Free Republic

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), originally passed in 2010 and heartily endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama, is set to expire in September unless Congress acts to renew it. You may recall some of the details of that initiative including forcing all grains to be “whole grain rich” (whatever that means) and wiping out most of the salt in foods. Given the less then spectacular reception the program has received from schools – not to mention students – the GOP is looking at scaling back or at least modifying the rules. But The Hill was quick to characterize the...

Would take away a state's rights once and for all to require labeling of GMO foods. 70 bills have been introduced in over 30 states to require some sort of labeling of genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified organisms (GMO).1)http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/976/ge-food-labeling/state-labeling-initiatives#  Although very few of these bills or initiatives have passed into actual law, and many have been challenged in court, a new congressional bill would take away the state’s rights once and for all to require labeling of GMO foods.H.R.1599 2)https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1599/text, ironically labeled the  Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 has been renamed the DARK (Deny Americans the Right...

A vacant steel factory in Newark is turning into the world's largest-producing vertical farm. After it begins running later this year, the farm's indoor system of modular, stacked trays will grow around 2 million pounds of baby greens annually. The $30 million building will be the headquarters of AeroFarms, a company that has been developing vertical farm tech for the last decade. But the company sees the project as just the beginning—and hopes to build 25 farms in the next five years. AeroFarms already has eight smaller farms and five in the pipeline. "This isn't about one farm, this is...

A few weeks ago, Londoners were able to eat at the world’s first 3D printed, pop-up restaurant. In early June, a German-based company introduced the word’s first plug-and-play food printer, which may be ready for shipping as early as 2016. With the lowering cost to produce this technology, making it increasingly accessible, 3D printing could fundamentally change our relationship with food. Simply put, the process uses ingredients to generate three-dimensional meals by placing layers of compounded food on top of each other. Since 2012, the food industry has used this technology to produce ubiquitous products like candy, chocolate, pizza, noodles...

As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors, according to David Mitlin, Ph.D. Supercapacitors are energy storage devices that have huge potential to transform the way future electronics are powered. Unlike today’s rechargeable batteries, which sip up energy over several hours, supercapacitors can charge and discharge within seconds. But they normally can’t store nearly as much energy as batteries, an important property known as energy density. One approach researchers...

Texas' farmers were among the first to applaud the rain that abruptly halted a grueling multiyear drought that had tormented the region. But what began as a blessing has turned quickly into a disaster, as corn and wheat crops rot in flooded fields. "I think it is not all farmers, but some farmers are looking at a total loss for this year," said Mike Barnett, a spokesperson for the Texas Farm Bureau. "You have some situations where farmers had a bumper crop, and now they have next to nothing for the season." The downpour has doused Texas with 35 trillion...

These are dark days for KFC's once-dominant chicken empire. After five years of crumbling sales, the extra crispy mega-chain, which in 2012 lost its throne as America's top chicken seller to Chick-fil-A, now makes less money than eateries half its size, like Applebee's and Panera Bread. Now, 75 years after "Colonel" Harland Sanders first served his original recipe at a six-seat dining table in rural Kentucky, the chain is betting $185 million on a massive, bizarre turnaround campaign in hopes of winning a seat again at the fast-food table. The chain is blasting out TV ads, offering new Southern-style grub...

When it comes to farming, there is no better time than now to get into the field. Thanks to technological advances ushered in by the green movement, farming has evolved from a traditional means to sustain a personal living to a science with the potential to feed millions. The Inquisitr previously reported on how technology-assisted farming has become a blessing to others. Former NFL football player, Jason Brown, watched DIY videos on Youtube to learn how to grow 46,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 10,000 pounds of cucumbers, which he donated to pantries and kitchens. In Irvine, California, an entire...

A $150,000 prize has been awarded to the “Water Gandhi of India” for his wildly successful work that turns abandoned, impoverished “dust bowls” into lush villages bustling with life again using an ancient method of rainwater harvesting. For teaching thousands of villagers in India’s most arid region how to build earthen dams to catch the monsoon rains and revitalize their land, Rajendra Singh was honored Friday with the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize. 30 years ago, Singh went to the poverty-stricken state of Rajasthan with the aim of setting up health clinics. He was told by villagers, however, that their greatest...

