Monday, 29 Aug 2005

The average item of food on the American dinner plate travels 1,600 miles to get there, says Louella Hill, director of Farm Fresh Rhode Island and self-proclaimed "Local Food Ambassador." As InterActivist this week, Hill chews over her gripe with Whole Foods, her dismay at all the junk food in schools, her "aha!" moment after a catered dinner, and more. Send her a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish her answers to selected questions on Friday.

Athens Never Looked So Good

Beijing struggles with pollution, gridlock as 2008 Olympics approach

China has promised to throw a "green" Olympics in Beijing in 2008 -- but simple livability may be the megacity's bigger challenge. Beijing has 15.2 million inhabitants; if current trends hold, that number could grow to 21 million by 2020. Gridlock is endemic, as the number of cars more than doubled in the past six years. Already-bad air quality is deteriorating. The city's water supply is so overtaxed that some experts are calling for rationing. City officials are racing to replace thousands of old, stinky public toilets, while over a hundred construction projects related to the upcoming Olympics are hurtling forward. Critics blame decades of bad urban-planning policy for the city's problems. "In the past, we never thought of the capacity of resources," said Huang Yan, Beijing's deputy director of planning. "We only focused on development." She's introduced a master plan that includes the bold goal of rendering Beijing "a city suitable for living."


The end of August isn't the time to turn your thoughts to garden hoses, you say? Well, it is if you're in New Zealand. From the Southern Hemisphere, a reader wonders how she can avoid the evils of PVC while keeping her vegetable garden happy. Advice maven Umbra Fisk offers a stream of consciousness in response.

Your Love Is Liftin' Me Hybrider

California dealers jacking up prices for scarce hybrids

Californians may find themselves paying up to $4,000 over the manufacturer's suggested retail price for a gas-electric Toyota Prius -- if they can get their hands on one at all. Folks hankering for a Honda Civic or Insight hybrid also face dealer premiums and lean supply. Thanks to soaring gas costs and a new state law allowing the three hybrid models into highway carpool lanes with only a driver present, demand for these models has shot up. Dealers are taking advantage by jacking up the prices. Interested buyers who don't want to pay extra can get on a waiting list -- up to four months long, according to some sellers. State officials have been trying to quell a rumor that there's a shortage of the special carpool-lane stickers for qualifying hybrids, a scare that's helping dealers hike charges for the cars. Seventy-five thousand stickers were authorized by the recent legislation, and that's more than the total number of hybrids in California to date.

La Cage aux Hasselhoff

Humans go on display at London Zoo

Five women and three men -- ranging from a professional dancer to a veterinary student -- have put themselves on display as the London Zoo's resident Homo sapiens for the past three days. The posse of fit and frolicking humans, barely clad in bathing suits pinned with fake fig leaves, has been treated much as other zoo critters. Zookeepers have been providing enrichment toys to keep them entertained and occupied, like hula hoops and paints, and a soccer ball to encourage exercise. "It is important to keep the weight off them," said keeper Jo Cook. The human display is part of an effort by the Zoological Society of London, which runs the zoo, to highlight humanity's role as a "plague species" driving thousands of other species toward extinction. But the message may have been lost on a few visitors, like 11-year-old Rory McDonald, who wanted to join the humans on display. "It looks like Baywatch up there. And they even get a better view of the monkeys."