Alexander J. Stein

One of CIA's oldest & most recognizable publications, The World Factbook, has been closed. It served as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries around the globe, appealing to researchers, news organizations, teachers, students & international travelers: www.cia.gov/stories/stor...

Quantifying the land‐use change due to soybean‐based biodiesel in the United States We quantify the impact of soybean oil-based biodiesel production on US cropland, using a method that accounts for the intermediate effect of soybean crushing facilities. Based on U.S. Environmental P...

#USA: On a national basis, a 1-billion-gallon increase in soybean #biodiesel production triggers an increase of 1.9 million acres of #soybean acres and 1 million acres of total cropland: doi.org/10.1002/aepp... #landuse

Scaling Vitamin A Maize to Reach 65 Million Nigerians - harvestplus.solutions Nigeria’s fight against vitamin A deficiency — a condition affecting millions of children and women — has been transformed through the large-scale introduction of vitamin A maize (VAM).

#Nigeria: The fight against #vitaminA deficiency has been transformed thru the large-scale introduction of vitamin A #maize from conventional #plantbreeding. Today, 2 m #farmers grow the maize, improving the #diets of 65 m Nigerians: harvestplus.solutions/scaling-vita... #biofortification #nutrition

Frontiers | Association between the planetary health diet and sleep health in older adults: findings from a national community-based study BackgroundThe planetary health diet (PHD) has been established as linked to various diseases, yet its association with sleep health remains unexplored. This ...

Plant-based #diets are linked to better sleep quality & appropriate sleep duration among older adults. Participants who follow #plantbased diets and engage in physical exercise had the highest odds of better #sleep quality & duration: doi.org/10.3389/fnut... #nutrition #health

The effects of internet use on smallholder farmers’ income and dietary quality in Bangladesh - Food Security Internet access in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries is expanding at a rapid rate and affects how people produce and consume food and other goods and services. This may have implications...

Internet use by #farm households in #Banladesh is linked to production diversity, commercialization & #income, as well as household & women’s dietary diversity. The #internet has an important role in enhancing farm #productivity, income & potentially diets: doi.org/10.1007/s125... #nutrition #diets

Frontiers | Is it time to align adolescent diets with the Planetary Health Diet? An observational study on early cardiovascular health BackgroundAs the impact of early adoption of a sustainable plant-based diet on cardiometabolic biomarkers remains unexplored, we assessed whether they are as...

A healthy #plantbased diet, rich in phytochemicals & #fiber, promotes cardiometabolic #health from an early age while also reducing the #environment impact. Planetary Health Diet Index recommendations could be incorporated into #schoolmeals & education campaigns: doi.org/10.3389/fnut... #diets

More productive farming lowers global emissions | Cornell Chronicle A new analysis shows that improved farm productivity has been the driving force in keeping global greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in check, with implications for how countries support farmer...

Greater farm #productivity has been keeping GHG emissions from #agriculture in check. Technological advances that improve land efficiencies (e.g. improved fertilizer & #seeds) play a larger role in reducing #emissions than labor efficiencies: news.cornell.edu/stories/2026... #yields #landuse

#worldcancerday #cancer #bileductcancer #cholangiocarcinoma | Alexander J. Stein Today is World Cancer Day and I want to thank all people who have helped me over the last three years since my diagnosis. The risk of such lists is to fail to include all, but this is not done in bad ...

Today is #WorldCancerDay and I want to thank all people who have helped me over the last three years since my #cancer diagnosis. The list is far too long for Bluesky, so I put it on LinkedIn—where it was still too long for a single post:
www.linkedin.com/posts/alexan... #cholangiocarcinoma

#worldcancerday #cholangiocarcinoma | Jazz Pharmaceuticals In support of #WorldCancerDay on February 4, we are honoring the lives and inspiring stories of individuals who have faced challenging cancer diagnoses, like Alexander. When Alexander went to his doc...

Related: www.linkedin.com/posts/jazz-p...

Figure showing the greenhouse gas emissions from protein-rich foods, which are much higher for beef and lamb, and still highg for farmed shrimp, cheese, pork, chicken, eggs and farmed fish, and then getting lower for tofu, beans and peas, and negative for nuts (as tree nuts remove CO2 from the air).

Or, with some nice figures for illustration, see:
ourworldindata.org/carbon-footp... or ourworldindata.org/less-meat-or...

That's plainly wrong. Avoiding meat & dairy in one’s diet (or eating more plant-based proteins) is pretty much the biggest way to reduce one’s impact on the environment & climate. There are plenty of studies confirming this: ajstein.tumblr.com/post/1748287...

I'm sure with your approach of calling meat eaters pathetic, disgusting & toxic, you already convinced many more people to eat less meat than Mr. Friedrich, who works to offer them better alternatives. Read the article. (And think back, did you become vegan because/after somebody insulted you?)

