SoulVeggie

Oscar-nominated "Food, Inc." documentary interviews

"How much do we really know about the food we buy at the grocery store? Filmmaker Robert Kenner talks about his documentary, Food, Inc., which is up for an Oscar. The film raises questions about the safety of our food." 

From a write-up on the February 23rd interview on "Talk to the Nation" with streaming media links here.  They also reference/make available an earlier interview with both Robert Kenner and Michael Pollan in June of 2009:

"The new documentary Food Inc. takes aim at corporate giants behind the U.S. food supply. As director Robert Kenner and food advocate and author Michael Pollan tell Steve Inskeep, they made the film in order to raise Americans' awareness about where their food really comes from.

Pollan says he wanted to address "the pastoral illusion we're spinning in the way we market food... You would think it comes from farms and that ranches with big hats are producing the meat."

In fact, say Pollan and Kenner, America's food comes primarily from enormous assembly lines, where animals and workers are being abused."

How marvelous that these issues are going mainstream!  An Oscar nomination for a documentary that has a large chunk of it covering the evils of factory farming.  Unbelievable.  Here's a link to the "Food, Inc." website with trailer and more.  Wouldn't it be cool if they won?

Video: "Turkey's Can't Do It" - Jonathan Foer ("Eating Animals") on "Colbert"

Jonathan Safran Foer (author of the great read "Eating Animals"), despite Stephen Colbert's antics, manages to get some good points in.  Considering the size of Colbert's viewing audience, it's just marvelous to see this interview.  From the work of Michael Pollan ("Food, Inc.," "Food Rules") and Foer, among others, there's an accelerating awareness in mainstream media about the food we eat, factory farming, the Farm Bill, the environment, and related animal issues.  It's a good sign for veg'ns, and possibly will bring some blowback from the food industry.  I mean, if Michelle Obama promoting an organic vegetable garden freaks out the pesticide companies, how much more so these exposes of what these companies have been doing to animals, our food, and our environment?

One of Foer's finer points, that most people are eating "tortured flesh" is spot on.  Although what Colbert does with bacon at the end, is alternately funny and appalling.

This 5 minute clip will "disappear" on March 9th or thereabouts.  IMHO, worth a glom:

Video (satire): "Food. Yum."

Another of the fictional commercials regarding "food-like products" (a clear sendup of GMO and Factory Farming) in "Better Off Ted."  Delightfully outrageous, as are the episodes I've watched so far.  Enjoy!  Around 40 seconds:

Check this Wikipedia entry for more information about the series.  Season 2 episodes are available at HULU.

Video & ABC News Broadcast: [The] "Darker Side of Dairy Farming"

1st, there was the "Disturbing Dairy" article at Alternet, then, while glancing at ABC news tonight, they actually SHOWED factory farming footage of cows in manure... wow!  Unbelievable.  The full story is to be on "Nightline" tonight.  This is about as mainstream as it can get fellow vegans.... corporate media covering the horrors of factory farming and dairy cows.  Here's the online article and some embedded links for more.

ABC News Blog: "Darker Side of Dairy Farming":

"Brian Ross Blotter investigation tonight pulls back the curtain on what critics call dairy "factory farms," featuring graphic video of disturbing deletion treatment of milk cows at the Willet Dairy in East Genoa, New York.  The footage was shot by an investigator for the animal rights group Mercy for Animals posing undercover who was hired at the dairy [New York's largest] as a mechanic. One clip shows the controversial process of tail-docking, pictured above and described fully in a Blotter report here. The other, embedded below, shows a cow in obvious pain as it horns are burned off.

Lyndon Odell, CEO of Willet Dairy said that he prides himself on the conditions of his dairy and uses the latest technology to keep his cows healthy. He explained that tail-docking and burning off horns are common in the industry and are not abusive of the animals.

Tune in tonight for the full investigation."

Video: Natural History of Chickens

The ever delightful Ms. V. sent me the DVD, "A Natural HIstory of Chickens."  I was in tears laughing through most of this... it's a wonderful romp through people's affection with chickens, problems with roosters, a little bit of factory farming, and just great sport as a marvelous testimony to these fascinating birds.  Having been saddled with caring for 10 hens and 6 roosters in recent months (not counting the 9 runner ducks and 3 geese), I can testify that they got it right in this video.  The last segment is astounding.  Here's the first of six 10 minute segments on YouTube (see side bar there for rest).  Not quit vegan in bits (but makes good points indirectly), it's quite fair.  Although the "headless rooster" (5th segment) is in one sense slightly horrific, in another, boffo.

