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Friday, February 29, 2008
Organic Living: The Real Cost of Beef
Downers Video and massive beef recall reveal cost of stinting on food safety and basic humanity
The recall was prompted by a stomach-churning video filmed at a California slaughterhouse showing workers tormenting sick beef cows, known as "downers."
The workers beat, dragged and jabbed the animals' eyes, hoping pain would make them stagger to their feet. They sprayed a powerful water hose into one sick cow's nose.
Their motive? A cow that can't stand up is a cow that won't make money. Federal law discourages turning cows that can't walk or stand into food. Such symptoms mean a higher chance of contamination from feces. They might be a sign of mad cow disease.
The California abattoir where this savagery occurred was cited in 2005 for animal cruelty. But what made the case most shocking is the fact it probably isn't unique.
According to the worker for the Humane Society of the United States, who secretly filmed the slaughterhouse abuse, no one there took any care to hide it. Like all meat processing plants, the facility was supervised by federal inspectors.
And because the plant reportedly was chosen randomly, there's little reason to doubt that what happened there has been repeated elsewhere.
Because Jack loves cars, lately fans of his have been buying cars to increase their exposure. Grandma buys a car on every visit to Toys R Us and beams proudly whenever Jack tells me Ah Ma bought it for him. Gong Gong, still flush with the huge number of cars he bought for Jack during Xmas, pushes one of them to Jack. Jack tells me Gong Gong bought it for him.
Not to be outdone, his godpa V, very impressed with Jack's eloquent rendition of the word Ferrari and his no less canny ability to identify all Ferraris, insisted on buying one for him. And having done so, 'godpa' is now a regular word and person in Jack's encyclopedic memory. :D
Organic Living / The Mommy Life: Sporadic Blogging
Yup! I have gone off the radar for a while but have now decided to stop using the Technorati tags so the burden of putting them on won't hinder my need to blog and blog properly. (People who know me well will know my incessant need for doing things properly.)
So on this typical day while Jack is asleep, I'm on my phone typing out a blog entry. And yes, I've been MIA because I've been enjoying motherhood. Jack has been real fun to be with and I have been taking him out shopping, meeting friends, to the kiddies playground, and to the park. When tired, we just stay home and spend time with the cats.
And so, I've been trying to be a better cat parent to my cats, who have invariably been sorely neglected when Jack was born. Now that he can stroke them gently, feed them and call them by name, it's been easier spending quality time with them. Especially with Boy.
I have rearranged their litter boxes so that cleaning them is a better user experience for me and they get more space to hang in. Their room is now airier but now I need to resolve the problem of heavy rain which soaked through the plastic covering. My ever-innovative mom promised a proposal by tomorrow.
I haven't touched milk since I last blogged. Sure I get some in the cheese or yogurt I eat and some in coffee drinks outside but I don't drink it by itself anymore. The thought of a poor cow screaming for her calf taken away from her at birth troubles me and similarly, I haven't had beef since, save for Ikea meatballs which I realised a little too late.
Still the point is to reduce consumption, because to be draconian about it is almost a death sentence to any resolve. It gets too hard so people give up. So it has become a game of substitutes. Rice milk instead of cow's milk, fish instead of beef, pork, or chicken. Beans instead of meat.
Hubby's been enjoying the alternative foods I cook now. Jack is like his dad, eager to sample new foods. So I cook at home much more now and we buy with wherever possible, perhaps 3x a week, humane organic food and we eat out less.
We have bean burritos weekly - it has become a family fave. Grilled cold water fish with organic vegetables is a staple. I only ever cook chicken for the cats and even so I am pondering buying cage-free organic chicken for them and Jack. It costs $20 a chicken vs $5 but that is the cost of eating out once so why not?
Already I am buying cage-free organic eggs which cost $12.50 for 12. If you eat at Ya Kun it is $1.20 for 2 eggs. So it is a treat for Jack and I to share 2 sunny side up eggs, 3x a week. I run through the whole cooking experience with him and he's absolutely fascinated.
Honestly, knowing that the hens didn't have to suffer the cruel factory farming life makes the eggs taste better. That and a dash of extra virgin olive oil.
