This is just amazing to me. There is no way a person can watch this clip and still think that animals and birds don’t have an innate wisdom and are aware of the world around them. So cool to see it captured on film:
Please take a few seconds and sign this important petition today! The sustainable agriculture community has developed a list of six names that would be appropriate choices for the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. There is a nationwide effort underway to get as many signatures as possible on this petition that will be sent to our President-elect in the next 24 hours and time is of the essence.
An excerpt from their letter to President-elect Obama:
Today we have a nutritional and environmental deficit that is as real and as great as that of our national debt and must be addressed with forward thinking and bold, decisive action. To deal with this crisis, our next Secretary of Agriculture must work to advance a new era of sustainability in agriculture, humane husbandry, food and renewable energy production that revitalizes our nation’s soil, air and water while stimulating opportunities for new farmers to return to the land.
We believe that a new administration should address our nation’s growing health problems by promoting a children’s school lunch program that incorporates more healthy food choices, including the creation of opportunities for schools to purchase food from local sources that place a high emphasis on nutrition and sustainable farming practices. We recognize that our children’s health is our nation’s future and that currently schools are unable to meet these needs because they do not have the financial resources to invest in better food choices. We believe this reflects and is in line with your emphasis on childhood education as a child’s health and nutrition are fundamental to their academic success.
This could be a breakthrough for our organic farmers and sustainability in general if the right person is chosen to be the head of this department. We already know that Obama/Biden have a “Plan For Rural America” which I have blogged about before so now we just have to ensure there is a really great US Secretary of Agriculture chosen to make this vision a reality. Please pass this on to gather as many signatures as possible today! Spread the word! Thank you.
This past weekend I attended a Sustainability Fair that was sponsored by my town and was completely free for us to attend. They even served a free lunch. The info I have below is really important and I feel very lucky that it was presented to us. This Sustainability Fair was a major highlight for me to have right here where I live since this lifestyle has been a passion of mine for the past 13 years.
Having lived in my conservative town for the past 6 years, I really never expected the concept of real sustainable living to reach the mainstream consciousness here so soon especially since this town is not as liberal or environmentally friendly as other places in my county. Attending this entire day long, well coordinated conference with expert speakers talking about all areas of sustainablility and how do we work together to achieve this for the single purpose of making this town the most sustainable and eco-friendly place to live was just so deeply rewarding to me on so many levels.
At the fair, they had an expo area with lots of companies explaining what they do in different areas relating to environmentalism. They also had presentations in different rooms by a few different panels of experts, most of whom were local to either my county or state. The topics covered were: Agriculture, Water, Alternative Energy and Recycling. There was also a keynote speaker and then lunch then a breakout session where we went to brainstorm and give ideas on each topic.
Since there was only time to go to two presentations out of the four, can you guess which two I picked? If you read this blog regularly, you can tell I’m pretty passionate about healthy food especially seasonal, local and organic plant based foods. Agriculture was my first stop and it was great.
There were 3 presenters and the first was a man named Tom who owns a large, local farm and builds solar powered farm equipment. His designs have been patented and he is now developing a solar powered tractor. His description about his whole way of living was inspiring to me.
Another man, Adrian from our county commissioner’s advisory board spoke about better farming practices and the need for younger, sustainably aware farmers since the average age of farmers now is 55. He spoke about how all of the confined animal feedlots (CAFO) are just so cruel to the animals and horrible for the environment also use the most fossil fuels and contribute to the the largest output of greenhouse gasses (including dairy and all kinds of meat production). That’s huge and the sooner we do away with these inhumane ways to raise livestock and go back to the local farms for pasture-raised flesh foods and dairy, it’s better both for the people’s health and the greatly minimized environmental impacts. We should not be eating animals everyday, 3 times a day. Plant based foods are healthier and better for you and the planet. Limit the intake of animal based foods (especially the cheap, antibiotic-laden factory farmed meats & dairy) because they are the biggest contributors to our planet’s degradation. CAFO also uses and pollutes enormous amounts of water (which I will speak about in part 2).