Enjoy!  Mark

"Eating Animals" quote & Martin Luther King, Jr.

Almost finished reading this fascinating tour-de-force (will blog about later), but here's a passage from near the end that seems appropriate to blogpost as today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

"It might sound naive to suggest that whether you order a chicken patty or a veggie burger is a profoundly important decision... Deciding what to eat (and what to toss overboard) is the founding act of production and consumption that shapes all others.  Choosing leaf or flesh, factory farm or family farm, does not in itself change the world, but teaching ourselves, our children, our local communitities, and our nation to choose conscience over ease can.  One of the greatest opportunitities to live our values --- or betray them --- lies in the food we put on our plates.  And we will live or betray our values not only as individuals, but as nations [my emphasis].

We have grander legacies than the quest for cheap products.  Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote passionately about the time when "one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular."  Sometimes we simply have to make a decision beause "one's conscience tells one that it is right."  These famous words of King's, and the efforts of Chavez's United Farm Workers, are also our legacy.  We might want to say that these social-justice movements have nothing to do with the situation of the factory farm.  Human oppression is not animal abuse.  King and Chavez were moved by a concern for suffering humanity, not suffering chickens or global warming.  Fair enough.  One can certainly quibble with, or even become enraged by, the comparison implicit in invoking them here, but it is worth nothing that Cesar Chavez and King's wife, Coretta Scott King, were vegans, as is King's son Dexter --- we interpret America's legacy --- too narrowly if we assume in advance that they cannot speak against the oppression of the factory farm."

--- Jonathon Safran Foer, "Eating Animals" p. 258-259.

More about this book and some cool interview links later.

Mad Cowboy Newsletter: Msg. from Howard, 2 of "1,000 Recipes"

The latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter is now available.  Here's a direct link to the issue:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/89  And here's the title, introduction, and table of contents.  Enjoy!  Mark

"TITLE:  12_22_09:  Holiday Msg. from Howard, "1000 Vegan Recipes"

Howdy!  Welcome to the 68th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this year end issue, there's some special treats for our readers.  Amongst the spread is a special Holiday Message from Howard, Recipes from Robin Robertson's amazing new opus, "1,000 Vegan Recipes," and Dennis Kucinich explaining what he'd do as dictator!

Reading further, you'll learn about the collision of the military-industrial complex with the vegetable-industrial complex, what Author Foer thinks about PETA and Pollan, and PCRM's new online "21-day Vegan Program" for going veg that starts in January 2010.  There's also information about the "dietary estrogens" and illnesses controversy, a study on meditation and heart disease, how plants appear to be socially awareness, new dirt on Monsanto, the best/worst tap water online database, links to 10 essays on vegetarianism by Kaythy Freston, and the top food stories of 2009/the decade.

Also, don't miss our "Vegan Digital Media Theater," where you can watch the amazing Octopus that has scientists scratching their heads, a "Smiling Animal" Slideshow, Rip Esselstyn lecturing at Whole Foods, and 85 minutes of Howard speaking at the Conscious Life Expo in 2006.

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers:  y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidaze and warmer weather!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: A Holiday Message from Howard!
01: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
02: Recipes from "1,000 Vegan Recipes" by Robin Robertson
03: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
04: 2 Fat 2 Serve, Diet/Estrogens, Heart Meditation, Veg. Act
05: Dennis Dictator? Veg Zeitgeist, Foer on PETA, Vegan Kickstart
06: Vegan Digital Media Theater
07: Social Plants, Save Food Steps, Monsanto Biz, Best/Worst H20
08: Quick Bytes
09: Closing Thoughts"

Video: Al Gore "goes crazy"

Although it's satirical (SNL), I can't help thinking of the possible impact if he actually does... note the reference to "Factory Farming."  That's new.  Enjoy!

This clever Embeddable Flash Animation showing icons representing numbers of animals being killed in "real time" for food in the United States is available at the very interesting website:  Animal Visuals.  Check it out!

Average & Total Numbers of Animals Who Died to Feed Americans in 2008

Stunning piece of work from valid statistical sources, broken down in detail by type of animal as well as year.  Note that 8.5 billion land animals died, and some 71 billion sea animals.  There's a bunch of interesting and appalling stats herein, but the grand finale:

ALL ANIMALS
Total number died for food: 80 billion
Average number consumed per American meat-eater: 270
Average number consumed per American lifetime: 21,000

... tells the sad tale.  You can read this all in greater detail here.  Kudos for Noam (and UPC) for the fine work.