Frontiers | How do-more-good frames influence climate action likelihood and anticipated happiness Calls for climate action often emphasize the need to reduce harm, such as by eating less meat, driving less, and shopping less. A more productive approach, h...

Calls for #climate action often emphasize the need to reduce harm (e.g. by eating less #meat). A more productive approach may be to encourage people to do more good (e.g. by eating more #plantbased), i.e. to encourage desired behaviors rather than discourage undesired ones: doi.org/10.3389/fcom...

‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat

(4/4) … whether that is animal disease #epidemics or environmental rules. They want to deliver high quality #protein to as many people as possible, as profitably as possible, so they’re agnostic on the production process: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat

(3/4) People are not eating #meat because of how it’s produced, they’re eating it because it’s delicious & affordable. Major meat companies are enthusiastic about alternative proteins as they are far more efficient and have far fewer risks in their supply chains… www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat

(2/4) Progress will require governments to ramp up their support for #science to overcome the obstacles in this still-embryonic field. They have done it before for previous transformative technologies, from penicillin to the internet to renewable energy… www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat

To address the world’s craving for animal #meat, we have to replace like for like. That means cultivating meat from cells in brewery-like factories or making taste-identical #plantbased meat. These products must cost the same or less than conventional meat… (1/4) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

When Nutrition Science Is Ignored This Viewpoint discusses the recent release of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) in the context of prior recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s 2025 scien...

Dietary advice emphasizes the need to limit intake of red & processed #meat, added #sugar & salty foods in favor of fruits, #vegetables, whole grains, #legumes, nuts & #plantbased proteins. Poor #diets are the leading cause of death & disability in the US: doi.org/10.1001/jama... #health #nutrition

(2/2) … older #farmers can retire without being affected. Anyway, other changes in the economy and the #agriculture sector might affect farmers more than a dietary shift to #plantbased and other alternative proteins: doi.org/10.1016/j.la... #diets #protein

The transition to alternatives to #meat & #dairy offers opportunities for farmers, e.g. the production of #legumes or the generation of revenue from payments for stewardship or provision of #ecosystem services. As the transition will be gradual… (1/2) doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

#Diets high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, #legumes, nuts & soy foods, and low in red & processed #meat and refined grains, may be linked to improved outcomes after a diagnosis of breast, colorectal or prostate #cancer. Patients may consider #plantbased diets: doi.org/10.3390/curr... #health

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa - Nature Projected impacts of climate change on malaria burden in Africa by 2050 highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems to safeguard pr...

#ClimateChange could lead to 120 million additional #malaria cases and 530,000 additional deaths in #Africa between 2024 and 2050. Extreme #weather events are the primary driver of increased risk. There is urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies: doi.org/10.1038/s415... #health

Problem with anecdotes/individuals is to what extent they are representative? There are also small organic farmers who are in it for the money, and there are conventional farmers who care deeply. For me, living in the city, "organic" is not a good guide to grocery shopping. (Plant-based is, though.)

Don't sell yourself short. I follow you because you are well-informed and you (can) back up your points with good evidence; your posts are generally valid and interesting :-)

Not really an expert, I'm afraid—I'm no longer working in the field, only following the literature a bit.

Also organic/natural is an industry, i.e. I'm not sure "natural" is a good guide for what you buy—once you buy it, i.e. pay money, there is a financial vested interest behind it. And in the cases of organic, those interests want you to believe that organic is without pesticides, more nutritious etc.

... agri-culture for a reason, because it's not agri-nature. Everything has side-effects, so the side-effects can only be minimised, without reducing the desired effects (like yields and food security). But how to balance these effects is also value judgements and trade-offs, hence the discussions.

I pretty much agree with you. Conventional needs to become more focused on sustainability, and organic (if it could) should become more evidence-based and open. Then they both meet and all is good. Or as good as possible, because there will always be negative impacts of farming. It's called...

Yes, a big field. My point was only that pesticides should be used based on actual impacts, notwhether they're "natural". If a "natural" one has a lower impact than synthetic, great, let's use it, but if it's vice versa, let's use the synthetic. And if something new & better comes along, even better

Agronomic management drives the wheat yield plateau in high-yielding environments of northwest Europe - Nature Food Wheat yields in northwest Europe have plateaued since the mid-1990s. This study finds that no ceiling in genetic yield potential has been reached and that climatic conditions have not constrained whea...

Without genetic & climatic yield ceilings, agronomic management is responsible for the #wheat yield plateau in NW Europe, contributing to unrealized potential #yields gains of 70-110 kg/ha/yr. Breaking this plateau requires attention to agronomic constraints at farm level: doi.org/10.1038/s430...