Next, a woman named Cindy spoke that runs our farmer’s market here in my town of which it is part of the larger county run farmer’s markets organization and there are many of these markets here in my county which is a great thing for the people and the local CO farmers. She said on the last day of the season (Nov.1st here), our largest farmer’s market in the county made $80,000 just from selling produce. Not from the arts and crafts vendors or the prepared meals food carts. Just the farmers themselves. That is astounding to me (and to them, too!) because it shows how many people are really interested in fresh, regional, seasonal, organic foods. It is what we need for our health and what is also good for our planet. So glad it’s on the upswing.
She also spoke at length about how many people are considered “food insecure” and how food banks and shelters are adding 200 people every week in our county and it’s only going to get worse as we go into this economic depression. There was talk about some trial programs my town just did with growing potatoes in a public park area on only about an eighth of an acre and volunteers came and dug them up a few weeks ago and donated all of the potatoes to the food bank. They grew several hundred pounds with very little effort so more of this type of growing on public land will be happening in the future to benefit the food insecure.
Cindy also spoke about the farm to school program aka – the “School Food Project” that they are trying to get established in my school district. Currently, in the bigger city in my county their school district is being trained by none other than Ann Cooper from Berkeley, CA’s school district (and I posted a great TED video of her speaking a few weeks ago). This woman is an amazing dynamo in terms of getting off the processed, subsidized food bandwagon which helps to make kids fat and unhealthy and she is also teaching the kitchen workers how to cook real food again from many locally sourced food items from farmers and it’s all done on the school’s budget. She also advocates teaching and growing a garden at each school and educating the children about where food comes from. I truly admire this woman and am so excited she is working with our neighboring school district because this means that program will come to my school district at some point and I would love to help out with getting that going. This is especially great for all of those children that have to rely on the free breakfast and lunch program and who have to consume many highly processed foods everyday. This will help turn the children’s health around by eating high quality, nutritious food which will also increase their mental acuity as well as educate them about sustainable living skills, too. All win-win.
Next, in part two I will write about the water and climate change presentations I went to and the very enlightening info I learned there.
I feel all beings need to be treated compassionately and culled humanely if you eat them. If you live in California, please vote YES on Prop. 2 – the humane treatment of factory farm animals. It seems insane that we even have to vote on this. I hope all states adopt legislation regarding eradicating the cruel and inhumane treatment of factory farm animals. Not able to barely move, turn around or spread their wings is cruel and we would never do this to our pets so why do we do this to other animals?
The NY Times gave a full endorsement of Prop 2 last week. Here is an excerpt that was posted on Vegan.com:
You will never in your life, on any topic, see a newspaper editorial give stronger support to a ballot initiative than this endorsement of Proposition 2 appearing in today’s New York Times. The first and last paragraphs:
The goal of the California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act — Proposition 2 on the state’s November ballot — sounds extremely modest. It would ban the confinement of animals in a way that keeps them from being able to stand, sit, lie down, turn around and extend their limbs. The fact that such fundamental decencies have to be forced upon factory farming says a lot about its horrors. We urge California voters to pass Proposition 2. We urge every state to enact similar laws…
To a California voter still undecided on Proposition 2, we say simply, imagine being confined in the voting booth for life. Would you vote for the right to be able to sit down and turn around and raise your arms? Link
Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit organization that I’ve been a member of for many years came out with this commercial recently regarding Sarah Palin’s record as governor regarding wildlife in her state. Mind you, the wolves were still on the endangered species list when she approved this. What I want to know is – Why???
As governor, Sarah Palin…
Please consider helping Defenders of Wildlife get this powerful TV ad shown in more swing states by donating even a small amount. Every bit can help save the lives of many animals.
