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By Emily, January 28, 2010 7:56 pm

My husband and I just had a discussion which ended with him sighing and rolling his eyes.

Before that, it went like this:

Me: Hmm…
Him: What?
Me: Dairy.  Factory farms.
Him: So?
Me: Why do I not eat meat?
Cue sigh and rolling of eyes.

If you’re still confused, you probably didn’t watch ABC’s Nightline on Tuesday.  Actually, I didn’t either, but some of the blogs I follow are all a-buzz about it.  There was a segment exposing the horrible conditions that cows endure on dairy farms.  You can watch the segment or read about it on Change.org or Huffington Post.

Another moral dilemma.  Caring about what I put into my body certainly is a lot of work.  I drastically cut my meat consumption last year primarily because of the dangers of eating meat (bacteria, chronic health conditions) but also because I don’t agree with the practices of the meat industry (cramped quarters, sick animals, antibiotics, crappy feed,  etc).  I’m not a vegetarian, and I always swore I could never be vegan because I love cheese and yogurt too much.  But if conditions on dairy farms aren’t any better than on meat farms, should I be consuming dairy either?

Now, before Brian gets all annoyed about my latest crusade, let’s be real.  The chances of me cutting out dairy are slim to none.  Nevertheless, its amazing what we don’t know (or choose to ignore) about where our food comes from.  Again, education is the only way we’re going to change the opinions of the general American populus and create real change in our food system.  Once we’re educated, we can make smarter choices about what we eat.  Check out the Eat Well Guide (linked from the HuffPo article) to find out where you can buy local, sustainable, organic food.  I know its a lot of work (trust me, I know), but think before you eat!

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By Emily, January 23, 2010 8:55 am

Brian and I were both sick all week.  That’s my excuse for lack of posts this week.  I wonder what my excuse will be next week :)

This week I got the really cool opportunity to show one of my classes Food, Inc.  Obviously, I was really excited about showing it and even more excited that it was what they’d chosen to watch (from the limited choices I’d offered).  Of course, I wasn’t surprised when they began to freak out a little bit at the information they were receiving.  To me, the information in Food, Inc is kind of old news, but its so cool to see someone hear it for the first time.

In honor of my students and their expanded awareness and the start of a new semester on Monday, this week’s highlights from my Reader are related to schools and the issues presented in the movie.

Highlights for January 17-23: Education

Tom Laskawy has a good opinion piece on Grist this week: Lessons for Schools: Sweetened Junk Shouldn’t Count as Food.  No kidding…and yet, it does!

Obviously some people agree with Laskawy, because Ontario schools will ban junk food starting in September.  Go Canada!

Several blogs have picked up on Fed Up: A School Lunch Project which follows an Illinois teacher as she buys school hot lunch every day.  If you’re not aware of what kids are being served, check it out.

NY Times has a great piece on the dangerous prevalence of snack time, especially among kids.  It is sort of ridiculous when you think about it…

Watching Food, Inc again sent me into another debate with myself over what I should really be eating.  It was really comforting to see that Holly was having a similar debate over a box of Special K bars.  And I probably would make the same choice she did.

Some of my students expressed the suspicion that there’s nothing we can do to change the food system.  I told them that I disagree and I believe the biggest way to create change is to educate our friends and families, one person at a time.  So, if you find any of these links helpful, share them!

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By Emily, January 16, 2010 7:51 am

Highlights for January 10-16:

Things That Fascinate Me

1. Why Paula Deen has deep fried so many random things.  7 Things Paula Deen Fried, from Food Network Humor.
2. People who run marathons.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome.  I just can’t fathom doing it.  Several bloggers ran the Disney Marathon last weekend–Great job Rachel, Meaghann, Kelly, and Caitlin!
3. Ketchup.  I don’t understand why people feel the need to put it on everything they eat.  I never use it as a condiment and only in extremely rare cases as an ingredient.  A Hamburger Today has a piece on The Case Against Ketchup.  “A burger worth eating is worth eating plain.”  Agreed.
4. The ingredients they put in “fast” food.  As though I needed more reasons to not eat it, Change.org has a list of the 10 most common ingredients in fast food.
5. The amazing way in which bloggers are using their blogs to aid relief efforts in Haiti:

The Pioneer Woman did a great giveaway

Chow.com has listed a few ways you can give.

