Rainy, muddy winter brings out the best of January produce in the Middle East. Our hot summers seem far away right now, but Middle Eastern winters are all too short. With ever-present water problems, we treasure every drop of rain and rejoice in the sight of succulent greenery springing up everywhere. Wild edibles are at […]
Is a two year old study pitting the natural immune benefits of mothers’ milk against the machine of big pharma? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States published a abstract in 2010 that is now alarming some environmental activists around the globe. Naturalnews.com took a strong stance against the recommendations – […]
A brilliant new online farming system in Egypt allows city dwellers to become reacquainted with their agrarian roots without leaving their urban comfort zone. Egyptian urbanites who have a desire to grow their own food but lack the farming skills now have access to a brilliant new remote farming system that has both an online […]
A hearty vegan warm salad, perfect for winter. Chickpeas are a perennial favorite in the Middle East. Their earthy flavor is always wisely paired with something sharp, like onions, as in our chickpea sambusak recipe, or with lemon. And happily, artichokes are in season now. The two star in a hearty vegan salad that combines […]
This image taken in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia shows irrigation canals being dug by the agricultural firm owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new villages that lack adequate resources for […]
New study shows connection between fluoride consumption and hardening of the arteries. Our previous post on fluoride brought up some startling facts on the dangers lurking in our water. Water laced with fluoride, that is. The list of ills associated with fluoridated water is long and scary: Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction are among […]
An anonymous Green Prophet reader took this photo today at a shopping mall in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. Go Green ceramic frying pans and pots are slashed to 50 percent off. This follows the picture that Maurice took last week of the fire sale of ceramic cookware in another shopping market. Clearly Israeli shopping centers […]
Nearly 3 billion people lack safe and efficient cooking gear. It’s time to make the problem in the kitchen sexier. Half the world’s households prepare their meals over open fires or with jerry-rigged cookers fueled by scrap wood, coal, combustible waste and dung. Fatal burns are common and foraged fuel dangerously degrades indoor air quality. […]
Egyptians will spend up to $6 a pound for cow brains, which are then deep friend and served in a pita. News that Cairo International Airport authorities seized 420 pounds of frozen cow brains last week has flooded the wires. Smugglers buy the brains for less than $1 a pound in Sudan and sell […]
Dubai Municipality seizes thousands of Vimto soft drink bottles infested with floating fungi. Vimto is the Middle East’s favorite soft drink. It’s especially appreciated as an instant energy boost after the daily fast during Ramadan month. We’re well aware that juice and sugary soft drinks increase risk of liver damage. To compound the soft-drink danger in […]
No-calories, almost no side effects, and naturally sweet. Israel, meet stevia. Israel’s Ministry of Health approved the use of powdered stevia herb as a natural “table sweetener,” says Israel Solodoch, director of Nufar Natural Products, Israel’s main supplier of stevia-based products. Known in Central and South America for centuries, the sweet leaf has gained popularity […]
Maurice goes to the store in Israel and sees a “fire sale” of ceramic cookware in Israel – 70% off. Public awareness of product defects and dangers can work wonders. This appears to be the case with the recent Israel consumer awareness program Kolbotek that pointed out the dangers of cooking with some brands of […]
Can growing and maintaining a healthy pair start in your garden? Tips for improving breast health without silicon. Call us trendsetters: here at Green Prophet, we’ve long been reporting on breast health as well as the environmental concerns women face with regards to proper care and nutrition of their curves. Now, with the recent news […]
Lebanon goes green with seed bank, but can this memory keeper for nature fight GMOs? Lebanon harbors over 2600 plant species of which 119 are counted to be endemic. The unique climatic and landscape diversity in Lebanon has shaped 22 bio-climatic zones which fosters one of the most precious ecological services: genetic diversity. Unfortunately, the […]
Increased levels of male breast cancer and early onset puberty are consequence of water pollution in Israel. The 52nd Conference of the Israel Geographical Association conducted the last week of December at Tel Aviv University dealt with developments affecting Israel, the Middle East and the planet as a whole. Geography, a discipline that is multi-varied […]
Lead and other pollutants are seeping into Israeli drinking water at alarming levels. Lutra numbers decimated; human health at risk. Water pollution in Israeli lakes, streams and groundwater aquifers is reaching alarming levels. Although the country has regulations in place to prevent discharges, including a comprehensive Water Law, contamination is commonplace. And now scientists are […]
Be lonely no more. Morocco’s “love potion” candy hides a secret high note in its heart. To Westerners, Alice B. Toklas’s “Haschish Fudge” was a culinary aberration, a bizarre recipe gleefully revived by the Flower Children of the 1960s. Tongue well in cheek, Ms. Toklas wrote, “…it might well prove an entertaining refreshment for a […]
Crunchy, just-sweet-enough tidbits that perfectly match a hot cuppah. Hospitality is a fine art in the Middle East, with traditions to dictate every gesture. A guest will always be offered tea, coffee, and one or more old-fashioned sweets, like kanafeh pastry, or silky malabi, or light fekka cookies. The traditional fekka is baked twice, like […]
Media sham or company scam? The Israeli government is now looking into re-testing Neoflam pots and pans over widespread public panic that these “health” pans are allegedly carcinogenic. With a large share of the market for pots and pans in Israel, the Korean-based company Neoflam is in the media spotlight in the small Middle East […]
Most Israelis complacently think that there are no GMO foods in Israeli food. But there are, especially in soy products. “It’s a huge mistake to think that there’s no genetically-modified food in Israel,” said Naama Rosenberg, spokeswoman at the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research. In a telephone interview, Ms. Rosenberg went on to explain that […]
Avoid food waste – eat your peels, roots and vegetable “waste” like pea pods, onion skins and cauliflower leaves. Want another reason to feel virtuous? Alright – remind yourself that your local landfill isn’t one tiny bit fuller because you cooked. But let’s not dwell on smelly, pollution-charged landfills when we’re contemplating dinner. Let’s look […]
So-called eco-friendly, ceramic utensils may contain toxic metals like arsenic, an Israeli journalist investigates. It’s in the colors, so also be wary of color-coated knives! We buy them at health food stores because the ceramic coated pans are supposedly safer than teflon, and good for the planet. A new investigative report by an Israeli consumer […]
Defunct French company PIP has sold leaky, industry grade silicon implants now being recalled. image via Globalpost Thousands of faulty breast implants have been recalled by the French government for fears of leaks that could lead to cancer. A call to women has been issued in the Middle East to women from Israel all the […]
Researchers in Al Ain find that saffron can protect your liver from cancer. Great news just in time for Christmas: Arab scientists from the United Arab Emirates have located anti-cancer compounds in the much loved and expensive spice saffron. Known for centuries as a home remedy, the research project led by Professor Amr Amin from […]
Rates of skin cancer in Israel are some of the highest in the world, though the rest of the MENA region has significantly lower incidence, according to the World Health Organization. Conventional thinking suggests that the best way to avoid skin cancer is to use sunscreen, particularly one made from organic materials. New research, however, […]