Sunday, March 25, 2007
A Clean Space
I have never been very good at keeping my room neat. I love having a clean room, and I am embarrassed when it is giant pig sty (which it usually is), but for some reason, even though I seem to be endlessly cleaning it up, it only seems to get messier and messier. I will spend hours beautifying my bedroom to find that it just goes back to the way it was (if not worse) within a couple days... if not a couple hours. But I still keep cleaning it hoping that one day it will be clean for good.
I am amazed at how affected I am by the environment that I am in. A couple weeks ago, feeling the same agitation and frustration that I feel now, I tore down the posters from my wall (I think I stopped feeling like a teenager overnight -- it was very impulsive), moved my furniture around, filled a garbage bag full of old clothes I never wear (which I donated), and cleaned my room until it was spotless. It helped a great deal, but now that everything is, of course, messy again... I feel cluttered and crowded again. I have been such a collector of "stuff" my whole life, and I suppose its finally hitting me that so much of it is pretty useless. So many papers and books and objects and things that I never pay attention to -- yet I find difficult to throw out or give away. I'm sentimental. I'm nostalgic. I'm a Cancer.
What does it say about me that I can't create a permanently peaceful and nurturing environment for myself? Knowing how much I am affected by the space I'm in... is there a piece of me that subconsciously needs to feel some kind of chaos at all times?
....
Clearly I'm procrastinating. Back to picking laundry up off the floor.
What does it say about me that I can't create a permanently peaceful and nurturing environment for myself? Knowing how much I am affected by the space I'm in... is there a piece of me that subconsciously needs to feel some kind of chaos at all times?
....
Clearly I'm procrastinating. Back to picking laundry up off the floor.
Farm Animals In Canada
The video I posted earlier earned me criticism because there was no hard evidence to prove that the events on the screen were real...
In an e-mail I received:
.. and the reason is because there is nothing credible about that video except explicit (to the point of pornographic) imagery of horror that has no context and no point of reference. We don't know WHERE this happened (it could have been anywhere in the world), how many farms it happened on (it for all we know could have been one evil farmer) and whether the whole thing was staged or not.
Fair enough.
This brings it a little bit closer to home:
http://www.humanefood.ca
It's the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals. It has a lot of facts about the Canadian Farming industry (and you will see that the video was not much of an exaggeration -- there are other videos you can download on the site that specify when and where the footage was taken) with great information as to what to look out for when buying purchasing your meat (check out Food Facts). For example:
• Don’t buy pork produced in factory farms using sow stalls. Choose free-range pork that is Certified Organic or has a label like Winnipeg Humane Society Certified.
• Don't buy factory-farmed chickens. Choose free-range chickens that are Certified Organic or have a label like BCSPCA Certified. These chickens are produced in higher-welfare systems where they can behave more naturally.
• Don't buy battery eggs. Choose free-range eggs that are Certified Organic or have a label like Winnipeg Humane Society Certified or BCSPCA Certified. These are produced in higher-welfare systems where hens can behave more naturally (Watch out for misleading labels. Battery eggs are often sold using confusing terms such as "fresh" or “farm fresh” eggs).
• Don’t buy factory-farmed beef. Choose beef that is “grass-finished" or "pasture-raised" (sometimes called "natural" beef) or Winnipeg Humane Society Certified beef. These animals are not sent to feedlots, and spend their entire lives on the range.
• Don’t buy dairy products with ingredients from intensively farmed dairy cows. Choose dairy products that are Certified Organic.
There is a great deal of information you can read without attempting to brainwash or guilt you to death. What is wonderful to know is that you really CAN make a difference by being a little bit more conscious of what you support. If you check out the news section of the site, you will see that some Canadian companies are starting to feel the pressure to change their ways and treat their animals better. Good news!
One recent article states that the University of Guelph has just voted on a new policy to only use free-range eggs on campus beginning next September. It says, "The activist group Guelph Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals began pushing for the policy two years ago after learning about the "horrific" living conditions hens were subjected to on a farm owned by a member of the dean's veterinary advisory council".
You can also read the information directly from the University of Guelph's website by clicking here.
Here you can read more about egg farming in Canada.
I just learned about the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals this evening (by googling "free range eggs" out of curiosity... I get bored like that)... but they seem very knowledgeable and do not come across psycho-fantatical the way PETA does. Their goals seem very honourable to me.
I know this blog has been very food and animal oriented... I guess its been on my mind a lot recently.
.. and the reason is because there is nothing credible about that video except explicit (to the point of pornographic) imagery of horror that has no context and no point of reference. We don't know WHERE this happened (it could have been anywhere in the world), how many farms it happened on (it for all we know could have been one evil farmer) and whether the whole thing was staged or not.
Fair enough.
This brings it a little bit closer to home:
http://www.humanefood.ca
It's the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals. It has a lot of facts about the Canadian Farming industry (and you will see that the video was not much of an exaggeration -- there are other videos you can download on the site that specify when and where the footage was taken) with great information as to what to look out for when buying purchasing your meat (check out Food Facts). For example:
• Don’t buy pork produced in factory farms using sow stalls. Choose free-range pork that is Certified Organic or has a label like Winnipeg Humane Society Certified.
• Don't buy factory-farmed chickens. Choose free-range chickens that are Certified Organic or have a label like BCSPCA Certified. These chickens are produced in higher-welfare systems where they can behave more naturally.
• Don't buy battery eggs. Choose free-range eggs that are Certified Organic or have a label like Winnipeg Humane Society Certified or BCSPCA Certified. These are produced in higher-welfare systems where hens can behave more naturally (Watch out for misleading labels. Battery eggs are often sold using confusing terms such as "fresh" or “farm fresh” eggs).
• Don’t buy factory-farmed beef. Choose beef that is “grass-finished" or "pasture-raised" (sometimes called "natural" beef) or Winnipeg Humane Society Certified beef. These animals are not sent to feedlots, and spend their entire lives on the range.
• Don’t buy dairy products with ingredients from intensively farmed dairy cows. Choose dairy products that are Certified Organic.
There is a great deal of information you can read without attempting to brainwash or guilt you to death. What is wonderful to know is that you really CAN make a difference by being a little bit more conscious of what you support. If you check out the news section of the site, you will see that some Canadian companies are starting to feel the pressure to change their ways and treat their animals better. Good news!
One recent article states that the University of Guelph has just voted on a new policy to only use free-range eggs on campus beginning next September. It says, "The activist group Guelph Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals began pushing for the policy two years ago after learning about the "horrific" living conditions hens were subjected to on a farm owned by a member of the dean's veterinary advisory council".
You can also read the information directly from the University of Guelph's website by clicking here.
Here you can read more about egg farming in Canada.
I just learned about the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals this evening (by googling "free range eggs" out of curiosity... I get bored like that)... but they seem very knowledgeable and do not come across psycho-fantatical the way PETA does. Their goals seem very honourable to me.
I know this blog has been very food and animal oriented... I guess its been on my mind a lot recently.
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