This has been quite the whirlwind past week. Living outside of Denver where all the hoopla for the greenest and largest! Democratic National Convention that ever took place, we avoided going near the city until my local blogging friends – Amy from Crunchy Domestic Goddess, Heather from A Mama’s Blog and Julie from ChezArtz – and I ventured out to “The Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash” held in a wine bar in downtown Denver the night Obama gave his rock star speech. Needless to say, we all had a great time meeting other bloggers and were buzzing all night off all of the good energy of the city and the convention and all of us have real hope for ourselves and our children’s future.
I think you can tell from my blog that I’m a pretty liberal person. I feel in America we all should be equal and have equal rights. All this oppressive crap that the extreme right wants to inflict on everyone is really tiring and quite boring and childish to me. Some of my oldest and very best friends in the world are gay and all of them have known it (known they were different and felt differently than their friends) since they were around 5 years old. They have huge hearts and do good things for others in the world. Should they not have the same legal rights as I do just because I prefer to be with men? Should I ostracize them and not be their friend because the bible infers being gay is wrong? It’s actually been proven to be passed on in families genetically – should we blame their mothers then? It’s just illogical and stupid to me, frankly to deny them the same legal rights that I get to have as an American. Honestly, the ONLY difference between them and me is who we prefer our life partners to be.
How about the issue about a women’s right to choose what is best for her body? If you dislike it, that is YOUR CHOICE, don’t do it. Pro-choice people feel that birth control and education are the best defenses against an unwanted pregnancy. If we stop funding organizations that provide such services and make them illegal, we will have massive amounts of unwanted pregnancies that could have been avoided and not by abortion, but by educating women to learn about their bodies and when they are fertile and ovulating, birth control options, as well as other programs that also educate the men, too.
The “Morning After Pill” after a rape or incest against women also prevents an abortion as well as an unwanted child conceived from an act of violence. Some women have life threatening medical reasons to have an abortion, too. So, to get government involved in having control over a woman’s right to choose what is best for her unique body and situation, well that is so wrong on so many levels to me I can’t even begin.
The foster care system in our country is so overburdened with unwanted or abused and neglected children that desperately need homes already, how is taking away our only chance of helping more women at least educate themselves on how to prevent an unwanted and unplanned for child from coming in and disrupting their lives going to turn that situation around? I think every person that is anti-choice should be required to adopt at least one child from the foster care system to put their money where their vote mouth is. Talk is cheap and action is needed right now.
Basically for me as an American Woman and Mother, it’s seems very logical for what kind of country I want to live in. I want to live in a country that values all of it’s inhabitants equally and that includes paying women equally, too. A country that provides quality and very affordable (or free!) care for our health and the health of our families, leaves the decision making of what to do with my own body up to me and me alone, good schools and teachers (that are paid well for performing such an important job), affordable college to make our workforce competitive with the rest of the world, keep the nasty chemicals away from our food, water, bodycare and cosmetic products, safe toys and products for my child, respect for the Earth and the animals that live here, working towards reversing global warming, building towards implementing renewable energies instead of only using dirty fossil fuels, creating more jobs here so people can easily pay their bills every month and a government that is not gun and war happy like a bully but one that values diplomacy and maturity until that doesn’t work anymore then logical action to be taken only when necessary.
Is that really asking too much? Is it more important to you to take away the rights of other law abiding, tax paying Americans who live differently than what you value? Is that fair? Maybe you can just not pay attention to the Americans that are in relationships with the same sex or those who have been raped and need the morning after pill.
Remember one of the main energetic laws of the Universe – “What goes around, comes around.” Maybe we can all focus on implementing the policies that will be beneficial for us all instead of nitpicking over what you feel another law abiding person is doing is right or wrong. Because really, it’s none of your business. Pay attention to what can be better for all of us in terms of the bigger picture already.
Focusing on what is for “The highest and best good for ALL concerned” is really the way we should be thinking and living all the time. It brings about peace and abundance for all. Don’t you want that?
Which candidate do you think is trying to do just that??
