Friday Focaccia
Do you have an adorable pet? Do you think others would think so to? Enter a photo of you pet in the Bissel MVP (Most Valuable Pet) Pet Photo Contest. The winning pet’s picture will be put on the new Bissell Pet Hair Eraser vacuum , and donation of $10,000 will be made to the charity of the winner’s (well winner’s owner) choice. Plus the top vote getter each week will win one of the Pet Hair Eraser vacuums, and the top 5 vote getters (getters?) will move into the finalist group. Grab your camera, snap a picture of your pet and send it in. (Contest ends 04/30/08)
Why I hate people from Alaska - You remember Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska), of “The Internet is a series of tubes” fame? Well, he is at it again, along with apparently equally dimwitted Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Senator Olympia Snow (R-Washington), who have introduced a bill to outlaw the already illegal practice of phishing. Sounds a bit like yet another Bridge to Nowhere. Of course I can’t but wonder, if it doesn’t pass if Stevens will throw another one of his hissy fits and threaten to quit the Senate. Of course, I can always dream.
Your rights trampled in the name of profits - It seems Monsanto is on a tear again, pushing for lawmakers to get rid of your right to select milk not tainted with synthetic growth hormones. Whether or not you believe or care about the rBST/rBGH controvery or not, you should care about your rights, as this is not the only product that is being targeted by large companies to get labeling stripped to keep the consumer in the dark. Contact your representatives, and tell them, you have a right to know.
Emeril going green - Emeril is coming to the Discovery Channel with a new eco-friendly food show. The show reportedly will be set in Whole Foods Markets and will feature organic, free range and natural foods.
And how about now? - Yes, I know I can understand if you are tired of me mentioning TheMeatrix, and Sustainable Table, and other food “activist” type things, because how could farms possibly be as bad as it is show in that little animated movie… right? Well what about this video? That is not fiction! That is not “a demonstration” or even a theoretical re-enactment. No cute little animation here. This is the actual goings on that lead to the single largest recall of beef (to date) in the United States. [Via Sustainable Table Blog]
Save a tree… part deux
Last year, LatteGirl rather than allowing me to throw out a little sapling that had begun to grow in the cracks of the patio, decided that we needed to save it, and I discover that I have a Treehugger in the Making. Well, those plans got screwed up a bit when TheWife was cleaning out her annuals, saw the little tree sans leaves in the fall, and figuring it was dead, threw it out. Needless to say, LatteGirl was not please with this and despite repeated apologies from TheWife.
Fast forward, to this spring, once again, we have started a new sapling tree, pulled from the same little crack in the patio block. As we were cleaning up the yard, and TheWife was putting some dead annuals into the compost, LatteGirl stopped her, took her over to her little tree and said:
“Now Mommy, don’t forget this year. This is a tree. The leaves fall off of it in the Autumn. That is why it is also called ‘fall’. So please do not forget this and throw away my tree again! Can you do that for me, please?”
The Green
I am not much joining “movement” days typically, but when I ran across Blog Action Day, I knew there was no way I could not join in. After all, I am sure by now many are tired of reading my rants about using Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, or recycling. Your sick of seeing me link to things such as, The Meatrix, or the Sustainable Table Blog even though you probably know they are worth checking out. And it is hard to say whether I have gotten anybody to go grab some coupons to check out products from companies like Seventh Generation or Sun and Earth.
But, on the other side of the coin, not yet enough is being done. It of course doesn’t help when a funded arm of Exxon is offering $10,000 for a scientist to publish something that is anti-global warming. I sometimes can’t blame people for not doing more, I mean when you have the President offering a “Clean Skies Initiative” that does nothing but loosen regulations on the worst polluters, when you have supposed political “leaders” like the morally bankrupt Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), calling global warming “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” without a single thing to back up his idiocy, it is easy to see how people just take a “who knows” approach and just throwing up their hands and giving up.
What I guess I fail to understand is, why even if you do not believe things are as dire as some predict, that that the truth is “probably somewhere in the middle” between the two prevailing ways of thinking. So what? Is it so back to switch to CFL’s and save some money and be better for the environment, even if we don’t need it to stave off things in the next “20 or so years” isn’t it enough to just want to do better by the planet before we hit that stage? Do we want to just “pass the buck” to our children or grandchildren and say “You figure it out”?
You know, until I started this post, I hadn’t realized that it was over a year ago, that TheWife and I really learned that Kermit was wrong, and it really isn’t all that difficult to go green. And to be honest, in that time, not once I have complained about missing one of the products we gave up.
It is not about being a Wheat grass drinking, hemp wearing hippie any more. Though maybe if we just paid a little more attention to them as well as those old Keep America Beautiful ad campaigns, maybe the situation wouldn’t be so bad today.
