In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. While scientists have yet to isolate cause and effect, many suspect chemicals used in drilling and hydrofracking (or “fracking”) operations are poisoning animals through the air, water, or soil.
Tags: · Bakken Shale, beef cattle, Carcinogens, dairy cattle, fracking, Goats, injection wells, livestock, Marcellus Shale, Water usage
Could it be manure, again? If the E coli outbreak in Europe turns out to have come, ultimately, from infected manure/fertilizer that contaminated vegetable crops, it will be little surprise. I’m out on a limb here, because we don’t yet know the source of the contaminated food. But many previous outbreaks have pointed that way.
Tags: · acid-resistant E. coli, antibiotic-resistant E.coli, BarbaraKesslerBlog, dangerous meat, E.coli, Europe's E coli outbreak, European E.coli outbreak, greenrightnow.com, livestock, livestock practices, manure, organic practices, tainted meat
Our friends in vegan-land issue a call every year about this time asking people to consider celebrating the holidays without eating animals.
(For those of you already looking for turkey substitutes and other veggie friendly recipes, you can jump off right now to Gentle Thanksgiving, where they’ve got a recipe for juicy, tofu-based stuffed Not-A-Turkey.)
We recognize that some people might find this call to action needless, strange, even an affront to their position atop the food chain. That is certainly understandable considering that the Thanksgiving turkey and the Christmas ham (or brisket or pork loin roast) are a big part of the American holidays. Other events that fall around this time, like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, also have their meat components, kosher or otherwise. Having meat is usually part of the repast.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, carbon impact of meat, environmental impact of meat, Field Roast, food scarcity, Gardein, global warming, greenrightnow.com, livestock, meat, Thanksgiving, tofu, Tofurky, turkey, vegetarian Thanksgiving, Western diet, winter holidays
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift