by eatingkind | Jun 15, 2011 | Blog
In all the research that I’ve delved into over the last several months, I’ve learned of many negative results that the commercial farming has on our world. The extensive list includes harm to our health, environmental damage, and mistreatment of animals and slowly but surely has been pushing me closer and closer towards full-time vegetarianism.
And an article by Ezra Klein brings up yet another compelling point: “if meat were to become more expensive, and folks began trending towards plant-based diets, world hunger would be substantially alleviated.”
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by eatingkind | May 10, 2011 | Blog
Here are some of the things happening in May:
- Urge Trader Joe’s to label GMO and CAFO products.
- Speak out against the overuse and misuse of antibiotics on farm animals. Do the same here.
by eatingkind | Apr 25, 2011 | Blog
Having lived in Bay Area since I was a teenager, it’s pretty incredible that it took me so long to explore the agricultural side of California. But this past weekend, my fiancé and I headed up to
Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary in Stockton, CA and had the pleasure of meeting the fantastic staff and the adorable animal residents on the farm.
Just an hour away, Harvest Home is full of amazing stories of survival and strength. Animals born in captivity and having experienced the cruelties of factory farming and laboratory testing now roam happy and free. If you live in the Bay Area and are looking for a fun day trip for you or you family, check out the
Harvest Home – it’s definitely a trip worth taking!
Here are just some of the animals who opened their home to us. We were welcomed by Dexter, who accompanied us on the tour and made sure that all the other animals followed the rules of the farm. This determined little pup with an “I-mean-business” demeanor and a heart of gold had wondered onto the Harvest House farm several years ago and hasn’t left since!
One of my favorites from this weekend was Mohawk, the potbellied pig! Mohawk was a little shy at first but then succumbed to my belly rubs and even followed me around the pen.
Some of the others we met were chickens, ducks, bunnies, turkeys and goats!
Thank you, Harvest House, for showing us around and for introducing us to your animals. I’m looking forward to my next visit!
by eatingkind | Apr 15, 2011 | Blog
With most grocery stores brimming with fruits and vegetables all year-around, it’s difficult to know what’s in season and what’s not. Farmers markets on the other hand sell only what is freshly (and locally) grown – yet another great reason to buy produce from farmer’s markets!
But for those of us who find ourselves schlepping to the grocery store for our asparagus and zucchini, Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) has a great seasonal chart that can help identify the ‘in-season’ items.
Here’s just a snapshot of the easy to read vegetable chart available on CUESA’s website. Just follow the links to check out the vegetable and fruit charts.
If you want to find out which farmers markets carry each fruit and vegetable, just click on the name.
by eatingkind | Mar 25, 2011 | Blog
I love the concept of Meatless Monday and all the benefits that come from skipping meat just one day a week.
If reducing risks of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity (list does go on) weren’t enough, we’d also decrease our greenhouse gas emissions and minimize water usage.
That got me thinking, so here’s some additional research on what would happen if every American for just one day went vegetarian. The results are pretty amazing! We would:
- Eliminate 33 tons of antibiotics1
- Stop 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting damages.1
- Preserve over 3 million acres of land1
- Save 70 million gallons of gas.1
And of course don’t forget about the animals! If we skipped one meat meal, about one billion animals would be spared the suffering that occurs with intensive confinement operations.
Having named the many, many benefits of decreasing our meat consumption, I don’t understand why majority of us, myself included, choose not to. According to the NY Times, “Americans eat about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.” Those numbers seem staggering!
To make sense of my own behavior I always start with two questions 1) why did I start doing it and 2) why do I continue to do it.
When I apply this methodology to our chronic meat eating, the first “why” seems to range from internal drivers like pleasure and habit to external ones like convenience, price, and accessibility. While understanding these reasons is important and interesting from a social and cultural perspective, it doesn’t provide insight into how to change behavior.
That’s where the second question comes in. Why do we continue to overindulge in meat when it’s not good for us or our planet? Our choices tend to be measured against a benefit/harm yardstick – and if benefits (perceived or real) from maintaining status quo are greater than from a new behavior, (or inversely, if the harm associated with new behavior is greater than from the old behavior) we’ll continue right along doing what we’ve always done.
This is where things get confusing. Effects from hanging up our carnivore hat for just one day are all positive. No matter how you look it. Eating less meat is more beneficial than not: we feel better, we look better, fewer animals are slaughtered. Eating more meat is more harmful than not: higher risk of various diseases, weight gain, the negative environmental impact, the list goes on and on. Logic and common sense tell us that our human survivalist instinct will or should compel us to embrace a lifestyle that most benefits us and our future generations. So why don’t we?
My go-to culprit is awareness, and I think it certainly applies here. I believe a large percentage of population still doesn’t realize the extent of the damage that our meat-driven diet is having on ourselves or our environment. But better education and awareness = better choices. I hope that policy changes related to organic labeling, stricter laws for nutritional labeling on packaging and menus and increased interested in sustainable food production will continue to drive up that awareness.
A new offender is addiction. It may sound melodramatic to call our overconsumption an addiction. But is it really? With substance and drug abuse, users engage in behaviors they know to be harmful, their usage increases over time and they refuse to give up their drug of choice, even when they know their lifestyle is killing them. Sound familiar?
And just like with addiction, the first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem. We need to acknowledge that our current way of living and eating is slowly killing us, our families, our friends, human and non-human, and our planet. The good news is that even small changes make a difference and are as easy as saying ‘hold the meat, pass the veggies’ next time we’re at our local grocery store.
Sources:
1. www.healthyalterego.com
2. www.greenpeace.org
3. Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
