Buying local at Bridge Mall Ballarat

 

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Yesterday I did my vege shopping at Bridge Mall in the CBD of Ballarat.

Lovely stuff.

As well as colourful stalls and kids activities,

the animal farm was there.

Thinking about your food: a school grows and kills its own turkeys - and the ramifications

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I don't know how many schools in Australia operate like the Arthur Morgan School, in North Carolina, USA.  I found this article about growing and killing your own turkeys for Thanksgiving - and the ramifications of this decision - of great interest.

The issue of raising and killing animals, for those at Arthur Morgan School, turned into controversy, discussion, in-school politicisation and became "a rich experiential tool"  to teach children about ethics, economics, health, and the environment.

What I took from my reading of the article was how deeply the students and school community thought about their food - and the violence that is attached to eating animals for their meat.


I know there are people in Australia working in schools to turn attention towards food - not least of whom is Stephanie Alexander through her Kitchen Garden Foundation.  I don't know whether there is in-school experience of raising animals for food except for the sort of program similar to Ironbark, which is part of St Peter's Lutheran College. My daughter had a wonderful term at Ironbark when she was at St Peter's. 

Do Tucker Lovers know of Australian schools where this is happening?  

If animals are being raised, what occurs in regard to slaughtering the animals for food?  How is this handled?  Is there the same level of discussion about killing and violent death as has occurred within the Arthur Morgan School community?


As someone who wants people to think more about 

• what they eat
• where it comes from
• how it is produced
• how it comes to store and table, and 
• the ethics involved in all of this 

I would be interested to hear of the experiences of others.  Just drop me a line at misseaglesnetwork(at)gmail(dot)com.

Edgar's Mission needs help and voluteers. Please help.

Mahatma Gandhi got it right when he stated "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." And if you’ve ever visited Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to. As many of you will know, Edgar’s Mission is run solely by Pam Ahern.  Surviving on the smell of an oily rag, Pam and all the animals at the Sanctuary, rely heavily on the support and much appreciated assistance from their volunteer network in order to continue to spread the message of compassion and kindness.  We’re calling on you to lend us a much needed hand. In a little under 6 weeks, on Sunday October 3, 2010, Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary will celebrate World Animal Day.  Recognised all over the world, World Animal Day is the day when the world celebrates humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom.  And at Edgar’s Mission, we love to do it in style! World Animal Day is our biggest open day of the year.  But to get the Sanctuary looking spick and spam in readiness for the big day, we need your help!  Aside from our regular monthly volunteer days - the second Sunday and third Saturday of every month – we’re putting on a few extra volunteer days if you can possibly spare the time to assist us. And really, what better way is there to get up close and personal with such wonderful creatures like Hamish – the handshaking porcine, Ryan - the cheeky comical goat, Timmy - the friendliest sheep in the world and of course, Tippi – the most gentle cow you will ever meet! As someone, who two years ago was touched by the compassion and spirit that transcends that of Edgar’s Mission, I can assure you that Volunteer days give you such wondrous opportunities to really get to know these animals. But they also give so much more. They give you an opportunity to learn new skills, meet like minded people and give back to the community. As such, we are looking for volunteers to assist on:   Saturday 28th August (extra)  Sunday 12th September  Saturday 18th September  Saturday 26th September (extra)  Friday 1st October (extra)  Saturday 2nd October (extra) And of course, if you can spare any time on any second Sunday or third Saturday of any month of the year, we certainly won’t turn you away! (Check out ourwebsite  www.edgarsmission.org.au for more details). If you can assist on any of the above listed dates, or on any other volunteer day throughout the year, please contact me via e-mail - tash@edgarsmission.org.au or phone 0419 729 902. And of course, if you are free on Sunday October 3rd, we’d love to see you at the Sanctuary.  Come support our day! And, thanks for all you do for the animals. Cheers,   Tash   Natasha Reus Volunteer Coordinator   If we could live happy and health lives without harming others ...why wouldn't we? www.edgarsmission.org.au

Over at The Elegant Sufficiency, Stephanie has drawn our attention to a grave ethical problem in the eating habits of human beings. Miss Eagle is a great lover of Chinese culture and food. Chinese cuisine is the pinnacle for Miss E. But Miss E deplores the depredation of whole species to meet Chinese demands for exotic foods and traditional medicinal ingredients. Miss Eagle's health has not been the best in recent times and she has considered resorting to traditional Chinese medicine - but there is a major hurdle. The impact of Chinese medicine on animal life. Read here and here to add to your understanding, dear Reader.

However, while one can recoil in horror at these tales, one also has to question our own Australian ethics in regard to our Standard Australian Diet.

We are wrecking our land. None of us question that anymore. Part of the wrecking of our ancient and fragile soils has been the importation of hard hooved animals. Sheep and cattle undergird the carnivorous diet favoured by most Australians. Goats and camels run wild in large numbers in the inland of Australia far from the eyes of the comfortable congregating in the urban fringes. The Northern Territory sends more cattle overseas in the inhumane live export trade than find their way to Australian slaughter houses.

What are the ethics involved in supporting the diet of most Australians?

For information about beef, cattle, sheepmeat, sheep, and goats go here. If you want to know more about live animal export, please go here.

As Jim Mason and Peter Singer point out (see sidebar), ask questions about your food - where it comes from, the means of its production - and ask questions about the treatment of animals and survival of animal species. Animals share this planet with us. We owe it to them. We owe it to ourselves.

Dog-friendly restaurants, please?

Following on the post below, Miss Eagle is asking for information. If you know of dog friendly restaurants, bistros, bars, cafes, eateries, etc., dear Reader, could you please advise Miss E by emailing her off the sidebar? It would be a useful thing to compile a list of dog friendly restaurants in Melbourne and Victoria. North Point Cafe will be the first on the list.

North Point Cafe - canine friendly, but less so

As mentioned in the previous post, the North Point Cafe across from the beach at 2b North Road, Brighton is a puppy friendly eaterie. But, thanks to the Bayside City Council, it is not as puppy friendly as once it was.

Time was when one could sit outside in the paved area under the piazza umbrellas with one's dog beside the chair or under the table. This was a great experience. Dog owners have no difficulty making conversation with dog owners who are complete strangers. There is plenty to talk about. The dogs socialise as well and it is a great experience.

~~~~~~~~ The pooches are not allowed on the paved area as can be seen from the sign above.

They can be hitched to the fence.

Miss Eagle thinks that looks a bit sad -

but it can be closer to the owners in that section.

FootFoot (below) makes friends with those on the fence.

Miss Eagle and Herself asked to sit at the back of the paved area. There is lawn there. On the lawn area there are a few Adirondack chairs. Dog owners can sit there and tie the leash to the chair.

Below, is the beautiful Sebastian. A Beagle/Daschund cross. Sebastian is sitting in the treed area. This is an area with gnarled old seaside trees and loose soil underneath. The trees provide natural hitching posts for leashes and the loose soil is great for scratching.

Silver bowls are available and one can see owners with jugs of water busy tending to their pets' needs. This red setter was unsettled and did a fair bit of barking. Other dogs were more patient and settled. Herself and Miss Eagle attributed the setter's barking to its particular temperament.This labrador was a patient soul - even when his owner left.

Here is a smart and spoiled Jack Russell with his owner on an Adirondack chair.Her daughter sat across in another Adirondack with a beautiful and spoiled Poodle. This Scotch Terrier reminded Miss Eagle of Greyfriars Bobby.FootFoot was quite happy in the treed area. He is not often on a leash but he was quite patient. He was with the other dogs in exactly the same situation so Miss Eagle thinks that he knew he was cool and in with the others.

Mother's Day and North Point Cafe

Yesterday, Herself and Miss Eagle did their Mother's Day ritual and visited the North Point Cafe. The North Point Cafe across from the beach at the end of North Road in Brighton is a puppy friendly place.

As can be seen from the picture pile above, there were all manner of canine friends at North Point. Of course, we had our FootFoot - a miniature Fox Terrier - with us. Herself is leashing him. We asked to sit at the back of the paved outdoor area. Behind this is a lawn area and then an area of dirt with lots of gnarled, seaside trees where dogs are leashed. Nice silver bowls are available and jugs of water to fill them. Our seating backed on to the lawn area, so when we had finished eating Herself got FootFoot and he was able to be with us. All very civilised for him and for us. One of the wonderful things about taking a dog to North Point is that it is always a great conversation starter. So, as usual, we were soon in conversation with a woman at the next table who had brought the beautiful Sebastian. (See post above) If you are not a dog lover, it might be best to sit inside - but North Point can get crowded so beggars can't always be choosers. A mother and daughter couple came and sat next to us. All the dogs were well behaved except for a Red Setter who barked quite frequently. The mother and daughter left. So if you find babies in restaurants a bit much - you might also find the pooches at the Point are not for you either. We began with Pink Champagne. Herself selected the Smoke Salmon Stack which she thoroughly enjoyed. Miss Eagle's Vegetarian Ciabatta looked a little overwhelmed by the greenery but it was quite delicious.

For afters, it was Blueberry Cheesecake for Herself and a Lemon/Lime Pie for Miss E.

Then a Mocha for Miss E and a Cappuccino for Herself.

We highly recommend the pooch friendly North Point Cafe. We enjoyed our meal and the ambiance. We'll see you again next year, North Point, if not before.

Prices:

• Pink Champagne (2) $12.00
• Vegetarian Ciabatta $12.50
• Smoked Salmon Stack $15.50
• Cheesecake $ 6.50
• Tart $ 6.50
• Mocha $ 3.50
• Cappuccino $ 3.00
• TOTAL $59.50

North Point Cafe, 2b North Road, Brighton Phone: 9596 9196

Mother's Day, Rose and the Cupcake Tower

Miss Eagle hopes that everyone who cares for kids had a beaut day to-day.

Miss Eagle's present from Herself was a Cupcake Tower. Miss Eagle has been dreaming of this since first finding such a thing existed on Woofnanny's blog. A few weeks ago one was advertised in a catalogue. "No", Herself said. "Wait", she said, "until there is a shabby chic one." Miss Eagle agreed.

Then, last Thursday, Miss Eagle spotted THE shabby chic Cupcake Tower in the General Trader at Knox City. The result? Miss Eagle received one as her Mother's Day pressie.

The picture above is of Herself's decoration of the Tower complete with silicone patty pans in a variety of colours. The Cup/Fairy Cakes are still to come - but they are expected to hit the oven this week.

