Skip to main content

Food Inc

I have just watched Food Inc and thought I'd Spread the Word (yep I watched it via one of links to my favourite sites Sprword.org).  I do love watching those films and reading books such as Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation but live in my little bubble that tells me that surely in Australia we don't have the high level's of industrialised food production that happens in the US.  But the food we buy is still cheap... so are we industrialised?  I see the cattle that is farmed when we drive up to Howes Valley and they are grazing grass and not fed in feedlots... but then where are all these "grain fed" steaks coming from?  It scares me to think that they are marketing grain fed as a good thing when it's definitely unnatural for cows to be eating corn...  


So what actions am I taking as part of watching this?  (Especially since I've now watched many similar food related documentaries including the very disturbing Earthlings).  Well now I will insist on buying organic/free range chickens (even if it's $20) as well as free range and as organic as we can get it other meat as that way we may become more aware of the meat we're eating.  We are also challenged by our friend Nikki to eat more vegetarian foods where we can.  I'm sure we can do it even if it's more effort.. and even if Chinese food doesn't readily lend itself to vegetarian (well maybe it's just us use to eating the foods we have been!)


We'll also be ramping up our efforts at Howes Valley to get more of a food productive area going.  So in went some fruit trees this weekend with a few more to go.  We'll start planning out a vege garden and get that going too (as much as we can when we aren't there most days).  


Other than that we can only share what we now know about food and hope that Australia doesn't go the way of the US!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fitness Passport membership locations on a map

My Fitness Passport membership is now live!  Woohoo!  So I get access to a heap of gyms and pools and classes.  For someone who isn't interested in a gym membership I'm not quite sure why I have joined!!  Peer pressure. I'm very fortunate that I have the opportunity to join this type of membership as then I can go just about anywhere in NSW.  The membership site gives you a list of them but I had no idea how close they would be to either work or home so I copied and pasted the details into a Google Sheet and then put them in a Google Map.  I thought it may be useful for others too. You can access the map by this link too:  ​ https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=10hH5PtKlBzeEzV6AoLev4vxqNoDxzR6y&hl=en&usp=sharing

Sauna at home and Vivid Dreaming

Due to the current situation where we are all at home and most public places are now closed I've invested and bought myself a sauna.  I got a Valo 2 person sauna and it's been great so far.  I purchased it for ~A$1600 (before a price rise due to the exchange rate).  If you are reading this in early April 2020 they may still have stock here of the same model:  https://www.luxoliving.com.au/Valo-2-Person-Canadian-Hemlock-Carbon-Fibre-Sauna-Cabin I had looked at a number of sites for a sauna that would fit into my 1 bedroom apartment and more specifically on my balcony.  I briefly thought of a 1 person sauna but I'm so glad I got a bigger sauna as it's already a bit like a confinement space and to have a smaller space again I think would be a bit too claustrophobic.  Originally I had thought to buy the sauna from Appliances Online due to my previous great experiences but the delivery timeframe was too far away so I cancelled my order and ended up buying it f...

A fresh start in a new town in a new year - hello 2022!

It's difficult to reflect on 2022 when 2021 ended on such a mixed way. With the plandemic it seems that a government job isn't very secure if you want to care about your health more than a living. The Monday before Xmas break I was "stood down" as I supposedly am unwilling to work.  Nothing seems to make any sense. Here's an excerpt of the letter So I'm on forced leave till 7 February.  I don't have much in the way of leave and as a fixed term contractor I don't have any long service leave. At this stage based on my No Regrets policy I'm still OK with my decision. I do not actually understand how this can be legal but unfortunately I am no lawyer. The other bad news at the end of 2021 was the passing of Auntie Ivy. May she rest in peace. I was very saddened about the event but also somewhat mollified that she died doing something she loved. She loved abseiling and died from "falling" in an accident - the article - https://7news.com.au/new...