Then Again, Maybe Be A 24/7 Vegetarian

Find out more at Meat.org.

How much would we suffer - really - becoming vegetarian? How much longer can we stick our heads in the sand about the way millions of animals are treated. When will we realize the simple connection between our happiness and health - and theirs?

The truth is hard to stomach and even harder to act on - except for children. It is a question of whether selfishness is stronger than compassion - as in all things.

Be A Weekday Vegetarian!

Here are a few basic statistics, and some good common sense advice...

GoodGuide

Finally...here it is!!! TADAAAA....the company I have often dreamt of starting in my wildest fantasies, while folding the laundry. 

A Berkeley Professor beat me to it! Those PhDs have the edge. He and his team did an amazing job - while I was sorting underwear and cooking brown rice... hey, I could'a been a contender! 


Well, having written a children's book isn't so bad either. The laundry definitely did NOT get done that year.

About Dara O'Rourke

Dr. Dara O'Rourke is a professor in the Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley, and formerly a professor at MIT. He studies the environmental, social, and health impacts of global supply chains.

About GoodGuide


GoodGuide helps you find safe, healthy, and green products that are better for you and the planet.

I was ahead of the curve thirty years ago, carrying a little booklet with "good" and "bad" product lists everywhere I went.  I think it was from PETA and I kept adding my own extensive lists to it. Even then, shopping for my household full of babies and toddlers was akin to wild mushroom hunting, potentially lethal to my offspring as well as the planet. Overdramatic thinking? Not really, as it turns out.

But now, we can go to the "GoodGuide" and be a highly knowledgeable consumer - with PhD powers, really - rather than the "gullible moron", preferred by the big corporations, who believes everything he or she sees advertised (or omitted) on a box. 

No doubt, the consumer product corporations must be getting a little nervous by now, and may just hop to it in a great big hurry, if they haven't already started in that direction. I have been quite impressed recently with, for example, Target's selection of certified organic food items in spite of that label's watered down meaning. Now, pleasing the consumer will mean passing - not the FDA - but the GoodGuide ratings and whatever else one reads about on other such sites and clever blogs. Corporations - if they are smart - will increasingly need companies like BuzzLogic just to figure out who is saying what about them in order to manage all this enlightened consumer chatter. The buzzword of today is accountability. Everyone can still run, but can no longer hide.

While big battles are being fought at the government level about HOW to properly and legally lie to consumers about the ingredients in our products - we can now be our own FDA - by just checking our GoodGuide and similar sites. What makes the GoodGuide so outstanding is its logical and easy to understand rating system. To get even more involved, read the GoodGuide Blog for up to date topics in this field, affecting all of us every day. The Internet is flushing everybody out.

We used to have to rely on word of mouth - "snail mouth" - to spread the truth about what was going on regarding food production, animal abuse and carcinogenic chemicals in our direct surroundings. Usually there was one of us "odd" canaries in a family, sounding the alarm, yet easily brushed of as an impractical dreamer who would grow out of it. Now, defenders of monkeys, bunnies, farm animals, the earth, and babies,  jump for joy when all that information lives in colorful images and researchable facts on the Internet, and "word of mouth" means having your own blog read by thousands. The Internet deserves the Nobel Prize! You thought I was kidding :-)

What is presently happening to the Catholic Church - to name another massive entity - is going to happen to ALL large organizations that have benefited from, and have abusively exploited trusting souls - be that animals, children or unsuspecting adult populations. The food industry will be no exception, and the pharmaceutical industry is right in line. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" - no doubt Jesus meant higher truths than this, yet the truth in general in all areas has a way to set us free - us from deceitful organizations, and them from having to live with such shameful secrets, that cannot even be talked about for decades, or listed on a box. Most of us today are in a fierce mood to throw out the good with the bad - since the bad has gotten way too bad. It's high time to reboot.

Destroying the planet, its animals, children and each other is easy when all our interactions are based on lies, not so easy when everyone knows what is going on. And - to be fair to the "evil" corporations - consumers need to own their part in all of this, as well. Constantly screaming for "more" and "cheaper", feeds this insane frenzy of lies, over-consumption and waste. 