Photo: Youth Radio
I’m sure you’ve read by now all about how the bees are “mysteriously” disappearing and not returning to their hives. It’s called Colony Collapse Disorder. Well, there seems to be a real answer instead of all of this false speculation to lead us off the trail of the true culprit – pesticides.
A group of German beekeepers noticed that two-thirds of their bees died following an application of this pesticide called clothianidin. In Germany, they find this to be an emergency situation and have suspended the registration for eight pesticide seed treatment products used in rapeseed oil and sweetcorn. Fifty to sixty percent of the bees have died and some beekeepers have lost all of their hives.
The tests performed on the dead bees showed that ninety nine percent of the bees had a build up of clothianidin in their body which is a systemic chemical that works its way through a plant and attacks the nervous system of any insect it comes into contact with. The US Environmental Protection Agency also considers this pesticide to be highly toxic to honeybees.
Bayer, one of the world’s leading pesticide manufacturers (as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers) makes this pesticide and imidacloprid, sold under the name Gaucho in France. Imidacloprid has been banned as a seed dressing for sunflowers in that country since 1999, after a third of French honeybees died following its use. Five years later it was also banned as a sweetcorn treatment in France. Recently, the company’s application for clothianidin was rejected by France. Clothianidin and imidacloprid are both members of a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. They are well known as insect neurotoxins, especially with regard to bees.
In the U.S., beekeepers in North Dakota are taking Bayer to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995 when rapeseed in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed at that time and the term “colony collapse disorder” began.
Representatives for Bayer say that their pesticides are safe for bees if applied correctly. This involves using a glue that keeps the pesticides stuck to the seeds on which they’re used.
Agricultural corporations are known to evade anything that costs them money. All the glue, the personnel to apply it correctly and the equipment used requires extra money. Obviously, they are not applying these popular neurotoxins correctly because now we have an epidemic of dead bees on our hands.
Colony Collapse Disorder is a name given to mislead the public from finding out the real, simple truth that toxic pesticides are to blame. If we knew this fact right off the bat instead of being directed to look for a bacteria or parasite or environmental stress on the bees that could possibly be causing the die-offs we would have been cutting into the enormous profits that these manufacturers gain. Bees are necessary for our food supply and therefore, human survival and are being allowed to be killed off just for pure greed and profit. It’s sick, really.
This is just another reason to go organic – whether you grow an organic garden, buy only organic foods from the supermarket or buy direct from organic farmers through a CSA or a farmer’s market. Pesticides are just toxic to all of life period. In the end, they affect us all and are not safe, no matter what the greedy chemical companies say.
flickr photo: natr_illustration
I hope you will take a look at this PSA for Californians regarding an important upcoming vote although it’s something we all need to know about. Hopefully one day it will become an American law, not just a California law – The Prevention Of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.
As Doris Day (actress and huge animal lover) says, “Know Compassion, Know Peace.” We are what we eat.
I went food shopping alone yesterday. I never get to go to the store alone, my son is always with me, we usually go mid-week and to the heath food store near his preschool or the farmer’s market now that it’s open. When we venture to a big grocery store in our town, it is one that has everything the health food store has plus regular grocery items and specialty items, too. I usually just whip through either store to avoid the whining that will happen if we linger too long.
I didn’t realize just how ridiculously crowded it is to go on a Sunday to the big grocery store. In a way, it was a real eye opener for me to have an opportunity to observe people – especially parents with their kids and what they really buy. It made me sad. I’m not sitting here judging, I just am observing and what really hit home for me is that we are so far away from hitting what my husband calls “reaching critical mass” where the mass consciousness really is aware of something – in this case how the choices they make for everything in their lives affects the world around them.
It looks like price rules the day and people don’t care if something like paper goods are recycled or if the giant strawberries on sale are loaded with pesticides (one of the worst offenders) or if the meat they buy comes from tortured animals on factory farms. if it’s on sale, they are buying it regardless.
