Farming with Oxen

I just read an article in the New York times about farming with oxen. Apparently its coming back into use on a few farms. Farmers claim that, largely due to rising fuel prices, it is cheaper to farm with animals than tractors. Oxen are fueled by grass, a renewable resource. Plus you get the added benefits of the oxen hoofs aerating the ground, and oxen droppings fertilizing it. Isn’t it convenient how these little cycles work?

Some experts predict an oil crisis. A sudden crisis seems less likely than continuous decline in availability until prices are so high that it becomes cheaper to replace the burning of fossil fuels with other methods of transportation and production. Oh wait. Thats whats happening here.

Organic Foods and Household Items

I just read 12 Things You Should Definitely Buy Organic, and I recommend it.

The article mentions that it can be expensive to buy everything (from potatoes to sofas) organic and suggests that these items might be the most important if you have to make trade-offs. My tip is, don't rush out and buy all new glass Tupperware until your old ones wear out or get lost (unless maybe you're pregnant or have a newborn). That plastic hasn't killed you yet.

In fact, if you start choosing foods and toiletries that come in nice glass containers and saving them, you might find you don't need anything new. And check the thrift store! Forget recycle. Reduce and reuse.

Health Fads Part II: Trick of Treatment

I recently read Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine (Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst MD, 2008). Each chapter is about a different alternative medicine, its history, its uses, and all the information the authors could gather from large reputable studies about their effectiveness.
Usually when drugs or treatments are tested, some studies show that they work and other studies show that the same treatment does not work. There may be problems with the studies that the researchers do not realize. Before the scientific community comes to a consensus on something, a lot of studies have to be done. Then researchers do mega-analysis of those studies to come out with a verdict.