The Meat of the Problem via The Washington Post

An interesting article in mainstream media that talks about, if you care about the environment, you can do more good by eliminating meat from your diet. Worth reposting.


The Meat of the Problem

By Ezra Klein
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The debate over climate change has reached a rarefied level of policy abstraction in recent months. Carbon tax or cap-and-trade? Upstream or downstream? Should we auction permits? Head-scratching is, at this point, permitted. But at base, these policies aim to do a simple thing, in a simple way: persuade us to undertake fewer activities that are bad for the atmosphere by making those activities more expensive. Driving an SUV would become pricier. So would heating a giant house with coal and buying electricity from an inefficient power plant. But there's one activity that's not on the list and should be: eating a hamburger.

If it's any consolation, I didn't like writing that sentence any more than you liked reading it. But the evidence is strong. It's not simply that meat is a contributor to global warming; it's that it is a huge contributor. Larger, by a significant margin, than the global transportation sector.

According to a 2006 United Nations report, livestock accounts for 18 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Some of meat's contribution to climate change is intuitive. It's more energy efficient to grow grain and feed it to people than it is to grow grain and turn it into feed that we give to calves until they become adults that we then slaughter to feed to people. Some of the contribution is gross. "Manure lagoons," for instance, is the oddly evocative name for the acres of animal excrement that sit in the sun steaming nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. And some of it would make Bart Simpson chuckle. Cow gas -- interestingly, it's mainly burps, not farts -- is a real player.

But the result isn't funny at all: Two researchers at the University of Chicago estimated that switching to a vegan diet would have a bigger impact than trading in your gas guzzler for a Prius (PDF). A study out of Carnegie Mellon University found that the average American would do less for the planet by switching to a totally local diet than by going vegetarian one day a week. That prompted Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to recommend that people give up meat one day a week to take pressure off the atmosphere. The response was quick and vicious. "How convenient for him," was the inexplicable reply from a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. "He's a vegetarian."

The visceral reaction against anyone questioning our God-given right to bathe in bacon has been enough to scare many in the environmental movement away from this issue. The National Resources Defense Council has a long page of suggestions for how you, too, can "fight global warming." As you'd expect, "Drive Less" is in bold letters. There's also an endorsement for "high-mileage cars such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids." They advise that you weatherize your home, upgrade to more efficient appliances and even buy carbon offsets. The word "meat" is nowhere to be found.

That's not an oversight. Telling people to give up burgers doesn't poll well. Ben Adler, an urban policy writer, explored that in a December 2008 article for the American Prospect. He called environmental groups and asked them for their policy on meat consumption. "The Sierra Club isn't opposed to eating meat," was the clipped reply from a Sierra Club spokesman. "So that's sort of the long and short of it." And without pressure to address the costs of meat, politicians predictably are whiffing on the issue. The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, for instance, does nothing to address the emissions from livestock.

The pity of it is that compared with cars or appliances or heating your house, eating pasta on a night when you'd otherwise have made fajitas is easy. It doesn't require a long commute on the bus or the disposable income to trade up to a Prius. It doesn't mean you have to scrounge for change to buy a carbon offset. In fact, it saves money. It's healthful. And it can be done immediately. A Montanan who drives 40 miles to work might not have the option to take public transportation. But he or she can probably pull off a veggie stew. A cash-strapped family might not be able buy a new dishwasher. But it might be able to replace meatballs with mac-and-cheese. That is the whole point behind the cheery PB&J Campaign, which reminds that "you can fight global warming by having a PB&J for lunch." Given that PB&J is delicious, it's not the world's most onerous commitment.

It's also worth saying that this is not a call for asceticism. It's not a value judgment on anyone's choices. Going vegetarian might not be as effective as going vegan, but it's better than eating meat, and eating meat less is better than eating meat more. It would be a whole lot better for the planet if everyone eliminated one meat meal a week than if a small core of die-hards developed perfectly virtuous diets.

