Lifestyle

Friday June 7, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 7, 2019

Study sheds light on human consumption of microplastics

A study from the University of Victoria has for the first time compiled research on microplastics to try to estimate just how much people are consuming.

June 1, 2019

Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are just under five millimetres in diameter — or smaller than the size of a sesame seed — that come from the degradation of larger plastic products or the shedding of particles from water bottles, plastic packaging and synthetic clothes.

Garth Covernton, a PhD candidate at University of Victoria’s department of biology, said his team looked at 26 papers assessing the amount of microplastics found in individual food items.

May 2, 2018

The study found that a person’s average microplastic consumption — based on those food items previously analyzed — would likely be somewhere between 70,000 and 121,000 particles per year. While younger girls were at the lower end of the spectrum, adult men were at the high end.

People who consume a lot of bottled water could see that number jump by up to 100,000 particles per year.

The study analyzed the amount of microplastics found in fish, shellfish, sugars, salts, alcohol, water and air, which account for 15 per cent of Americans’ caloric intake.

But the other 85 per cent of what people consume, like beef, poultry, dairy and grains, has still not been examined.

March 6, 2015

Covernton compared the study to early understandings of cigarettes and tobacco: While the numbers they came up with did seem large, they don’t yet know exactly what level of consumption is dangerous.

“We’re at the point where we know microplastics at some dose could be harmful, but we’re not at the point where we can say whether what the average person is encountering is the equivalent of one cigarette in a lifetime, or that chronic exposure, like a pack a day.”

Covernton said the findings demonstrate more work needs to be done to understand how the tiny particles might affect human health. (CBC) 

 

Saturday June 1, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 1, 2019

It’s time we finally started to ‘get it’ on garbage and plastics

Let’s play a little weekend game of “What if …?”

April 29, 2019

This week, Malaysia became the second country in recent months to demand Canada take back garbage shipped under the pretense of it being recycling. This at the same time as the Government of the Philippines, dissatisfied with the pace of negotiations to return tonnes of garbage in that country, hired a ship to return the rotting trash to Canada.

Sensing a theme? Canada has an earned reputation as a bad actor on garbage. Our country leads the developed world in per-capita production of garbage. Successive governments at all levels have chosen not to deal with that reality, preferring to let the private sector manage our waste — including what happens to recyclables after we toss them in the blue box.

The private sector has done that in the way it always does: optimize earnings and profit. Most often that has meant paying someone to take our trash and recyclables. We have paid to dump garbage in the U.S. and developing world. We have sold recyclables to the highest bidder. And yes, private players have sold our garbage as recyclables.

January 16, 2019

The complaining countries don’t occupy any moral high ground here. In years past, they didn’t care much about what was being dumped on their shores as long as there was money to be made. It wasn’t uncommon for waste to be sorted into things that could be recycled and sold again, and trash that was simply dumped, often into the ocean.

That has changed. China, historically one of the biggest buyers, toughened regulations and disallowed much of what would previously have been welcome. Other countries, especially developing ones, became more concerned about environmental management and, therefore, less willing to sacrifice their national environments for profit.

April 24, 2018

The root of this problem is simple. Canada made the wrong choices on trash and recycling. Instead of investing in developing national infrastructure to deal with the challenges, we sold them to the highest offshore bidder. Now those bidders have shut down, and we need to retroactively build the infrastructure.

What if the international garbage boondoggle leads federal and provincial leaders to finally recognize this and develop policies that facilitate dealing holistically with our own trash? We can no longer dump our problems on other countries. It’s time Canada grew up and owned its own problems with waste. 

March 12, 2019

And speaking of growing up, what if the garbage scandal and the growing mountain of evidence about the threat of plastics pollution is a tipping point for us starting to take meaningful action on reducing single-use plastics?

We are taking baby steps. Plastic drinking straws are being replaced with paper ones. That and a handful of other modest measures are progress, but we’re barely scratching the surface. Check the supermarket or home store. We’re drowning in packaging.

What if public policy-makers finally started to put the onus on manufacturers to reduce plastics in packaging? What if there were incentives to do so or penalties for not doing so? What if consumers demanded change by doing things like buying the goods and leaving the packaging with the retailer?

Harsh, maybe even impolite? Maybe, but we really need to make significant headway on the plastics crisis. Right now, we’re just nibbling at the edges. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday May 22, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 22, 2019

Alberta beef producers carefully watch Beyond Meat veggie burger complaint

Beef producers in Alberta are carefully watching an ongoing complaint from their Quebec counterparts.

The complaint’s target? American veggie burger company Beyond Meat.

