The Farm is a source of community pride that has inspired neighborhood greening, backyard food gardening and food pantry agriculture projects.  It is a constant reminder to residents that better nutrition and healthy eating are within our grasp. Now, though, the project is threatened by development. Help to save the Bed-Stuy Farm by signing this petition.

Chuck Jolley, writing for the Cattle News Network, even questions Foer’s very identity, describing him as “supposedly a critically acclaimed author of several books of fiction.”

Jolley, a freelance writer based in Kansas City, writes Foer off as part of a “chattering cabal of rarely-been-west-of-the-Hudson River or east-of-the-Cal-Berkeley- campus pseudo-experts who travel on the same midnight train to an eco- purgatory where all food is suspect, meat and poultry is particularly deadly, and the evils of factory farming will force us into an unsustainable, doomed lifestyle that will eventually kill our planet.”

Slice through the snark and Jolley is spot on, describing the dilemmas posed by industrial agriculture in a nutty nutshell.

Meanwhile, his fellow factory farm defender Gary Truitt over at Hoosier Ag Today bemoans the fact that Foer’s book is “being hyped on CNN and quoted widely in liberal newspapers.” Truitt takes issue with Foer’s claim that industrial ag’s excessive reliance on antibiotics–an inevitable by-product of the unhealthy living conditions that are the norm in factory farm operations–is contributing to the rise of drug-resistant pathogens:

The arguments in this book are the same old tired accusations that have been made for decades: modern livestock practices are bad, farmers overmedicate their animals, and this will lead to bacteria that are resistant to drugs. These “super bugs” will then infect humans and kill us all. You would think a fiction writer could come up with something more original.

Unfortunately for Jolley, Truitt, and their pro-CAFO colleagues, the science is on Foer’s side (PDF). There is a very real debate about the role of factory farms in the current swine flu outbreak, as the New York Times noted on Monday. Tom Philpott of Grist has been doing some terrific reporting on the apparent link for months. Now, thanks to Foer’s mention of the topic on the Ellen Degeneres Show last week, the issue may finally get some play in the MSM.

The industrial meat industry accuses Foer of failing to do his homework. In fact, Foer sent multiple letters to Tyson Foods, “the world’s largest processor and marketer of beef, chicken, and pork,” as Foer notes, politely asking if he could pay a visit to some of their farms. Tyson never responded to any of Foer’s seven requests.

Perhaps this is simply the literary equivalent of Michael Moore showing up in the lobbies of corporate headquarters, doing his patented song and dance with the security guards, pestering them to let him go upstairs and have a friendly chat with The Powers That Be before they throw him and his camera crew out.

In any case, Foer’s approach proved to be a similar dead-end. To see for himself just what goes on inside a factory farm, Foer was obliged to seek the help of an animal welfare activist who snuck him into a massive poultry operation in the dead of night. Given the revolting conditions that Foer witnessed himself, and the accounts he provides from others with firsthand exposure to industrialized meat production, you can hardly blame Tyson for ignoring Foer’s requests.

As Foer points out, the most appalling aspect of the industrial meat industry is not the more sensational, flagrant animal abuse that’s been captured on undercover videos, but rather the chronic, systematic disregard for the fact that animals are living, breathing creatures not intended to be stacked like pallets or made to steep in their own waste on concrete.

Industrial agriculture has done its best to bend these poor creatures to its will, modifying them to better tolerate this style of farming.
In so doing, it has created genetic freaks like pigs who can’t survive outdoors and turkeys whose oversized breasts prevent natural reproduction. Can anything truly healthy come from a system where disease, deformity and environmental degradation are the default?

Foer’s intent with Eating Animals is clearly to start a conversation about whether it’s necessary, or justifiable, or ethical, to eat animals. He writes favorably of the farmers who rely on more humane and ecologically sound methods of meat production but concludes that, although these operations are infinitely preferable to their factory farm counterparts, some suffering is inevitably inflicted on the animals.

And the fact remains that this kind of pasture-based farming comprises such a tiny fraction of meat production in the U.S. that it’s not a viable alternative for most folks. As Foer writes:

We shouldn’t kid ourselves about the number of ethical eating options available to most of us. There isn’t enough nonfactory chicken produced in America to feed the population of Staten Island and not enough nonfactory pork to serve New York City, let alone the country. Ethical meat is a promissory note, not a reality. Any ethical- meat advocate who is serious is going to be eating a lot of vegetarian fare.

