In the News...

January 2012

The Case Against Meat
A short primer that covers most of the bases.

Our Last Chance to Save Humanity?
James Hansen, one of the world’s most distinguished climate scientists, has written an important book about the threat posed by climate change. The title, Storms of My Grandchildren, refers to the prediction of more powerful and more damaging storms in a warmer, future earth.
See also this article in the latest Scientific American:
Jim Hansen Risks Handcuffs to Make His Research Clear

Global warming and crazy fish
"Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the ocean may cause neural damage in fish, interfering with their ability to smell and participate in synchronized schooling maneuvers that make them less vulnerable to predators."

What About the State of Our Planet, Mr. President?
"When was the last – or even the first – time you heard the call for agricultural and food policy reform as a means to reduce GHG emissions – and save the planet?"
The claim that animal agriculture is responsible for 51% of greenhouse gases is ridiculous, though.
See Too Bad To Be True: Are Farm Animals Really Responsible for 51% of Global Warming? (pdf)

We Need to Talk About Nitrogen
"The global nitrogen cycle spins faster and faster, as mankind releases more reactive nitrogen into the environment than natural processes do. Can nature keep up, or is this another global disaster following in the footsteps of the carbon dioxide problem?"
An article written for scientists that you'd probably do well to read, too.

Vegan tastes going mainstream
"Salim Jamal does have vegan pancake mix at his Karmavore vegan specialty shop on Columbia Street, one of more than 3700 other unique items, including vegan cleaning products, shoes, belts and cosmetics. That's a lot more variety than he was able to offer when he first opened his shop in 2009, then a tiny storefront in New Westminster's Sapperton neighbourhood."

5 Things: Highest Sources of Vegan Protein
"There are other forms of protein out there besides cheeseburgers, steak, and chicken satay. Check out these vegan sources."

Goodbye, Fish: Rising CO2 Direct Threat to Sea Life
Something to very seriously consider when deciding to drive or fly anywhere; when eating global warming-exacerbating animal products; when buying new gadgets made in energy-intensive ways...
New research shows the disastrous consequences the world's rising carbon dioxide levels are having on ocean life

Child slavery and chocolate: All too easy to find
"Chocolate’s billion-dollar industry starts with workers like Abdul on an Ivory Coast farm. Abdul is 10 years old, a three-year veteran of the job. He has never tasted chocolate."
For information on buying chocolate not produced by slave labor, see the Food Empowerment Project's Chocolate List
Watch CBC television's Chocolate, the Bitter Truth

Sugar High: The Dark History and Nasty Methods Used to Feed Our Sweet Tooth
"Sugarcane is still almost universally produced with unjust labor conditions, including modern-day slavery"
We recommend purchasing beet sugar, widely available in the United States. In Canada, only Rogers/Lantic brands of sugar produced at their Tabor, Alberta plant are from sugar beets. Unfortunately, they are produced, in part, from Monsanto's GMO beets.
This link from Rogers has information, also, on which of their products are and are not processed with bone char.

Money Is All That's Green in Biodiesel
"Most biodiesel production is making climate change worse not better, studies show. Biodiesel from palm oil plantations may be the world's dirtiest fuel - far worse than burning diesel made from oil when the entire production life cycle is considered."
"Conversion of these lands also has negative impacts on local peoples and results in loss of habitat for many species, including endangered orangutans and Sumatran tigers."
See also Earth Balance, Palm Oil, and Rainforests

High Levels of MRSA Bacteria in Retail Meat Products
"MRSA can occur in the environment and in raw meat products, and is estimated to cause around 185,000 cases of food poisoning each year. The bacteria can also cause serious, life-threatening infections of the bloodstream, skin, lungs and other organs. MRSA is resistant to a number of antibiotics."
See also FDA makes confusing, conflicting statements on antibiotic use in farm animals

Video: Crow playing in the snow
We bet you've never seen a crow toboganning before.

Live and Let Dioxin: Big Ag is Worried About Scaring Us Off Meat and Milk
"Although dioxins are environmental contaminants, most dioxin exposure occurs through the diet, with over 95% coming through dietary intake of animal fats."

A High School Student’s Activism Against Factory Farming
"Most teenagers flock to fast foods. Mariama runs from the industry."

Think Being Vegan Isn’t Fun? Get Vegucated
"Vegucated is a feature-length documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time, Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking, and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the fate of the world may fall on their plates."
"Unlike many documentaries about veganism or animal rights, this film is fun, light and leaves you feeling motivated and inspired — but not on the verge of tears."
Vegucated is showing on Tuesday January 24th at 7:00 pm at the Vancouver Public Library.

12 Simple(ish) Ways To Reduce Global Warming Two-Thirds by 2050
"Apologies for the green movement circa 2007 title, but this time it's actually apt—not like all those posts about how unplugging your phone charger will save the planet."

Vegetarian Diet Could Cut Climate Change Mitigation Costs by 70%
"A vegetarian diet, or one at least that radically reduces meat consumption, can have massive climate change mitigation benefits."

How Meat-heavy Diets are Pricing Sub-Saharan Africa Out of Nutrition
"Africans in sub-Saharan nations are suffering malnutrition because of the value being put on feeding livestock raised for meat."

Food Industry Wary of Dioxin Guidelines
It turns out that eating meat quickly puts people over the guidelines. A significant problem indeed!
The American Chemistry Council, of course, is (indirectly) siding with the meat and dairy industries: http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i1/EPA-Asked-Delay-Dioxin-Assessment.html

Veganism, A New Social World
An interview with Farm Sanctuary's Bruce Friedrich.

How meat consumption affects health, the environment
"A life cycle analysis conducted by EWG that took into account the production and distribution of 20 agricultural products found that red meat such as beef and lamb is responsible for 10 to 40 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as vegetables and grains."

Jonathan Safran Foer: Environmentalists Who Eat Meat Have a Blind-Spot
Factory farming depends on our ignorance but the world needs to move away from eating meat, author Jonathan Safran Foer tells Tom Levitt

FDA Takes Baby Steps on Factory Farm Antibiotics
"We'll know whether the agency is changing its ways if, in the coming year, it follows Wednesday's ban with ones on drugs the industry is actually abusing. If not, then what we just heard from the FDA isn't much more than the growl of a toothless watchdog."
Ditto on Health Canada.

Not-so-happy Meals
"Over a 15-year period, studies show a dramatic increase in the number of overweight (tripled) and obese (quadrupled) Canadian children. (1) In the US, which has similar statistics, the Centers for Disease Control states that one child in three born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes during his or her lifetime."

Grocery Store Dancing Micro Movement
Watch. And Do. :-)