Comments ritadona has made

  • Monsanto...Microsoft?

    Why doesn't Monsanto get sued the way Microsoft did when it basically tried to severely limit competition?  And why isn't the American public outraged over the fact that one company could be allowed to so freely manipulate the food supply like Monsanto does--AND poison little children slave workers in other countries?On Monsanto uses child labor in its Indian cottonseed fields posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

  • Horton Hears A Vegetable

    Ah, how wonderful that anyone is talking about veganism at all, much less coining new words for some of its aspects.  

    As for chefs (or anyone who cooks for that matter) who look askance at the plates of vegetarians/vegans, I say, how unimaginative!  And you call yourself a chef?  

    It's always so disappointing to go into a nice restaurant (I'm a vegan, so it's rare to eat out anyway) and find that the vegetable dish is an afterthought, a garnish--decoration, no less!  Unfortunately, I think that's the way most people view the natural world anyway.  Trees, grass, blue sky and water--lovely backdrops, but really only tinsel.  Is it no wonder then that our "chefs" can draw no inspiration from the earth's green bounty?On Veganism as relationship deal breaker posted 1 year, 9 months ago 17 Responses

  • No Monsanto label

    I think the companies should have a right to put a label on the milk that says, "No Monsanto" on it or something then.  

    Though, I agree, it really is unfortunate that people continue to consume milk when even the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture puts out reports about how rife with bacteria it is--even AFTER pasteurization.  Plus, momma cow can't have her babies around hogging up all that good-for-cows milk, so, guess what?  Little boy cows get taken away to get slowly tortured to become veal and little girl cows (if they're lucky) get to turn right back around to become constantly-pregnant mommas themselves to make more milk for people!

    And lest you think that the above scenario doesn't happy on those "happy farms" you all are getting your milk from now, just ask that farmer what happen to the those milk cows' calves--oh, and ask him what happens to momma when her milk runs dry, too, while you're at it.  On Pennsylvania bans hormone- and antibiotic-free labels on dairy products posted 2 years ago 21 Responses

  • How to make people see...

    I wish I knew what would kick people in the gut enough for them to say enough is enough.  My father was just in the hospital with blood clots in his leg and in his lungs.  He's overweight and has a terrible diet.  He's now on warfarin (which was originally manufactured as a rat poison), still has the clots, but the other day I found him eating a deep dish Canadian bacon pizza with a big glass of soda.  Personally, I think someone needs to jump down the throat of physicians, as well, for being so irresponsible as to prescribe people medicines without addressing dietary and lifestyle issues.  

    Maybe if more doctors were scaring people with the realities of their fatty, meat-laden diets, more people would be eschewing meat.  I say physicians need to come out in force, too, and quit hiding behind their pharmaceutical reps.On Looking at an industrial-meat giant's China deal posted 2 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

  • Green Mansions

    I think it depends on how many families are living in it.  Hey, maybe this person has mom and dad move in and maybe a brother and his family, and it's all good.  

    What boggles my mind is that a family of 3 or 4 people thinks it needs this much space.  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  I'm with the other commenter who said, what a waste of good money.  On Should USGBC certify a 15,000-sq.-ft. home as green? posted 2 years, 2 months ago 40 Responses

  • Poop a Loop

    Tom,

    "To complicate matters even more, essentially all organically grown vegetable crops in the US are fertilized with animal manure."

    I wouldn't have any problem with using animal manure as fertilizer if it weren't for the fact that so many animals go through our current system that manure gets dumped in excess of what the land can handle, and this "load" becomes as much of a problem as synthetic chemical fertilizers--they become a pollutant.  

    One interesting thing that I read recently, though, and it might have come from Diet For a Small Planet, was that the United States currently imports around 80-90% of our fertilizers, making our dependence on foreign fertilizers just about as bad as our dependence on foreign oil.  

    I haven't verified that information, but if it's true, it's an interesting little kink in the current agricultural system--and even, perhaps, a  question of national security...  On On PETA's latest campaign posted 2 years, 2 months ago 256 Responses

  • The Predominant Culture

    I was a vegetarian for about ten years before finally going vegan a few months ago, actually, and I have to say that since I no longer consume animal products (or do my very best not to do so) in any form, I've become keenly aware of how in-your-face the culture around animal products is.  It's almost like solving a puzzle on a daily basis to figure out how "not" to consume animals in some way, shape, or form.  And I don't believe it has always been this way.  I think that it wasn't until around the time of WWII that Americans even began to consider that meat could be something more than just a luxury item.  I think what changed everything was the introduction of leftover ammonium nitrate from the war that got thrown on fields to increase crop yields...

    I think it's hard to examine the culture when you're immersed in it.  I mean, how can you argue with the constant message of "eat meat now and lots of it! your american!  it's your birthright!" until you step outside of it for a while and look at it for what it is.  Just "a way".  Not "THE way".  

    I think I would challenge all animal product-eaters to just stop eating anything animal for a month.  No strings attached.  You can go back to eating animals if you want afterwards, but step outside for a moment and look in, if you will.  Read.  Think.  Ask yourself what exactly you have that is so tied up in the continuance of this habit that you could absolutely not stop it or at least reduce it drastically.  

    Just take a look at who is shouting at you from the other side, the meat-eating side.  Do THEY have your best interests at heart?  

    Maybe PETA's way of going about things is polarizing, but the message from the other side is pretty in-your-face, as well.  Like I said, try not eating anything animal for a month, and you'll see how other people treat you, how the meat-eating culture almost says that not eating meat is un-American.  Why?  And why does no one seem to question THAT message?

    I don't know if we can make any real progress with regard to climate change unless we can honestly examine some of our deeply held beliefs about our consumption HABITS.  If PETA's polarizing ways get us to do that, then more power to them.       On On PETA's latest campaign posted 2 years, 2 months ago 256 Responses