Eating Animals makes a compelling case for eliminating all factory farmed animal products from your diet:

We know, at least, that this decision will help prevent deforestation, curb global warming, reduce pollution, save oil reserves, lessen the burden on rural America, decrease human rights abuses, improve public health, and help eliminate the most systemic animal abuse in world history.

Ellen Degeneres noted that some folks will surely feel overwhelmed by the suggestion that they should abandon the cheap meat, dairy, eggs and poultry they count on to feed their families.

“How do we take one little step?” she asked Foer.

He answered:

“There is nothing more powerful than an informed conversation, so get informed..talk, talk, talk. Talk about it with your family, don’t take these things for granted, don’t let corporations lie to you, act on your values.”

I sometimes worry about being a “carnibore,” as the Ethicurean’s ever witty Bonnie Powell describes those of us who are only too happy to hector our friends on the merits of pastured meats versus factory farmed.

On the other hand, a friend had us over for lunch the other day and served a roasted chicken from a local farm. Another couple invited us for dinner and made a stew with beef and lamb from a butcher who sells only local, grass-fed meats. These are all friends who formerly bought their meats at the supermarket; their choices were a direct result of the many conversations we’ve had about this subject.

This is how a sea change starts, with a few tiny ripples.

Kai Olson-Sawyer is program manager for H2O Conserve, a program of GRACE.

On Tuesday November 10th, New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) will host an important public hearing about the threat posed by natural gas drilling to New York City’s drinking water.  The Catskill-Delaware watershed, which provides pristine drinking water for the city, is known as one of the largest and finest unfiltered supplies in the world. However, much of New York State’s lower tier, including the Catskill-Delaware watershed, also sits on the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale that extends from Tennessee through Pennsylvania to New York.

In dispute is whether the specialized method of drilling, called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for short, should be conducted in the heart of New York City’s watershed, putting its drinking water supply in danger. Besides the chemical-laden fracking fluid that goes into the ground, wastewater that is pulled up contains naturally occurring carcinogens like cadmium and benzene, as well as a gritty mixture of salt and minerals called Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which can decimate aquatic life in high quantities. This fluid is then shot at high pressure through a borehole in the ground to crack the bedrock and shale layers and release the natural gas. Fracking fluids can go from hundreds to thousands of feet underground to get to gas pockets. Some of the fluids and chemicals remain underground, potentially contaminating groundwater that flows into the New York City water system. Even more disturbing are findings in recent DEC tests that show unsafe levels of radioactive elements present in the wastewater .

New York City drinking water is pure as it travels unfiltered from the watershed to the tap. Any contamination in the watershed could necessitate a water filtration plant that carries a price tag of at least $10 billion (PDF) according to the NYS Department of Health . Many New Yorkers want to avoid a water filtration plant and the higher taxes and water rates that would be incurred.

Two major demands are expected to be made at Tuesday’s hearing by public officials concerned about the safety of the NYC drinking water supply:

• The DEC should extend the commenting period on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) from 60 days to 120 days in order to for concerned citizens to absorb the material and raise concerns over the 800-page technical document (more DEC information here).

• A ban on fracking in the Catskill-Delaware watershed which could be ordered by New York Governor Paterson and the DEC.

Through the draft SGEIS, the DEC has issued more environmental regulations on natural gas drilling than any other state, like requiring gas drillers to reveal the fracking fluid chemicals and creating 1,000-foot buffer zones around reservoirs and other water bodies in the watershed.  However, many problems and questions remain. For instance, will DEC staff, already overstretched, be able to monitor gas drillers as they should? I mention the DEC’s ability to monitor and perform due diligence because it has been called into question by a recent review of natural gas and petroleum drilling in New York State by Walter Hang of the environmental research firm, Toxics Targeting. What his review reveals is that since 1978, 270 drilling accidents occurred in New York State with the DEC only managing to catch 60 of them. From this assessment, Mr. Hang calls the regulatory oversight by the DEC “fundamentally inadequate.” More questions abound: Where and how is harmful wastewater going to be disposed? Who is going to treat this wastewater and where will it be done? What residents are going to want to live where such activities take place?

This is an incredibly hot and important topic for the residents of both New York City and New York State. Often unmentioned is the potential economic boon for Upstate residents who could  sell drilling rights on their property.  And the revenue generated for New York State government could help it meet budget shortfalls. We will be watching the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting and have a deeper look in future blog posts about what natural gas drilling means for New York’s water, environment and economy.

To learn more about the fracking process and the risks involved to the New York City  watershed, we highly recommend ProPublica’s excellent reporting here and here.

