When my son's friend asked what she could bring to our Thanksgiving dinner, I suggested "a quote." She arrived with FOUR. So after we counted our blessings and savored a largely local organic meal (thank you farmers), we shared our inspirational messages -- food for thought and emotional nourishment.
Here are a few messages from our table that will linger longer than the leftovers:
On the wall of a janitor's closet:
"You control your response and therein lies your freedom."
From Jen's grandfather:
"Help me to be gentle in spirit, controlled in temper, charitable in judgment, and considerable in action."
From the Situationist blog:
"I'd encourage you to give thanks to all those who have gone before you who have doubted the status quo and who have identified injustice and impatiently fought against it."
Eat well and think critically,
Melinda
Iowa Doesn't Have to Stink
Friends of the Food Revolution: Last weekend I traveled to Spring Valley, WI for a meeting of the Midwestern Organic and Sustainable Education Service Board. When I returned home, I felt compelled to write to IA Governor Culver. Here's why:
While driving north of Des Moines on I-35 I became increasingly angry over the repulsive stench from hog manure.
I wondered: How could IA's political leaders and citizens allow hog confinement operations (also called CAFOs) to destroy the common good -- IA's clean air and water?
Surely this can't be good for tourism, property values, and public health.
The MO Rural Crisis Center has calculated that just as much pork can be produced on smaller, more bio-diverse farms that naturally incorporate animal waste back into the land without the stench and pollution.
I don't believe we can afford the "cheap" meat that the owners of these hog confinement facilities promise.
Consumers: if you can, buy directly from independent family farmers. Know where your food comes from and how it was produced.
Your food dollars are votes for true sustainability.
Think critically and eat well.
Melinda
While driving north of Des Moines on I-35 I became increasingly angry over the repulsive stench from hog manure.
I wondered: How could IA's political leaders and citizens allow hog confinement operations (also called CAFOs) to destroy the common good -- IA's clean air and water?
Surely this can't be good for tourism, property values, and public health.
The MO Rural Crisis Center has calculated that just as much pork can be produced on smaller, more bio-diverse farms that naturally incorporate animal waste back into the land without the stench and pollution.
I don't believe we can afford the "cheap" meat that the owners of these hog confinement facilities promise.
Consumers: if you can, buy directly from independent family farmers. Know where your food comes from and how it was produced.
Your food dollars are votes for true sustainability.
Think critically and eat well.
Melinda
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