I've not had the willpower to eliminate bacon from my life entirely, and so I eliminated it from breakfast and lunch, and when that grew easier, pulled back further to allow myself five meat-based meals a month. And believe me, I enjoy the hell out of those five meals. But if we're going to take global warming seriously, if we're going to make crude oil more expensive and tank-size cars less practical, there's no reason to ignore the impact of what we put on our plates.

Ezra Klein can be reached at kleine@washpost.com or through his blog at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ezraklein.

A Visual

I know it's hard to imagine the degree of depravity that can be done by abusive people.

Here's a visual from the investigation of a man, I assume, about to hurl a turky bodily into the ground or that cage.

In what world is this condoned? In what world do we not care.

How can we continue to support these atrocities by buying the animals killed for us to eat?

Recompense

You may have seen one of the latest horrors of animal abuse coming out of factory farms. Factory workers crushing heads with their feet, slamming the birds against wall and general psychotic behavior left unchecked and unmanaged yet supported because people continue to buy and eat the results of this violence.

Well there has been a small victory for the animals.

Several of the abusers have been convicted and one has been jailed.

Late last year, some factory-farm employees got their pink slips from Aviagen Turkeys, Inc. in response to PETA's undercover investigation, which documented that workers were breaking turkeys' necks, stomping on their heads, and shoving feces and feed into turkeys' mouths.

Then, in February, a grand jury handed down 19 indictments, including 11 felony charges, against three former Aviagen workers, marking the first time in U.S. history that factory-farm employees have faced felony cruelty-to-animals charges for abusing birds.

Fast forward: Two of the three ex-employees, Scott Alvin White and Edward Eric Gwinn, recently pleaded guilty to cruelty charges. On June 8, White was sentenced to serve one year in jail—the maximum period permitted by law! Today, Gwinn was sentenced to serve six months' home confinement—the maximum period permitted by law—on each count, concurrently, and is banned from living with, owning, and working with animals for five years. The case against the third ex-employee, Walter Lee Hambrick, is pending.

Can't get enough? In September, a grand jury in neighboring Monroe County, West Virginia, may well issue further felony indictments against White and Hambrick.

These historic victories by no means even the score for the turkeys who were punched and thrown or the many other birds who suffered when they were forced to watch as other turkeys were abused at Aviagen. After watching our undercover video, animal behavior expert Dr. Lesley J. Rogers stated, "It is now known that when social animals, like turkeys, see and hear other members of their species under stress or suffering physical injury, their levels of stress become elevated. Hence, the behavioural stress is widespread in the birds in the vicinity of those that have been injured and/or handled roughly."

Let me tell you. None of the animals on these farms - commercial or otherwise, look like this:

That's my Jake who is the epitome of what you think a turkey looks like and what we "celebrate" at our holidays (by killing them).

No, the animals that are killed for you to eat look like this...



Use your dollars to show your support.

Boycott these companies - Butterball (One worker told an investigator: "If you jump on their stomachs right, they'll pop ... or their insides will come out of their [rectums]," and other Butterball workers frequently bragged about kicking and tormenting birds.), Aviagen, and more - or just consider cutting back on eating animals. It's a change that's good for you and makes a huge change for these defenseless animals.


More:

Article source here

ButterballCruelty.com

MeetYourMeat.com

Smells Like Awesome

What kind of pet parents are we?

Well, we are totally the over-indulgent kind!

We went out over the weekend and got our baby goat girls an awesome new climbing toy, aka a picnic table.



A goat's gotta climb, right?



I mean, how can you resist a baby face like this???



You can't!

Be jealous! I get to smooch on this cutie every morning!

Home on the Range

So, Jake is finally with us.

I came home from my trip to see our new boy here. We're still getting used to each other but hopefully he will settle in okay. He seems to get along fine with the hens. We just to get him used to us.

I know this is a quick post and I've been lax in writing here but I promise to tell you tons more about Jake very soon. In the meantime, here are some new photos from Saturday free ranging in the yard. You can open them up big to see how colorful and majestic he is.

Enjoy!