It was a very eventful day today and for the privacy of those involved, I shall say no more. Nonetheless, all is well now and things have worked out for the best.
Anyhow, we celebrated with dinner at Spizza Harbourfront and the lovely waiters made our visit a delightful one. Dear hubby babysat while we girls talked over scrumptious thin pizzas and I could not resist, a tiramisu (highly recommended at Spizza).
Jack, curious about the tiramisu tipped it over and we all watched in dismay as it smashed to pieces. The wait staff were very kind and helped clean it up without any blame in their faces. I reminded Jack that glass is fragile and if he pushes it and it falls, it will break. I reassured him that everything is okay. No one was hurt. No one was upset. But since the glass belonged to the nice waiter cleaning it up right now and he broke it accidentally, he should say he was sorry.
Jack stared at the broken glass for a long time, looking rather remorseful. He knows when things are broken. He points them out to me all the time. A missing headlight on his car, a crack on his car, sticky tape pasted on his car as repair. So he knows when a glass in pieces means it is broken. I said very gently, say sorry to the waiter.
He looked at the waiter and the manager who both wore a kind look on their faces as they cleaned the mess. And softly came out the word, "sorry", but both of them were not looking at him at the moment, nor heard him. The girls heard and we heard. I repeated gently, look at uncle and say "sorry".
He bravely looked up at the manager, who now took over the final wipes of the table, and the manager looked at him, and he said a peep louder but still soft with remorse, "sorry". The manager smiled at him and said, "it's okay". I added an apology and then gave Jack a big hug and kiss and told him, "I am so proud of you." He beamed like the sun.
After we got up to leave, I asked him to kiss every one of his aunties and he did! Everyone enjoyed their very own kiss with sound effect (muak) and his dad and I hugged him and kissed him and we went home after a lovely day.
It was a very thrilling day today for us. We went to my sister's for lunch and Jack got to play with his fave cousins who absolutely adore him. Then we went to Forum for Amber's class. I took Jack for a walk hoping he'd fall asleep but we ended up in Toys R Us where he spotted a "tiny car" exactly like his own and asked if we could buy it.
I agreed, saying this would be his auxiliary car in case his current one, which is his fave, goes missing accidentally. He said okay and kept repeating the word auxiliary while I explained the meaning further. He was almost asleep, clutching the car still in his box when we reached the counter. As I gently tried to prise it out of his hands he woke up, gave it to the nice lady at the counter to scan then asked me to open it.
So he happily clutched his identical cars in his hand when we went to meet sis and Amber. En route home would have been a good time to sleep too, but after nursing for a while and seeing his other cousin Ethan in the car, he decided he "bu4 yao4 shui4" and sat up, enjoying the conversation and showing Amber his "aux-lary tiny car".
After eating 2 slices of cheese, his own gobs of watermelon and some of Ethan's too (while the latter played computer games), we headed off to the kids' swim class and the kiddy pool. I suspected Jack would be a little fussy since he hadn't napped and so he was, reluctant to enter the pool but instead playing at the edges.
However, after everyone joined in the fun (Dad included!), he warmed up and happily let Dad take him to play with the water fountains in the middle of the pool and later joined us in the big pool, splashing and jumping, trying to emulate an older boy who was doing backflips.
He had a great dinner (egg, veg, wholegrain toast, rice, some fries) and off we left in the car for home. He dozed in the car but somehow when we reached home, he was up! So I asked him if he wanted to eat the blueberries I bought him in the fridge and he said "yao4" and I promptly washed one batch for him.
He began eating them by himself while playing with his cars, finished them and asked me for more. I washed the rest and he ate them all - the whole punnel! I was very impressed. At this point I was very dozy and asked if he wanted to shower and sleep. He said yes but I couldn't get up. The next thing I knew was his dad's voice outside the house and I woke to find him fast asleep in my arms (my last memory was nursing him).
