"In April, scientists from around the world met in Norway at the first international In Vitro Meat Symposium to discuss the potential for mass-producing lab-grown meat... Researchers predict that that, within a few years, meat could be grown in giant bioreactors for about $5,500 a ton... At about $3.50 a pound, that's less than what most consumers now pay for hamburger."
this is what I read last night in vegnews magazine before falling asleep. I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares. this process is disgusting to think about - almost as disgusting as analyzing where real meat comes from.
it'd be good for the cows, of course, if meat was to be only grown in labs. better for the environment - more available land, more forests, less greenhouse gases, etc. but ew, it's going to take a lot of really amazing PR work for "franken-meat," as it was dubbed by l.a. times columnist patt morrison, to be a success consumer-wise.
also, as americans, we eat too much meat. this is hardly a point of debate. it's one of the main reasons that a lot of vegetarians and vegans choose to eat the way they do. lab-grown meat completely undermines the health aspect of being vegetarian.
and a side note: don't have ben and jerry's "lighten up" chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt for breakfast, especially when it's the last thing you ate before falling asleep.
8.27.2008
8.04.2008
to those concerned for my sanity:
I wonder how it is that people still find so much value and wisdom in the writings of shakespeare or the musings of philosophers from thousands of years ago. how is it that what jesus said is still so relevant, so completely relevant. and how is it that the words of peter maurin, spoken more than 60 years ago, are able to describe me and my life at this moment more accurately than anything I could ever say.
"if I am crazy, it is because I refuse to be crazy in the same way that the world has gone crazy."
it can be frustrating to have conversations about the changes I've made and am making in my life. I hate that I feel like I'm using buzzwords or clichés to describe what is important to me. I feel like the majority of the people around me either care about the same things as me already, or they've been so overwhelmed by talk about "social justice" that it's like some kind of wall goes up as soon as the conversation begins. people hear what I say from behind the wall, with qualifications attached.
"yes, sweatshops are a very sad reality.. but they are a reality. and it's unrealistic to try and change all of your buying habits."
"mm, I know, that whole burma cyclone thing is just awful.. but you were in thailand so it's natural that you'd be more upset about this than normal people. plus you're still going through culture shock. things will settle down for you soon."
some people look at me like I'm crazy, caring so much about this stuff. it's like there's this unspoken, probably unconscious, justifying thought in their minds that makes my decisions seem unnecessary or absurd: "it doesn't affect you."
why won't you buy a $7 shirt at old navy? that seems a bit extreme.. it's just a shirt. plus it's already here, the damage is already done, you don't change anything by not buying it and it doesn't affect you anyway.
why won't you buy a mango? it's from thailand - you love mangoes! seriously, it's just a mango. plus it's already here, the fuel to fly it half-way around the world has already been used, the damage is already done and it doesn't affect you anyway.
it does affect me. it does a thousand times over.
I'm not just me. I'm not just me, going to my little college, interacting with my little circle of american friends and family, in my little bubble of a life. I am so much bigger than that. I am infinite. I am infinite because my God is infinite and my family is infinite, stretching over time and space. my brothers and sisters are abraham and sarah, mary magdalene and peter, francis of assisi and mother teresa, p'wara and p'jim, bunyalit and daa. I have thousands, yes millions of brothers and sisters that I have never met and will never meet in this stage of life. but that doesn't make them any less a part of my family. and just because I haven't looked into their eyes or know their names does not mean that it doesn't affect me. if they are hurting - if you are hurting - then I am hurting, because "my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
"if I am crazy, it is because I refuse to be crazy in the same way that the world has gone crazy."
it can be frustrating to have conversations about the changes I've made and am making in my life. I hate that I feel like I'm using buzzwords or clichés to describe what is important to me. I feel like the majority of the people around me either care about the same things as me already, or they've been so overwhelmed by talk about "social justice" that it's like some kind of wall goes up as soon as the conversation begins. people hear what I say from behind the wall, with qualifications attached.
"yes, sweatshops are a very sad reality.. but they are a reality. and it's unrealistic to try and change all of your buying habits."
"mm, I know, that whole burma cyclone thing is just awful.. but you were in thailand so it's natural that you'd be more upset about this than normal people. plus you're still going through culture shock. things will settle down for you soon."
some people look at me like I'm crazy, caring so much about this stuff. it's like there's this unspoken, probably unconscious, justifying thought in their minds that makes my decisions seem unnecessary or absurd: "it doesn't affect you."
why won't you buy a $7 shirt at old navy? that seems a bit extreme.. it's just a shirt. plus it's already here, the damage is already done, you don't change anything by not buying it and it doesn't affect you anyway.
why won't you buy a mango? it's from thailand - you love mangoes! seriously, it's just a mango. plus it's already here, the fuel to fly it half-way around the world has already been used, the damage is already done and it doesn't affect you anyway.
it does affect me. it does a thousand times over.
I'm not just me. I'm not just me, going to my little college, interacting with my little circle of american friends and family, in my little bubble of a life. I am so much bigger than that. I am infinite. I am infinite because my God is infinite and my family is infinite, stretching over time and space. my brothers and sisters are abraham and sarah, mary magdalene and peter, francis of assisi and mother teresa, p'wara and p'jim, bunyalit and daa. I have thousands, yes millions of brothers and sisters that I have never met and will never meet in this stage of life. but that doesn't make them any less a part of my family. and just because I haven't looked into their eyes or know their names does not mean that it doesn't affect me. if they are hurting - if you are hurting - then I am hurting, because "my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
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