by Jason on September 20, 2006
FlashedMRG reports that there’s a growing interest in making clothing out of chicken feathers and rice straw. I’m in a rush, so let’s just talk about one of these innovations. Hmm, which one… OK, let’s talk about using chicken feathers. Instead of using feathers and tape to fashion crude apparel, the plan is to use that which men call science to create new fibers which can be spun into fabrics. This of course is a concern for anyone trying to reduce the amount of animal products present in their lives as well as in the lives of those around them, but it should be a much bigger concern for small (i.e. non-factory) chicken farmers. See, the industry has consolidated to such a degree that margins have been pushed down to a point where deals like “take our (massive amounts of) waste products and give us some money for them” get reprioritized from “good business sense” to “absolute necessity.” From an environmental standpoint, this might be a good thing, what with 4 billion pounds of feathers being produced a year, and someone’s back might be a better place to put the trash than directly in a landfill. However, I believe that this potential new revenue stream will only accelerate the growth of industrial-scale farms, which is going to further push away the “small” chicken farmer and make it harder for even the most basic animal care procedures to be enacted – even as things stand today, exactly how is proper care provided for chickens on a daily basis when they’re packed tens of thousands to a shed, with some farms housing over a million chickens at a time? Link.
by Jason on August 22, 2006
kunsjoi reminded me of another disease that I don’t worry as much about under a vegan diet: meningitis. At least 50 people in China were diagnosed with the disease recently, with 5 in serious condition, after eating raw or partially cooked snails. Yep, it turns out that slime can indeed contain nasty stuff. In contrast, in addition to having compounds that may prevent cancer, my raw broccoli from last night wasn’t slimy or particularly deadly. Link.
by Jason on July 26, 2006
As a lesson about the many varied sources about animal feed, I’m quoting this one directly from jwz, because he did the same: “There is one story that many flushers in London like to recount. It concerns a fat iceberg that had been building up below Leicester Square over the course of a whole decade. Eventually, this 150-square-foot ‘slug of hardened fat’ grew so large that it was impassable. A gang of flushers armed with supersucker machines spent six weeks one blazing summer trying to dislodge it. By the time they finished they were reduced to using ice picks to hack away at the white mountain… Later, an animal food company got in touch because they wanted to buy and recirculate the fat.” Yum! Link.
by Jason on July 12, 2006
SupaVegan reports that Vermont has harnessed the power of poop – cow poop, that is. Central Vermont Public Service has partnered with dairy farmers in the region to harness the methane gas produced by tons of manure, and the result is an opt-in plan where consumers have a chance to pay more for a new source of energy. A 4 cents per kilowatt-hour fee has been added to the service, which goes directly to the farmers as some kind of reward for being so environmental. While it’s an opt-in program, I have to wonder why consumers would willingly subsidize dairy farms to help them deal with the mess they’ve created (the process can reduce the smell of the manure and may reduce the impact on waterways). Who knows, maybe there are some sick bastards in Vermont who like the idea of their Christmas lights being powered by veal… Link.
by Jason on June 29, 2006
mincus reports that dead skin is becoming less relevant by the hour. In the latest technological breakthrough, the NBA is finally retiring leather basketballs in favour of a new microfiber composite model. I’m super happy about the news, but there’s a problem. Here’s a little known bit of trivia for you – in fact, it’s been such a secret up to now that some people might suspect I’m making it up to fill out a post: I went vegan to mask the fact that I’m a six foot+ person who can’t make a layup to save my life. “Oh, sorry,” I’d say to NBA scouts, “I can’t play in your little game because you use leather basketballs.” Now what am I going to tell the scouts? Link.
by Jason on June 27, 2006
Dagda Samildanc sent in a story containing three words I never really needed to see in a sentence, although maybe the internet has just ruined certain phrases for me, like, say, pregnant cow facial. Link.
Behold a story wherein I praise the FDA for doing the right, if obvious thing: as Zelda reports, authorities busted Dr. Marilyn Coleman and Mitchell Kaminski for selling dried eggs as a miracle cure-all for every ailment under the sun. The two were convicted for selling an unapproved drug, but now Coleman wants to sell the egg powder as food. The feds, in a rare moment of clarity, are strongly suggesting that eggs gathered in unsanitary conditions aren’t fit for consumption, and are fighting to keep the 2+ year old egg powder off the market. That’s right, we actually need the government to protect us from stuff like this. It’s a shame, then, that food inspection seems to be compromised so often with cases of, say, meat inspectors threatened with dismissal and lawsuits if they want to stop or slow the slaughterhouse processing line. Link.
by Jason on April 24, 2006
Baggy reports that camel milk might be making its way to supermarket shelves soon, at least if the United Nations has anything to say about it. I don’t know who actually listens to the UN these days, but supposedly camel milk has a different nutritional profile than cow milk, and some people think it would help some economic regions, although it’ll be an interesting debate over which is “better” (my vote’s still on soy). Indeed, given the dairy industry’s battles to keep non-cow products at a disadvantage (in Canada, it took years for soy milk to be approved for fortification, and for margarine to be the same colour as butter), I think it’ll be an uphill battle for many years, assuming the idea gets any traction at all. But what if it takes off? UN FAO meat and dairy expert Anthony Bennett says that “No one’s suggesting intensive camel dairy farming,” but he’s a pretty crappy expert if he doesn’t realize that this is exactly what would happen in a scenario where a clear profit can be envisioned. Of course, if the UN doesn’t see that, maybe there are a few other problems in the scheme as well. Link.
by Jason on April 20, 2006
Stitches sent news of the great tenderloin heist of 2006. Two men were apprehended after attempting to steal $400 worth of tenderloin from a Massachusetts grocery store. You may safely assume that if I’m posting a story like this, then it did indeed involve the stuffing of meat products into pants. Most of the meat was recovered and put back up for sale, except for the bits that spent time near, well, some other bits, as it’s OK to resell meat used in a crime, but one cannot sell the insides of a cow if they’ve seen the insides of one’s pants. Link.
by Jason on March 14, 2006
Dave Noisy reports that there’s another effort underway to get the Welsh Guards some new hats that don’t have dead bear on them. The fur hats have been a part of the traditional uniform since the early 1800s. The Ministry of Defence says that they’re trying to develop a synthetic alternative, but they, well, they suck. I read the Art of War a few years ago, and it’s fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure there’s a bit in there that says if you can’t design a hat, you shouldn’t be allowed to use guns. Link.
