Meat · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts tagged with meat

Michael Franti's Presidents' Day Contest

For any Michael Franti fans, I just saw that he’s hosting a contest that challenges people to write a letter to the President. The carrot is a pair of tickets to an upcoming show and the opportunity to read your letter on stage before Spearhead’s set. I just finished a letter telling the President that if he’s going to continue to put people through the meat grinder in Iraq, then he needs to institute a draft (ladies, too; it’s only fair). This should have been done long ago. Is it really right that the war has such a minimal effect on the day-to-day lives of most Americans while soldiers are being sent back for two, three, or four tours? When your number gets called, you get clued in real fast, which, I imagine, is part of why the Bush administration will never resort to selective service. Just keep us fat and happy, you know?

I also wrote to say that there should be a series of free, public, live televised debates in Washington D.C. this spring and summer. Last August, President Ahmadinejad of Iran challenged George Bush to a debate saying, “The debate should be uncensored in order for the American people to be able to listen to what we say.” The White House dismissed it as a “diversion” intended to distract Americans from Iran’s nuclear program. (How would listening to a debate about Iran’s nuclear program distract us any more than not knowing anything about it?) Personally, I’d love to see President Bush debate President Ahmadinejad. I’d also like to see him debate Hugo Chavez, Castro, and others, but only if he would agree to take the battery pack out of his back. It would be like reality politics and I’d hitchhike back east in order to see it. Since Bush’s (few remaining) proponents liken him to Abraham Lincoln, let’s revive the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Anyway, back to Franti. The more I hear of Franti’s music, the more I respect his work. In 2005, Franti went to Baghdad, Israel, and Palestine to see first-hand what’s going on. The result is a documentary film, “I Know I’m Not Alone,” and the recent album, “Yell Fire!” (Franti isn’t as competent a filmmaker as he is a musician, but it doesn’t really matter.) At one point, he asks his guide and driver, Maher, “What about the pollution? The air is so heavy here,” to which Maher replies, “Who the hell cares about pollution?”

Touche. War and environmental degradation make unfortunate bedfellows.

Bush, car, contest, farm, meat, Music, nuclear, Politics, Pollution, spring, summer, white house

Patriarchy of Pork

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by Katie Kish · 09/06/06

While reading through my environmental ethics text book today (that will be used for a class called Philosophy and the Environment…woot!) I came across a section called “Patriarchy of Pork or Feminist Fuss” in a chapter called “Ethics and Animals”.

The section is only about a page long (a bit less, actually) but it goes on to outline a theory. The author of the book first pointed out that when asking his university classes who were vegitarians it was a majority of women that raised their hands. This isn’t an outlandish claim, and I believe that. What is wildly outlandish is his reasoning behind this.

Back-in-the-day, he says, women would cook for their family. The daughters and the mother would prepare the meal and set the table. The men would them come, and they would get the plates of food first. As they are passed around the table, all the men would take the meat, so that when it got to the women, there would be none left for them… So he argues that it is this patriarchial ritual that has made the women of today become vegitarians more so than men…

I fail to see the logic. Like, I understand how some women in these circumstances would just accept that fact they were probably not going to get any meat (oh why not just make more? or take some first? …whatever.) but as for this making people vegitarians now?…With the vegitarians I lived with last year it was a decision based on animal rights, health or the environment – not some internal pressure to release their oppressed past.

On that note of crazy feminist things, Feministing has the craziest anti-feminist quotes up, my favorite is:

I am not defending radical feminism, which I consider to be a minor mental illness…

animal rights, Animals, book, epa, ethics, Feminism, Food, health, meat, plates, skin, Theory, women

The Meatrix II: Revolting

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 04/12/06

Continuing the fight against factory farming and unsustainable practices is something Sustainable Table has been doing through their entertaining and informative Meatrix short film and website. Now, their sequel, The Meatrix II: Revolting is circulating on the net continuing the revolution against big agri-business. GRACE, which stands for Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, founded the Sustainable Table as a consumer campaign to inform and incite action against the horrendous conditions of factory farms, and the importance of supporting humane and ecologically sound practices. In this current online clip, the dairy industry is largely under fire for its use of rBGH. On the ‘get involved’ page readers are encouraged to solicit Starbucks to stop their use of non-organic dairy products that contain the artificial hormone. While there are many vegans who have eluded the Meatrix in their complete avoidance of animal-based products, there are still many who search for more responsible ways to satisfy their carnivorous hankerings. For those who eat dairy or meat there is the eatwell guide which is a useful resource for finding healthy food.

business, car, Dairy Products, Eco-Chick, farm, farming, farms, Food, health, Home, meat, Organic, Starbucks, sustainable, vegan

KTK Handmade

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 02/19/06

I have been a bag-lady for a long time. Often disappointed with the offerings at most retailers, I tend to look for more original pieces than the ususal fare. On a women’s camping trip I attended five years ago I met Kerrigan Kessler, a talented designer who was carrying a gorgeous bohemian bag that I instantly coveted. Once she told me she produced these wearable creations, I began to frequent her website where you can mix and match numerous swatches and straps to design your own completely unique piece. The bags are handmade using vintage fabrics, including some organic cotton canvases. Kerrigan is also a kundalini teacher and her spiritual practice permeates her work. Her bags are colorful and inspired. KTKHandmade

Baby, bags, car, cotton, design, designer, Eco-Chick, fabric, fabrics, Handmade, meat, Organic, organic cotton, produce, Tea, vintage, women, women's

Ask Chicky: Vermicomposting

3 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 11/22/05

worms

Dear Chicky,
I went to a dinner party last week and the host had a tiny composter in her apartment’s kitchen; she said there were bugs inside that eat the food she deposits. It sounds gross, but I feel bad tossing all my leftovers in the garbage—how do these things work? Why don’t they smell?
—Curious about compost

Dear Curious Composter,
All compost systems rely on the same principle: stuff rots and then turns into dirt. If you do it right. The good news is it’s not that hard to replicate what nature does on a grand scale in your very own kitchen. Properly composted food is never smelly and can cut down on your trips to the garbage bin (and the inevitable filling of our landfills). In fact, if you get into it, you can compost up to 1/3 of your household waste.

What your friend most likely had was a worm composter, also called a vermicomposter. This kind of composting is great for an apartment because it doesn’t take up much space, is totally hygienic and the final product is humus. Not the middle-eastern bean spread, but the ultimate fertilizer for your organic container gardening.

The busy earthworms, called red worms or manure worms, (yes, they wiggle, but no, you don’t have to touch them) will keep your composter functioning and odor-free. These special guys eat up to their weight in food every day, and their excrement is the aforementioned humus. Their casts (a nicer name for poop) contain all sorts of good stuff like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, meaning that the humus they produce will make your garden grow. And on top of all that, once your scraps are devoured by the worms, all the nasty pathenogenic bacteria (the kind that can make you sick) are totally neutralized.

But there are some caveats; you can’t just dump all your leftovers in a vermicomposter, but fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, old bread, coffee grounds, shredded computer paper (no colored ink) and newspaper, and houseplant trimmings are all OK. Go light on the vegetable oils, dairy and meat; all these things take more time for the worms to digest, so don’t throw a big hunk of steak in your composter, no matter how free-range and organic it might be. Some people say small amounts of meat or bone will break down just fine, but it might take some experimenting. It isn’t complicated, by you will need to read up on the subject. You will need to keep the whole operation moist, and you can make your own or buy a composter ready-to-go at a host of websites and garden centers. The worms are also available online or from your neighborhood plant store. Try wormdigest.org, cityfarmer.com and cityknowlege.com.

Wormily yours,
Chicky