For the past few years, I’ve toned down the necessity for becoming vegan, pretty much letting links to sites preach the message for me.

I’m not so much an “alarmist” about Global Warming, although I was alarmed to learn that the Arctic ice cap thawed last summer, which wasn’t expected for quite a few years.

I know about the horrendous animal abuse, even in those industries that claim to care about and abide by industry “welfare standards” — which means little-to-nothing. But the meat-eaters I know really don’t want to hear about it. (We heard an excellent talk on the reasons why people don’t want to know, and I’ll dig through my notes later, and list them. It’s interesting.)

But the time has come, because of environmental reasons, if people aren’t willing to give up their privileges to stop the monumental animal suffering. I’m hearing both from the animal rights activists and from our Presiding Bishop that sea life is collapsing, and that species are going extinct faster than is being reported or expected.

The animal agriculture industry and our government (along with multi-national corporations who privatize something as basic as water in India and farm land in poor countries, and the drug industry) are corrupt beyond belief with their advertising gimmicks and lobbying power, and have too much control over not only issues that pertain directly to animals, but society in general — not only influencing public opinion, but actually affecting people’s lives in negative ways. There are probably very few places in the world where our industrial nations, and the USA in particular, don’t exploit the land or the people, but frame it as good — like “free trade” and “privatization” where the rich exploit the poor in this world — and few seem to notice.

Besides stripping the oceans of sea life, besides the methane (greenhouse gas) from animal agriculture, besides the deforestation to raise crops for livestock feed, besides the water and ground pollution from animal waste in factory farms — the E Coli that affects cash crops like spinach, tomatoes, peppers, etc. — I’ve heard that more fish go into livestock feed than we eat ourselves. I’ve heard that the killing of wolves, bison, wild horses, wild burros, prairie dogs, etc., are done because of pressure by the cattle ranchers, and that the endangered species list is not as comprehensive as it should be. We just kill and kill and kill, so people can have their animal flesh. Sooner or later, we will become the cause of our own extinction. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves. I’ll come back to this in my spare time. But it’s time for society to wake up, and start thinking critically about what we’re being fed by the powers-that-be. And it’s time for our churches who speak out against human oppression to at least dig below the surface of what we’re being fed, and start speaking God’s truth to power. Even the Animal Rights people speak out openly against the root causes of human oppression. It’s time the churches do the same. It is all related. And it all boils down to who controls our food choices, who decides what gets subsidized, and who controls the economic interests with only a pretense of ethics.

And I feel all the more strongly that people of good will should NOT be donating to humanitarian charities that promote an economy based on animal agriculture in the poor countries, for a lot of reasons, but because it will create a run-away train at a time when we need to put on the brakes world-wide.

I’m going to look up the name of the guy who gave the talk on wildlife at the AR2008 conference, and see if I can find some facts on-line. If I can, I will definitely post it here, because it is something that most people may not even be aware of.

It is time for people to wake up to the inequities that we cause in our current lifestyle, and demand that our politicians, who we vote in and out of office, start representing what’s best for all, and not for who has the most money to sway their votes. Even if we have any ethical politicians, they don’t stand a chance against the majority.

Thank God I’m an American, and am still free to say these things….

I had reason to search for this .pdf chart today, and even though it’s about 9 years old, I think the comparisons are probably about the same today as they were then.

If interested, click here to see today’s pictures of my garden.

(I remembered to put them on a separate page this time, which is good, since I have so many taking up space below.)

To recount why I’ve decided to experiment with growing my own food this year, here are a few reasons:

- Imported Garlic: The idea started last September when I heard that most of the garlic sold in this country is shipped from China, and I thought we have enough dirt in our own yards, to grow a year’s supply. (And I thought I could grow a year’s supply in a 3 inch wide and about 3-5 feet long row, along the edge of my driveway — a row that is shorter than my car. No big whoop. With two rows — about 6 inches wide — I’d have more than enough, to share or use as a natural insect repellant for my apple tree and other plants.)

- The “Dirty Dozen”: It was reinforced last September, when I first read about the “Dirty Dozen” foods that retain the most pesticides, and neuro-toxins. (I purposely linked to Prevention Magazine’s list that includes beef, pork, poultry, milk, cheese and butter in their top two. Most other lists just list the top 12 fruits and veggies.)

