While You Were Sleeping

The gist of what you may have missed

by Amy Lubinski, June 24, 2008

Americans waste 30 million tons of food each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with 27 percent of that food suitable for consumption: fresh produce, milk, and grain products. In addition, food donations have decreased 9 percent but the number of people showing up for those donations has increased 20 percent. The Department of Agriculture estimates that recovering five percent of wasted food could feed four million people a day. In an effort to combat the large amounts of wasted food, major cities such as New York and San Francisco have developed food-rescue organizations as well as composting programs.
Source: New York Times

Premature births in the US increased 10 percent between 1996 and 2004, according to research conducted by the March of Dimes and the Centers for Disease Control. Ninety-two percent of those premature births occurred by C-section. C-sections are usually only performed when a natural birth is not feasible because of complications that could threaten the life of the mother or child, but many women are opting for C-sections out of convenience and their doctors are obliging due to fear of patient litigation. In 2004, 30 percent of births in the US were by C-section, an increase of 25 percent since 1970.
Source: CommonDreams.org

The US Department of Agriculture has proposed adding 38 previously nonorganic ingredients to foods that receive the “USDA Organic” label. Sales of organic foods have more than doubled in the past five years. Food is considered organic when 95 percent or more of its makeup is considered natural and was grown by a farmer who is registered and approved by organic certification bodies. Proposed organic ingredients would include 19 food colorings, sausage and hot dog casings, fish oil, and gelatin. Organic food advocates are fighting the possible change.
Source: Los Angeles Times

A recent poll of 24 countries revealed that the image of the US has improved sightly over the past year. This improvement was largely driven by the fact that President Bush will be leaving in January 2008 and could be replaced by Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The survey of nearly 25,000 people conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in March and April also revealed that many people blame the US in part for slumping economies and global warming, a concern that has increased since last year.
Source: New York Times

The self-storage business may have started small four decades ago, but it has grown into a $22 billion-a-year industry. There are 45,000 storage facilities in the US today. Square footage of rentable storage has increased 740 percent in the past two decades. Additionally, one billion square feet of storage space was created between 1998 and 2005, even though the average American home has grown 900 square feet in the past three decades.
Source: Alternet.org