A Disconnect

As we have made the switch from a better than average, but still somewhat typical American diet, we've made an effort to educate ourselves on the food we eat. Growing up I ate a lot of meat, eggs and dairy like most people. But in general, I felt I ate better than most. I never drank coffee, I stopped drinking soda before high school and couldn't even stomach ground beef. We never eat fast food (a decision further solidified by Super Size Me) and shopped a lot at our local farmer's market.

Then Napoleon was hurt and our eyes, mind and heart were opened. It takes a lot to realize that you've been marketed to all and told this story all your life. That information was withheld from you and that you were so disconnected from the food you put into your body that you don't even make the connection that the veal you've opposed all your life is directly a result of the cow's milk you were so afraid to not have for your cereal.

I think I'm a pretty savvy person when it comes to marketing stories. I mean, darn it!, I work in advertising. I create these stories and positioning everyday. That's why, as we've learned more and more I'm even more appalled. If, as someone in the industry, I couldn't see through these deceptions, how easy can it be for other people?

That's why it's so important that people see these documentaries. Food Inc. is about where you food is coming from. There is some information about factory farms (the probable ground zero for the latest swine flu outbreak - a Smithfield factory farm in Mexico) and huge seed/chemical companies. While The Future of Food focuses more on Monsanto and how there are only a small handful of corporations controlling our food sources and distribution. The latter scared the heck out of me!

Food Inc. just played at a local film festival and will probably have a limited theater distribution. I had some friends who saw it and said it was very very impactful and eye-opening. I missed it but hope to see it via Netflix soon

The Future of Food is available on Hulu right now. I watched this the other night and was surprised and scared at the implications. There could come a time very very soon when the US is banned from exporting our corn and wheat completely. That is a major issue when our economy is in such a precarious state. And what these companies are doing is so risky and, frankly, unethical. You will be amazed at how little you knew about what was going on. I know I was.

I think that all of this information about food and what we eat and where it comes from should be taught in schools. I feel like I've been told nothing but propaganda my whole life. I am just now coming out of the dark and into the light.

Questions

One of the questions you get (among many) when you are vegetarian or vegan is:

Don't you care about people? Why don't you spend more time worrying about people rather than animals.

Personally, I find it very weird to think that these two things are mutually exclusive. Many people I know who are animal activists care very much for people too. They care about the environment. They often do other volunteer work. They support anti-child labor laws.

But even if you don't actively campaign for a human cause, you are helping people by switching to a vegetable based diet.

There are tons of side benefits that eliminating animals and animal secretions from our diets. Insurance rates could be lowered because health would be better. Lifestyles would improve. The run off from animal processing plants would be reduced. The mental trauma from killing animals would not happen either.

Another huge impact is to the clear cutting of the rain forest for cattle. This impacts our air, potential medicines and even slave labor. Greenpeace just released thier report on the Amazon Cattle Footprint. Some highlights from the report are:

- Forests are a crucial carbon stock: forest ecosystems globally store about one-anda-half times as much carbon as is present in the atmosphere.25 Deforestation of tropical forests is responsible for up to approximately 20% of the global emissions of greenhouse gas, more than the world’s entire transport sector.

- The Amazon is estimated to store between 80-120 billion tonnes of carbon.27,28 If this is destroyed, roughly 50 times the annual greenhouse gas emissions from the US will be emitted.

- Cattle ranching in the Amazon has horrific social impacts, including the highest rates of slave labour in Brazil. 3005 rural workers, kept in slavery, were freed from cattle ranches in 2008. 99% of them had been held in the Legal Amazon.

- The region is home to more than 20 million people – including over 200,000 indigenous people, belonging to 180 different ethnic groups31. The rainforest is their home, providing them food and shelter to tools and medicines - it is also central to their spiritual life.

- Studies estimate that the Amazon supports 40,000 plant species; 427 mammals; 1,294 birds; 378 reptiles; 427 amphibians and 3,000 species of fish. Many other species are still unknown.

- The Amazon produces 20% of river water in the world. The forest influences the hydrologic cycle at local and regional scales, as humidity retained by the Amazon is carried by the wind to other parts of Brazil and South America. The reduction of the forest cover diminishes the amount of rainfall on the Southeast and Center of Brazil, affecting agriculture productivity.

