This week in garden news: green spaces calm the brain, the feds detach sustainability from nutrition, and all apples are not created equal.
USDA Will Not Include Sustainability in Dietary Guidelines
Above: Photo via Shopper's Diary: Rare (and Delicious) Pigs from Australia's Bundarra Berkshires.
The USDA said this week it would not include environmental sustainability as a factor in developing its 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The announcement ends a more than year-long debate centered largely around meat production and consumption. In February, NPR reported that the USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended that sustainability be included, because "a plant-focused diet that's lower in red meat not only promotes good health, but is also more environmentally sustainable." Meat industry and other agricultural lobbies opposed the inclusion of sustainability in the guidelines, as did Congress. Read more at NPR.
Urban Design and the Brain
Above: Photo from 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from the High Line in New York City.
Neuroscientist Colin Ellard studies the effects of urban environments on the brain. His studies are ongoing and results are not finalized, but he reveals his findings on the consistently positive effects of urban green spaces in every city he's studied: “Even modest exposure, something like a parkette, has so profound an effect on people’s psychology that it’s a matter of public health," he says. Ellard's part-exhibition, part-study called Psychology on the Street is in Toronto through November 14 at Urbanspace Gallery. Read more at the Toronto Star.
Red-Fleshed Apples Better for Health
Above: In addition to the 'Redlove’ apple shown here, red-fleshed varieties include ‘Bloody Ploughman,’ ‘Sangrado,’ ‘Redfield,’ and ‘Raspberry Ripple.’
UK botanist and science writer James Wong comments on the nutritional disparities in apple varieties, citing research suggesting that some varieties do more harm than good when it comes to heart disease risk. Soon to appear in produce aisles, he says, are "supercharged red-fleshed apples"—wild apples from Kazakhstan that contain several times more healthy apple compounds (polyphenols and anthocyanins) than light-fleshed varieties. Read it at The Guardian.
Scientists Discover Gene that Manages Stress in Plants
Above: Photo from 7 Secrets: How to Save a Dying Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree.
In the new and growing field of "climate-resilient agriculture," the search is on for hardy crops that can resist the negative effects of a changing climate. Biologists at the University of Oxford have discovered a gene that affects plants' tolerance of stresses including high salinity and dryness. Read it at The Guardian.
Amazon Launches "Handmade"
Above: A Small White Porcelain Double Bubble Planter; $20 from Nora Floral Studio on Amazon Handmade.
On Thursday, Amazon.com launched a competitor to online crafts marketplace Etsy, called Amazon Handmade. The initial product lineup includes more than 80,000 items from 5,000 sellers in 60 countries. Amazon Handmade forbids outsourced production and said it is strictly reviewing vendors to ensure all wares are made by hand. (Meanwhile, recently launched Etsy Manufacturing moves that retailer toward machine-made goods.) Read it at The New York Times.
More from this week:
- Trending on Remodelista: A Touch of Black
- Trending on Gardenista: Gone to the Dark Side
- Remodelista Current Obsessions: October 10, 2015
- Gardenista Current Obsessions: October 10, 2015
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