food

Honeybees pollinate one out of every three bites of food on our tables, so when they started disappearing, beekeepers and other environmental activists took notice. Filmmakers Maryam Henein and George Langworthy took notice as well, and put together a documentary that looks into the circumstances.
Maryam and George joined Laura in the studio recently to talk about their film and some surprising facts about bees and their society, as well as the implications for all of us if the mystery of the vanishing bees isn't solved.

Swine flu, bird flu, cancer, parasites, E. Coli...what do they all have in common? Factory farms, says investigative reporter David Kirby. In his new book, Animal Factory, he exposes the deep problems with the factory farming system and how it hurts people and the environment. Kirby joins Laura in studio to talk about the book and what we can do to fix our food supply, and Rick Dove of the Waterkeeper Alliance, explains the effect the farms have had on his home in North Carolina.

Obama's preparing for his first State of the Union speech, and we're wondering if once again he's going to try to be all things to all people. After all, on the campaign trail he dismissed talk of a spending freeze, only to adopt that language a year into his administration, and with the economic team he's still using, he's starting to remind us of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton--who may have slashed the deficit, but did so on the back of his "welfare reform.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote of the dangers of Bisphenol A, a common chemical in plastics and can liners: While the evidence isn't conclusive, it justifies precautions. In my family, we're cutting down on the use of those plastic containers that contain BPA to store or microwave food, and I'm drinking water out of a metal bottle now. In my reporting around the world, I've come to terms with the threats from warlords, bandits and tarantulas. But endocrine disrupting chemicals - they give me the willies.