- Belched methane from livestock constitutes one of the largest sources (roughly 30%) of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Agriculture as a whole contributes between 10-12% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

- The greenhouse gas emissions from beef are13 kilograms CO2-eq per kg36. This means eating a kilogram of beef represents roughly the same greenhouse emissions as flying 100 kilometers of a flight, per passenger.

It is definetly something to consider when you are choosing your food. The food we eat should be considered as carefully as any other choice, be it politics or money, because each bite we take as far reaching consequences. Consequences that impact more than just ourselves. The impact of each meal is shared by the world.

Celebrate Life

Robin Chicks - Photo from wmliu via Flickr

Today, Easter and Passover, is a day for celebrating life, renewal and rebirth.

I'm celebrating today by eating a meal that causes no harm: no eggs, no meat, no dairy.

Consider this thought as you choose your meal to celebrate.

Happy Easter!

Resting

Another sad post today. My sweet pup has passed.

I've had my boy Bailey for over 15 years. He was a wonderful pup and I can't imagine my life without him.

He was super smart and always with me. When I first brought him home I used to carry him around in my purse he was so small. And he was always good in the car too. We went on many many road trips. He used to like sitting behind my head so he could see out the window.

Baily came from a family that had two pups. They were both totally adorable 2lb fluff balls. I had a hard time choosing between them at first. When I couldn't pic we did a little test. We took both pups to one end of the room. Then I went to a corner and we took the mom to the other corner. Then they let the pups go. The other pup ran to his mom but Bailey ran to me. I've always felt like his mom.

There are a million memories I have of him.

You Can't Handle The Cute

Baby Petal climbing like a big girl.

New Arrivals!

Well, the pen is finally done, in spite of the off and on weather, and the girls are now in their new home. The stable looks great and I hope they love their new yard area.

Sadly today is a crummy rainy day so I'm sure they'll get used to their covered area, eat some grain and hay and keep warm!

Here are the first shots I took from inside while they were just getting used to their space. I love them already... they're so good. And Petal is still so tiny. She's just like a kitten! But she loves to frisk and gambol around and nibble on everything.

The stable space is pleny big enough for them. I hope the yard area will be too.

Love them!!!

Dust Bath

Not a lot of people nowadays get to see live chickens at all, but especially not in a natural environment, so I wanted to share these videos I just took of my girls. When the weather is warm and dry, the girls love to find a coop patch of clean dirt and have a lovely dust bath. Think of it like using a dry shampoo. Many animals use dust baths to absorb oils and keep away itchiness or parasites.

But I think the girls also just like to kick up the dirt and sand, roll around and take a nap in the sun.

Gertie especially loves napping. She lays on her side, spreads her legs out like a kitten and closes her eyes.

This is just one of the many natural behaviors that factory farmed chickens are not allowed to engage in. Something so basic and simple is denied them, just like roaming in the grass, seeing the sun, living a normal lifespan.

It's a horrible life I'm so glad I don't contribute to. And I'm glad that my girls will never be subjected to it.

Welcome Additions

While we continue to be very sad about the loss of Napoleon, we are still committed to caring for all of our pets in the best way possible.

I may have mentioned that Meg and Gertie were still a bit skittish about coming out of the coop. We have created some panels for over the coop yard to protect them and have also reinforced the coop and yard as well. That said, we've still not let them into the "new" yard area because that is where we found Napoleon.

The girls liked having a protector and looked to Napoleon for cues on what to do. Often times he would be keeping an eye out while the girls grazed around looking for food. With him gone they have had to do both and it makes them skittish.

We have decided to bring home an old friend. Jake the turkey was one of the first animals that I met at Red Dog Farm and I had fallen instantly in love with him. He was rescued from the hands of someone who didn't care for him at all and he was nearly starved. After his rescue he sat in a corner for two weeks without eating or moving but the loving care he received at RDF brought him back to life and health and he is now an amazing sight to see. He is very tall and extremely friendly, coming up to you right away to be petted and paid attention to. Right now he is getting stressed by a new rooster that was brought to RDF so we think coming to our place will be a better situation for him. We are honored that they trust us enough to take care of this wonderful boy.