You don’t have to “go crazy” to make a difference. If you feel uneasy about going Carbon Neutral, and don’t trust Carbon Offset companies, then by all means, be wary or don’t go that route. As I mentioned, using Compact Fluorescent Lights is an excellent way to start (but not in lights with dimmers for the record), not only would you be doing something good for the environment, but you get the added kicker of saving money, as these bulbs no longer cost as much as they did in the past, and save you both on electric costs, and the fact that they last (approximately) 5 years, you save on replacements as well. Trade in those toxic Dryer Sheets for something a bit more earth (and skin, and respiratory) friendly liquid. It may not be the same money saver up front (at least not obviously), but the money you save on doctor’s visits, or dryer repairs (Dryer sheets leave a residue on your lint filter rendering it less useful and more prone to clogging).
And by all means, and this may not seem to fit, when election time comes around again VOTE! It is time that those that are more worried about the Exxon’s EPS than the environment, are tossed out.
Picture Perfect Thursday - Happy Cows Part I
I know I have harped on this before, and some of you may be sick of hearing about it. However, I think it really worth repeating, and besides, I have this awesome picture of cows taken by Erin over at Family Circus and I can’t see letting it go to waste. Here we see cows and newborn calves. They are happy, healthy and free to roam and graze in the field. This is of course how we imagine all the cows that provide us with milk and meat comes from. But that is of course just simply not true.
If you haven’t done so yet, Go over and Check out The Meatrix I.
Back? Good.
The fact of the matter is, that in many instances, what is depicted here is not how it is done today thank to Big Agri-Business over-running the local farms, raising animals in deplorable conditions, using (at best) questionable practices such as debeaking chickens, over use of anitbiotics, keeping animals in cages where they simply cannot move, using rBGH/rBST in cows to increase production despite the potential health effects to both the cows and humans that consume the milk produced by cows injected with these synthetic hormones.
I will once again be raising money for Farm Aid, which helps small farmers survive (and try to thrive) in this world that is sadly slanted towards the Big Corporate Entities. Hopefully, the wonderful people, (and perhaps a few new ones) will again join me in attempting to raise money for this worthwhile cause.
It really can’t be stressed enough, when you want to take into consideration your health, the health of your family, and even the health of your community and the world, supporting your local farmers is good way to get good tasting food, get it from a source your know, keep the money in your local area, and all while helping to reduce carbon emmission that are inevitable when food is shipped from around the world. Now of course not everybody has everything naturally grown close to home. I know I am sure as heck not giving up my coffee and other products that aren’t grown around here. But when it comes to the things, the fruits, the vegetables and where possible even some meat, I will find a local source or shop at the local farmers market.
We will all be happier and healthier… even the cows.
Finding food close to home
I have spoken before about the benefits of supporting a sustainable culture when it comes to food. I am not talking (necessarily) about Organic. Because while yes, certainly buying organic has virtues also, they do not (necessarily) always translate well into sustainable.
As a matter of fact, if you check your area, you will probably find farmers that practice good sustainable (and “nearly” organic… the big problem being the the expense and paperwork involved in getting that seal which can be prohibitive to a small local farmer).
Now of course we all know that it benefits the planet if your fruits, vegetables, and so on do not need to be trucked or steam shipped thousands of miles to your grocer. Few will argue the benefits to the local economy of keeping those dollars closer to home that you spend.
But until it becomes news, few really pay attention all that closely to the fact that regulations and laws governing food, are lax or non-exitent in many of these countries that many big agri-business source from for cheap goods. And even then, most of it goes by the wayside.
I mean, most people are(were) aware of the e.coli outbreak as laid out in this SF Chronicle article, and I certainly hope everybody paid attention to the Peanut Butter recall, but how many people started thinking twice about where their bananas came from, even after Chiquita Bananas was fined $25 million dollars for paying known terrorists protection money to guard their farms in Columbia? And while, unless you have been living under a rock, you have no doubt at least heard about the recall of Pet Food, but how many paid enough attention to the story to stick around and hear that animal feed has caused a quarantine of at least one farm where melamine was found in the urine of animals meant for human consumption?
With the warm weather upon us, we are going to try and make an effort to not only shop locally and sustainably, but even hopefully visit a few farms, where not only can we get some great fresh food, but we can actually talk to the farmers, and hopefully teach a lesson or two to LatteGirl about where are food comes from (or should).
Want to find sustainable farmers in your area? Then check out the Eat Well Guide over at Sustainable Table. Visit your local Farmer’s Markets when and where available.
Ask questions. Build a better relationship with the food you eat, and your body just may thank you for it.
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