Do You Use Re-Usable Shopping Bags?

I came across an article the other day which worried me a bit: Are Reusable Shopping Bags Making Us Sick   The article went on to say that "studies seem to link reusable grocery bags to food borne illness" along with the increase in stolen food.

Well, it was the illness part that concerned me and I would hope that people would read the entire article before passing judgement as it goes on to add that although different microbes were found and "more than half the bags contained some sort of coliform bacteria" what the study didn't say were the specific strains of E. coli found in the bags.  According to Dr. Susan Fernyak, director of San Francisco’s Communicable Disease and Control Prevention division, “Your average healthy person is not going to get sick from the bacteria that were listed,”

I can remember as a child, my mother always used string bags or a cane basket to do her shopping.  It was in the days before supermarkets and we would go to the butcher, (who wrapped the meat in brown paper), then onto the vegetable market, the baker and the grocer for flour/sugar etc.  None of the items were put in plastic, in fact, other than the meat, I don't remember anything else being wrapped…..oh, wait a minute, I think the bread was put into a paper bag.

I think the string bags would go through the wash periodically, but the cane basket I don't know, she may have wiped it out.

Now I realize that the bacteria and other microbes bugs have mutated and become more vicious over the years, but maybe if those who use reusable bags are educated into making sure the bags are washed regularly we just might be able to win the war on plastic.

I did come across a string bag made from hemp:  www.allgreenthings.com   Having a "see through" bag would also stop the food being stolen as well.

Another thought - why doesn't someone invent a thin disposable bag, (like the plastic bag), made from hemp….good for the environment, the growing of hemp is easy, sustainable and good for the land and it's strong enough that bags won't split.  Supermarkets would use these instead of the plastic bags and we could use them as bin liners.  Oh, that's right, growing hemp is illegal unless under license.


Happy Eating
Fee
website:  www.thevegetariancenter.com

Kudos to the Creators

I came across this (below) on FaceBook the other day.  Mercy For Animals  has put out a hard-hitting T.V. advertisement exposing the hidden ingredient in meat products.  It's only on a few channels in very few cities in the USA and on one national station.

Naturally I took a look at the ad and I was simply wowed by the dramatic effect this ad has.  All I can say is that I sincerely hope it gets air-time, that the people who do see it, (even just a small percent), take the message it gives and re-consider eating anything "meat" from the fast food industry or any other processed animal foods.

As I've said before, I'm a realist and know that there will always be meat eaters.  Rather than try and convert them to vegetarianism, (much as I'd like to), I hope to get the message out there to them that they should GET TO KNOW how and where their meat comes from - and it's ads like this that, in my opinion, help to spread the word.  Wouldn't it be great if we could see a world-wide campaign.

More about this ad:  https://www.charity-pay.com/mfa/madsausage.asp

Milking Cows

Some time ago I posted a video on my FaceBook page that, when I saw it, had a huge impact on me.  I'm going to post it here as well at the end of this blog post.  Don't worry there's no violence in it, in fact, there's not a cow in sight.

Here in New Zealand, the general consensus is that our dairy farmers treat their cows exceptionally well when in actual fact that's not always the case.

Many a time I have driven past farms where the cows are on the path wandering slowly towards the milking shed, heads down, udders bursting.  It has made me wonder just how they feel.

And, recently a farmer was jailed for cruelty to the cows in his herd....won't go into details but if you do want to read more: Farmer Jailed

And presently we are in drought conditions.  The sight of animals, both sheep and cows trying to find food on dry and barren farms are a constant "news item".  What appalls me is the lack of shade on these farms.
Oh there's the odd one that has trees, but the majority of land is tree-less and these animals are subjected to the heat of the sun.  This happens in summer here regardless of whether it's a drought or not.

Now, I'm not saying that all farmers disrespect their animals,  on the contrary, yes New Zealand is probably one of the better countries for treatment of dairy cows , but it also has a long way to go.

I'm just talking about the day to day life of a cow or sheep who is lucky enough to stay alive……….I read in the news this morning that the price of meat is coming down due to the fact that the market has been flooded because "we're all killing these animals flat tack, that's created the price." (quoted from online TVNZ news). 

I wonder, if there was ever a great food shortage, whether people would be slaughtered?  No, I'm just being silly…..cows are just animals, a money source - they don't have feelings.