The global Meatless Monday movement continues to gain momentum. Britain, Brazil, Holland, Finland and Taiwan have already launched their programs. Now, we’d like to welcome the wonderful people of Canada and congratulate them as they begin their own Meatless Monday!

The Canadian Meatless Monday launched at this year’s Taste of Health convention in Vancouver, Canada. Taste of Health is an opportunity for those concerned with healthy, environmentally friendly food to come together. The convention’s 6,000 attendees welcomed Meatless Monday with open arms.

Nancy Callan, a member of the Board of Directors of Earthsave, and a Meatless Monday advocate, urges Canadians to join the movement:

Unlike many of the solutions to global warming that require government action, Meatless Monday is a tangible personal action that every Canadian can easily embrace. More greenhouse gasses can be prevented by going meatless one day a week than by eating locally seven days a week.

Meatless Monday is quickly gaining popularity in Canada and all Canadians can be part of it! Encourage your friends, family and local restaurants to go meatless on Monday. You can also get involved by contacting the campaign. Remember too that it’s easy to have a Meatless Monday no matter where you live! Sign up for the Meatless Monday pledge to improve both your health and that of the planet!

Processing —> Diabetes? Diets high in processed meats “may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by 40 per cent, according to a new meta-analysis from Norway and the US.” This article suggests that nitrites used in processing may be the culprit.

Ohio passes Issue 2  Will other states follow suit by instating “livestock care standards boards,” blocking groups like HSUS from introducing CAFO rules like California’s Prop 2?  Time will tell.

No Prosecution in Peanut Butter Case  Almost a year later, no charges in the salmonella outbreak that killed 9 people and sickened hundreds, despite evidence that CEO Stewart Parnell and other higher ups at the company knew about the contamination.  Victims of the outbreak are outraged.

Strange Bedfellows Following up on his recent interest in meat reduction, Glenn Beck has seized an unlikely opportunity to partner up with Ingrid Newkirk, CEO of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, not in an effort to combat climate change, but to bash Al Gore.  Warning: this video may induce uncontrollable eye rolling.

Swine Flu Bailout According to NBC, amid some panic over a dearth of vaccines, many Wall St. groups have received the sought-after doses out of turn.  SEIU, which is trying to get the financial institutions to donate theirs, points out that Citibank and Goldman Sachs “have received 1,400 doses between them.”

Swine Flu. At a Hog “Farm.” A commercial hog herd has tested positive for H1N1 in Indiana. The USDA is not disclosing the name of the facility or even the town, “in order to ensure continued high levels of participation in swine surveillance efforts, and because this is not a food safety or public health risk.”

Jeremy Piven Eats Pork, Gets Swine Flu Just kidding, folks. But it seems like everything this guy eats leads him to fall victim to some obscure health problem.  Now, he’s claiming that 12 cups of soy milk a day caused him to grow breasts.

Good Food in the Garden State In Newark, corner stores are getting a makeover and filling up with fresh fruits and vegetables.

One Problem with Bt The New York Times and USA Today both have stories out this week about a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the gist of which is that many (around 25%) farmers who grow GMO corn are not playing by rules requiring them to plant 1/5 of their acres with non-Bt corn, to help ensure that insects don’t grow immune to the Bt toxins.

Peter Hanlon is the Outreach Associate for Network for New Energy Choices, a program of GRACE.  This post was originally published at newenergychoices.org.

Back in the waning days of August, Elizabeth Kolbert wrote an article in The New Yorker complaining that Colin Beavan, aka No Impact Man, and other similar-minded writers experimenting with strict eco-friendly lifestyles were nothing more than disingenuous hucksters, pointlessly updating Henry David Thoreau’s own insincere two-year retreat into the woods.

In other words, it was all just a stunt.

Needless to say, the article launched many a blog response. But missing from the fallout was a simple question: What’s wrong with a few stunts? Marketers swear by them and, if well orchestrated, they can hold the public’s attention for a few precious moments. Sometimes they can even help inspire a movement.

And a movement appears more and more necessary based on mounting evidence that the public’s understanding of climate change is headed in the wrong direction. First, a national poll revealed a 20 percent drop between 2007 and 2009 in the number of Americans who think the world’s climate is getting warmer. A subsequent survey reported strong public support for a cap-and-trade proposal, only to be rebutted by another poll released the very next day finding much weaker public support for greenhouse gas emission reduction laws. Even worse, public concern about, and even belief in, climate change clearly showed a downward trend.

