Halloween House of Horror

While Americans will be having a day of fun today, dressing up in ghoulish (and other) costumes, going to parties, visiting houses of horror, and doing other spooky things, the terror never ends for millions of birds raised for meat in the US and it's going to get worse.  According to The Washington Post, 

Nearly 1 million chickens and turkeys are unintentionally boiled alive each year in U.S. slaughterhouses, often because fast-moving lines fail to kill the birds before they are dropped into scalding water, Agriculture Department records show.  Now the USDA is finalizing a proposal that would allow poultry companies to accelerate their processing lines, with the aim of removing pathogens from the food supply and making plants more efficient. But that would also make the problem of inhumane treatment worse, according to government inspectors and experts in poultry slaughter.  USDA inspectors assigned to the plants say much of the cruel treatment they witness is tied to the rapid pace at which employees work, flipping live birds upside down and shackling their legs. If the birds are not properly secured, they might elude the automated blade and remain alive when they enter the scalder. Over the past five years, an annual average of 825,000 chickens and 18,000 turkeys died this way, USDA public reports show, representing less than 1 percent of the total processed. Government inspectors assigned to the plants document these kills, which are easily spotted because the birds’ skin becomes discolored.

It doesn't have to be this way.  For those of you who eat meat, you don't have to give it up in order to opt out of this cruel system.  Look to local farmers who raise their animals in healthy environments and slaughter them humanely.  Yes, it is more expensive but that's because of the time and care that goes into ethical practices.  At one conference I attended, someone brought up the issue of cost.  An attendee raised her hand and responded with the statement that the answer is to purchase the more expensive but humanely raised meat and to just eat less of it in order to stay within your budget.  

A typical "cage-free" egg facility

It's not just meat birds that are raised in inhumane conditions.  Chickens raised as "layers" in factory farms endure horrific conditions, a sad repayment for the eggs that they provide.

Our hens enjoy freedoms that are unknown to factory chickens.  

So now that you know the true life horror story, you have a choice.  You can either continue to participate in the gruesome system, knowing the tortured lives of the creatures whose flesh you eat, or refuse to support the companies behind the cruelty by finding farms where chickens and turkeys are humanely raised.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, please consider serving a humanely raised and slaughtered turkey.

Wellness Wednesday

As a long-time practitioner, I'm always happy to share good news about yoga:

Wellness Wednesday

Today I'm indulging in my love of infographics:

Monday Morning Amusement

If you like goats, head over here to see some amazing photos.  Here's a sample from the site:

Quote for the Day

"We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act

but a habit."

~Aristotle

Social Justice Saturday: The Scam of "Awareness"

I rarely go to stores anymore; mainly the grocery store for staples and a few treats.  So  I'm usually oblivious to all the pinkwashing that goes on during breast cancer "awareness" month.  I've blogged about this problem a number of times.  Here and here are a couple of examples.  Today I just want to share a graphic from The Onion that shows how utterly ridiculous some of the "awareness" campaigns are:

It's sad how we're duped into believing we're doing something good because the word "awareness" is attached to a serious disease - while corporations make millions.  

In sum:  While we need to find a cure, the best thing is to prevent breast cancer in the first place. Awareness is not a cure.  Mammograms are not a cure.  Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are not prevention.  Prevention is possible by discovering and eliminating the cause(s).  We are already aware of the thousands of carcinogens (in case you didn't know, carcinogen means "causes cancer") in our world; we need to work to avoid and eliminate them. The biggest obstacle to eliminating breast cancer:   there is no money to be made in prevention.

Farm Friday

We had our first "sustainable living" meeting last Saturday and it was quite a success.  We had 19 people show (including 2 children) and a number of others expressed an interest but were unable to attend.  After having a delicious pot luck meal, we settled down to business and discussed what everyone expected from such a group.  It seemed that most were in sync with what Bill and I were looking for so we expect a good turnout at next month's meeting.  While it most of the attendees are interested in sustainable and simple living, a few of us are also interested in the social justice aspects of our consumer society.  I want to help people connect the dots between our American lifestyle and suffering in the world - and to find ways to opt out of such a damaging system.

Some of the crates of sweet potatoes

This week we "got up" the sweet potatoes.  That involved Bill pulling up the vines and taking them away, then using the tractor to plow up the rows.  He lined up the potatoes along the trenches that he created and I went in and sorted and crated them for transporting to the basement.  I sorted them into three categories:  cut/damaged potatoes that we need to use right away or compost; decent-sized ones for the CSA members and for general selling; and small ones to use to grow "slips" (starter plants) for next year's harvest.  Then we hauled the boxes to our basement and laid out the larger potatoes  to"cure" for a couple of weeks.  Once they're cured, we will put them back in crates for storage.

Tomorrow is the last day of the market we've been going to.  I've connected with the owner of a health food store who wants us to vend in front of her store and we'll start that next month in order to create a market for our surplus.  We've increased our sales to individuals, outside of the market, and hope that continues throughout the fall and winter - as long as the gardens continue to produce.

Some of the 6,000+ walkers in Greensboro

On Sunday I and a fellow CROP Walk planning team member walked the Greensboro CROP Walk, which is the second largest CROP Walk in the US.  We decided it would be good to see how other cities conduct their walks and we picked up a few pointers to help us with our walk next year.  It was a fun event and a beautiful day.

Last night we were given the opportunity to have our granddaughter with us for a long weekend so we're looking forward to having her on the farm.  She always has a good time.  This time, though, she will get to go to the farmers' market with us and then to visit another farm for their customer appreciation event.

Have a great weekend!