Saturday, September 20, 2008

China's melamine scare extended to more dairy products


Liquid cow's milk has been pulled from shelves around the country of china after 10% of it tested positive for the industrial chemical melamine, used in this case, as well as last year's pet food crisis, to artificially boost nitrate levels and give the appearance of higher protein levels. Apparently whoever thought this was a great idea forgot, as illustrated in the large amounts of dying pets that the results are, oh I don't know, poisonous? Maybe they didn't talk about it on the government-run news programs there. So brilliant food producers decided that it would be a good idea to start doing the same thing to milk intended for human consumption. This has now led to a fourth baby dying of kidney failure, with 6,000 plus still sick with kidney stones. The melamine has now been found in liquid milk, as well as yogurt and some other products. This incident is just one in a long line of screw ups in China's poorly run and poorly supervised food industry. In 2004, twelve babies died and 200 were sick after drinking fake formula that contained no nutrients.
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

China wants to poison your baby.


China: known for the big pet food scare of '07, where pets around the nation died after melamine plastic was added to pet foods. Guess what, they are at it again! As if poisoning pets wasn't bad enough, now they are going after the children. Melamine-tainted baby formula has killed three babies and sickened 6,000 plus. The FDA states that the formulas are probably not on US shelves, but that they are investigating further.
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this just in: crappy pet food is crappy.



If any of my readers actually buy the following brands of pet food, shame on you. Not only have they all been recalled for a salmonella contamination, they have always had disgusting ingredients in them that I wouldn't dare feed the dog of my worst enemy. So if you have them in your house, please immediately dispose of them, and buy some real pet food for your animals.

Country Acres Cat Food 40#

16603 02181


Retriever Bites & Bones Dog Food 8#

79818 96757

Country Acres Ration Dog Food 40#

16603 02333


Retriever Bites & Bones Dog Food 20#

79818 96634

Country Acres 18% Dog Food 40#

16603 02331


Retriever Bites & Bones Dog Food 50#

49394 05666

Country Acres Hi Pro Dog Food 50#

16603 02021


Retriever Gravy Blend Dog Food 50#

49394 05665

Doggy Bag Dog Food 40#

73893 40000


Retriever Gravy Blend Dog Food 8#

79818 96756

Members Mark Complete Nutrition Premium Cat Food 20#

81131 89881


Retriever Hi Protein Dog Food 8#

79818 96755

Members Mark Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 50#

05388 67055


Retriever Hi Protein Dog Food 25#

49394 00002

Members Mark Crunchy Bites & Savory Bones Adult Dog Food 50#

05388 67309


Retriever Hi Protein Dog Food 50#

49394 00003

Members Mark High Performance Premium Dog Food 50#

81131 75479


Retriever Mini Chunk Dog Food 8#

79818 96754

Natural Cat Food (Sam's Club) 15#

81131 89883


Retriever Mini Chunk Dog Food 25#

49394 00006

Natural Dog Food (Sam's Club) 25#

81131 89884


Retriever Mini Chunk Dog Food 50#

49395 00005

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition 4.4#

81131 69377


Retriever Puppy Blend Dog Food 6#

49394 56221

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition 8#

05388 67144


Retriever Puppy Blend Dog Food 8#

79818 96758

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition 22#

05388 60342


Retriever Puppy Blend Dog Food 20#

49394 00004

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition 50#

78742 01022


Retriever Puppy Blend Dog Food 40#

79818 96706

Ol' Roy High Performance Nutrition Dog Food 20#

05388 60345


Special Kitty Gourmet 3.5#

81131 17546

Ol' Roy High Performance Nutrition Dog Food 50#

78742 05815


Special Kitty Gourmet 4#

78742 53199

Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks 'n Gravy Dog Food 8#

81131 69629


Special Kitty Gourmet 7#

81131 17547

Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks 'n Gravy Dog Food 22#

81131 69630


Special Kitty Gourmet 8#

78742 53200

Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks 'n Gravy Dog Food 50#

81131 69631


Special Kitty Gourmet 18#

81131 15748

Ol' Roy Puppy Complete 4#

81131 79078


Special Kitty Gourmet 20#

78742 53201

Ol' Roy Puppy Complete 8#

81131 79079


Special Kitty Gourmet 25#

78742 54314

Ol' Roy Puppy Complete 20#

81131 79080


Special Kitty Kitten 3.5#

81131 17553

Paws & Claws Delicious Mix Cat Food 8#

79818 96632


Special Kitty Kitten 4#

78742 53198

Paws & Claws Delicious Mix Cat Food 20#

49394 05746


Special Kitty Kitten 7#

81131 17554

Paws & Claws Delicious Mix Cat Food 40#

79818 96676


Special Kitty Kitten 8#

81131 24739

Paws & Claws Premium Choice Cat Food 8#

79818 96633


Special Kitty Original 3.5#

81131 17557

Paws & Claws Premium Choice Cat Food 20#

49394 00008


Special Kitty Original 4#

78742 04930

Paws & Claws Premium Choice Cat Food 40#

49394 05747


Special Kitty Original 7#

81131 17562

Pedigree Large Breed Adult Nutrition 20#

23100 29158


Special Kitty Original 8#

78742 05744

Pedigree Large Breed Adult Nutrition 30.1#

23100 31484


Special Kitty Original 18#

81131 17559

Pedigree Large Breed Adult Nutrition 36.4#

23100 31479


Special Kitty Original 20#

78742 05794

Pedigree Large Breed Adult Nutrition 40#

23100 29154


Special Kitty Original 25#

81131 68869

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 4.4#

23100 05104


Wegman's Bruiser Complete Nutrition Dog Food 4.4#

77890 33654

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 8.8#

23100 05103


Wegman's Bruiser Complete Nutrition Dog Food 20#

77890 32988

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 20#

23100 14719


Wegman's Bruiser Complete Nutrition Dog Food 37.5#

77890 32994

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 32#

23100 31483


Wegman's Bruiser Puppy Dog Food 4.4#

77890 33621

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 40#

23100 31478


Wegman's Bruiser Puppy Dog Food 17.6#

77890 32991

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 44#

23100 05100


Wegman's Bruiser Small Crunchy Bites Dog Food 4.4#

77890 33618

Pedigree Small Crunchy Bites Adult Nutrition 52#

23100 05110


Wegman's Bruiser Small Crunchy Bites Dog Food 20#

77890 32982

Pet Pride Indoor Cat 3.5#

11110 74584


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Complete Cat Food 3.5#

77890 10005

Pet Pride Indoor Cat 18#

11110 74585


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Complete Cat Food 18#

77890 10004

Pet Pride Weight Management Dog Food 17.6#

11110 74578


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Indoor Cat Food 3.5#

77890 12038

PMI Nutrition Bites & Bones Dog Food 50#

42869 00174


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Indoor Cat Food 18#

77890 12039

PMI Nutrition Canine Advantage 50#

42869 00172


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Kitten 3.5#

77890 12036

PMI Nutrition Feline Medley 20#

42869 00171


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Original Medley Cat Food 3.5#

77890 10006

PMI Nutrition Gravy Crunches Dog Food 40#

42869 00033


Wegman's Buju & Ziggie Original Medley Cat Food 18#

77890 10003

Red Flannel Active Formula Dog Food 40#

42869 00063


Red Flannel Adult Formula Dog Food 20#

42869 00055

Red Flannel Adult Formula Dog Food 40#

42869 00054

Red Flannel Canine Select Dog Food 20#

42869 00068

Red Flannel Canine Select Dog Food 40#

42869 00067

Red Flannel Cat 10#

42869 00059

Red Flannel Cat 20#

42869 00058

Red Flannel Hi Pro Formula Dog Food 50#

42869 00065

Red Flannel Prime Dog Food 25#

42869 00052

Red Flannel Prime Dog Food 50#

42869 00053

Red Flannel Puppy 40#

42869 00056



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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Bagel Recall


Wegmans Food Market has recalled every type of bagel and "bialys" (sounds like dialysis, but I guess it's a flat bagel with toppings on it) due to some unplanned seasoning: small metal springs. Delicious!
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Saturday, September 6, 2008

Meat Slicers Cause of Canadian Listeriosis Outbreak



Maple Leaf foods stated that the Listeria bacteria that has been the cause of 38 confirmed cases of Listeriosis and 13 deaths has come from from deep inside the machinery that slices meat, even though the machinery is cleaned regularly. The food plant is still shut down until the machinery is either cleaned more thoroughly or replaced. All 220 products made by the corporation have been recalled.
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Court Rules Beef Producers not Allowed to Test for Mad Cow


Why? Well, because then all the other beef producers would be jealous. The USDA tests a measly ONE PERCENT of all beef produced in the states for mad cow. ONE. A meat packer in Kansas called Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wanted to start testing 100% of their beef. Great, right? Wrong, apparently. Evidently, that wouldn't be fair to all the other children meat packers because their beef would appear to be not as safe, and they would lose money.


Yeah.
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hot Pockets Being Recalled


Be careful when you bite into that Hot Pocket, those might not be pepperoni, but rather small, red pieces of hard plastic. Nestle recalled 215,660 pounds of Pepperoni Pizza flavored Hot Pockets recently because of this. Check to see if the side of your box has “8157544614D,” “EST 7721A,” and “BEST BEFORE JAN2010.” stamped on it.
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Half of All Food Produced is Thrown Away.


Think back to when you were a child, and you sat there at the kitchen table, your slimy, sickly-green brussel sprouts getting cold on your plate as your mother yelled, "finish your food! think of the starving children in Africa!" Well, she might have been onto something. The Stockholm International Water Institute issued a report last week stating that half of all food produced is wasted, either during processing, transport, in stores and kitchens, and finally by the consumer. This of course is a tragedy in and of itsself, considering the number of people living in poverty without enough to eat. It's also, the Institute states, the source of 40 trillion liters of water flushed down the drain each year.
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Monday, August 25, 2008

Maple Leaf confirmed as source of listeria, expands recall

8/26/08 *UPDATE* a possible twelve people have now died from consuming tainted meat.
Four people have now died of listeriosis caused by eating tainted meat from Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest food processor. Maple Leaf was confirmed to be the source of the meat yesterday, and expanded its recall to include all products made from January 2008 on. The complete list can be viewed here.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008

FDA OKs Use of Radiation to Kill Germs in some Veggies



On Friday the FDA is expected to issue new regulations regarding the use of radiation on lettuce and spinach to kill microorganisms such as e-coli, salmonella, and listeria. Irradiation of food, also controversially known as "cold pasteurization", has been in use since the 1960's as a way to control germs, as well as insects in food. The process was first invented in 1905. From 1953 to 1980, the government sponsored the National Food Irradiation Program, which did many research projects on the use of irradiation in food. Critics of the procedure say that the longest study of people eating irradiated food was 15 weeks, and no long term studies have been performed on the effects this may have in humans. They also say that irradiating food is an easy way to cover up sloppiness in the harvest and production of foods that create situations where contamination can occur in the first place. Another worry is that important vitamins and nutrients are destroyed in the process. Furthermore, critics worry about food becoming radioactive itsself. The FDA maintains that the food does not retain any actual radiation after the procedure. However, a statement on food irradiation on the Environental Protection Agency's website said the following:

Can irradiation make food radioactive?

No. Food does not come in contact with radioactive material during food irradiation, and cannot be contaminated this way. Radiation that is too energetic, however, can disrupt the energy balance in the nuclei of food atoms, making them unstable (radioactive). This is known as induced radioactivity.

Electron and x-ray beams can be energetic enough to induce radioactivity. To prevent induced radioactivity, FDA limits the energy of the radiation from these sources to less than 4 mega-electron volts. Radiation from cobalt-60 sources is not energetic enough to induce radioactivity.

Food that is treated with irradiation is required to be labeled with the international symbol of irradiated food, the "Radura" pictured above. It is also required to have the words "Treated with Radiation" or "Treated with Irradiation".

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Canadian Deli Meat Plant Closes After Listeria Outbreak.


*8/23/08 Update* Four deaths have now been confirmed.