March 15, 2001

The company has swept into Canadian headlines, advertising a plant-based, meatless burger that mimics beef. It hit the news, to great fanfare, when sold at A&W fast food restaurants, and is now available at various grocery chains.

The vegan company hopes to tap into the meat-eater market because the burger more closely tastes like beef than standard veggie patties.

The Quebec Cattle Producers Federation filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week, arguing Beyond Meat has no right to advertise their product as “plant-based meat.”

Alberta Beef Producers and Canadian Cattleman’s Association, which is based in Calgary, have announced their support for the complaint.

“If they’re saying, ‘We’re selling plant-based protein,’ we don’t have any issue with that at all. That’s not misleading at all. That’s very clear what consumers are getting,” Alberta Beef Producers executive director Rich Smith told the Calgary Eyeopener.

January 16, 2019

“When they start introducing terms that they’re using in a comparative way and sometimes in a negative way in their advertising, then that’s where we think it’s unfair and misleading to to our industry and to consumers.”

Beef producers in Alberta are carefully watching an ongoing complaint from their Quebec counterparts.

The complaint’s target? American veggie burger company Beyond Meat.

The company has swept into Canadian headlines, advertising a plant-based, meatless burger that mimics beef. It hit the news, to great fanfare, when sold at A&W fast food restaurants, and is now available at various grocery chains.

The vegan company hopes to tap into the meat-eater market because the burger more closely tastes like beef than standard veggie patties.

The Quebec Cattle Producers Federation filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week, arguing Beyond Meat has no right to advertise their product as “plant-based meat.”

Alberta Beef Producers and Canadian Cattleman’s Association, which is based in Calgary, have announced their support for the complaint.

“If they’re saying, ‘We’re selling plant-based protein,’ we don’t have any issue with that at all. That’s not misleading at all. That’s very clear what consumers are getting,” Alberta Beef Producers executive director Rich Smith told the Calgary Eyeopener.

“When they start introducing terms that they’re using in a comparative way and sometimes in a negative way in their advertising, then that’s where we think it’s unfair and misleading to to our industry and to consumers.” (CBC) 

 

Saturday May 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 18, 2019

It’s time to dump cold water on backyard fireworks

This weekend, and again in a little more than a month, it will be firecracker season in our neighbourhoods.

Yes, there will be the community gatherings. But if you don’t choose to go to those events, you won’t hear the fireworks set off there.

You will, however, hear the ones you don’t choose to hear. The ones in your neighbour’s backyard. Or down the street. Or in community parks. Or anyplace where fireworks fans — often, but not always, young people — gather to make big noise.

Your pets, especially dogs, will hear them. In many cases, they’ll be traumatized.

If you’re in a dense urban neighbourhood, they’ll sound like they are right outside your window.

Why do we continue to put up with this? The traumatized pets? The interrupted sleep? The risk of personal injury or property damage?

Does setting off fireworks in residential neighbourhoods represent some greater value — like freedom and liberty? Is lighting off a cherry bomb some cherished human right?

How about this — just don’t. If you feel compelled to explode fireworks, take them to a place well removed from residential neighbourhoods. If loud noises and sparks are your thing, at least don’t impose them on neighbours and others — including little children and pets who have no choice in the matter.

Fireworks are not intrinsically bad at appropriate times and places, with adequate safety and supervision in place. But they don’t belong in residential neighbourhoods where we share air space and, hopefully, a sense of civility and mutual respect. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday January 23, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 23, 2019

New food guide set to challenge prominence of meat, dairy industries

Health Canada unveiled a radically new food guide Tuesday that eliminates food groups, encourages plant-based foods over meat and dairy products, and is likely to force changes across the country’s agricultural industry.

December 13, 2018

“I see the food guide as a challenge for many industries,” said Simon Somogyi, a University of Guelph professor studying the business of food. “How they adapt will be of interest.”

Meat enjoyed a dominant position in the previous food guide, with a meat-and-alternatives category and a recommended two to three servings daily for adults depending on their sex and age. It now features much less prominently. The new guide encourages people to “eat protein foods,” but choose those that come from plants more often.

March 18, 2016

It’s a win for plant-protein farmers, like those growing beans, chickpeas and lentils, but a potential threat to meat producers.

Somogyi believes consumers will favour high-quality beef when they choose to consume red meat, and farmers will likely want to shift to producing niche products.

If Canadians eat less meat, there may be opportunities to export to Asian markets, where a middle-class consumer wants safe, high-quality cuts.

“If the Canadian beef sector can provide that then their future looks bright,” Somogyi said.

The industry may also want to collaborate with plant-protein producers, said Sylvain Charlebois, a Dalhousie University professor who researches food. (Source: CBC)