Pesticide Drift and the Coase Theorem
Two farms are next to each other. The brussels sprouts farm uses pesticides; the herb farm is seeking organic certification. When the pesticide is deployed, the wind or fog may blow pesticide onto the herb farm, destroying its organic status….
Two Vegetarian Products I’m Not Likely to Try
1) KFC Canada is launching a new “Classic Vegetarian Sandwich” made of soy chicken. This is the result of negotiations with PETA, which has had KFC in its sights for some time. This move reminds me a little of Burger…
Best of Mountain View 2008
The local paper (the Mountain View Voice) published its Best of Mountain View edition. The best businesses. The best restaurants. As usual, these are generally competent lists of where we go as locals: * House of Bagels (just down the…
Soy Milk v. Cow Milk, the Environmental Comparison
Slate’s Green Lantern compares the environmental impact of drinking soy milk v. cow’s milk. The conclusion: “soy is the somewhat more eco-conscious choice,” a conclusion reached somewhat reluctantly because soy milk is so much more processed than cow’s milk.
Buying Local Food Isn’t The Most Effective Way to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
I’ve repeatedly complained that the talk about global warming and environmentalism has been oddly silent about vegetarianism as an option, even though it’s one of the single most effective ways to reduce carbon footprint. As more evidence of this, see…
PETA Encourages Production of In Vitro Meat
PETA is funding a $1M prize for the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.” I don’t know much about in vitro meat, but I…
Lawyer Named One of 25 Most Fascinating Vegetarians
I’m backlogged as usual, but reading through the August 2007 issue of VegNews, I saw that Christine Garcia of the Animal Law Office was named one of the 25 most fascinating vegetarians by VegNews. I’m a little unclear on the…
States Trying to Stimulate Demand for Hunting
From the NYT: There appears to be a downward shift in the demand curve for hunting. In 1975, there were over 19M+ hunters; in 2006, only 12.5M. This decrease might reflect widespread changes in consumer preferences, but some states are…
Will Meat-Guzzlers Go the Way of Gas-Guzzlers?
Regular readers of this blog know that I wish that the environmental benefits of vegetarianism were better understood. To that end, another NYT article explores the topic. This article recaps a lot of social science I’ve blogged before, but I…
Pizza Plaza, Oakland–a Vegan Pizza Joint
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve found vegetarian restaurants in some pretty obscure locations, such as the five-star restaurant in Murphys and the raw restaurant in a Las Vegas mini-mall miles from the Strip. This weekend, using my typical technique of…