How Em Cs it: a more humane way to kill chickens?

Today the New York Times published a piece: New Way to Help Chickens Cross to Other Side.

It talks about two companies, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, that are going to start gassing their chickens before they hang them upside down and slit their throats.

The article is great, and I encourage EVERYONE to read it. There were definitely some elements that stood out for me. So, to channel the gal we love to hate, here's how Em Cs it:

Excerpt: The owner of Bell & Evans says that marketing a humane death is going to be difficult because people don't want to think about how their food is killed.

How Em Cs it: It is about time people start thinking about and recogizing where our food comes from. Not only would we start eating less meat, but we would also start buying from places that go the extra mile to treat their animals better.


Excerpt: Temple Grandin said, “Birds don’t like being hung upside down...They get really stressed out by that.”

How Em Cs it: Ya think?


Excerpt: A National Chicken Council spokesperson said that the chickens "...are shackled and they typically stay there quietly.”

How Em Cs it: I find that very hard to believe. Besides the fact that we have read and seen countless documentation of suffering chickens during and before slaughter, how does the National Chiken Council explain broken wings and bruisng?


You can read the entire article here.

Humane Tzatziki

Last Friday night, I made delicious tzatziki as part of Shabbat dinner.

Tzatziki is one of my favorite dips, and it is the only item I cannot get at Amsterdam Falafel (although it is very hard to resist...).

Here is how I make it... humanely:

- I buy Greek yogurt from Blue Ridge Dairy
- Mix it with seeded, peeled, chopped, salted and drained cucumber
- Chop up a bunch of fresh dill to taste
- Salt, pepper and garlic to taste
- Dash of lemon juice

Mix it all together and serve with any kind of bread or veggies!

I'm BAAAACK!

So, it has been a while.... Almost a month. Wow.

But now I'm back... from outer space. Just kidding. Just back from being really busy at work, and not making time for my blog.

So much has happened, so here is a recap:
- I went to Nashville for work, and ate delicious food from a local farm.
- I started exploring all kinds of new fake meat --- recommendations coming soon!
- Traveled a lot, and ate at some amazing vegetarian/vegan restaurants

So, I guess you could call this a fall break--- stay tuned for fun and humane memories from this month!

It worked!

Less than three days after Mercy for Animals asked people to urge Costco to stop selling veal, Costco made an announcement: They would ban "treatment of veal calves that industry calls typical."

In a statement, CEO Jim Sinegal said:

"We are extremely disappointed, not only with the performance of our supplier in this instance, but with our own performance as well... "We hold ourselves to a high standard, and in this case, we plainly did not perform to that standard."

Jeff Lyons, Costco's vice president of fresh foods said,

"We're telling them flat-out that it's not acceptable to us, and we will not accept any veal from those farms, period...They're going to have to go by our guidelines and policy, regardless of whether that's considered normal practice. It's not for us, and that might sound arrogant, but we just don't think that's the way to treat an animal."

While I don't condone the raising and selling of veal, I recognize that this is a step. A small step but an important one. People are now more aware of the treatment of baby cows who are raised for veal. And one of the nation's largest vendors of veal is using its power to make the lives of these animals better. It made me happy again to be a Costco customer and shareholder.

Urge Costco to stop buying veal

Every time I receive an email from Mercy for Animals, PETA, or the Humane Society, I know it will be a rough day. It will be a day that all I want to do is go home and hug Winston.

Today was such a day. I arrived at work to find, "New MFA Veal Investigation." And as I watched the video, I was horrified, as most people are when they see confined baby cows. Nobody wants to see that. It is why the industries that support factory farming spend millions and millions of dollars to hide it from us.

After I watched the fate of these baby cows, Mercy for Animals (MFA) gave its call-to-action: Urge Costco to stop buying veal. Urge them to stop supporting this industry.

But why would a company choose to do this? Why would they deny a product to their customers?

Because they are pressured to do so. Did McDonald's want to stop selling Big Macs in Styrofoam packaging? Did Burger King want to stop buying pigs who are confined in gestation crates? Did Whole Foods want to stop selling lobsters?

No. They were all pressured to change their behavior by their consumers. And they are all industry leaders. If the demand diminishes, so does the supply.

Now, I am a fan of Costco. I like their business choices: they pay their employees well, and provide health care benefits. They stock vegetarian staples, like veggie burgers, quinoa and organic soups. I shop there. And I own their stock. And part of the reason they are an industry leader is because they earn the loyalty from customers like me who care about these things.

But, I am also a fan of reality. I know that Costco will probably not stop selling veal. But maybe if they feel enough pressure, they will start buying veal from states that don't tether baby cows for their short lives, and allow them have a somewhat-playful existence.

So, let's urge them. Send a letter to Costco's CEOs, and tell them to stop selling veal. I did. I told them that I was a customer and a stockholder. And if they didn't change, they would lose me as a customer. And I would tell my friends to do the same.

Click here to send a letter: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/veal/take-action.aspx

Remember that famous quote that all us crazy activists use? "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

Guerrilla Gardening

Last weekend, Alex and I started a garden in our front lawn.



I had previously went through a phase where I had been fantasizing about moving to the country, getting a front porch (where I could yell at the ungrateful neighbor kids), and a huge garden (where I could grow fruits, vegetables and herbs).



The whole country-living phase lasted about as long as my stint with veganism did... although I did still want a front porch to yell at the spoiled children, and a garden. But then I realized that I could just turn the front lawn into garden. All that currently exists there are two lots of under-kempt, often-littered overgrown grass.



After a quick email to my absent landlord, I got the go-ahead to do pretty much anything I wanted. Given that my brilliant garden idea was hatched rather late in the season (August), Alex advised me to start out small: some planters instead of huge garden boxes that would be costly in time and money.



So after a quick trip to our urban gardening store, a yard sale, and the farmers market, we had planters, potting soil, and herbs.



A week later, we have a little garden that yields: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley and rosemary. And it seems like it is catching on with our neighbors too. We found some pots on the other side of our building growing what looks like jalapeno peppers.



So, it turns out that I didn't need to move into the country to grow a garden.



As for yelling at the ungrateful children who begrudgingly decided to stop playing their Wii for a minute to go outside? I can yell at them just fine from my front stoop.

Humane Tacos and sour cream fix

So, I have grumbled several times on this blog that one of the hardest situations I could see myself in (regarding this humane food project, not in life generally) is eating at a Mexican restaurant, and not being able to enjoy the gooey melted cheese and cool sour cream.

Hence, I have stayed away from Mexican restaurants like I will stay away from deep dish pizza joints when I go home to Chicago next month... to best of my ability, that is. Stay tuned for the inevitable failure on that one.

But I was c-r-a-v-i-n-g Mexican food -- cheesy-goodness with guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and beans -- all dumped into a taco shell.

So, I bit the bullet and did it.

Not at a restaurant, but at home. Last night (Friday), Alex and I had our first taco night!

I went to Safeway and bought all of the vegetables: tomatoes, avocados, a red onion, black and refried beans, and shredded lettuce.

I then went to Whole Foods (which I, along with other foodies, half-lovingly/half- bitterly call Whole Paycheck) and bought humane cheddar cheese and humane sour cream.

On Friday, I rushed home from work to prepare the tacos. It was easy. We stuffed our tacos full of beans, tomatoes, guacamole, lettuce, humane cheddar cheese, and sour cream.

It was delightful, and I ate way too many, of course.

But the best part is knowing that I can go to a Mexican restaurant and get a crunchy taco salad without the cheese and sour cream. Because, I can always make it myself!