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I don't think it's your opinion as much as the way you express it, LTU. A little diplomacy goes a long way. A lack of same goes nowhere.
And lets remember going vegan means no wine or beer. Since they use animal parts as filters(there are very very very few who do not and almost none of them for beer)
If you make it at home you don't have to use the isinglas.
I assumed that beers made according to the Reinheitsgebot would be okay, but apparently that is not the case.
Here's a list:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/geraint.bevan/Vegetarian_beers.html
I would like to say that last year's vegan challenge thread was one of the most memorable and educational threads on babble, and I'm grateful for all the perspectives from that thread and this one. Thanks for all the thoughtful contributions.
Did any of the rest of the staff read those contributions? If so, I wonder why they still issued exactly the same challenge, with exactly the same wording, this year for Earth Week? Did they not think that any of the points raised last year had any value, or enough value to at least tweak the challenge a bit?
I'm interested in hearing why you gave up being vegan, Michelle. Are you eating meat now?
I agree that recycling this challenge seems odd. Probably just laziness on their part, but a local food challenge would be more environmental and promote much more awareness about where your food is coming from and how it's made. And if you really want to get environmental, give people a no-gas challenge. At the library we have a bike-to-work-week every year. People sign up and log their hours riding and compete with other municipal workplaces.
You're not on staff anymore?
Everyone should be granted a five acre plot of land, a few laying hens, and a team of oxen.
I'm out; it's a gimmick.
Yeah, pretty much.
Once could just have been ignorance by rabble. But twice, with the same language and false claims, that's something else. Since rabble could be doing something positive and is willfully choosing not to do so then yes I think a little bluntness is in order. I have been deeply involved in these issues for something like, well most of my 60 plus years actually, and when I see a progressive organization actually promoting an industrial food system that abuses workers, destroys the environment and causes untold health problems I find that a little frustrating, and make no mistake that is exactly what they are doing in the way the challenge is written. Again once could just be ignorance and not understanding the nuances, although I find that stunning for an organization like rabble, but twice....?
I don't see an exact copy of a 140-year-old model working quite so well, but I do agree with you., Supporting local economies and promoting urban agriculture (like allowing chickens in more cities) IS a good idea. A large vacant plot on the edge of downtown here was turned into potatoes for the food bank last year, and I think until someone developes the site they are going to do the same this year.
There is also a business here which rents out urban yards for commercial gardening, and groups dedicated to harvesting fruit trees is also a good idea
Just so you have a comparison, the food system has gotten so screwed up that not only is there a move to make sure there are not urban chickens, there is now a move to stop rural folks from having them if they don't have quota for fear of cross-contamination from wild birds. Apparently if you let your birds outside and interact with the natural world you are just a hop, skip and a jump from causing world wide destruction to the poultry industry. That is how divorced from reality the food system has become
The corporate food system is the reality.
@ LTE
Yes, from a different angle, I have seen the same thing - like an entire healthy orchard ripped out of the ground simply so they could plant new apples that conformed to European Union standard. The same thing happened to poultry, swine, everything in the former east, where before the wall came down there was actually far greater genetic diversity.
And SJ. It is the dominant reality that some want, to be sure. But it is not the only reality.
When we started out in small scale, grazed pork years ago you could get many, many different breeds. Now it is very hard to stay with some of the 'old' breeds. Same thing in poultry. Even many of the larger organic operations work exclusively on White Rocks, a breed engineered to grow big fast, with over sized breats. That has led to a great many health problem in that breed, but in commercial barns the death offset seems acceptable in a way it wouldn't for smaller producers. By the way I am only allowed to raise 300 birds, can't advertize beyond the farm gate and still have to conform to the chicken cops 'request' to inspect me at their whim.
Those trees being ripped out also has to do with importing large volumes of product from places like China. When you lose the only Canadian processor your trees end up having little value.
I was referring to the reality of nature, and healthy and life sustaining soil. Not the economic reality. That I know all too well having to stare it in the face almost every day.
@ LTE
When I worked east of Winnipeg one of the big disputes was over plans for an industrial hog operation right where suburbia was expanding - talk about people running into the reality of what is on their plate. Everyone wanted bacon for breakfast. No one wanted to smell where it came from. Ironically, this was all happening after the meat packing industry in that city was reduced to a shell of itself; I presume a lot of the cattle and hogs went south (this was before the BSE shutdown).
I don't know what the laws around it are here in SK, but we get our poultry through a co-op arrangement with a farmer who delivers throughout the province. Beef, pork, and fish are available from the pruducers at the farmers' market.
I guess at the moment they are too busy trying to take over the grain industry.
Well, the short answer is yes, some staff read the challenges and found them persuasive. Part of it is also my fault since I missed the editorial meeting when this challenge was decided upon and so I wasn't able to contribute and remind editorial on babble's response and opinion. Those who were in attendance decided on what form our Earth Week features would take.
I should also point out, as many of you know, that a lot of the site, particularly the "extracurricular" aspects, is run by volunteers. So if a volunteer blogger who is a vegan, environmentalist and animal rights activist volunteers to run this challenge, that's often how it gets run. I'm sure the fact that it has inicited this discussion (again) is also considered a benefit. I would have liked to see some changes too, but I missed the meeting and so missed my opportunity. Next year I'll line up, believe me.
Not only that, but they kept the same hotlinks and didn't even check to see if they were still working a year later. Some of them aren't.
And they are promoting vegan events that took place in 2011, but are not taking place again this year!
But it's so convenient and fits with my fast-paced lifestyle.
And I happen to love being propagandized by TV broadcasts compelling me to eat 24-7. It makes me want to hop in the Cadillac and drive my bad self 8 miles to grab a death-dilly dog and fried potatoe or quarter-pound cow burger topped with shredded swine flesh and maybe a leaf of lettuce as per the food guide. Someone has to supply some demand and allow the kids to save for tuition. Education is so expensive nowadays, but we can all do our part to make things work in the economic long run.
Fidel, you're hilarious. :D
I agree with the idea that veganism/vegetarianism is not a completely accurate method towards looking at food because there are so many misguided logics in its thinking. I too believe incorporating communities with local farmers and food is the best way to not only be conscious and ethical about the food we consume, but provides better successes in sustainability and environmentalism. I draw a lot of offense from the at time elitist logic of veganism because a lot of the food is sourced from places that exploit workers or increase the carbon footprint.
That being said, I am participating in the Vegan Challenge because : (1) I have to. Kidding! But I am a part of rabble.ca and would like to be involved and (2) I am hoping the fact that I will have to think about food and meals will reconnect me with it (in a positive way).
Am I an idealist?
OMG the Vegan Challenge is back (facebook link)!
It's always expanding, always criticized and this year there will be a slew of staff journal entries detailing the experience. Today we have rabble's own Meg Borthwick talking about her shopping experience.
Heh.
Yes, that fake cheese sounded dreadful indeed.
No, I have too much food in my fridge to use up to really make it a vegan week. Several things are vegetarian, but some have cheese, and I have the remains of a bison "pie" (like a shepherd's pie or cottage pie, but with bison as the meat - it is mixed with several vegetables in that layer, there isn't really a lot of meat, but it certainly isn't vegetarian or vegan. Had I known about the challenge before, I could have made this recipe with lentils - or with Yves fake "ground round", but I'm sure that has a higher footprint than the locally-reared bison.
I presume this challenge doesn't involve our carnivorous animal companions. Renzo would not be pleased.
There is also this "no wine" injunction...
I'd just LOVE some fresh, local vegetables and wee berries, but spring is late this year, unlike a year ago when it was so lovely and warm, so it will be a while yet.