And he wouldn't budge! I let him sleep for half an hour while chatting with his dad (and eating pineapple tarts) and finally passed him to his dad. He woke up, looking puzzled and rather perplexed at his dad. It reminded me last night when he woke up crying for mama and then suddenly opened his eyes to see his dad smiling at him. His eyes widened in shock and he stopped crying for a moment. It was so cute and hilarious! :D
He let his dad take him to the kitchen for some fruit (I believe they ate pear) and then a shower. Off to bed and a big cuddle and kiss from us. He started nursing with his tiny car in hand, shifting from one boob to another, seemingly unusually restless. Finally still rather awake, he turned to his dad who was now fast asleep, fiddled with his car and with my arm under his neck, slowly fell asleep!
This is a historical moment because he usually falls asleep, boob in mouth then it slackens and I ease away. While trying to gently extract my arm, he woke, turned for boob, nursed a little, and then turned away to sleep again. I almost wept.
I went out to the kitchen, petted Boy and still smile in amazement at how he brings me so much delight every day.
16 years have passed since I brought my sweet Boy home from the drain I found him crying for his mom in. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I had to take him home. He charmed everyone and has become an integral part of our family since.
He has given me so much love and companionship over our 16 years together that I cannot imagine a day without looking at his sweet face, of him blinking back at me with a serene look in his face.
He has been gentle and patient with Jack and in turn, Jack has learnt to be gentle and patient with him. It is a beautiful friendship.
Today he turns 16. Jack and I sat on the kitchen floor with him, stroked his fur, and sang Happy Birthday to him. Happy birthday, my sweetheart! May we have many more happy years to come.
My memory has been remotely better. For the sake of posterity, I will try to recall the events of the past week.
Sunday: Hubby and I had a date night. First we had a rushed dinner at Macs and reminisced how as poor students we used to eat there (actually we didn't!). Then we watched Cloverfield - a cool monster movie (coolest monster I've seen so far on land) if not for the shaky cam, which I do realise is part of its premise. But still, excluding nauseous movie-goers will mean a slice off the takings.
Then we went to a post-movie ice cream date thing at Serene Centre and it turned out to be sweet and fun, and it wasn't just about the yummy alcoholic chocolate ice cream. We actually laughed a lot about the movie and how nauseous it made us.
We rushed back to my Mom's to pick up Jack who didn't miss us at all. He was happily playing with his grandparents! But I missed him heaps and smothered him with kisses.
Monday: Hmm... can't remember.
Tuesday: Spent day with my godparents who adore Jack. We had pizza at Modestos and then brought Jack to their place to hang with my grandma. We had some German wholesomething crackers and watched the news. Jack was most intrigued and a little scared of their little pet.
Dinner time we painted Vivocity red. After a yum sushi dinner he pointed to Toys R Us and I used up my $10 voucher on a tiny black Porsche and a car park set. I asked him to choose one and he kept choosing the car. I still needed to use up the other $5.05 so I bought the car park too. At home, we broke it out and he loves it.
Wednesday: Hmm... can't remember.
Thursday: Went to my friend Andrew's clinic to get my wisdom tooth pulled out. He yanked at it for a good 10 minutes and pop it was out. Relatively painless unless you get heroic and neglect to take your painkillers on time.
I rested at my parents' after the tooth removal and only got home after dinner. The painkillers were home but I thought I was doing okay with it till suddenly the jabs wore off and I found myself howling in pain for an hour while waiting for the painkillers to kick in.
All in all it was a humourous time. We took some funny videos and Jack played with his cars. Finally it kicked in and it was like the epidural. Blessed relief. Although I benchmark my pain on the 28 hour labour I went through, pain is still pain. And with an active, curious, and highly parroty gonnabe-2 year old, it is best to be in comfort and smiling when caring for.
Forgot to put tooth under pillow. Damn. Fairy's gone now.
Friday: Hmm... can't remember.
Hahaha. Naw, this one I remember. It was my girl's night out and a very special celebration for Van's hen's (okay, so I missed the naked guy show later on at some club) and Kit's 37th (even though that girl looks not a day older than 25) at Sun Moon in Central.
Frankly, Sun Moon's strength is in its miscellaneous lunch sets. Dinner was boring and ordinary. I wouldn't go back for dinner but still will go for their tea where they serve that scrumptious green tea dessert with everything in it.
Saturday: Day home with Jack. We played for an hour in each room and while he was napping I quickly finished my novel The Ferryman by Christopher Golden which was engaging but reverting to type at the end. Not for keeps for sure.
Hit town with hubby to stock up on books. Carried Jack in new homemade stylish 100% cotton black cloth carrier (cloth from market $6 - if it creases it is 100% cotton sez seller and my Mom later verified this) made a la Shen. Never mind the sewing. Just cut and tear the cloth half (1/2m) width-wise and 6m length-wise. Practice using these instructions and voila, you got your own nice sling.
Of course baby will look like Leeloo from The Fifth Element but a mini-Leeloo. At least Jack did, being carried by me from the back. Looked pretty shiny when I wore it to town today but when he was removed, I looked like a weird fashion school reject with the cloth hanging around me which I was too lazy to remove. Ah heck, it was just the usual Borders crowd.
Speaking of which, we tried the new Japanese eatery at Far East Plaza. Dunno the name but it is next to Subway and KFC. Not bad at all but the floors are rather dirty. Will go back if under duress or having to choose between its brethren.
Almost used up the Gift Card dear sweet Jeff bought me for Christmas. It was 7 books in total: 2 astronomy/astrobiology books, 1 Earth-is-gonna-die book, 1 Robin Cook book, 2 sea monster eats people novels, and Sylvia Plath's Ariel - the one with the poems laid out the way she wanted them.
Organic Living: Eating Humanely Part 1 Review - 1 Month Later
I have given up milk. My evening 2 cups of cow's milk are now replaced with rice or oat milk. I still eat cheese and yogurt very sparingly, usually when dining outside.
I have also greatly reduced my consumption of meat. I don't have a meat meal but have meat as a small part of that meal, e.g. in a sandwich or a pizza, rather than a whole grilled chicken leg. No meat has been cooked at home save for an occasional grilled slice of fish and a whole bunch of vegetables shared by the whole family. I am thrilled to see Jack pick up tomatoes, broccoli, and green peppers to munch on as much as that piece of salmon.
It has been easy to give up the "usual staples" of milk, beef, as well as pork and even chicken. I feel ill thinking of the poor mother cow crying for her calf. Every mother, I am sure, can empathise with that. That extends to eating the poor animal too. What I am having trouble with is cured meats like bacon. Okay, actually, only bacon. And prosciutto ham. So I eat those and avoid the rest.
Beans and other plant protein have found their way into our diets. So have wholegrains and a lot more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
Vegetarian (because of the cheese and yogurt, for probiotics) burritos are a favourite at home, especially with half the meal organic. We do a lot of soups and broths (okay, from cans but hey, they taste good). But the fried rice turned risotto was a disaster. :p I conned my mom into eating some and she didn't flinch but the hubby and child were quite disturbed. Even the cats steered clear.
We have turned into a family of grazers (cf. Sears). We snack on dried fruit and fresh fruit (organic if possible), organic brown rice cakes, organic wholegrain bread with fruit, nuts, seeds, and organic wholegrain cereals. There is no junk food in the house, no sugary or salty snacks. No meat in the freezer.
We stock olives, beans, peppers, broccoli (I buy organic, cut and freeze them), tomatoes, cheese, pasta, soups, wholegrain bread, cereals, kampong eggs (still need to check on the validity of them), and lots of seasonal fruit. I avoid soy, in particular the unfermented ones.
There's a whole world of food out there aside from the usual meat and rice or potatoes combo and it's been thrilling discovering it. I am no fabulous chef but my family is largely, 99% (no risotto please) pleased with my cooking. Jack loves it and gobbles down anything I cook, as long as it is not risotto.
I feel lighter and fresher, surviving well on my 6-7 hours of sleep every night (interrupted). Now Jack and I take a nap in the afternoon together. It has been wonderful for bonding.
It is important for my health that I eat well; but it is important for my heart, my son, and this world we live in that I eat humanely.
"To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness." -- Bertrand Russell
"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
-- Thomas Edison (Harper's Magazine, 1890)
A woman's romance with motherhood, green living, finance, and this heady thing called life.