And while I've long had a love for Jake, we are also going to take on more of a surprise addition too. Meet Miss Tulip (the black and white girl on the right) and her baby. Are they not precious?



These are pygmy goats so mamma will not get much bigger than 2 feet tall.



And her baby is as small and light as a kitten right now.



Gah! Just look at her!

The whole heard of 7 goats were rescued from another ignorant (I'm being kind) person who endangered their life by breeding one of the girls, Grace, to a regular sized goat. Consequently, the babies were too big and died, nearly killing Grace in the process.

We're very excited to bring these sweeties home. So not only will you be hearing about the chickens (and our other pets) but also about our new handsome turkey and how we learn to take care of these two girls as well.

My Heart Hurts

My heart hurts. I think I got about halfway through this before I started crying. What is hardest is that I knew all of this information with my head but seeing the reality of it makes my heart ache.



I've tried to be patient. I've tried to be open and receptive and not push an agenda... just inform and help be an example, but it is so hard. When someone sits in front of me and orders a meal with meat or eggs or butter, all I see is the death and suffering that went into creating that meal. The death and suffering that happens to animals so very much like the ones that I hold dear.

I see the hens suffering and being abused and killed and it hurts. I would give anything to have my Napoleon back and to keep Meg and Gertie safe and others just treat similar animals with hate and disregard. They treat them worse than garbage and value them so little.

And to know that this happens to billions of animals all over the world is horrifying. To know that it is unnecessary and that the alternatives are so much better for our health and our earth overall but are ignored or even reviled just makes it even harder.

I can't spare myself from looking or talking about this because that would not help create change. I have to keep giving the message and bringing it to those around me. I am willing to share my sadness because I hope it will maybe inspire someone to take a look at the images and maybe make a change, however small themselves.

At the minimum you should watch the images and learn more about the animals that become your food and how they are treated before hand. These are animals that you put into your body, into your mouth. It is important to understand the origins so that you can be informed. People are more informed about the cleansers they use in their house or their shampoo than they are about there food.

If you only watch for that reason, you should watch and learn...

Sites to learn more:

- Meat.org

- World Day for the Abolition of Meat

- Chicken Industry.com

- Compassion Over Killing

1.17.2009

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message: He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

- W. H. Auden

An Invitation

I've spent a lot of my life feeling full of conflict and even rage but I have to say that an unexpected gift of becoming vegan has been a major increase in the amount of joy and peacefulness that I feel inside me.

I just found this video which shows many of the beliefs that vegans and vegetarians espouse. I know there are some that would think the words here are filled with a level of superiority, of a "holier-than-thou" mentality. But I hope you would just see them with an open heart. With an open mind. See them as in invitation to explore an unknown and new path. A path that is filled with people who are on the same journey and who are happy to welcome you along no matter where you are on yours.

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

A Healthy Bottom Line

I've been around animals for almost all my life and it always amazes me how perfectly "designed" they are. When an animal is living in the most natural best way possible they are healthy and happy and a joy to be around.

Once criticism that chickens get are that they are dirty. By which I assume people mean stinky and/or they get poo on on them. I will attest that the birds themselves are not smelly. They do have strong smelling waste but that is typical of most birds due to the fact that they don't urinate. Our birds have a pretty big enclosure and we rake it every day to keep it from building up, so this is not really and issue. Plus, we only have 3 birds total.

As for the birds feathers, they can get a build up on their bottoms but only when they aren't roosting properly. When we first brought the 3 birds home, we created roost spots for them by repurposing and hanging horse buckets filled with hay. We also put hay in the corner of the coop. And they did get their feathers a bit messy at times because they were sitting down. But then we built a sturdy roost pole for them (which they love) and now they stay clean and mess free.