Public surveys don’t exist in a vacuum, of course, so an unseasonably cool East Coast summer and the ceaseless hum of climate change science deniers may have affected these readings. Hell, even Jon Stewart seemed confused about climate change solutions last week.

So why not try a few marketing gimmicks to break through the misunderstanding? Perhaps you’re a fan of Greenpeace’s banner-dropping skills. Maybe you prefer the Maldivian government’s underwater cabinet meetings that demonstrated the potential devastation of rapid sea level rise on the low-lying island nation. Or if sinking isn’t your concern, how about melting? The Nepalese Cabinet plans on holding a meeting at the Mt. Everest base camp to highlight the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. The Yes Men’s culture-jamming exploits are hard to ignore, whether they’re pretending to be the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reversing its stance on climate legislation or tumbling down the front steps of the U.S. Capitol dressed in “Survivaballs.”  Perhaps the best strategy is a tad less post-modern, like the International Climate Day of Action’s 5,200 events organized by concerned citizens in 181 countries. Or, maybe all we need are some supermodels stripping for the sake of climate change awareness.

And speaking of nakedness, PETA for one has provided a few examples of how not to produce an effective stunt. Nudity and blood-and-guts imagery might get you a photo op, but does it inspire support or just create a distraction? An event that is clearly connected to, and does not overshadow, the message takes the “stupid” out of “stupid publicity stunt.” So holding cabinet meetings at the bottom of the ocean or on top of mountains to demand that the international community get moving on climate change policies? Perfect! Attempting to glue your hand to the Prime Minister to protest a new airport, and in turn greenhouse gasses emitted by the aviation industry? Not so great.

Whatever the technique, don’t discount the stunt. Sure, Thoreau left his cabin and visited Concord, Mass. almost every day, so he wasn’t exactly living off of the land. But despite Thoreau’s critics, Walden’s celebration of simple living with nature has endured and become many Americans’ first point of reference for environmentalism. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and scientific analyses may supply crucial data and dire warnings, but they alone aren’t very effective at inspiring a movement. That requires some event, some moment, some experiment – some stunt – that will capture our collective imagination.

The candidates had diverse backgrounds with respect to food policy in Brooklyn. Joe Nardiello (Republican), born and raised in Brooklyn has been a Park Slope Food Co-op member for the past five years. Brad Lander (Democrat) attended the Brooklyn Food Conference, and worked on development of East NY farms, which is a model of inner city farming and food organizing. David Pechefsky (Green) has a direct familial connection with farming as his mom grew up on their family’s farm in Kansas.  He is passionate about creating a real “food democracy”.

Each candidate was asked to present their position on initiatives currently before the city council, first among these the proposed Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. FRESH would help bring supermarkets to underserved neighborhoods by offering zoning and financial incentives to property owners, developers and grocery store operators. However, the legislation does not address the quality of the produce that would be sold, for example, only the quantity, which raises some concerns. Lander expressed support for supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods as a means of promoting public health.  He would like to see standards set for food quality. Pechefsky prefered alternatives to the supermarket model, such as CSAs and co-ops, and encouraged the idea of seeking a range of ways to get healthy food into city neighborhoods.

The second council initiative discussed was the Paid Sick Time Act. This bill would require private employers to provide paid sick time to employees in New York City, including restaurant workers. Restaurant workers often can’t afford to stay home because they are paid laid low wages and sometimes lose their jobs if they take time off.  As a result, many workers in the food industry go to work when sick, increasingly the likelihood of spreading illness, which is a public health concern. Lander and Pechefksy both expressed support for the bill. However, Nardiello expressed concern for the small business owners, stating that giving workers paid sick time will cut into the already tight budgets of these small businesses.

On the topic of school food, Lander explained that the city council can’t direct the school system’s purchasing decisions and thus can’t mandate that food from local farms be sourced into school kitchens. He recommended that teachers and parents organize  grassroots/community campaigns to influence the schools directly. Pechefsky agreed, saying that the city council responds to the movement and when pressure is applied in a certain area, people in power will react. At the beginning of the debate, P.S. 10 Principal Laura Scott noted that the school has brought in nutritionists to do workshops with the kids and that the “Healthy Steps” committee, which co-sponsored the debate, hosts a lecture series, and health expo during the school year. These are small steps that can  effect a school’s population immediately, rather than waiting for policy change.

