Big pharma is now entrenched in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Senate confirmed Robert Califf, a cardiologist and researcher from Duke University, as the next FDA commissioner on Wednesday in a 89 to 4 vote. Califf has strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Read more about the FDA “Califf's confirmation amounts to a handover of the agency to Big Pharma,” an Alternet article declares. Califf received $52,000 from the pharmaceutical industry, Scientific American reports. C

Despite the big gains made in the last few decades, we still have a gender equality problem. Women represent about 40 percent of the global labor force, but are 50 percent of the population, according to the  . Men are over 95 percent of the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations. The gap between women and men when it comes to both economic participation and political empowerment is big, as the   finds. “Only 59 percent of the economic outcomes gap and 23 percent of the political outcomes gap

DineEquity, the parent company of IHOP & Applebees, is committed to going 100 percent cage-free in its egg supply chain. By 2025, all of the eggs served at the company’s U.S. restaurants will be cage-free. DineEquity first took steps to make its egg supply chain cage-free in 2008. IHOP and Applebees combined have thousands of restaurants in the U.S. that serve eggs everyday. IHOP, in particular, serves 65 different breakfast items, which include egg dishes. That means DineEquity can have a big

(3BL Media/JustMeans) Food waste and loss is a big deal. About one third of global food production (around 30 to 40 percent) is wasted or lost every year, according to the UN Food and and Agriculture Organization. The value of food lost or wasted annually at the global level is estimated at $1 trillion. The global population is on track to grow by two billion by 2050. A 70 percent increase in agricultural yield would be required to feed nine billion people under present food production trends. T

“As California goes, so goes the nation,” declares an old political saying. If that is true than the U.S. will eventually have much more ambitious laws to address climate change and the majority of Americans will support them. The majority of Californians view the environment as something to protect. A poll in July found that most Californians see climate change as a serious threat and do not think that action to address it will lead to less jobs. Two out of three state residents support Califo

One more fast food company will reduce the amount of antibiotics in its burgers. In-N-Out Burger recently announced it will eliminate antibiotics important to human medicine from its beef supply chain. “Our company is committed to beef that is not raised with antibiotics important to human medicine and we've asked our suppliers to accelerate their progress towards establishing antibiotic alternatives,” Keith Brazeau, vice president of quality for Irvine, California-based In-N-Out Burger told Re

More than 170 civil society groups worldwide have a message for the Green Climate Fund, the financial mechanism of the Paris climate agreement. They’re calling on the fund’s board to reject the accreditation of two international banks, HSBC and Crédit Agricole, citing their connections to the coal sector. Both rank among the top 20 private-sector banks that finance coal. HSBC extended over $8.7 billion to coal from 2005 to April 2015, and Crédit Agricole extended $7.7 billion to coal during the

TriplePundit is tracking the ongoing drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Follow our coverage here. You can’t watch the national news without hearing reports about the drinking water in Flint, Michigan. For the last two years, residents of the city have been drinking and using water that is contaminated with lead. (Review a full timeline here.) In 2014, the city of Flint switched to the Flint River as source of water. The chemistry of Flint River’s water is very corrosive to lead plumbing

It is a good week for America’s hens, many of whom live out their lives in tiny battery cages unable to even flap their wings. Three large grocery store chains made announcements that they will switch to cage-free eggs. Kroger, the largest grocery store chain in the country, announced it will source 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2025. In 2015, only 15 percent of the eggs it sold were cage-free. Kroger has over 3,400 grocery stores and convenience stores nationwide under two dozen banners, inclu

(3BL/Just Means) A global company that provides food, facilities management and uniforms purchases a big quantity of egg, dairy and meat products from hundreds of suppliers. That company can have an impact on the food industry. Aramark is the company and it has a new set of animal welfare policy pertaining to egg, pork, veal, beef, poultry and dairy products. The company collaborated with the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) to develop the policy. Aramark is no stranger to setting sustainable

Gina-Marie is a freelance writer armed with a passion for healthy living and a degree in journalism. Hailing from the dry, sunny Central San Joaquin Valley, she hasn't let the heat fry her brain!

California’s cap-and-trade program has $832 million earmarked for energy efficiency, public transit, affordable housing and other projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At least 25 percent of the funds are required to be invested in the state’s most disadvantaged communities, such as Fresno’s Roosevelt neighborhood.