It's important to make sure they stay clean and dry. A build up of waste is not healthy or attractive. Not only could they get infected but they could also become egg-bound, which is fatal.
Now that they have a proper option for roosting and sleeping, our hens are lovely and clean. With cute fluffy butts!

More -
See cute chicken butts on Flickr.

Best Friends Forever

Watch CBS Videos Online

The power of love and friendship... would that we could all be this joyous, accepting, kind and loyal.

Might Does Not Make Right

Photo by arimore via Flicker

“It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.” -Harriet Beecher Stowe

What CAN'T You Do for 30 Days?

2009 is already becoming a year of hope, of optimism, of change.

The end of 2008 has left us poised to see huge changes in the world. Not just because of our new President-to-be and not just because there seemed to be a lot of suckiness but there is just a growing sense of energy that I am seeing and feeling. Everywhere I turn there seems to be someone new ready to usher in the year with positivity.

And what better time is there to try something that will help reduce cruelty, help the environment and save lives... including your own.

Now is the time to make some changes in how you eat.

You don't have to go straight to raw foods only or become 100% vegan overnight. But look at what you like to eat. Look at the flavors of the foods you like. You'd probably be surprised that most of what you like are not animal-based.

I used to love burgers... but what I liked was the bun/lettuce/onion/ketchup/texture. With a black bean or veggie burger I get the same flavor and texture. I can't even tell the difference, except I don't get an upset stomach.

I like going to Chipolte or Moe's too but now I get an Art Vandalay; I still get that spicy warm flavor. I'm equally full. And I didn't want for anything.

And nowadays it's easier than ever to cut back on the meat/dairy/eggs in your diet. There are tons of new convenience foods, produce is available almost year-round and restaurants and other businesses are creating amazing selections so you don't need to worry about if you can eat out with friends or travel in comfort. Most of the time you'll get something even better and jealousy-inducing than everyone else!

So, now you have the tools and the resources, what's stopping you? Is it that you don't like the flavors? Or you don't know how to cook new things? Or you just have questions about how do you start this? And, frankly, we're human and it's hard to break/start a routine.

That's where the 30 days comes in.

Not everyone agrees with PETA's tactics (me included, sometimes) but they have a great Vegetarian Starter Kit as well as great resources and recipes. And as an added incentive, they will helping to plant trees in impoverished areas if you take the 30 Day Pledge!

If you want to learn more about becoming vegetarian/vegan one of the best resources I have found was Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Compassionate Cooks podcast via iTunes (also available on her site). She provides a ton of information and has a great outlook on being a "joyful vegan" and the "vegan in the room". She's inspired me a lot.

And if you're all about the food like we are, you can't help but be inspired by the recipes and images on VeganYumYum. I mean, holy crap! Her food is AMAZING! She even has an iPhone app with all the recipes including pictures so you can take your phone into the kitchen and cook.

Some of our new favorite food choices include Silk (regular and chocolate, my new snack!), Field Roast's Roasted Apple-Sage sausages and Celebration Roasts, Tofutti's sour cream and Purely Decadent's ice cream - which I think I like better than any ice cream I've ever had (except maybe the stuff I make myself.)

I have a HUGE list of sites the I refer to all the time so please feel free to drop me an email if you are running into a challenge. One site that I like too is Happy Cow. They are a growing online guide for restaurants and natural health food stores. They are soon to have an iPhone app too. Not that I've had to use it too much. I love to go out to eat and have yet to run into a problem finding a place I can't find a good meal... even at Paula Deen's restaurant!

So here's my gift and hope to you for 2009: Bring some of the enthusiasm and positivity for this year to one of the most important areas of your life - your health and what you eat. No other change you make will have such a huge and immediate impact on such a personal level and on the whole world. Even if you just make a small change like only drinking Silk or you give a totally vegan diet a go for the 30 days, you'll be amazed at how easy it is. And at the end of 30 days you may want to do more.

You don't have to do everything... Just do something!

And if you want to talk or want help finding an answer, I'm happy to be a part of that! I hope you'll let me know what you do and how it goes!

Luv
Poochie