- Animal-based organic fertilizer: As a vegan, I’m not thrilled about opting for organic food that is grown with animal-based fertilizers, especially fish meal, bone meal, blood meal, or even manure — for obvious reasons, and also because I don’t want to support animal agriculture in any way. Also, I question how organic manure is, if it comes from factory farms where the animals are fed antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. I did have some mushroom compost, but have since read that it’s likely to contain chicken litter. I don’t have a huge ideological problem with earthworm castings, however, since even careful digging or spading in my garden is hazardous to the worms. But I’m more interested in composting, and making compost tea from pulled weeds, and ideas of green manure or cover crops to fertilize the garden.

- Food costs: As someone who might be inclined to want to buy organic food, and have trended in that direction (especially with the “Dirty Dozen” in mind), and with the economy what it is, I’m looking for a way to cut my grocery bill. As it is, I spend more than I need to, and as I posted earlier, what I buy hasn’t increased like most foods have, it would still be cool to be able to cut my food costs down to practically nothing — especially by the time I hope to retire.

- Genetically-modified food: As someone who’s interested in avoiding genetically-modified food, I am trending toward organic and/or heritage/heirloom seeds, to ensure that what I grow isn’t genetically modified. I also am cultivating an interest in biodiversity in crop species. (As an FYI, the PLU codes on grocery store produce differentiate whether something is conventionally grown with chemicals, organic, or genetically-modified. If the PLU code begins with a “9″, it’s organic. If it begins with an “8″, it is genetically-modified. Other than that little-known fact, food labels aren’t required to disclose if any of the ingredients are genetically-modified. Nevertheless, even USDA certified organic, doesn’t always meet the standards that are required by California Tilth, or Oregon Tilth, because the USDA is in bed with Big Ag.)

- Community-building: I gave up on my idea that anyone at my church would be interested in my original idea of having a parish-based organic gardening food exchange club. But I was happy to see that a church in New York was featured in the news for their community garden.

- Grass is a waste of space, and an “invasive species”: I agree with the Food Not Lawns‘ attitude that grass is not only a waste of space, but that it is a manifestation of Western Privilege, that Americans can rely on others to supply their every need and want; and that nice-looking lawns require more fertilizer, weed killer than farmers use on our crops, and polluting, fuel-using mowers to keep them looking nice. (Why do we obsess over growing grass, only so we have to keep cutting it?!) Also, for the meat-eaters who ask stupid questions like “What about plants? Don’t plants suffer?”, I say, our grass is screaming in excruciating pain every time we take a mower to it. Can they hear it?

- Locovorism: Getting back to the garlic, and the environmentalist view that we should “buy local”, there is nothing more local than picking food fresh from one’s own yard.

- Midwest floods: This year’s floods in the midwest destroyed a huge amount of this year’s crops. This would have been a good year for people to plant a few things, to make up for the loss, and the expected soaring costs. (Commercial farmers seem to grown only about 5 subsidized crops in this country. So corn & soy are probably the crops that were most affected by this year’s floods.)

- Tomato recall: This Spring’s recall of tomatoes, due to the cases of salmonella whose source is still unknown, made this year a good year to grow our own.

- As an occasional “dooms-dayer”, I feel that the meek just might inherit the earth, and that the people who are able to live the most simply, or the most self-sufficiently, will be in a better position to withstand any huge, cataclysmic events that could end in food-insecurity, job-insecurity, or worse. In other words, the day may come when Americans find that they’re at a loss for depending on others to supply everything we have to transport long distances to buy.

- Easy gardening methods / humanitarianism: The Square Foot Gardening, Earth Box, and The Growing Connection websites interested me in experimenting in growing food, to see how credible it would be to promote as a humanitarian alternative to supporting charities that perpetuate animal agriculture with their “buy a food animal for a poor family in the developing world” schemes. I believe that for the Church who has various special interest groups that include humanitarianism/social justice, environmentalism (with concerns about Global Warming), animal advocacy, any mission we pursue should seek a comprehensive approach that incorporates all, instead of stepping on the toes of some — especially the animal advocates’. For more information, see my page on humane humanitarian alternatives.