Los Angeles, U.S.A — When darkness falls, our eyesight fails us and our imaginations run wild. In the US premiere of the Discovery Channel/BBC/Terra Mater Factual Studios co-production “The Dark”, airing Saturday, October 27 at 9PM ET/PT, one group of brave individuals faces the most primal of human fears, fear of the dark, and utilizes technology to unveil the world after dark and shed light on the riveting nighttime dramas of some remarkable animals such as jaguars, pumas, owl monkeys, and vampire bats.

A team comprised of biologists, wildlife experts, and specialist camera crews venture into Central and South America armed with thermal imaging, infrared cameras, and a fierce determination to unravel the mystery of what life is like after dark for the majority of animals who are nocturnal.

The team’s filming technology allows them to capture natural behavior without disturbing the wildlife, even in pitch black conditions, and throughout the course of their six-month expedition they will have to become creatures of the night themselves. They will wade through crocodile-filled rivers, brave shark-infested waters, discover bizarre creatures and witness never-before-seen behaviors, and come face-to-face with predators in some uncomfortably close encounters.

The resulting footage is exhilarating, immersive, and provides viewers a completely new perspective on wildlife at night. This is a hair-raising view humans have rarely been able to witness…until now. “The Dark” premieres Saturday, October 27 at 9PM ET/PT.

“The Dark” is a Discovery Channel/BBC/Terra Mater Factual Studios co-production. For BBC, Tim Martin is executive producer; Jonny Keeling is series producer; Rowan Musgrave, Susanna Handslip, and Will Ridgeon are the director/producers. For Discovery Channel, James Manfull is writer and executive producer with Meghan Keener; Christine Weber is vice president of production.

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The recent brouhaha over pink slime (and other lovely mass meat production processes) is only the beginning. Here’s our roundup of some standout reporting about the food on your plate.

This is a multifaceted, perennial topic. If you think Propublica missed any, we’re happy to hear suggestions. Please email a link to MuckReads@propublica.org or tweet it with the hashtag #muckreads.

Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned, The New York Times, December 2009
A look at the development of Beef Product Inc.’s “novel” method of meat production that later became known as the infamous “pink slime.” Reporter Michael Moss won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigations into contaminated beef.

Our Dwindling Food Variety, National Geographic, July 2011
Our dwindling food variety, in a stride-stopping infographic.
Contributed by @kleinmatic

What the USDA Doesn’t Want You to Know About Antibiotics and Factory Farms, Mother Jones, July 2011
The U.S. Department of Agriculture appears to have repeatedly removed a report by a USDA-contracted researcher that summarized recent academic work, from “reputed, scientific, peer-reviewed, and scholarly journals,” on possible links between antibiotic-resistant infections and factory farm animals. Mother Jones got a permanent PDF of the researcher’s report, dubbing it the “document the USDA doesn’t want you to see.”
Contributed by @foodinteg

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves, Food Safety News, August 2011

Some of the biggest U.S. honey packers knowingly bought honey of questionable quality so they could sell it on the cheap. Much of it was likely smuggled from China (honey the European Union has banned) and may have been laced with lead and illegal animal antibiotics — if it was really honey at all.

America’s Dangerous Food-Safety System, The Daily Beast/ Newsweek, September 2011
A shortage of inspectors in the U.S. food-safety system exposes Americans to the risk of illness and death.
Contributed by @StepShep

Nation’s Food Anti-terror Plans Costly, Unwieldy, Associated Press, September 2011 
An AP investigation into the United States’ $3.4 billion food counter-terrorism program found that progress had been slowed by a complex web of bureaucracy.
Contributed by @joannalin

On The Menu, But Not On Your Plate, Boston Globe, October 2011
A Globe-organized DNA test revealed scores of mislabeled fish in Massachusetts restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets. Often, “local” fish was actually hauled from thousands of miles away, and while some chefs and store owners seemed to have no clue, others admitted to knowingly selling mislabeled food to boost profits. Experts said it reflects a nationwide trend that causes diners to unwittingly overpay, may make people sick and results in overfishing.

Contributed by @JoeYerardi

Dispute Over Drug in Feed Limiting U.S. Meat Exports, MSNBC, January 2012
The controversial drug ractopamine has sickened or killed more pigs than any other livestock drug on the market, leading the EU and China, which together produce and consume about 70 percent of the world’s pork, to refuse meat imports raised on the additive. The U.S. pork industry wants to change their minds.
Contributed by @NaomiStarkman

How Washington Went Soft on Child Obesity, Reuters, April 2012
The food and beverage industries have more than doubled their spending on lobbying in Washington in the last three years. And now Congress has declared pizza a vegetable.
Contributed by @mariancw

A History of FDA Inaction on Animal Antibiotics, ProPublica, April 2012
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Food and Drug Administration’s actions, or lack thereof, to keep antibiotics out of your food.

As Beef Cattle Become Behemoths, Who Are Animal Scientists Serving? The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 2012
A growing number of animal scientists employed by public universities are accepting payouts from pharmaceutical companies. They’re often hired to persuade farmers to use antibiotics that fatten up cattle but haven’t necessarily been proven safe. Some have been banned in the E.U. and China.
Contributed by @MelodyPetersen

Bonus points: In 1968, Nathan Kotz of the Des Moines Register and Minneapolis Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on unsanitary conditions in meat packing plants, which, according to the Pulitzer site, helped ensure passage of the Federal Wholesome Meat Act of 1967. Anybody have an online copy?

by Blair Hickman, ProPublica, May 7, 2012, 12:21 p.m.

