The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, a McDonald’s shareholder, is wanting directors at McDonald’s to eliminate the use of antibiotics also used in human medicine in its global poultry supply chain. McDonald’s already has adopted that policy for the chicken served in its U.S. restaurants, with the company revealing on August 1 that it had achieved its goal of removing such antibiotics from its U.S. poultry supply chain. [node:read-more:link]

Lab studies on basalt have shown that the rock, which formed from lava millions of years ago and is found throughout the world, can rapidly convert CO2 into stable carbonate minerals. This evidence suggests that if CO2could be locked into this solid form, it would be stowed away for good, unable to escape into the atmosphere. But what happens in the lab doesn't always reflect what happens in the field. One field project in Iceland injected CO2 pre-dissolved in water into a basalt formation, where it was successfully stored. [node:read-more:link]

Scientists have discovered the hidden connections in our genomes that contribute to common diseases. Using a pioneering technique, the results are beginning to make biological sense of the mountains of genetic data linking very small changes in our DNA sequence to our risk of disease. Discovering these missing links will inform the design of new drugs and future treatments for a range of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and other types of autoimmune disease. [node:read-more:link]

It’s never been easy to make a living in central Appalachia’s narrow valleys. Without coal, it’s become a whole lot harder. Mining jobs were some of the best-paying in the area, and the industry supported an array of other professions, from truck drivers to personal injury lawyers. Today about 9 percent of eastern Kentuckians are out of work. Thirty percent live in poverty, according to the most recent federal statistics. Rates of drug overdose deaths, cancer, diabetes and disability are high. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that the U.S. Forest Service has identified an additional 36 million dead trees across California since its last aerial survey in May 2016. This brings the total number of dead trees since 2010 to over 102 million on 7.7 million acres of California's drought stricken forests. In 2016 alone, 62 million trees have died, representing more than a 100 percent increase in dead trees across the state from 2015. [node:read-more:link]

The possible implications of the election is the topic of a recent reportpublished by the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group.  “Republican-controlled Executive and Legislative branches could mean swift action when the new administration takes office,” according to Pablo Sherwell, Rabobank’s head of food and agribusiness research and advisory, North America. [node:read-more:link]

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sure has a weird way of showing what it’s all about. In a recent lawsuit against the organization, PETA is accused of stealing and murdering a Hispanic family’s beloved dog named Maya in southeastern Virginia.  PETA’s response has hit a new low in hypocrisy and stupidity. It has filed several motions to dismiss the case on the grounds that the dog was legally worthless and that what they did was not “outrageous” conduct. [node:read-more:link]

In Trinidad, Colorado, revenue from eight recreational cannabis shops is paving streets and helping refurbish downtown apartments. Across the state in De Beque, nearly a quarter of the town’s general fund comes from marijuana sales tax. [node:read-more:link]

As part of a trade agenda that would begin on the first day of his presidency, President-elect Donald Trump “would order the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review food security in trade and reciprocity in international corporate takeovers (i.e. whether a U.S. company would be able to buy a Chinese company like a Chinese company would be able to be buy a U.S. company),” CNN said. [node:read-more:link]

In the vast and complicated U.S. economy, it is rare for an individual to exert much control over the price of a major commodity. But then there is Arty G. Schronce and the price of chicken. As director of a bulletin from the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Schronce makes a weekly calculation that gives supermarkets around the country the going rate for a pound of chicken. [node:read-more:link]