Stand up for Food that is Responsibly Grown

Farmworkers sometimes endure terrible working conditions, and food is not always responsibly grown.

Soon, a new certification system will assure that American farms meet rigorous safety standards and treat their workers with the same great care they give to the fruits and vegetables they grow so you’ll know that the fields where your food comes from are a decent and safe place to work, and that your food is the best it can be for you and your family. More retailers will carry produce that is responsibly grown and farmworker assured, but you need to make your voice heard.

My heartfelt thanks to Food Inc and Take Part for bringing important issues to light.
Go here to voice your support.

Geeks to the rescue. Healthsherpa lets you shop for healthcare NOW.

I knew someone would do this. Bravo! Thanks to my heroes at www.theverlastinggopstoppers.com for this story. Kudos go to you entirely!

Quoting with some added comments:  What millions of dollars worth of IT folly could not do in Washington "was done by three geeks in their 20s - George Kalogeropoulos, Ning Liang,  and Michael Wasser –

The trio said they didn’t like witnessing the abysmal rollout of the Affordable Care Act website, Healthcare.gov, so they did what any self-respecting code writing web gurus would do: Saw it as a challenge, and made their own version. On a few nights and weekends.

Said Liang; “They’ve got it completely backwards in terms of what people want up front – they want prices… You come to our website, you put in your zip code… you hit ‘find plans,’ and you immediately see exchange plans that are available for that zip code.’

The result, which the trio built for free, is called Healthsherpa.com and it’s working right now.

CBS News reports that “…using information buried in the government’s own website built by high-priced government contractors, they found a simpler way to present it to users.”

Take Back the Tap Guide to Safe Tap Water

Do you drink bottled water? Do you think it is safer than tap water? So did I until I began to do some investigating.
Turns out I was wrong...and I was paying a lot of money for water that is tested less often and less extensively than my own tap water.
Tap water is tested more frequently for safety concerns than bottled water, but the water quality reports issued by local utilities can be confusing to read. Use this guide, the Take Back the Tap Guide to Safe Tap Water to help understand these reports and why they are important. Then get tips on finding the right filter for your household tap water based on the water quality in your area. 

Get the Facts. Bottled water is not safer than tap water. Despite the marketing, bottled water is not safer than tap water. In fact, tap water is subject to more stringent regulation that bottled water. Tap water is regulated by the EPA, while bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Perpetually under-funded and short-staffed, FDA has a poor record of protecting consumer health and safety. FDA sends inspectors to bottling plants once every two to three years. Read this: Bottled Water: Illusions of Purity and then resolve to reduce your bottled water consumption.
You can download a nifty app for your smartphone called Tap Buddy to find water fountains in your area, and you can visit Food & Water Watch's website to see what you can do to support access to safe food and water.