I totally understand that prices are going up and fear and uncertainty underlie everything nowadays. The reason I like the bigger grocery store is that they send me coupons for the natural products I use or for money off the produce section (and they have a large, organic section and like to support growers in my state). That is appealing to me in times of increased prices. But if I’m an average Joe shopping in town with coupons for natural and organic products, why aren’t lots of other people making an effort to do so as well? It just seems that education is missing for the general populace of this country so that we can reach the critical mass level where awareness permeates the minds of the people and everyone feels the difference.
Recycled paper products don’t cost much more than non-recycled products and in many cases are the same price or less. I bought a box of recycled paper tissues for $1.50 yesterday which was cheaper than the Kleenex sitting next to it of approximately the same size. it is even advertised on the box as “soft on nature, soft on you” to show it’s just as good and as soft. Why doesn’t that matter? Do they think it feels like sandpaper or something? How will people learn that it’s all about the power of choice, it all makes a difference and that every action taken affects another? Once again it’s about voting with our dollars but how can anyone make an informed choice without being educated on it in the first place?
What it all comes down to for me is that people need to be made massively aware in this area even more. There is plenty of info out there but it seems that we need to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer for it to sink in now. I’m glad that there is a Planet Green channel on cable now and that HGTV has lots of green, sustainable shows and that even on the Today Show they had a blurb about growing your own Organic Victory Garden on their show recently. Most people like to watch tv and the more times the general populace sees this message on tv and promoted by the Hollywood crowd, the more it will become trendy and accepted as the norm. We absolutely need this message to become the norm.
How cool would that be to see instead of just a clearly marked organic area the entire produce section was grown organically? Or that all the paper products are recycled (and more cloth options are used) and not from forests that have been clear cut for our noses, butts and laser printers? And all the cleaning and dish washing products are non-toxic and there are no more factory farms but only humanely raised livestock products (and less of these products consumed overall).
One day, we will get there. Critical Mass will be reached. I just hope we will all be alive to see it and that it won’t be too late to turn the planet around by then. We all need to keep educating ourselves and our friends and families and request at our grocery stores to carry more sustainable, non-toxic products, organic produce and to have a recycling bin at the front of the store for those pesky plastic bags and to phase them out completely soon. I still am holding out hope for all of humanity to wake up soon.
Oprah is doing a 3 week cleanse by eating a vegan diet (prepared by a chef, of course). Recently, she had a woman on her show named Kathy Freston who wrote the book, Quantum Wellness which is about conscious eating – eating a (cooked) vegan diet and having a daily spiritutal practice. The plan is to eliminate caffeine, sugar, alcohol, gluten and animal products from your diet for up to 21 days to jump start your “inner makeover”.
Oprah said since reading A New Earth and doing the classes online with Eckhart Tolle, reading Kathy’s thoughts on “conscious eating” struck a nerve with her. She says, “How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?” You can read Oprah’s blog posts about it.
While I think this is truly phenomenal because she is a woman who inspires millions and will wake people up to the reality of unconsciously eating factory farmed animals, a mostly cooked vegan diet for someone who is overweight or has certain health problems is not always the best. I looked over her menus and saw just a few raw vegan dishes and, in my opinion from having my own health issues, raw vegan is the optimal way to healing your body AND being spiritually conscious with what you are eating. It doesn’t have to be 100% raw, but at least 60% or more. And Oprah has a thyroid condition and should not be eating soy products at all. Soy is not really that good for the body and there is much documentation out there about this (google it if you don’t believe me) and there are several dishes with tofu, tempeh or soy milk that she is eating.
I hope if she decides to stay on a vegan path that her buddy Dr. Oz (a cardiologist), who eats lots of raw foods and has his own personal raw vegan chef, will inspire her to take her conscious eating to the next level. (Dr. Oz interviewed Joel Odhner, his chef on his XM radio show last year). Go Oprah!
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