While photographing the tower, Rose turned up to turn it into a Feline Foto Shoot.

Where does it all come from?

J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate, now resides in Australia. To-day there is an opinion piece in The Age: an edited version of a speech Coetzee will give in Sydney to-night. Here is an excerpt:

The transformation of animals into production units dates back to the late 19th century, and since that time we have already had one warning on the grandest scale that there is something deeply, cosmically wrong with regarding and treating fellow beings as mere units of any kind. This warning came so loud and clear that one would have thought it impossible to ignore. It came when in the mid-20th century a group of powerful and bloody-minded men in Germany hit on the idea of adapting the methods of the industrial stockyard, as pioneered and perfected in Chicago, to the slaughter - or what they preferred to call the processing - of human beings. Of course we cried out in horror when we found out what they had been up to. We cried: What a terrible crime, to treat human beings like cattle! If we had only known beforehand! But our cry should more accurately have been: What a terrible crime, to treat human beings like units in an industrial process! And that cry should have had a postscript: What a terrible crime, come to think of it - a crime against nature - to treat any living being like a unit in an industrial process!

Food labelling: inadequate and deceptive

As far as Miss Eagle is concerned, one of the flaws of the inexact science of Economics is the supposition in the Theory of the Firm that the consumer has perfect choice. To Miss Eagle, it is a clear example that most theoretical economists are men who don't go shopping.

This is one consumer who is far from having perfect choice. Perhaps the buyers for retail firms come close to having perfect choice, but this consumer is dependent on making her choice from what retailers put on their shelves and when I am not able to get what I want, I know that the Theory of the Firm has failed to work once again. This is why I take labelling seriously. Miss Eagle is a label reader from way back. She also likes to have a bit of a handle on the companies - both retail and wholesale - who supply her food. Sometimes getting this information is not difficult or strenuous; sometimes it is nigh impossible. This is why Miss Eagle is most concerned about this week's news about labelling: inadequate and sometimes bordering on the deceptive. One thing that the consumer has to jack up on is the weasel words in our food promotion. Organic - can the consumer know or prove that this is a genuine claim. Should consumers be expected to pay a premium for organic food, particularly imported organic food from the USA that sits in cans and jars on the shelves of my supermarket. Natural - This is the word that drives Miss Eagle nuts. What does natural mean? The dictionary gives the following definition:

adjective 1 existing in or derived from nature; not made, caused by, or processed by humankind. 2 in accordance with nature; normal or to be expected: a natural death. 3 born with a particular skill or quality: a natural leader. 4 relaxed and unaffected. 5 (of a parent or child)related by blood. 6 archaic illegitimate. 7 Music (of a note) not sharpened or flattened.

Definition #1 seems to be the one to focus on in relation to food.

When advertising uses the word 'natural' what is the worth of the word. Miss Eagle suggests it has no value whatsoever. Everything we have on this planet has existed in or is derived from nature. Where else did it come from? Outer space? "Not made, caused by, or processed by humankind". Well, everything we have comes from God but how much comes to our table without being processed in some form by humankind? Most farmers use some type - organic or inorganic - of pesticide or herbicide. Then there are the industrial processes to which a lot of our food is subjected. There is human intervention at a variety of levels in our food chain, food processing, and food distribution. How can any marketer then use the word natural with honesty, clarity and exactitude?

Wholesome - How do we know? We don't know when the fruit and vegetables were picked. We seldom know where what we eat has come from, how far it has travelled, and how long it took to get to our table. What do we really know about nutrient content of our food when it gets to us? Can we take industrial processing of food for granted?

As consumers, we have allowed industrial methods of food processing and food distribution to enter our food production without much questioning. Basically, we like to purchase inexpensive food and we expect it to taste good, and we - at least in modern western industrial societies - expect the food to be available in the here and now, in season and out of season.

These factors are not the paramount ones we should be seeking when we are constructing a healthy and nutritious diet.

This is why labelling is so important: whether it is on fresh food or processed food; whether it is the unpackaged food purchased at a deli counter or the fresh food and vege purchased at farmers' and produce markets.

Consumers need to be savvy, demanding, and thoughtful of where their food comes from.

Take a look at food production in Australia. Be aware of how farmers are being squeezed by retail pricing and production costs and inputs. Be aware of how far agriculture and horticulture has retreated in this country and how we have allowed imports - even from the northern hemisphere - to invade our country and our food chain. And above all, let us all - producers and consumers - be aware of the ethics of food production and food consumption and the pressures both sides of the food chain place on humane standards. Why should animals suffer because of our demands for cheap, unseasonal, constant production?