World-wide, about 1/3 of the food being produced is wasted.  Of course, all this waste is an expense for individuals and families; furthermore, scientists keep warning us, organic waste material is detrimental to the environment in many ways. However, the positive side of the story is that human ingenuity is hard at work--at home, in labs, and in the business world--trying to decrease waste. For consumers, it's partly a matter of not creating waste in the first place and partly a matter of using leftovers in new ways to avoid losing them to the garbage can. More interesting are the ways in which science and industry try to deal with edible garbage by converting it into something useful. Various ideas have been in the news these days. We're hearing and reading about everything from the Biblical practice of gleaning to high-tech methods of transforming discarded food into energy.  And between those two extremes are simple money-saving methods that, you, the consumer, can use at home.

Unless your doctor forbids it, you're unlikely to get through the holiday season without downing at least one alcoholic beverage.  And even if you turn down all the booze you're offered, it's hard to avoid consuming spiked food.  Various alcoholic products make everything from appetizers to desserts taste absolutely irresistible.  Now this isn't necessarily bad.  As we pointed out in last year's article, alcohol is healthy IN MODERATION.  This year, new research has expanded upon that point.

November 7 Update on Proposition 37:  When a vote is close, a lot of voters on the losing side are left feeling infuriated, perhaps even cheated. On Tuesday, November 6, California's Proposition 37 went down to a narrow defeat. According to Examiner.com, here's where things stood Wednesday morning:

 Yes (for GE labeling): 4,194,793 (47%)    No (against labeling): 4,723,681 (53%)

The 450,000 votes not yet counted were too few to change the outcome. 

Supporters of this initiative have expressed their fury in many online articles.  They blame their loss on the "media blitz" funded, to the tune of about $45 million, by multi-national corporations (including Monsanto, DuPont, Pepsico, and many others).  However, many who disagreed with the initiative's goals (including the scientists on this site's Advisory Board) simply believed that putting a GE label on 60-70% of the foods sold in today's grocery stores would be not only unnecessary but also troublesome and expensive.  (See our article below.)

Googling "Proposition 37" will get you to a number of articles on this topic, both pro and con, many written before Election Day.  My favorite article (aside, of course, from the one I posted below) is the fairly objective, lengthy piece that appeared in the Washington Post on November 3. It's a detailed, clear explanation of the arguments on both sides.

Those who fought hard for this initiative are not going to go away quietly.  You and I will be hearing a lot more about GE labeling as efforts are made to pass similar initiatives in other states. 

If you have a thirst to read more, click on these:

Prop 37: Safer food or invitation for lawsuits?

Delusions of Danger

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November 2, 2012

If you haven't yet heard of Proposition 37, rest assured, you will.  It's going to be on the November ballot in California.  It requires that all foods containing GM ingredients be so labeled.  GM or not GM is a hot-button issue in the U.S. today, so millions of dollars are pouring in to oppose this proposition, and advocacy groups are working hard to get it passed. This California initiative may have been inspired by the supermarket appearance of Monsanto's GM sweet corn, another big news story this August.  In the case of GM sweet corn, public pressure is not about labeling; it's urging stores not to carry it.   

New updates added to the end of the article on October 5th.  

Sightseeing in Yellowstone National Park for 3 long days, my husband, daughter, and I carried along peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day because that was the safest lunch we could think of that was shelf stable and delicious. I was saddened and a bit disillusioned by this extensive recall that has, so far, caused 29 illnesses in 18 states.  Evidently, no food is totally safe from contamination.