Produce Less – Exploring Degrowth

Children and teens who spend hours scrolling social media are far more likely to smoke or vape than their peers, with the highest risks seen among girls and heavy users, according to new research.

For months, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has crisscrossed the nation advancing his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda — spotlighting plans to crack down on unhealthy ultra-processed foods, and praising state-level efforts to restrict chemical food additives and bolster consumers’ right to know. But in an interview with Bloomberg, Kennedy’s comments echoed Big Food’s talking points: that state laws are too complex or burdensome, and Congress should therefore enact a single national food safety standard – one that would override state laws. Public health advocates oppose federal preemption because it often replaces tougher state laws with a weaker federal one.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child… makes it clear that states have an explicit obligation to protect children from exposure to toxic chemicals, from contaminated food and polluted water, and to ensure that every child can realise their right to the highest attainable standard of health. These and many other rights of the child are abused by the current pesticide regime. These chemicals are everywhere, and they are invisible.

Reports from institutions responsible for analyzing this global phenomenon show that the United States’ aggressive maneuvers in the Caribbean were not aimed at drug trafficking: Reports from the UN, the DEA, the European Union, and the World Customs Organization over several years reveal that Venezuela is an “irrelevant” country in terms of drug production and trafficking. So much so that Venezuela has seized 70% of what has been attempted to pass through Venezuelan territory, which does not exceed 6% of the total traffic between Ecuador, Colombia, and the United States.

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental issues in Bangladesh, threatening ecosystems, public health, and urban hygiene. Experts agree that the crisis stems more from its irresponsible use and widespread mismanagement than from plastic production itself. Plastic’s low cost and convenience, combined with a lack of viable alternatives, have made it the default material across households and industries.

Those who do not live in war zones or in suffocated countries are forced to live life as if there is nothing strange about what is happening around us. When we read about war, it is disconnected from our lives, and many of us want to stop listening to anything about the human misery caused by weapons or by sanctions. The scholasticism of the academic and the hushed tones of the diplomat are silenced as the bomb and the bank wage war against the planet. After authorising the atom bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima (Japan) on 6 August 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced on the radio: ‘If [the Japanese] do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth’.

No doubt working people everywhere would benefit from a greater sharing of experiences and community-based strategies of resistance.  At the same time, it seems clear that there is a natural alliance waiting to be formed, one that brings together those opposing data center operations and construction with those opposing the widespread use of LLMs in schools, workplaces, health care institutions, and government services.

A sweeping new review warns that chemicals in common plastics pose serious and lasting health risks to children, from before birth through adulthood. Published September 21 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the study examined hundreds of studies involving pregnant women, babies, and children. Researchers found that plastic additives such as phthalates, bisphenols, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can disrupt hormones, trigger inflammation, and affect brain development, increasing lifelong risks of chronic conditions such as obesity, infertility, asthma, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Over the first four months of 2025, 56 Norwegian citizens convened to discuss how Norway’s immense oil wealth can best serve current and future generations, both domestically and globally. Unlike traditional policymaking, where elected officials and experts call the shots, this so-called Future Panel – the second such assembly held in Norway – allowed ordinary citizens, selected through a representative process and equipped with the necessary knowledge, to craft recommendations through informed debate.