Livin’ Veg

Hospitals In England To Promote Vegetarian Menus January 7, 2010

When I first saw this article, I thought it was going to be about health. But hospitals in England are taking meat off the menu in order to reduce their carbon footprints. They are fighting global warming through vegetarian foods. Meat, as I understand it, will not totally be gone, but it will be greatly reduced.

NHS chief Pencheon said:

“We should not expect to see meat on every menu,” said Pencheon. “We’d like higher levels of fresh food, and probably higher levels of fresh fruit and veg, and more investment in a local economy.”

They also want to stop using plastic water bottles, reuse equipment more often and other steps to become more environmentally friendly.

I love that their healthcare (gov’t run healthcare by the way) sees the link between animal agriculture and climate change. It won’t just be great for the earth. It will also be fantastic for the health of the patients. I can’t even imagine hospitals here doing something like that. We are so far behind in so many ways. I thank the NHS for leading by example and making changes that will benefit us all. Read the full article here…

Understanding Cap And Trade December 2, 2009

There is a big conference on climate change coming up in Copenhagen. Lots of world leaders are attending, including I believe, ours. Cap and trade is talked about as the solution for our climate issues. However, a new video by the same people who made “The Story of Stuff” (a fab resource) shows us that cap and trade is not the shining knight we hoped it was.

I don’t know about you but I have found cap and trade to be confusing. There is a lot to it and learning enough about it to make an opinion wasn’t something I had yet investigated. Shame on me. But I think a lot of people are in a similar boat. In clear speech, good animation and with a persuasive argument this video will clarify a lot of things for anyone who is still a little fuzzy on the details. So watch this video for our planet, for the animals and for ourselves.

Al Gore Takes On Factory Farming On SNL November 23, 2009

It was green week last week on NBC. Shows like 30 Rock, The Office and SNL made a point to incorporate environmental messages into their story arcs. Al Gore made an appearance on SNL and it was actually funny. (Is it bad that Al Gore being funny surprises me?)

Even better than his humor was the message. Politicians just aren’t getting the severity of the situation. What’s Al’s solution? Start acting crazy. It’s funny because that’s how it feels as an activist sometimes. That we need to act a little out there in order to get our message heard. That the scary facts aren’t enough to get the changes we need accomplished in a timely manner. Al Gore was funny because he hit on the frustrations of being an activist: people don’t always listen even when your points are documented by the best and brightest.

We veggies have often criticized the former VP for not advocating vegetarianism as a way to combat climate change. At least here he mentions factory farming as one of the culprits behind climate change. Thanks Mr. VP for your great skit.

Baltimore City Schools Have Meatless Mondays October 22, 2009

I learned about this a while ago and it’s just so incredibly exciting. The Baltimore City school system has implemented Meatless Mondays to promote healthy eating among the kids. It’s vegetarian, not vegan, but it’s a HUGE step for health, animals and the environment. Childhood obesity is a massive health problem in this country and (in my opinion) one of the biggest culprits is the awful food served to children in schools. Between the sodas, the hamburgers, the fries, the chicken nuggets, kids aren’t being introduced to fruits and veggies.

Here is a bit about what Baltimore is doing:

The 80,000 young people BCPS serves will begin each week with a Meatless Monday menu. And that’s not all. The school system has introduced a wide variety of projects to ensure its students eat and learn about healthy, environmentally friendly choices. BCPS has teemed up with local farmers and distributors to provide students fresh, locally raised fruits, vegetables and milk. They’ve also introduced Great Kids Farm, a 33-acre teaching farm, home to chickens, goats and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Educators on the farm teach kids and adults how to produce home-grown fresh food, even in an urban setting. BCPS is also in the process of developing gardens for each of the system’s 200 schools.

Watch the video to see more. Sadly, it’s a little controversial - mostly since PETA started paying attention to the school and praising them. Some people are against the things that PETA is for on principle. Because of PETA’s sketchy tactics. Alas. For all you Wire lovers, PETA is McNulty in this circumstance saying, “What the #^@% did I do?”

Farmers Markets and the White House Garden June 9, 2009

On Sunday morning my husband and I went to our first farmers market of the season. Many of them are opening up now, so check your local area for farmers markets.

What’s in season? Well, in Rye NY we bought strawberries, asparagus, swiss red chard, sea salt and onion cashews, fresh bread and other leafy greens.  When I purchased the asparagus, I complimented the man on how beautiful it was and he said, “It should be. It was picked last night.” The super market - even Whole Foods - cannot compare with that. And as far as being earth friendly, it doesn’t get any better than local/organic.

I love living in the greater NYC area but I’ll admit, I can’t wait to leave either. I want my own garden with my own asparagus. Anyone here grow their own food? Even if it’s just tomatoes or a fruit tree? I’m totally envious. Apartment living it’s not conducive to growing your own produce.

And with that I’ll leave you with a great video from the White House garden with Ryan Howard, of the Philadelphia Phillies, and White House chef, Sam Kass. They talk about healthy living.

Future Shock from Kathy Freston June 4, 2009

Kathy Freston’s new article (featured on Huffington Post) takes the form of a school teacher talking to students about how people lived one hundred years ago. The teacher talks about global warming, and how people used to *gasp* eat meat!

