Vegan MOFO III

No.  I'm not calling people names.  Vegan MoFo is the Vegan Month of Food.  During this month Foodie Bloggers around the world are focusing on fabulous Vegan Foodstuffs.  I, personally, spent the last four days trying to decide if I was a foodie blogger and whether or not I should claim part of this tradition.  My decision, as you may have guessed, is to absolutely participate. Even if I'm not technically a Foodie Blogger or a Vegan for that matter. With the jury is still out on whether or not I am a foodie blogger at all and us knowing I am definitely not Vegan (just mostly vegan) we will move on

A lot of what I post is/will probably always be about food.  Our ability to sustain life, to sustain life on this particular planet, all comes back to food.  The choices we make about the food we eat (read: who we give our money to) determine all of our tomorrows.

Because I'm feeling melodramatic today I'll say it:  Every time you pick up your fork you are making choices about your health, environmental choices, humanitarian choices, financial choices and political choices.

Not so sure about that?  Well follow along.......

Health Choices
Is that bite of food going to support your biological systems or wreak havoc?  It's one or the other.

Environmental Choices
Do you remember our recent Meatless Monday Post?  We know that raising animals for food wreaks havoc on the eco-system (to say nothing of the cruelty involved).  Whether it's a bite of steak at the end of your fork or a bite of salad,  the questions to ask are how far did your food travel?  More than 200 miles?  How many finite resources were used to bring it to you?  Was it grown out of country to get past our Pesticide Laws?

Humanitarian Choices
We can end world hunger TODAY.  We can.  We can stop the majority of water pollution AND use way less water to get food to the table (saving gazillions of gallons).  We just have to stop factory farming.  Use the land we raise cattle on to grow FOOD.  Actual food.

Financial Choices
When you look around your supermarket and see your pretty produce section, with it's lively and vibrant colors do you consider the farmers who grew the food?  When you purchase your "Farm Fresh Eggs" do you know which farm they come from?  Click here for a link to a great documentary.  Some other great resources are The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and  The Food Revolution by John Robbins (heir to the Baskin Robbins fortune).  Chances are, the food you are buying comes from a monocrop or huge conglomerate that is actually forcing the American tradition of Family Farming as a way of life into obliteration.  Go spend your money at a farmers market when you can!  I promise that you will find not only the most flavorful and nutritionally dense produce but also fresher, healthier cuts of meat and truly farm fresh dairy products.

So there you have it - it may not be about veganism but I think the points are valid whether you choose to embrace a vegan lifestyle or not.  Making more informed choices helps the planet even if you sometimes choose meat and dairy products. 

Political Choices