Seeing as how I asked all of you firsties to tell me your New Year's resolutions, it's only fair that I tell you mine. As I indicated on some of your papers, mine is food oriented. I've always kind of known that the way animals in food the human food chain are treated is not exactly humane, but after reading some books--The Ominvore's Dilemma, Fast Food Nation, Chew on This, In Defense of Food--and watching the movie Food, Inc., I really just can't close my eyes and dip into that ever so delectable of foods, orange chicken, with the same elan. Seeing those conveyer belts with baby chicks, the routine deprivation of light and space for these animals, the inappropriate food provided them, the way they have to basically live in their feces--all of this has made me reevaluate my relationship with the food I consume. And it's not just the way the animals who are slaughtered for food are treated, but the ones who produce other products I so dearly love--eggs, dairy, ICE CREAM... I want these animals who produce the milk in my coffee to graze on grass instead of the corn and other feed that they are not naturally meant to consume. I want them to experience fresh air and the ability to turn around without becoming stuck in poop.
And so, my immediate resolution is to forgo all meat and poultry from here on out, and all my dairy must be cruelty free, which means the cows producing my milk and sour cream and cheese must be pasture-raised, and I have an ice cream maker so that I can make my own tasty frozen treats from cows that enjoyed space and air and fresh greens.
Hopefully the resolution will stick!
Well, in 2015 you can start eating chickens that were locally grown........
ReplyDeletewhy 2015?
ReplyDeleteThat's when Prop 2 takes effect. Proposition 2 states that all chickens must be free-range. I remember the day of the election, a minister (who supported Prop 8), was saying on TV, "California, where chickens have more rights than gay people."
ReplyDeleteWow. I guess that it's good that people are getting to be more conscious about the food that they eat. Nice to know that you're one of those people. x3 Well, I admit, I REALLY like ice cream and other dairy products like that. I support the idea about being more careful about your food, but I wouldn't want ice cream or scrambled eggs to be banned forever.
ReplyDeleteYou know, one of the healthiest ways to live is to cut out all dairy, gluten, and wheat out of your diet. So, cutting all dairy out of your diet is A LOT healthier for you, and cutting out dairy, gluten, and wheat also reduce the risk of certain diseases. Also, eliminating peanuts/nuts can lower high cholesterol. (Well, the peanuts thing isn't SUPER accurate, but I put it in there for my benefit :P). That's how I'm trying to eat, and I've already almost eliminated all dairy from my diet, besides butter. BUTTER IS ADDICTIVE! :(. So hard to not eat it one bread. Although, dairy free margarine is just as good.
ReplyDeleteDanielle: I could never be able to live without ice cream, sorry. x3 It just wouldn't be able to be done for me. However, if I could just cut down on some of that stuff that you were mentioning.. :]
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? Never eat magarine!! It's full of trans fats (which are synthetic preservatives), and trans fats are worse than all of those other things combined. Having a bit of dairy in your diet is much better than eating trans fats. DON'T EAT MARGARINE.
ReplyDeletedanielle--do you not eat pizza?
ReplyDeleteright now food is a challenge at home because my husband won't eat wheat (it's a weight control thing--he actually dropped about 20 pounds...) and i'm not eating meat, and soon i won't do dairy, at least for a month or so.
ReplyDeletebut we have begun consuming much more chard and cabbage and such.
It's great that people are becoming more food conscious. Dani: it is actually GOOD for you to drink milk because it has calcium in it. I used to be allergic to all dairy but now I'm not. I have no idea how I lived without butter and ice cream for so long..... I don't eat nuts though.
ReplyDeletei always say to myself. "I will go vegetarian." But then, I see my mom offering me chicken for dinner and i really cant help myself. i also would never ever be able to go without ice cream. so, good luck with going vegetarian!
ReplyDeletego vegies!
ReplyDelete