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The descendant of a survivor of the Titanic will travel from England to America to share letters and photographs of her great-grandmother, who was a women’s rights advocate and journalist and wrote an account of her rescue.

As part of the centennial observance of the sinking of the Titanic, Rosemary Gillham of Hertfordshire, will visit Norwalk for an exhibit at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum titled Epic Voyage: The Extraordinary Life of Titanic Survivor Helen Churchill Candee, and will bring her great-grandmother’s papers. The exhibit runs from April 25 to October 14,2012.

“My great-grandmother has always been an inspiration for me,” said Gillham. “She was 53 when she traveled on the Titanic, and that tragic evening was just one night in a long and very full life. She had already achieved a huge amount and went on to travel and write extensively.”

Candee was in Europe when a family crisis forced her to return to America aboard the Titanic on its inaugural voyage to New York, when it struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, and sank, resulting in the death of 1,517 people.

She fractured her ankle as she boarded Lifeboat 6 with the ‘Unsinkable’ Molly Brown. Afterwards, she recuperated at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, where she received get-well letters from friends, including First Lady Helen Taft. She was interviewed by the Washington Herald and wrote an account of her rescue for Collier’s Weekly.

Candee, who attended school in Norwalk and published her first book, How Women May Earn a Living, in 1900, wrote for National Geographic, Atlantic Monthly and the Ladies’ Home Journal. She was an organizer in the “Votes for Women” rally in Washington. She became one of the first interior decorators and worked for President Theodore Roosevelt.

During World War I, she volunteered with the Red Cross in Italy and continued to write. Her work, Angkor the Magnificent, is considered the first study of the Khmer temple.

To kick off the exhibit April 21, Dr. Stephen Coan, President and CEO of Sea Research Foundation, will talk about the legacy of the Titanic and be joined on video by ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic in 1985. Portions of Mystic Aquarium’s new exhibit, “Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below,” will be displayed at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum.

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With tsunamis, earthquakes and financial concerns dominating the headlines over the past year, National Geographic Channel and Kelton Research on February 7 released the results of a survey gauging Americans’ preparedness levels and mind-set related to a potential “Doomsday” scenario.

Most Americans are fearful of catastrophes, yet are poorly prepared, according to the new survey.  Eighty-five percent of the nation is not ready for a devastating event, blame the recession for their unpreparedness and are more fearful of a man-made catastrophe if a Republican wins the presidential election.

This comes as NGC launches its new series Doomsday Preppers focusing on Americans with an unshakable certainty that America soon faces tougher times – when grocery stores are empty, water is in short supply and electricity is unavailable – and are stockpiling for survival.

In the survey of more than 1,000 men and women conducted online from January 3 to January 10 with a 3.1 percent margin of error, the question was asked, “Which of the following, if any, do you think might happen in the United States in the next 25 years?”  Earthquakes (64%), hurricanes (63%) and terrorism (55%) are the most feared, followed by financial collapse (51%), significant blackout (37%), a pandemic (29%) and nuclear fallout (14%).

Regardless of the incident, more than 62 percent Americans think the world will experience a major catastrophe in less than 20 years.  And nearly three out of every four people (71%) envision a major disaster in their lifetime as an act of God, not man.  Nearly one-third (27%) believe that the Mayan calendar’s prediction about a calamitous event in December 2012 will be at least “somewhat true.”

“The results demonstrate that in a disastrous scenario most people are unprepared,” says Scott Hunt, co-owner and engineer with Practical Preppers, a firm specializing in emergency preparedness.  “You need to take a practical approach to preparedness so that in a crisis situation you are not part of the problem, but the solution.  I hope more people feel compelled to start looking at this seriously and take solid steps to be ready.”

With the presidential election this November, politics also factored into the results, with more than half of the nation (52%) believing that if Mitt Romney or one of his Republican counterparts overtake Barack Obama, a man-made catastrophe is more likely.

Among those who feel unprepared, 40 percent cite the lasting effects of the recession as the reason for their unpreparedness.  But the same number (40%) is saying “to hell with a 401(k)” to save money for catastrophe arrangements.  Nearly half (49%) of Americans would forgo new high-end appliances in a new home if it had a safe room or bomb shelter instead.

Dr. Berger, senior lecturer on modern apocalyptic narratives at Yale University, expands on why Americans are straying away from such items for their homes:  ”If large numbers of people are to be protected from some natural or social disaster, there must be some public mechanisms put in place – for evacuations, food, water, medicine, etc., as well as proper infrastructure that will mitigate damage.”

While one in four Americans have done nothing to prepare, among those who have prepared, actions they have taken are very basic: 60 percent have stored canned food; 58 percent drinking water; and 56 percent batteries.  However, only 12 percent of the population has practiced drills, and 39 percent have learned basic survival skills.

Were “doomsday to arrive,” nearly four in 10 (39%) don’t think they would last two weeks based on the supplies they have on hand.

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