She talks about how the U.N. has said that animal agriculture accounts for more greenhouse gasses than all transportation combined.

Here is a little clip:

Groans of disgust from the room. One student exclaims, “Humans consumed the milk and eggs of cows and chickens? Seriously?”

Teacher: Yes, seriously. But back to the environment please: It was inconceivable to people that the food they ate was what was warming the planet. Even former President Al Gore, who at that time had not yet been elected President or started his crusade against eating animals, didn’t embrace the idea. He did finally see the connection of course, and he became one of President Obama’s main advisors, urging him to see the full picture of what animal agriculture was doing to our planet.

It’s really fun article, and one I hope that proves true in the years to come. Not in my lifetime but perhaps in my grandchildren’s lives. Because everything she says in the article is true. She even thwacks Al Gore for preaching sustainability while still consuming animals. It’s proposterous that people still eat meat. It’s bad for the environment, bad for our health, and undeniably cruel to animals. One only needs to read the info on how people who eat red meat are more likely to get cancer. Or watch the videos of how farm animals are confined and slaughtered. So thank you Kathy Freston for this great article that sheds some light on how ridiculous it is that human beings still eat animals.

Climate Change Worsening Animal Disease May 26, 2009

Climate change is doing a lot of bad stuff - contributing to droughts, further endangering already scarce species, raising temperatures. Now, add this to the list:

Climate change is widening viral disease among farm animals, expanding the spread of some microbes that are also a known risk to humans, the world’s top agency for animal health said on Monday.

The three most mentioned diseases were bluetongue, spread among sheep by biting midges; Rift Valley fever, a livestock disease that can also be picked up by people handling infected meat; and West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquito from infected birds to both animals and humans.

Read the full article here… Being veg is the best thing you can do to fight climate change. So kudos to you for already doing that. As we all know, climate change is very scary and a very real threat. It’s changing our entire world in both subtle and not so subtle ways. And we’re the ones responsible. That knowledge stops me dead in  my tracks sometimes. But then I take a deep breath, keep walking and brainstorm more ways I can be a better steward to the earth. I get better at it everyday. I’ll admit, sometimes it’s frustrating, but most of the time it feels great to know I’m making a difference, no matter what the size.

1 in 3 Children Fear Environmental Doom April 29, 2009

Last week I saw an article on Treehugger talking about a recent study that was done by Habitat Heroes. One out of three kids (ages 6 - 11) are afraid that the human race is doomed and environmental destruction will happen in their life times.

What does this mean? Well, the message of the severity of our situation is getting out there, but in the education, we’re neglecting to inject hope and activism into the information provided.

Treehugger noted some stats from the survey including these:

• 50 percent say that hurricanes and tornadoes are the natural disasters that scare them the most.
• 28 percent say that they fear animals, such as polar bears and penguins, will become extinct and disappear from the planet more than any other environmental concern.

I’m a humane educator for an organization called HEART. We teach kids daily about issues affecting people, animals and the environment. As an educator I would just like to say that providing children with hope for the future while teaching them about the problems we face is vital.

My advice to Moms and Dads, educators and childcare professionals: when speaking with kids about serious issues like the environment, it’s important to make the child feel empowered. They can make a difference.  It’s easy to portray doom and gloom scenarios (even when we don’t know we’re doing it), but if we really want this generation to grow up to change the world, they need to believe it can be done. And thinking the world is doomed is both bad for the child and bad for the planet. Hope is what we should be promoting - and tangible ways in which we can all make a difference. An example: if your kid is learning about global warming - talk about ways in which they can personally help. Action is key. In fact, action is key for children and adults…

Fantastic Animal/Environmental Ads January 2, 2009

Web Ecoist posted some fantastic ads like this anti fur ad I featured. They say they are environmental ads, and many of them are, but these fur ones are straight up animal rights related. Many others show the connection between the destruction of the environment and the extinction of animals. So while they are environmental, the animal link is what draws people’s sympathy.

Click here to view all the ads….

I have to say, I wish that the AR movement had the money to advertise in every venue from Time Square to Vogue to the walls of subways. Mercy for Animals did it in Chicago with some great anti fur ads. And COK puts pro veg advertisements on MTV. And I seriously think that’s the way to get people interested and thinking about the issues.I’d love to see this little canine fellow, with his neck fur missing, pasted all over mid town…

I’m All for Tax on Farm Animals December 9, 2008

We all know that farm animals (as well as being fantastic) are the biggest methane producers - and cause more green house gases than all transportation combined.

So, what’s the next logical step? Make farmers pay a tax on their windy cows and pigs. I’m all for it. But that’s obvious. I don’t think we should be farming animals at all. And I do think someone needs to take responsibility for all the methane being produced. But mostly, I want farmers to farm crops, not animals. Truth be told, from what I read, this would be a devastating tax for farmers. I’m not indifferent to their needs. But the belching and farting has been devastating on the planet - not to mention the ground water pollution from factory farms. And that’s not even talking about the cruelty involved.

What do you all think? Tax them or Unfair?