Seventeen people have contracted listeriosis after eating tainted deli meat from Maple Leaf Foods, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. One of the affected people has died. Maple Leaf has temporarily shut down production until the source of the contamination is found. A list of recalled products is below:



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26365 Sliced Cooked Turkey Breast 470 g SE 30
02106 Schneiders Bavarian Smokies 1 kg OC 28
02126 Schneiders Cheddar Smokies 1 kg OC 28
21333 Sure Slice Roast Beef 1 kg SE 30
21388 Sure Slice Combo Pack 1 kg SE 30
60243 Deli Gourmet Roast Beef slices 1 kg SE 30
02356 Seasoned Cooked Roast Beef 500 g OC 07
42706 Roast Beef, Seasoned and Cooked 500 g OC 07
21334 Sure Slice Turkey Breast Roast 1 kg OC 14
21444 Sure Slice Corned Beef 1 kg OC 14
44938 Montreal Style Corned Beef 500 g OC 14
21440 Sure Slice Black Forest Style Ham 1 kg OC 21
21447 Sure Slice Salami 1 kg OC 21
21331 Sure Slice Smoked Ham 1 kg OC 21
48019 Schneiders Deli Shaved Corned Beef 200 g OC 21
48020 Schneiders Deli Shaved Smoked Meat 200 g OC 21
48016 Schneiders Deli Shaved Smoked Ham 200 g OC 21
48018 Schneiders Deli Shaved Smoked Turkey Breast 150 g OC 21
48017 Schneiders Deli Shaved Fully Cooked Smoked Honey Ham 200 g OC 21
21360 Burns Bites Pepperoni 500 g 09 JA 01
99158 Turkey Breast Roast 1 kg SE 30
71330 Roast Beef Cooked, Seasoned 2.5 kg SE 30
71331 Corned Beef, Smoked Meat 2.5 kg SE 30

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FDA knew about problem peppers months before outbreak.


The FDA insists that they were as surprised as anyone that the salmonella outbreak that sickened 1,423 people this year turned out to be from jalapeno and serrano chili peppers from Mexico. Were they really? An AP investigation of FDA records showed that Mexican peppers had a long history of contamination. FDA Border inspectors apparently turned away contaminated chilis 88 times. This year. That's 491,200 metric tons of rejected peppers.Ten percent of those batches had salmonella. The rest were either filthy, used illegal pesticides, or in one case, were simply poisoned. The USDA reports that 84 percent of all fresh peppers consumed by the United States come from Mexico.
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Monday, August 18, 2008

No room for your own dairy farm? Think again.


Meet the Dexter Cow, an irish breed of cattle created in the 1800s. The Dexter, once considered a very rare bovine, has increased in popularity lately. Why? because these cows are about the size of a large dog. Priced at a reasonable ~$400 - $4000, these mini-heifers produce about 2 gallons of milk per day, more than enough for any household.
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Friday, August 15, 2008

Pedigree Recalls Salmonella Tainted Pet Food

Pedigree pet foods has recalled 100 bags of "Pedigree Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites" because they contain a component which tested positive for Salmonella. The bags were mistakenly shipped to Albertsons stores in Southern California, and Costco stores in Northern California. 
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USDA Allegedly Sponsored Movement to Defeat Farm Animal Rights Bill














Sponsors of California's Proposition 2- the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, are sueing the USDA and the American Egg Board right now because of $3,000,000 that was allegedly set aside to defeat the bill. Californians for Humane Farms says that the board is not allowed to use government money for political campaigns. Proposition 2, if passed, would require farm animals to be in enclosures big enough for them to turn around in.
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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Oops...


Oh hey, no big deal or anything, but Nebraska Beef forgot some beef when they made last week's e-coli recall announcement. Only about 160,000 lbs. Oh, and, you might not be able to tell if you have the meat or not. You see, these boxes of cow with "EST. 19336" on them were sent to companies to be processed even further. Apparently you are supposed to just "check" with your retailer. I'm sorry, but somehow I don't really feel comfortable putting my life in the hands of the pimple-faced kid who bags my groceries. No offense. Think I'll stick to chicken for a while. 
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Tuna Recall


Pre-made Tuna salad from Home Made Brand Foods has been recalled due to a possible contamination by Listeria Monocytogenes. According to wikipedia, this organism is rare but dangerous. It has a case death rate of 25%. In comparison, Salmonella has a case death rate of 1%. It is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, those with weakened immune systems, and can infect fetuses in the womb, usually causing miscarriages. The products being recalled are as follows:

  • 99/ 5 lbs. units of "Home Made Brand Foods Tuna Salad" dated 8/19/08 expiration
  • 412/10 lb. units of "Stop and Shop Tuna Salad" dated 8/19/08 expiration
  • 366/12 oz. units of "Stop and Shop Tuna Salad" dated 8/19/08 expiration
No illnesses have been reported.