Endless Simmer’s got a list of organizations that are providing food relief in Haiti.

CakeWrecks posted links to Doctors without Borders and a site that tells you which charities you can trust.

Serious Eats and Epicurious also linked to organizations providing aid.

MixMyGranola is giving $5 for each purchase of their pre-mixed cereal to Haiti relief efforts.

Clearly, we all are much more fortunate than those in Haiti, especially now.  Pick an organization and give something–every little bit helps.

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By Emily, October 1, 2009 8:40 am

Today, October 1st, is World Vegetarian Day, the kickoff to Vegetarian Awareness Month.*

Download this poster at http://www.worldvegetarianday.org/

Don’t worry if you’re not a vegetarian (I’m not, after all!), you can still join in!  The North American Vegetarian Society suggests:

•	Eat meat-free for the day or throughout the month
•	Learn how a vegetarian diet can benefit you personally
•	Try the meatless options available at local restaurants and eateries
•	Discuss vegetarianism with your interested friends, family and co-workers
•	Host a meatless meal or potluck for your friends
•	Eat meatless meals on a regular basis

That list sounds a lot like my life…anyway, if you’re not already, try some meatless meals and learn a little about what you’re eating and where it’s coming from.  It’s hard to believe I’ve been eating a flexitarian diet for 9 months now–so far so good.  I definitely feel a better about myself now that I’m a more conscious eater.

*Not to be confused with PETA’s Hug a Vegetarian Day which was September 25th.

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By Emily, September 18, 2009 8:59 am

Highlights for September 12-18

6 Ways to Organize Your Pantry from Zesty Cook.  Which reminds me, I said I was going to reorganize my pantry…fridge…cabinets when I moved in a month ago.  That still hasn’t happened.  Maybe I’ll do that today. Or not …if I reorganize things then I might not know where the are.  Organized chaos seems to be working well for us.

September is Hunger Action Month and Feeding America is running a Give a Little, Feed a Lot campaign.  The idea is to give up something little (lunch, a haircut, music downloads) and instead give the money to feed a lot of hungry people.  The calculator is an awesome way see exactly how many meals your donation would provide.

Gourmet has a good list of ways to reduce your carbon footprint every time you go to the supermarket.  I’m a lot more conscious in my eating than I was a year ago, but I still have a long way to go, especially buying organic and local.

From Endless Simmer, 3 reasons why Mark Bittman should get more time on television.  C’mon, you knew if there was anything about Mark Bittman this week I was going to link to it.  The man changed my life and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is definitely the most used book in my kitchen.

A fascinating infographic from Good provides insight on the most and least carnivorous countries and what types of meat they are consuming.  (Via Serious Eats)

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By Emily, August 22, 2009 8:11 am

This morning, triggered by Mashable’s article 20 Ways to Change the World in Only 15 Minutes a Day, I decided to start playing FreeRice again.  My husband, it turned out, had never heard of it.  Based on this travesty and the fact that others out there may not have heard of it either, I thought I better share.

FreeRice is a simple (but not always easy) multiple choice game from the UN World Food Program.  For every answer you get correct, 10 grains of rice are donated to those in need in an effort to end world hunger.  10 grains may not sound like much, but it certainly adds up–I managed 2000 just this morning.  Moreover, FreeRice makes this point on their site:

The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it.

According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children.

Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is everyone together that makes the difference. Thanks to you, FreeRice has generated enough rice to feed millions of people since it started in October 2007.

FreeRice was one of the few “games” students were allowed to play online at the school I previous worked at, and for good reason:

Learning new vocabulary has tremendous benefits. It can help you:

• Formulate your ideas better
• Write better papers, emails and business letters
• Speak more precisely and persuasively
• Comprehend more of what you read
• Read faster because you comprehend better
• Get better grades in high school, college and graduate school
• Score higher on tests like the SAT, GRE, LSAT and GMAT
• Perform better at job interviews and conferences
• Sell yourself, your services, and your products better
• Be more effective and successful at your job (from FreeRice.com)

Also, I just discovered this morning that in addition to English vocabulary, FreeRice has categories for Art (Famous Paintings), Chemistry, English Grammar, Geography, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Basic Math and the Multiplication Table.  Something for everyone!

So really, what do you have to lose?  More than likely, you’re wasting plenty of time online.  Make some of it count by donating rice to those in need.