Time to...PANIC!!!

barbbarbbarb-"chicken heart"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbbarbbarb/4998859859/
A Happy Chicken

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, step right up and take a wild gander at how many animals the average American will consume over the course of their life.

1,000? Not even close. 5,000? Think bigger. 10,000? Double it up and you will be just about there.

According to Jonathan Safran Foer, “Americans eat the equivalent of 21,000 entire animals in a lifetime” (pg. 121)  Usually, these animals are chickens. Across the globe, 50 billion chickens are raised in factory farms a year. To put this in perspective, there are close to 7 billion humans on earth (according to the US Census Bureau). Foer points out that Americans are some of the largest consumers and our intake has increased 150x since the 1920s when factory farming was first introduced (by accident).

Although these numbers are really big (and numbers of all types tend to give me the heeby-geebies), Foer points out the real threat behind these obscene figures..

In 1918, the world suffered from a pandemic that killed 100 million people. That pandemic was called the Spanish Flu and its origins have been traced to farm animals (whether it was birds or pigs is still debated).

Farm animals live in disgusting conditions for their short, brutal lives on earth. Because the environment is so toxic, farm animals are fed antibiotics even when they are not sick. The Union for Concerned Scientists reports that the factory farming industry offloads 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics into animals each year. Humans, on the other hand, only receive 3 million pounds of antibiotics a year. Foer points out the dichotomy that we limit our own intake of antibiotics to prevent the development of drug resistant diseases but inundate our animals (whose factory farm lives are the equivalent of living in a Petri dish with just about everything that makes us sick) with these same medications.

Foer argues that this will bring about more zoonotic diseases, or diseases that jump from the animal population to our own human population, in the future. The possibility for a pandemic is far greater not only because we average a pandemic every 27.5 years and we haven’t had one in awhile but also because we have created a biological time bomb out of our mass consumption of animals and our cavalier attitude in regards to how they are raised.

So what should we do for our world that it is about to catch a cold? Pay more attention to how animals are being raised. Urge stronger regulation of factory farms. Think before you eat. And STOP EATING SO MANY CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Shockley Nunnery

 david_shankbone (photographer)
Not a Happy Chicken

Some Facts about rBGH...

Most people probably have no idea what rBGH means, but it is time that they find out. It stands for recombinant bovine somatotropin and it is a growth hormone that is injected in cows in order to make them produce more milk. It was approved by the FDA 18 years ago and said to be a safe drug. However, it was later discovered that it is not very safe at all and that it can in fact can cause many negative effects for cattle and humans, including the possibility of an increased chance of cancer.

Another interesting fact is that up until August 2008 it was a product made and distributed by none other than Monsanto. This comes as no surprise. It is also a bit odd that rBGH has been banned by the European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia, but not the United States. What else are we willing to do to produce more? We are already risking our health and the health of animals; what comes next?

To learn more about rBGH and its history, visit this website

-Kelly

Something Fishy?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreagp/1122613434/sizes/m/
"Salmon"--Andrea Pokrzywinski

My family eats fish. Just about every week during the summer my family will tucker into a nice big dish of swimming critters. Sometimes it’s a tuna steak (no not the red thing that everyone is picturing in their mind), or grouper, or trout, or some other gilled creature. But more often than not, we’re munching on salmon.

So when I read about the development of genetically modified salmon that is being marketed for human consumption, my interest was more than piqued. According to the Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post, the company AquAdvantage Salmon is having its new genetically modified salmon evaluated by the FDA to determine whether or not it is fit for human consumption.

The whole genetically modified part relates to the time it takes for these salmon to grow. Using the genes of the pout fish (which the Washington Post describes as “eel-like”) and the Chinook salmon, this new type of salmon develops at twice the rate as a regular Atlantic salmon.

This will prove to be a watershed moment in the history of food as many other food-engineering companies are watching the FDA’s decision. Other genetically modified animals in the works include the “Enviropig” whose waste is eco-friendly and a cow that is impervious to mad cow disease. In competition with the Enviropig is Apple’s iPig which will have 4G capabilities, the ability to engage in “Facetime” with other cool, hip pigs, and 3 earthy flesh tones to pick from.

That’s a joke (and a bad one while we’re at it) but it underscores objections to the introduction of genetically modified animals. Scientists fear what will occur if these fish escape into the ocean and spread their Dr. Frankenstein’s biology project genes with other fish. Others object because a large portion of the FDA evaluation is occurring in private.

On the flips side, these animals have the capability of increasing the food supply and (this is purely supposition) won’t we be using less growth hormone to make these animals grow faster? Wouldn’t this be the more, and I hate to use the word, natural solution?

Weigh in with what you think

Shockley

Bobby Calves Journey: Part 2

Here is part two:

-Jennifer

Bobby Calves Journey: Part 1

Remember the article on the bobby calves we posted a while back? If not, I encourage you to check it out. Here is a heartbreaking video I found on Youtube of part one of the journey of the bobby calves in Australia.

-Jennifer

White Oak Pastures

This family owned, grass fed, humane, and environment friendly cattle ranch is only three hours and twenty five minutes from our very own highschool! The Harris family is commited to raising healthy cattle for the sake of the consumer as well as the environment. Not only is the beef better for you, but it tastes better too!

Grass-fed beef is healthier than the average product in a myriad of ways: higher in beta carotene, vitamin E, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), omega 3 fatty acids, and not to mention the lesser chance of E.coli O157:H7 contamination. Most of these benefits come from healthier cattle. White Oak Pastures also takes a stance against antibiotics and hormones, and deliver directly to the markets (cutting out about eight middle men) including Publix and Whole Foods.

White Oak Pastures is living proof of the possibilies available to the average American, now we just need to spread the word.

If you are interested in learning more visit http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/index.html
Katy

Let's Talk Food-Eating Animals review

Let me ask you a question, "Would you eat a dog?" How about if the dog was in the pound and was going to be euthanized anyway, as twice as many dogs are euthanized than are adopted. You may say that this is wrong but consider this as well, the euthanized dogs are used for feed for other animals. With the consumption dogs, we would have a low energy cost, cheap, local, abundant food source that could drastically increase the amount of available food.

Thought provoking arguments like this abound in Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling Eating Animals.

Simply put, the subject of Eating Animals is the consumption of food, and more specifically, the consumption of animals. Before Foer launches into his book, he establishes the fact that he does not intend to write the Vegan Manifesto. Foer began researching the food industry before the birth of his son because he wanted his child to eat right (whatever that would turn out to be).

At the core of the book is a discussion about food, why we eat it, why it such a fundamental part of our identity (Foer shares the stories of Holocaust surviving grandmother-- "Greatest Chef in the World"-- and her signature chicken dish), why it is such an important part of our culture (Foer draws upon his Jewish faith and cultural background for anecdotes), and why we must reevaluate our outlook on food.

A lot of the book focuses on education. For example, did you know that a single commercial fishing boat can haul 50 tons of seafood aboard in a matter of minutes with nets that 30 miles wide or that the fishing for tuna causes the death of 145 other fish species? Or did you know that "free range" simply means that chickens must have access to outdoors and that can mean a small door leading to a enclosed 5 by 5 dirt pen? Or did you know that "bird brains" are actually quite sophisticated with the function to process information like the human cerebral cortex?

Finally, Foer makes his informative book come to life with his erudite storytelling ability and biting wit. Foer shares his own adventures breaking into a turkey farm as well as the opinions of animal activists and "factory farmers" to add a human element to his research and to reveal that the issue of eating food is not so black and white.

Eating Animals has been a great, easy read thus far and it certainly provides A LOT of food for thought. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and funny book.

Shockley