The GoodGuide promises to become very powerful and may be in danger of getting corrupted over the next thirty years just like the FDA or the "organic" food label, but for now it seems independent and trustworthy.

In this jungle of questionable consumer items and the information gathering it requires, I am finding that, just like Michael Pollan in the Omnivore's Dilemma is encouraging us to have a relationship with the local farmer who is growing our food, I want to "know" the corporation I am buying from. I find myself "loyal" to "Bronner's Soap", for example, "Burt's Bee" products, and "Dr. Hauschka's" cosmetics,  because they pass my test and I don't feel lied to. I am starting to question "my thirty year relationship with Whole Foods" for all the less than ideal products showing up in their stores, but still love them for carrying Macrobiotic foods and many other high quality products that pass the toughest green tests. It is all about relationships, be it people, farmers, corporations or grocery stores.  GoodGuide has a lot of information about all the various corporations and businesses who make our products, so consumers can get to know the corporations they want to patronize.

As regular stores are adding the good stuff, and Whole Foods is adding some not so good - shopping is once again a lot of work in both places and the GoodGuide is a huge help. It used to be that you could relax and buy everything at Whole Foods, but that is no longer the case. Even though it is still my favorite store, the Super Target down the road with all its high quality products like Eden Foods and certified organic produce, is getting a good part of my Whole Foods dollars these days. Who would have thought? And - I am always on the lookout for the little guys - today's versions of Erewhon and Bread and Circus.

I could go on and on - for now let me just say - "Thank You" Dr. O'Rourke! I look forward to watching the GoodGuide grow ever more helpful and valuable. It's a powerful tool we have needed for a long time.

Something Big And Round, So I Don't Get That Way

When my daughter moved from Los Angeles back to San Francisco, I somehow inherited her silver yoga ball. We live in a house with small rooms and no closet space to speak of, where every inch counts, so this ball has been getting on my nerves. But, there is something about a big, round ball that doesn't just let you throw it away, especially when your nine year old loves it, too, and guards it in his room.

Three days ago I stole it. No - not to secretly dispose of it, but to sit on it when I am at the computer!

It has already done wonders for my middle. I suddenly feel toned and have a spring in my step. I tried everything else - from chairs to couches, to barstools, to standing, to walking on an exercise machine - while writing, but nothing made any difference, or was too annoying. My time at the computer has expanded to such a degree that the "how" of it has become important. I have been looking for a way to make it more positive for my health.

Sitting on an exercise ball is not new - and not to be recommended if you are doing delicate design work - but for writers, bloggers, researchers etc...it turns all that unhealthy "blob" time into exercise, which reduces your middle - and your guilt for all the time you actually don't HAVE to spend on the computer, but do so anyway. I am now wiggling on my "chair" like a little kid all the time, and I sometimes even get close to falling off, since I do role, bounce, and balance on my ball when I am waiting for uploads.

I am thinking of sending a whole truck load of yoga balls to my daughter's office.

PS: "My" stolen ball is a 65" version. When I put my lap top on the pull-out keyboard tray of my desk, it works out beautifully. Even sitting still, it has me sitting in a much better posture than I used to, in just my regular chair.

These balls also come as chairs in many design versions- which is very clever for the office, but I think you would role around less and only get the posture advantage.

Chew On This

The most basic advice often offers the most powerful results, yet can be the most difficult to follow. If we ask ourselves what is preventing us, most of the time we have to admit that it is a lack of presence, gratitude, peacefulness, and all the other good qualities we embody but are temporarily out of touch with.

My oldest son at age ten once chewed a mouthful of brown rice 1000 times. 50 times is recommended for healthy people to maintain their health, 100 times for people who are sick. If we practice this, the most simple food becomes infinitely delicious and satisfying. And foods our body doesn't want, are easily recognized. It used to be natural for people to eat this way when food was less abundant, in order to make each mouthful last as long as possible.

Gandhi said to drink our food, and to chew our liquids. The following video explains the science behind it. Health is wealth is wholeness is holiness. If we can slow ourselves down enough, at least for chewing, breathing, lovemaking and interacting with each other and our children - everything can once again feel sacred and precious, rather than mundane and replaceable. Happy chewing, everyone!