I’m going to go a little off topic today to discuss one of the things that has been keeping me awake at night lately (thanks to everyone for your thoughts and suggestions…I’m now sleeping again).
It has to do with sustainability and in particular animal welfare. I hope I’m not going to offend any of the readers of this blog, but I figured that anyone who loves dogs as much as you all do will certainly feel compassion for the rest of the animals on this planet.
One of the first things I noticed when I came to America were all the strange ingredients in foods which I had always considered to be foods from nature, i.e. milk. I wondered about all the additives, antibiotics, preservatives and vitamins on the labels. I was amazed (and a little concerned) that my milk would last for months without going off. The bread didn’t (and still doesn’t) taste like real bread to me. Most yoghurt had nothing on the label which resembled dairy products. This is just a small snapshot of the extreme difficulty we had with food when we first arrived here. It has taken us about 10 months to seek out the most natural alternatives to many of the staples of a good diet.
Another shock was our first sight of an American milk-factory. In Australia we would have happy cows munching on lush green grass on the side of a hill. In California I saw cows crammed by their thousands into small corrals in the dry desert. I wondered about that, and felt a little queasy to think that I might be drinking milk from unhappy cows.
Now, all of this made me start questioning what was going on here. What I discovered was the prevalence of meat, milk and egg factories in this country. I say factories, because these places are not farms as I know them. Please check out this great movie which explains it so much better that I ever could.
So, now that I know all this, what am I doing about it? Well from a grassroots level I am seeking out the most natural, least processed foods I can find. This means a trip to the local farmers markets for locally grown, picked that day fruit, vegetables and free-range eggs. I choose organic meat if I can find it. I’m using this guide from WSPA USA to help me make humane food choices. Ideally I’d like to be able to get my meat from a local family farmer, but this seems difficult to do here. We have cut down our red meat consumption to once per week and are introducing more vegetarian meals into our diet. I’d like to say I could just become a vegetarian, but I have a food intolerance to most fruits and vegetables (go figure) which makes vegetarianism untenable at this stage. I’m a little stumped about what I can do about milk consumption. Perhaps I’ll try soy milk, but I’m not sure yet.
If I could, I would be voting Yes on Prop 2 in the upcoming election. Since I can’t, I’ll at least spread the word so hopefully people who can vote will make a difference in the lives of farm animals in California.
Want to know more? Read about three steps to sustainable food.
Ok, so there it is. A very small portion of what’s been on my mind lately. I’m still in the process of learning about a lot of things, so please bare with me as I progress on this journey. And please share your thoughts as well. I don’t profess to be an expert at all, I just felt the need to express what was on my mind.