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Sunday, August 10, 2008

What???


Erm, just in case any of my readers here like to dine on COW HEAD, I'm here to inform you that there has been a recall of 38,000 of these bovine noggins. Why? because apparently their tonsils have not been completely removed. Yes, while every other part of the head is apparently ok to eat, cow tonsils are required to be removed because they can contain prions, the evidently theoretical infectious agent thought to cause Mad Cow Disease. Why don't you just have a nice steak?
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E-coli Outbreak from S & S Foods Spreads

A Virginia Boy Scout camp was shut down this week when 72 people fell ill after eating tainted beef processed at S &S Foods. Earlier this week we reported that 11 people had become ill in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Asuza, California-based S & S Foods is now recalling 153,630 lbs of beef after this latest incident. 
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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Supermarket Chains to Stop Selling Certain Types of Fish



Supermarket chains Giant Food as well as Stop and Shop have decided to discontinue sales of certain types of fish that appeared on a report recently released by Greenpeace on overfishing. Orange Roughy, Shark, and Chilean Sea Bass were all removed from seafood counters until their ocean populations stabilize.

Look here for more ways you can help curb overfishing, including form letters to send to other chains of grocery stores, and a number you can text to find out the status of certain types of fish.
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Beef recall *again*- this time from Whole Foods!



Didn't we just do this?


Company: Whole Foods
Location: Beef was processed at same Nebraska Beef plant that caused e-coli outbreak earlier this summer.
Market: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D. C., Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Canada.
What Happened: 7 people have fallen ill.
Product Details: Any ground beef bought at Whole Foods between June 2 to August 6.
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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Tyson recalls 51,000 pounds of chicken because it might contain soy.



Wait, what? how does a raw chicken breast contain soy? I want my chicken to contain chicken. period. until I add some seasoning to it.

Anyway, Tyson is worried that people allergic to soy will have a reaction to their product. The chicken being recalled was frozen raw chicken breasts packed at a plant in Vicksburg, Miss between July 23 and Aug. 1. I don't know if you will be able to tell any of that by reading the package, so if you have Tyson chicken in your kitchen and you are allergic to soy, toss it and don't buy any for a while. Or how about don't buy any more at all, and start buying some chicken that is actually chicken. Preferably organic, humanely raised, and local. ::steps off soapbox::




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Once again, a company recalls beef due to E-Coli.



::sigh:: I think I should just have a template for these articles.

Company: S & S Foods, LLC
Location: California
Market: Beef was shipped to Milwaukee, Wisconson and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
What Happened: 11 people have fallen ill.
Product Details: 30-lb boxes of "742798 MFST, 100% GROUND BEEF BULK, 80/20, 1LB. BRICK."
Check Label For: "EST. 20375" inside the USDA mark of inspection and a case code beginning "06238" ink-jet printed on the side of the box"


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Company that manufactures bovine hormones is quitting the business.

new format testing, folks, bear with me.

Monsanto Co. is the company responsible for creating rBGH, or recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, sold under the brand name POSILAC. This is the hormone commonly given to cows to produce up to 10 more gallons of milk per day than normal. On Wednesday Monsanto Co. made the announcement that they would be selling off this portion of their business.

"While POSILAC is a strong product for the business, we believe repositioning the business with a strategic owner will allow Monsanto to focus on the growth of its core seeds and traits business while ensuring that loyal dairy farmers continue to receive the value of POSILAC in their operations," said Carl Casale, executive vice president of strategy and operations, in a statement.

