NY?s Top Court Says Towns Can Ban Fracking

New York?s top court ruled on Monday that towns can use zoning laws to ban hydraulic fracturing within their borders. In a precedent-setting ruling that could have wide implications on the future of fracking in New York, the state Court of Appeals ruled 5-2 in favor of the towns of Dryden, Tompkins County, and Middlefield, Otsego County. The two towns had been involved in three-year-long legal disputes over the validity of their local fracking bans. An oil-and-gas company and a Middlefield dairy farm had challenged the bans, arguing that New York law gives full power to the state to regulate the industry. The decision affirms the rulings of the lower courts, which had ruled in favor of the towns. The next step in preventing fracking in New York State is a statewide ban. Click here for updates on how you can help keep fracking out New York.?

Rehabilitating Hospital Food: Aiming for Healthy, Sustainable and Savory

A group of San Francisco hospitals are working to transform hospital food and are getting rave reviews. ?Moffitt Caf?, also known as ?the Moffitteria,” is the main dining hall of the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center. Since undertaking a $6.5m caf? renovation in 2010, the nutrition and food services department at UCSF has been working to renovate the menu as well, attempting to integrate eating choices that are tasty, healthy and good for the environment.?The medical center has become a leader in a growing movement amongst hospitals countrywide to add more fresh, organic and sustainable foods to their patient and cafeteria trays. The kitchen staff has been buying more locally produced foods, which means fewer fossil fuels burned for transport.?In the past two growing seasons, UCSF, the San Francisco VA Medical Center and four other hospitals served 67,000 pounds of green beans, pesticide-free strawberries, squash and other crops that were grown by 10 local family farmers.?Given that the US healthcare industry spends an estimated $12bn a year on food procurement,?other hospitals would be making a smart decision by replicating the Bay Area’s strategy to shift the mainstream marketplace towards more sustainable foods.

Nation?s First All-Vegan School Menu Coming to Los Angeles

Leaders at the Calabasas, CA-based Muse School campus dedicated themselves to sustainability about four years ago with zero-emissions buildings, classrooms designed to maximize light and more. Now, the school plans on becoming the first all-vegan school in the U.S. The school already has about 50 garden beds around its campus, and by next year students will eat the vegetables they grow five days a week and stick to a vegan diet. That would make Muse the first school in the country to do so, ABC7 in Los Angeles reported. The kids currently have one plant-based lunch per week.