Aug 10
Facing climate change and modernization Lebanon is a relatively resource rich country. It has no deserts, it has good arable land, it has four seasons and it is the most water-gifted country in the Arab world. But despite such natural attributes, Lebanon is a food import dependent country for 70% of its total food consumption. …
Aug 05
Our agricultural and food system have many inefficiencies. Damages to the environment and promotion of an unhealthy food system are both causes and consequences of bad agricultural practices. We’ve previously studied the dangers of the monocrops. They’re apparently threatening our long-term agricultural sustainability (to learn more see posts). A change is needed, but how can …
Aug 03
World Breastfeeding Week was kicked off Monday with the passing of a historical extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Obama Administration. The guidelines of this heavily-debated policy expands on last year’s passed reforms in healthcare regarding free-of-charge preventative services such as …
Aug 02
Money allocated for mental health services and social entrepreneurship support in Dadaab could help refugees build a future outside the camp Last week, Rebecca posted the second entry of our series on the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. Much of her post focused on the monetary difficulties related to the camp. She explained how there …
Aug 02
Last Monday, after 3 months of labor disputes, the NFL lockout finally ended. Football nuts around the country (myself included) rejoiced. The threat of losing our favorite, most highly rated sport for an entire season was finally gone. We still have our best excuse to be unproductive on Sundays. Football is back, baby. I am …
Jul 29
On Tuesday, my colleague Ryan wrote the first installment of a blog series he and I are working on about the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. It is the largest refugee camp in the world, built to accommodate about 90,000 people. However, due to the current drought crisis in the Horn of Africa, there are …
Jul 21
I love food. No, I’m passionate about food. Better yet, I’m obsessed with food. So when I read or hear about something negative about the food industry, I naturally want to be one of the people that can create change, or at least do a good job of playing my role as a responsible consumer …
Jul 18
In rural areas of Kenya, the overwhelming majority of families live without electricity. More than one third of the population depends on kerosene-powered lamps, which are not only bad for the environment, but they also negatively affect Kenyans in other ways. Toxic fumes, for example, are emitted from the burning lamps and can cause severe …
Jul 13
2)Biofuels: a Trojan horse? In a previous post I discussed one of the reasons why some crops (such as corn and soybean) have gained so much importance in our agriculture. Our food system and our food quality are set up in a way that inevitably increases the demand of these two crops, and economical and …
Jul 11
Like many people my age, I eagerly await this week’s release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. When I go to the midnight premiere on Thursday night, I will probably reflect on how much J.K. Rowling has given our generation. She gave us a hero to grow up with, stories to …
