Linked To Global Warming?

With the record snowfalls in the Bronx and across the United States, people were commonly overheard laughing and scoffing at the very idea of global warming.  Well think again:  Climatologists say otherwise and the worst may yet to come
Heavy Snowfalls Linked To Climate Change: via HuffPost