amc89’s Recent Comments

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  Best option is soy milk or other non-dairy milks

  If you read nutritionist Marion Nestle's book What to Eat, she says that milk and other dairy products should not be considered the absolutely-necessary-for-a-healthy diet foods the dairy industry would like us to think. Osteoperosis is now thought to be more related to exercise, caffine intake, smoking, protein intake (consuming too much protein, which dairy is rich in, can strip away calcium from bones) and other factor besides calcium intake. Calcium and protein can be found in many non-animal derived foods such as greens like collards, kale and chard, brocali, tahini, molasses, and enriched soy or nut milks.  If you have concerns about getting enough calcium, supplements are probably a better option than drinking the 3 servings of milk a day that the government recommends because of the intensive dairy industry lobbying and campaign contributions Nestle details in her book.

  Also, its important to keep in mind that at the end of a dairy cow's short life of 4-5 years (they would live to be about 20 if they were not on a constant cycle of reproduction and treated so poorly), they are all shipped long distances to slaughter to be turned into hamburgers. The beef recall that happened last winter was the result of "downed" dairy cows entering the food supply. "Downed" cows are those too sick or injured to walk to slaughter. When dairy cows have male calves, they are of course useless to the dairy farmers, who sell them to the veal industry, which keeps the calves in tiny crates and feed them ironless diets to make their flesh anemic.

  Keep in mind also that the livestock industry contributes more to global warming than all transport combined.

  Planted based milks are therefore better to the planet, animals and your health.On Umbra on raw milk posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago 20 Responses

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  A serious problem that needs more action

  Given that animal products do not currently reflect their true costs to the environment and society, NGO's in both developed and "transitional" nations should make it a priority to pressure their governments to stop the direct and indirect subsidies to the meat industry (such as subsidies for the growing of animal feed crops like corn and soy) and should actively encourage citizens to eat further down the food chain. There is some movement in this direction.  The Brazilian NGO Consumer Defence Institute (IDEC) has launched a campaign to encourage supermarkets to track beef origins and to encourage consumers to reduce beef consumption. Governmental nutrition education campaigns also have a large potential to impact consumer demand for animal products. In America, we eat 1.6 times as much protein as we really need and this is causing all kinds of public health problems. Clearly we need to change our diets to include fewer animal products and more whole grains, legumes, nuts fruits and vegetables, which can in most situations be far more efficiently grown than animal products. If retailer and consumer preferences can be significantly altered, there may be hope for preserving the Amazon's remaining rainforests, preventing animal epidemics such as bird flu, reducing animal cruelty and slowing climate change since lower demand leads to lower prices for producers.  Globally, the trend of increased meat consumption among newly developing countries must be reversed for public health and animal welfare reasons as well as environmental, climate and economic reasons. Environmental groups need to make this a priority!  And we in the western world can set an example by examining the sustainability of our own diets.On Don Tyson details plans to export the U.S. meat model to global south posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago 5 Responses

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  measure on horse racing in MD

  Let's wish everybody working on protecting farm animal welfare, the environment and rural communities in California good luck with Proposition 2. Hopefully it will be the start of factory farming reforms across North America and we can finally catch up to the standards for farm animals in much of Europe.

  Another ballot question relating to animal cruelty is Question 2 in Maryland that covers slot machines. It's mainly horse racing industries that are supporting it, as their industry in the state is suffering and they need slots to prop up their "sport."  I'm not too fond of gambling, but the main reason I'm against the measure is my opposition to the cruelty inherent in horse racing.  The horses experience high rates of injury and when they can't compete any more they're often shipped thousands of miles to Texas or Illinois, the location of the only 3 horse slaughterhouses in the country. Or sometimes they're sent to Canada or Mexico slaughterhouses.   On A guide to 2008 environmental ballot measures posted 1 year ago 6 Responses

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  social justice

  It's really disturbing and strange that the California NAACP would not endorse a measure to restrict factory farming. While the leader of the opposition attempts to paint the measure as "elitist," efforts to combat the industrialization of animal agriculture are anything but.  Factory-farmed meat and eggs are cheap for consumers to purchase partly because the companies raising these animals are not the ones that pay for the damage their facilities inflict upon society and the environment.  

  Factory farms are frequently situated in low-income rural areas, where property values often plummet because of the stench and contaminated groundwater that result in the concentration of thousands of animals on relatively small pieces of land.  Research has found that residents living near factory farms experience high rates of respiratory problems.  American taxpayers typically end up footing the bill for the clean-up costs of the pollution caused by factory farming.

  Furthermore, looking at the big picture, the livestock sector contributes 37% of global anthropogenic methane, which is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.  The methane mainly comes from the enteric fermentation of ruminants such as cows, goats and sheep. In addition, the livestock sector contributes 9% of carbon dioxide emissions. If we want to be serious about reducing climate change we have to eat further down the food chain as well as farm more sustainably.  Most experts predict that it will be poor nations that suffer the most from climate change.    

  It's not like eggs, pork chops and veal are a necessity in one's diet. If the price goes up, there's plenty of affordable substitutes. In baking, I use mashed banana or ground flax seed mixed with water to substitute eggs, and the great thing about egg substitutes is that you can eat the batter or cookie dough and not worry about salmonella. Tofu is another health and inexpensive egg substitute that does not come with the risk of salmonella.

  Bottom line-Californians concerned about both human rights and animal suffering should vote Yes on Proposition 2 on Election Day.  Those of us not in California can also support farm animals, the environment and the communities impacted by factory farming by encouraging our legislators to support policies similar to Proposition 2 and by reducing and refining the animal products in our diets.On California's Prop. 2 spurs big-bucks battle over farm-animal treatment posted 1 year ago 9 Responses

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  Californians can do something: Vote Yes on Prop 2

  Tom makes a good point. It's important but not enough just to make changes in our own diet, we need to convey how important our desire for humane and environmentally friendly food systems are to our politicians. And when politicians don't listen, we can take it directly to the voters through the ballot initiative process (though unfortunately not every state has the initiative process) as happened in Florida, where voters voted in favor of banning pig factory farming in 2002, in Arizona, where voters voted against pig and veal calf factory farming in 2006 and now in California, where voters should vote Yes on Prop 2 to ban the factory farming of egg-laying hens, veal calves and pigs.  Let your California friends know about Prop 2 with this video by Free Range Graphics.

  http://uncaged.yesonprop2.com/On Why factory farming must be stopped posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses