Vegetarian food is no longer the crunchy preserve of a small minority but is hitting the mainstream. A recent poll for the Food Development Association showed that 86 per cent of Brits eat non-meat meals once or twice a week, forcing restaurants to follow suit.
It’s Time!
It’s time for aggrobusiness (sorry: agribusiness) to install slaughterhouses with CCTV and factory farms with sprinkler systems.
Nearly a million chickens died in Thursday’s fire at Cal-Maine Foods in Parmer County, Texas, a company spokesperson said today. Delores McMillin with Cal-Maine Foods said 800,000 chickens in five houses were wiped out by the fire and smoke. Four laying houses, chickens and all, were consumed by the fire. The remaining chickens were lost due to smoke inhalation.
[…]
No injuries were reported, but the sheriff said four firefighters were taken to various hospitals for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. The firefighters were released soon after they were treated.
Just the One?
The Grumpy Vegan wonders why it’s just the one. Isn’t this why thousands of men run with the bulls? The thrill? The chase? The brag, “I touched a bull as I ran down the streets of Pamplona!” So, why not more than one? Aren’t these men, after all, showing off their masculinity, their bravery, their heterosexuality? So, why not more than one? I think a few more deaths will prove how manly these men truly are. Surely, there is enough testosterone going around for everyone who wants some to have it — without having to pretend that they ran with the bulls. Why don’t these men do something truly courageous? Like take a look at the world we’re making and weep.
Well done Grey2K!
Congratulations to Grey2K and all those involved to ending greyhound racing New Hampshire.
This is an incredible victory for everyone who cares about animals, and ends a sad chapter in New Hampshire history. Since 2005 alone, nearly 1,200 greyhounds have been injured while racing in that state, and since dog racing was legalized a generation ago tens of thousands of dogs have endured lives of endless confinement at local tracks. Also, countless dogs have died because they were injured or no longer fast enough to be profitable.
Victory for the Greyhounds—Dog Racing Ends in New Hampshire!
Veganism Can Only Go So Far–It’s the Economy, Stupid
British consumers who in the past were willing to pay a premium for organic, Fairtrade and eco-friendly goods are now turning their backs on buying ethical in favour of cheaper shopping bills, according to a survey.
It is a trend that is likely to be long-term, according to research, which indicated that three in every five shoppers (69%) say they plan to continue cutting back on organic food after the downturn. Two-thirds (61%) claim they will seek to pay less for ethically sourced foods, such as Fairtrade, when the downturn ends.
Recession sees shoppers switch from green to budget products
While this report does not make any specific reference to veganism, it does beg the question in the Grumpy Vegan’s mind that absolute and uncompromising campaigns for universal veganism are dead in the water when for many, many people economic considerations are — and always will be — paramount.
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
An age of boom and bust, of cut throat competition, high unemployment, a decimated building industry, corruption and shameless robbery by the rich.
Sounds familiar?
That’s exactly the point Tressell was making in his book “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists”, set in the early 19 th century.
The arguments about how to manage the continual crises of Capitalism are a red herrings as far as ordinary people are concerned – Protectionism or Free Trade, it hardly matters to the person on the street. The only thing that will help them is a major restructuring of the system, replacing it with a way of life that is based on compassion, co-operation, not selfish greed and savage competition.
Tressell was not afraid to promote Socialism as the alternative. It was his polemical style and courageous vision that made the book so popular. It looked at the relationships between boss and worker in a more direct, unsentimental way than anything before in literature.
Perhaps a new look at Tressell’s work can uncover some of the idealism that inspired him and his generation, and help give Socialists in Britain impetus for rebuilding their strategy for ending the disastrous system we’re living under at the minute.