This post is in follow up to "ken5050" posting about "what kind of coffee maker do you use?" Posted on ‎4‎/‎14‎/‎2015‎ ‎1‎:‎23‎:‎50‎ ‎PM by ken5050 I started saving my grounds as a compost for my herb garden. I'm not sure if it will over power them or be balanced. So I googled the topic and not surprisingly someone else has already thought about it. Please check out the following and share what you do with them. https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Uses+for+Coffee+Grounds

Pasadena city officials recently signed a letter of intent to develop a vertical farming facility and education center in north Pasadena through an agreement with Indoor Harvest Corp., a Houston-based company that designs and sells hydroponic systems and specializes in high-tech urban farming techniques. “We were looking for low-impact development projects for north Pasadena and came up with the idea of vertical farming, which seemed to be a perfect fit for that area,” Pasadena Publications Manager Wayne Holt said. “We also hope to eventually add a farmer’s market and educational programs in partnership with Pasadena ISD. This type of project...

Scientists in the Netherlands are one step closer to producing a viable lab-grown alternative to the conventional beef burger patty. Last year, Professor Mark Post and his team of scientists at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced the first prototype of a lab-grown burger. Benefits of this new burger production method include a decrease in animal slaughter, savings in land, water, and energy use required for livestock, and a reduction in greenhouse gases. The project has faced several hurdles, though, not the least of which was the enormous price tag of 250,000 Euros, or $273,000. That was roughly how...

Until Republicans can stop “pleasin’” crony capitalists with subsidies at the expense of the public, taxpayers will continue to be subject to regular “squeezin.” The really big difference between Republican and Democrat handout recipients is their ability to be sympathetically photogenic. When pressed, the average Democrat welfare recipient can hide the flat–screen TV, stash the cellphone in a drawer and refrain from cigarette smoking. And it’s not too much trouble to pretend to fill out the job application or limp convincingly to prove the bad back disability claim as long as photographers and media are around. The Republican dependency class...

A top U.S. Forest Service executive told his employees to probe their own “unconscious bias” on everything from race and sexuality to the disabled and fat people, asking them to use an unproven assessment tool to explore their feelings. The online test, which Forest Management Director Bryan Rice urged other agency directors to use as well, specifically warns of problems when it is taken “outside of the safeguards of a research institution.” Users also are told to be careful about how far to go in interpreting the results. Mr. Rice, in a March 11 email to his employees, also instructed...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas told the Iowa Ag Conference that it was time to “push back” on “anti-science zealotry” concerning GMOs or genetically modified organisms, according to a Saturday story in the Washington Times. GMOs are crops that have been modified to have desirable traits, such as resistance to pests or to contain certain helpful vitamins and nutrients that they otherwise would not have. Oddly enough, Bill Nye, the former “science guy” and former GMO opponent has come around to Cruz’s point of view. Nye, who is not a scientist but played one once on Children’s television, has joined in...

The Maunder Minimum (also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum) is the name used for the period roughly spanning 1645 to 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time. Like the Dalton Minimum and Spörer Minimum, the Maunder Minimum coincided with a period of lower-than-average global temperatures. During one 30-year period within the Maunder Minimum, astronomers observed only about 50 sunspots, as opposed to a more typical 40,000-50,000 spots. (Source) Climatologist John Casey, a former space shuttle engineer and NASA consultant, thinks that last year’s winter, described by USA Today as “one of...

When people discuss business uses for drones, they tend to jump to the novelty end of the consumer market—from the drone hobbyist with a GoPro camera to a complete overhaul of delivery services. “In the press, you always hear that Amazon will deliver a book, or pizzas will come to your house,” says Amar Hanspal, senior vice president at Autodesk, during a recent discussion on drones at Gigaom Structure Connect. “That is a cute thing to talk about, but the real action is in B2B industrial applications. That is where we’re watching the democratization of a broad use of drones...

At about $50 a barrel, crude oil prices are down by more than half from their June 2014 peak of $107. They may fall more, perhaps even as low as $10 to $20. Here’s why.

I'm writing on a story I heard about the spread of the Burmese python in Florida. This is also my first post on this site. Despite all our objections against the dangers of blind and excessive "green" regulations by the federal government, conservationism SHOULD NOT be seen as a strictly progressive movement. In the context of invasive species, these types of pests infest an area the size of Delaware every year in this country (according to the Audubon Society). Pythons roam the Everglades. Chinese privet chokes out vital understory species in the Southern uplands. Zebra mussels crust the surface of...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)An ad produced by the Department of Health and Human Services tells the story of Elena Miller-TerKuile, who is “pursuing her dream to farm” in Colorado thanks to Obamacare. “The Marketplace is probably the only reason I have health insurance right now,” the Columbia University grad says in the ad. She said, “It’s been my dream for a while to come back to the farm and work with my dad.” In a blog post at HHS Miller-TerKuile explains, “It was a hard dream to pursue without health insurance. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I was able to stay on...