The New Resilient Digest contains links from around the web — news, information, stories and media on food, energy, and economics, and a quick summary of the week gone by.
- Stefany Anne Golberg discusses Henry David Thoreau and 19th-century intellectual vegetarianism. Thoreau, not a strict vegetarian, saw the practice as “the destiny of the human race.”
At a time when the Western world was being swallowed by industrial smokestacks, and men, women, and children toiled away in nightmarish working conditions, Utopian community leaders went back to the basics, namely, the power of the individual to control his own destiny and do good, often in opposition to the mainstream. It’s no surprise, then, that diet was considered central to radical self-improvement.
- New data shows the increasing cost of the US/West oil addiction. USAmericans are working harder and longer to support an ever-more expensive and carbon dependent lifestyle Except the average CEO, of course.
- If you were intrigued by Robert’s Victory Gardens post, you might be interested in a new package from Burpee called the Money Garden. As noted by John Robb, the gist is $10 in specifically selected seeds could “potentially” produce $650 in produce. Let us know if you plan to start a victory garden yourself in ‘09.
- The Americanization of the global diet is a continuing disaster. Example: Men’s Health has produced a list of the 20 Worst Foods of 2009 – (via kottke):
Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake
2,600 calories
135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fats)
263 g sugars
1,700 mg sodiumWe didn’t think anything could be worse than Baskin Robbins’ 2008 bombshell, the Heath Bar Shake. After all, it had more sugar (266 grams) than 20 bowls of Froot Loops, more calories (2,310) than 11 actual Heath Bars, and more ingredients (73) than you’ll find in most chemist labs.
Rather than coming to their senses and removing it from the menu, they did themselves one worse and introduced this caloric catastrophe. It’s soiled with more than a day’s worth of calories and three days worth of saturated fat, and, worst of all, usually takes less than 10 minutes to sip through a straw.
- New research into children and food choices suggest the semantic minefield of purposefully deceitful messaging is having serious consequences. The study suggests, children have a very difficult time categorizing healthy and unhealthy food and more so with non-natural manufactured foods and foods with multiple ingredients. Which is, sadly, all that is available to many North American children.
In Case You Missed It…
A few highlights from the last week:
In Rethinking “protectionism”, Ryan looks at lunch schools programs and argues that “we don’t need billion dollar stimulus packages as much as we need some smart purchasing policies on the part of individuals and institutions.” Mike looked at meal-planning and preparation through a lens of systems thinking. We’re beginning to talk about Bill McKibben and Wendell Berry’s mass act of “civil disobedience” against coal-fired power, coming up on March 2nd. This will surely be something to follow, both for its own virtue and for how it might influence activism in the years to come.
Thanks so much for reading! And we greatly appreciate your feedback. Do you have tips, leads, or story ideas for the New Resilient? Email tips@newresilient.com.
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Thoreau is always excellent.
The intellectual arguments for vegetarianism are indeed compelling to me. However, the Omnivore’s Dilemma , along with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” convinced me that an all-vegetarian diet, especially in the Canadian climate, may not be the way to go if we’re going to go sustainable and local.
For better or for worse, animal protein is one of the most efficient natural sources. The amount of energy put into a grass-feeding animal is so minimal compared to the calories you can get out.
Not only that, but having animals act as part of the natural ecosystem, rather than as some sort of confined livestock can actually be beneficial to farming (ie chickens eating bugs, beef manure, goats cutting grass). Animals take a lot of care and time, but it may be worth it.
As far as ethical issues go, I have plenty of opinions, but no concrete answers. Just like everyone else.
Though, it is very true that we must limit our meat consumption to a sustainable level (which is probably the same as humane, free range natural care). We eat far too much, when just a little meat will go a long way.