reading this week

Best PR that Money Can Buy: A Guide to Food Industry Front Groups (Center for Food Safety)
A new report from Michele Simon, JD, MPH exposing front groups that appear to be acting in the public interest but are funded by the food industry to advance its agenda. The author is a great person to follow on Twitter as well (@MicheleRSimon).

7 Dodgy Food Practices Banned in Europe But Fine Here (Mother Jones)
From Tom Philpott, another food journalist to follow, comes a list of substances or practices banned in Europe for public health and safety reasons that are legal in the U.S., like arsenic in animal feed and endocrine disruptors sprayed on corn. This is a bad thing. 

Replanting the Rust Belt (NY Times)
Great feature article on the food movement in the Rust Belt, including Pittsburgh and Cleveland

Turkey Raised Without Antibiotics Less Likely to Carry Superbugs (Civil Eats)
The headline elicits a resounding "DUH" from me, but it's worth reading, especially for anyone who has doubts about eating antibiotic-free meat.

Top Tips for Safer Products (Environmental Working Group)
Skin Deep, which I wrote about this week, has compiled a quick guide to making better choices about products to use in your home. Wrote this down to keep in my purse so I always have it to reference when shopping.

Some of My Best Friends are Germs (NY Times)
Michael Pollan's Sunday Magazine article on microbes. I'm a big fan of raw and live foods, so I'm happy to see bacteria discussed in this way.