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Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 02:29:09 -0500
Subject: kudos on maybe going meatless
From:
To: oddtodd7@hotmail.com

I've been a fan of your website for years, and your decision to maybe go meatless is having a strong influence on me maybe going meatless.  I've seen Food, Inc. also, and was deeply disturbed by what I saw.  It's so easy to be blissfully ignorant of what it takes to get meat on your plate, so I'm grateful to you and the readers who commented on your most recent blog for reminding me.

I've also found that thinking about this gatha before a meal helps reinforce a desire to go meatless, or, the next best thing, to cut down on one's meat intake:

This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to received it.
May we transform our unskillful states of mind and learn to consume mindfully.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our sisterhood and brotherhood, strengthen our Sangha and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.

Be well Todd,

Alan

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Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:56 -0600
Subject: meat/food industry stuff
From:
To: oddtodd7@hotmail.com

Hey, tOdd,

I've been a visitor of your site for probably 6+ years. Thanks for keeping it going. I particularly like the new funlinks!

I'm writing in response to your recent posts about the meat industry. It's a topic that I've been thinking about a lot recently and I was excited to see you wrote about it, so I wanted to respond to it.

First, as far as connecting ourselves and children with where our food comes from, I recently heard of a documentary about that topic exactly. It's called What's on Your Plate? http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org

I haven't seen it, but it seems like it might be exactly what you're looking for for your niece/nephews.

Secondly, recently, I also was considering giving up meat. But then I changed my mind, deciding that, for me, it seemed like the right thing to continue to eat meat. However, this means eating meat only from reliable sources and avoiding all meat and dairy that comes from CAFOs. Part of the benefits of continuing to eat ethically raised meat and dairy are: it supports small and local farms thereby keeping decisions in the hands of farmers who care, not corporations who care about money; it can require less fossil fuel to transport than tofu and such protein replacements; it supports the heirloom breeds of animals that are being made extinct by the corporate meat industry.

Part of the reasoning behind this decision came as a result of reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a hard book to summarize, but the main point of it is about fixing what is wrong with American food culture by focusing on what we can eat--whole, organic, seasonal, local food.

Overall, I'd recommend the book as really interesting for anyone who cares about where their food comes from. There's a lot of really good information that I can't even begin to touch on. (This website is also really interesting: http://www.slowfood.com

Thanks for writing about it in your blog! It seems that the more people are thinking about, the sooner the meat/food industry will change for the better, hopefully. :)

Sincerely,
Kristy in Minneapolis


p.s. As an example of some of the content of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:

One of the reasons I was wary of eating meat was because of the idea of killing animals. Here is a quote from the book which helped to clarify that issue for me:

"[Farm animals] are human property, not just legally but biologically. Over the millennia of our clever history, we created from wild progenitors whole new classes of beasts whose sole purpose was to feed us. ... Knowing that our family raises meat animals, many of our friends have told us--not judgmentally, just confessionally--"I don't think I could kill an animal myself." I find myself explaining: It's not what you think. It's nothing like putting down your dog.

"Most nonfarmers are intimate with animal life in only three categories: people; pets (i.e. junior people); and wildlife (as seen on nature shows, presumed beautiful and rare). Purposely beheading any of the the above is unthinkable, for obvious reasons. No other categories present themselves at close range for consideration. So I understand why it's hard to think about harvest, a categorical act that includes cutting the heads off living lettuces, extending to crops that blink their beady eyes. On our farm we don't especially enjoy processing our animals, but we do value it, as an important ritual for ourselves...because of what we learn from it. We reconnect with the purpose for which these animals were bred. We dispense with all delusions about who put the live in livestock, and who must take it away."

The author then quotes a farmer she knows, whose farm hosts environmental volunteers:
"I would venture to say that 75% of the vegans and vegetarians who stayed at least a week here began to eat our meat or animal products, simply because they see what I am doing as right--for the animals, for the environment, for humans."

Wow, right?

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Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 14:15:21 -0500
Subject: Re: Eating meat
From:
To: oddtodd7@hotmail.com

Dude! Todd! I love you to death, but PLEASE don't act like the problem is all meat. The problem is industrialized meat! There are tons and tons of small farmers (who are suffering hugely in this economy) raising healthy animals in a humane environment and selling the meat through reliable sources. It's about education, not elimination. Eating meat is healthy and natural if it comes from a good source. There is a huge problem with our primary sources, but we (especially you, who has a voice that people listen to) need to be focusing on teaching people to care about where their food comes from, not blindly eliminating and entire sector of their diet. There are also many, many "vegetarian" products whose production involve animals being mistreated.

 

I know you're a conscientious guy who really cares, but as a very dedicated member of the slow food industry I ask you to consider the WHOLE message, and don't do what so many ridiculously ignorant vegetarians and eliminate meat thinking that puts them on higher moral ground than everyone else automatically.

 

Thanks,

 

PS: If you post my e-mail, please don't use my full name. Thanks!

Living in NYC you'll have tons of options. Have you tried seitan? That
goes over really well with meat-eaters. And hearty soups with crusty
bread are great too... don't leave you feeling deprived. The vegan
hotdogs I've tried are pretty mediocre, but if you put them on a bun
with ketchup and onions you really can't tell the difference.

H1N1 much ado about nothing?

 

 

From http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/issues/entry/h1n1-influenza

 

In “normal” influenza seasons, an estimated 35,000-40,000 flu deaths occur in the United States. Worldwide, the annual flu deaths are estimated at 250,000-500,000 but may be much higher.

 

From http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_11_06/en/index.html

 

As of 1 November 2009, worldwide more than 199 countries and overseas territories/communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 6000 deaths.

 

Maybe I'm missing something but h1n1 seems not to be the big bug-a-boo that everyone is making it.  The only positive that I can see about this h1n1 vaccine scare is that it is exercising our ability to fight a pandemic when we get a real one.  Its good and necessary practice.  Perhaps h1n1 will morph into one?

 

Jim M