Food Politics

So, it has been a while. I went skydiving, managed to get an ear infection in both my ears, and have been incredibly busy with school. I am also broke as a joke thanks to finally purchasing my plane ticket for Prague this summer!

Currently, in my religion class, we are reading Marion Nestle's Food Politics. It is incredibly interesting. The things that have stuck out to me thus far are paying for labels and veggie libel laws. In regards to paying for labels, TRUST NO ONE! You know that nice American Heart Association approved stamp of approval on the box of Cheerios? It was paid for. And now red meat producers have paid for this sign too. Makes sense, right? Even though it seems to be the general consensus that red meat contributes to your likelihood of having heart disease.

Veggie libel laws on the other hand are super fun. You can indeed say, "I hate oranges." But you can not say, "Eat less oranges!" Oprah had the privilege of getting sued under the libel laws for telling her audience to eat less meat. This just ticks me off!

On another note, I have been failing miserably. But my eyes have been opened. I will not trust labels any longer. Nearly everything has milk in it! I bought soy based yogurt. And it had live active cultures from milk. I am going to try shopping at the local organic market next time.

I am also still on the search for vegan chocolate chips to make an awesome recipe I find! *Coming Soon*

To conclude, here is a quote by my new found inspiration, Gene Baur. "As I learned about the consequences of my food choices and as I recognized that I didn't have to eat animals, and that eating animals caused the animals to suffer, it caused an enormous footprint on our planet, and it wasn't healthy, it made sense to go vegan. And, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I think most people who've decided to go vegan share a similar experience. It's very empowering. And, when I went vegan I actually started eating a wide variety of foods I had never tried before. Different ethnic foods. You also start combining things in different ways, you start becoming more creative in the kitchen. But I went vegan just because it seemed to make sense, and it was aligned with my own values, because I didn't want to support this system that was so abusive to animals, and wasting and squandering so many scarce resources on our planet. And it was also healthier, so it was in my interest to eat food that was plant-based instead of animal-based. Living a vegan lifestyle makes a lot of sense."