Could this decision be led by the recent uprising against the drug? Many stores and distributers, including Walmart and Starbucks, now refuse to carry milk with rBGH. There has been speculation that the hormone can cause early puberty in children, among other problems. The hormone is also considered by many to be cruel to the cattle it is used on. Hopefully Wednesday's announcement  signals the beginning of the end for rGBH.



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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Yale: Too Many People, Too Much Consumption




http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2041

Over some 60 million years, Homo sapiens has evolved into the dominant animal on the planet, acquiring binocular vision, upright posture, large brains, and — most importantly — language with syntax and that complex store of non-genetic information we call culture. However, in the last several centuries we’ve increasingly been using our relatively newly acquired power, especially our culturally evolved technologies, to deplete the natural capital of Earth — in particular its deep, rich agricultural soils, its groundwater stored during ice ages, and its biodiversity — as if there were no tomorrow.

The point, all too often ignored, is that this trend is being driven in large part by a combination of population growth and increasing per capita consumption, and it cannot be long continued without risking a collapse of our now-global civilization. Too many people — and especially too many politicians and business executives — are under the delusion that such a disastrous end to the modern human enterprise can be avoided by technological fixes that will allow the population and the economy to grow forever. But if we fail to bring population growth and over-consumption under control — the number of people on Earth is expected to grow from 6.5 billion today to 9 billion by the second half of the 21st century — then we will inhabit a planet where life becomes increasingly untenable because of two looming crises: global heating, and the degradation of the natural systems on which we all depend.

If we fail to bring population growth and overconsumption under control, then we will inhabit a planet where life becomes increasingly untenable.”Our species’ negative impact on our own life-support systems can be approximated by the equation I=PAT. In that equation, the size of the population (P) is multiplied by the average affluence or consumption per individual (A), and that in turn is multiplied by some measure of the technology (T) that services and drives the consumption. Thus commuting in automobiles powered by subsidized fossil fuels on proliferating freeways creates a much greater T factor than commuting on bikes using simple paths or working at home on a computer network. The product of P, A, and T is Impact (I), a rough estimate of how much humanity is degrading the ecosystem services it depends upon.

The equation is not rocket science. Two billion people, all else being equal, put more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than one billion people. Two billion rich people disrupt the climate more than two billion poor people. Three hundred million Americans consume more petroleum than 1.3 billion Chinese. And driving an SUV is using a far more environmentally malign transportation technology than riding mass transit.

The technological dimensions of our predicament — such as the need for alternatives to fossil fuel energy — are frequently discussed if too little acted upon. Judging from media reports and the statements of politicians, environmental problems, to the degree they are recognized, can be solved by minor changes in technologies and recycling (T). Switching to ultra-light, fuel-efficient cars will obviously give some short-term advantage, but as population and consumption grow, they will pour still more carbon dioxide (and vaporized rubber) into the atmosphere and require more natural areas to be buried under concrete. More recycling will help, but many of our society’s potentially most dangerous effluents (such as hormone-mimicking chemicals) cannot practically be recycled. There is no technological change we can make that will permit growth in either human numbers or material affluence to continue to expand. In the face of this, the neglect of the intertwined issues of population and consumption is stunning.

Many past human societies have collapsed under the weight of overpopulation and environmental neglect, but today the civilization in peril is global. The population factor in what appears to be a looming catastrophe is even greater than most people suppose. Each person added today to the population on average causes more damage to humanity’s critical life-support systems than did the previous addition — everything else being equal. The reason is simple: Homo sapiens became the dominant animal by being smart. Farmers didn’t settle first on poor soils where water was scarce, but rather in rich river valleys. That’s where most cities developed, where rich soils are now being paved over for roads and suburbs, and where water supplies are being polluted or overexploited.

As a result, to support additional people it is necessary to move to ever poorer lands, drill wells deeper, or tap increasingly remote sources to obtain water — and then spend more energy to transport that water ever greater distances to farm fields, homes, and factories. Our distant ancestors could pick up nearly pure copper on Earth’s surface when they started to use metals; now people must use vast amounts of energy to mine and smelt gigantic amounts of copper ore of ever poorer quality, some in concentrations of less than one percent. The same can be said for other important metals. And petroleum can no longer be found easily on or near the surface, but must be gleaned from wells drilled a mile or more deep, often in inaccessible localities, such as under continental shelves beneath the sea. All of the paving, drilling, fertilizer manufacturing, pumping, smelting, and transporting needed to provide for the consumption of burgeoning numbers of people produces greenhouse gases and thus tightens the connection between population and climate disruption.

So why is the topic of overpopulation so generally ignored? There are some obvious reasons. Attempts by governments to limit their nation’s population growth are anathema to those on the right who believe the only role for governments in the bedroom is to force women to take unwanted babies to term. Those on the left fear, with some legitimacy, that population control could turn racist or discriminatory in other ways — for example, attempting to reduce the numbers of minorities or the poor. Many fear the specter of more of “them” compared to “us,” and all of us fear loss of liberty and economic decline (since population growth is often claimed necessary for economic health). And there are religious leaders who still try to promote over-reproduction by their flocks, though in much of the world their efforts are largely futile (Catholic countries in Europe tend to be low-birthrate leaders, for example).

But much of the responsibility must go to ignorance, which leads mainstream media, even newspapers like The New York Times, to maintain a pro-natalist stance. For example, the Times had an article on June 29 about a “baby bust” in industrialized countries in which the United States (still growing) was noted as a “sparkling exception.” Beyond the media, great foundations have turned their “population programs” away from encouraging low fertility rates and toward topics like “changing sexual mores” — avoiding discussion of the contribution demographics is making to a possible collapse of civilization.

Some leading economists are starting to tackle
the issue of overconsumption, but the problems and its cures are tough to analyze.”Silence on the overconsumption (Affluence) factor in the I=PAT equation is more readily explained. Consumption is still viewed as an unalloyed good by many economists, along with business leaders and politicians, who tend to see jacking up consumption as a cure-all for economic ills. Too much unemployment? Encourage people to buy an SUV or a new refrigerator. Perpetual growth is the creed of the cancer cell, but third-rate economists can’t think of anything else. Some leading economists are starting to tackle the issue of overconsumption, but the problem and its cures are tough to analyze. Scientists have yet to develop consumption condoms or morning-after-shopping-spree pills.

And, of course, there are the vexing problems of consumption of people in poor countries. On one hand, a billion or more people have problems of underconsumption. Unless their basic needs are met, they are unlikely to be able to make important contributions to attaining sustainability. On the other hand, there is also the issue of the “new consumers” in developing economies such as China and India, where the wealth of a sizable minority is permitting them to acquire the consumption habits (e.g., eating a lot of meat and driving automobiles) of the rich nations. Consumption regulation is a lot more complex than population regulation, and it is much more difficult to find humane and equitable solutions to the problem.

The dominant animal is wasting its brilliance and its wonderful achievements; civilization’s fate is being determined by decision makers who determinedly look the other way in favor of immediate comfort and profit. Thousands of scientists recently participated in a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that outlined our current environmental dilemma, but the report’s dire message made very little impact. Absent attention to that message, the fates of Easter Island, the Classic Maya civilization, and Nineveh — all of which collapsed following environmental degradation — await us all.

We believe it is possible to avoid that global denouement. Such mobilization means developing some consensus on goals — perhaps through a global dialogue in which people discuss the human predicament and decide whether they would like to see a maximum number of people living at a minimum standard of living, or perhaps a much lower population size that gives individuals a broad choice of lifestyles. We have suggested a forum for such a dialogue, modeled partly on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but with more “bottom up” participation. It is clear that only widespread changes in norms can give humanity a chance of attaining a sustainable and reasonably conflict-free society.

How to achieve such change — involving everything from demographic policies and transformation of planet-wide energy, industrial, and agricultural systems, to North-South and interfaith relationships and military postures — is a gigantic challenge to everyone. Politicians, industrialists, ecologists, social scientists, everyday citizens, and the media must join this debate. Whether it is possible remains to be seen; societies have managed to make major transitions in the recent past, as the civil rights revolution in the United States and the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union clearly demonstrate.

We’ll continue to hope and work for a cultural transformation in how we treat each other and the natural systems we depend upon. We can create a peaceful and sustainable global civilization, but it will require realistic thinking about the problems we face and a new mobilization of political will.