I was eagerly anticipating the candidates’ answers to the questions Nancy Romer (member of the Brooklyn Food Coalition ) posed: “What are your top three demands from the Brooklyn Food Coalition? In terms of grassroots pressure, what should community members be working on to influence food policy?”

I am disappointed to say that there weren’t many concrete actions recommended by the candidates. On the one hand, it’s great to see council candidates talking about these issues and there were certainly important topics that were addressed. However, at times it seemed that there were no thorough answers from any of the three candidates. In fact, the newly elected Lander said that he doesn’t think he should be telling people what to work on. When Lander takes office in January, it will be necessary to show him that food issues affect the lives of New Yorkers in countless ways. This debate told us that grassroots efforts will be critical to steering legislation and policy change. Thanks to the organization of the Brooklyn Food Coalition and like-minded grassroots groups, it seems local food policy, which is critical to the future health and well-being of New Yorkers will be dictated by the demands of the people.

Of course, hardly anybody ever does this; in fact, we spend an absurd amount of time agonizing over what to order, given how quickly today’s soup du jour is destined to become tomorrow’s poop du jour.

And yet, though we’re willing to engage in a lengthy debate on the respective merits of a Reuben versus a BLT, many of us won’t give equal time to choices that have reverberations for years or even decades.

Whom you choose to represent you–or what legislation you decide to support–can be a matter of life or death, literally. For example, thousands of Americans die needlessly each year from preventable food-borne illnesses because too many of the elected officials we’ve entrusted to represent our interests have opted to safeguard corporate coffers rather than protect citizens.

We all have to go, sometime, but who wants to die from eating E. coli- tainted ground beef, as two more unfortunate folks apparently have in the latest outbreak, which will likely cause more deaths before it runs its course? And how many people will be killed by the swine flu epidemic because of government policies that failed to protect us?

I’m not talking about the vaccine shortage. Clearly, that doesn’t help, but what’s equally unhelpful is our failure to provide paid sick days for every worker. Do you really want the guy who assembles your sandwich or the day care worker who diapers your little darling to show up for work even when they’re carrying a contagious disease?

That scenario is all too common, as Tuesday’s New York Times reports:

…workers who deal with the public, like waiters and child care employees, are jeopardizing others by reporting to work sick because they do not get paid for days they miss for illness.

Our government agencies and employers advise us to stay home when we’ve got a contagious illness. But until Congress enacts legislation to guarantee paid sick days to every worker, millions of wheezing, sniffling workers will drag themselves into the workplace despite feeling awful because the prospect of losing a day’s wages makes them feel even worse.

Legislators have addressed this problem in San Francisco and Washington, but, as the Times notes, “similar measures face obstacles in Congress.” Still, despite pressure from powerful business groups to squelch such measures, more than 100 representatives have signed on to sponsor a bill “that would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide seven paid sick days a year.” Here in New York City a similar initiative has picked up steam and looks poised to pass.

And that’s just one example of the kind of legislation that has an impact on how well equipped we are to handle potentially fatal health threats. What about taking steps to prevent contagious diseases like the H1N1 virus from occurring in the first place?

You’d think our health agencies would be hard at work attempting to determine the source of the swine flu outbreak. But as muckraker extraordinaire Tom Philpott noted over at Grist recently, our government has shown shockingly little interest in tracing the origins of the H1N1 virus, which, Philpott notes, is suspected of being linked to industrial hog operations.

Acclaimed author Jonathan Safran Foer, whose latest book, Eating Animals, is a measured but merciless indictment of industrialized meat production, makes the connection unequivocally. As Foer wrote in an op-ed for CNN last week:

Today, the factory farm-pandemic link couldn’t be more lucid. The primary ancestor of the recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak originated at a hog factory farm in America’s most hog-factory-rich state, North Carolina, and then quickly spread throughout the Americas.

It was in these factory farms that scientists saw, for the first time, viruses that combined genetic material from bird, pig and human viruses. Scientists at Columbia and Princeton Universities have actually been able to trace six of the eight genetic segments of the most feared virus in the world directly to U.S. factory farms.

Foer notes that the rampant use of antibiotics in factory farming is widely thought to be a significant factor in the creation of drug- resistant pathogens:

Study after study has shown that antimicrobial resistance follows quickly on the heels of the introduction of new drugs on factory farms….

Today, institutions as diverse as the American Medical Association; the Centers for Disease Control; the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Sciences; and the World Health Organization have linked nontherapeutic antibiotic use on factory farms with increased antimicrobial resistance and called for a ban.

It hasn’t happened, though, because, as Foer points out, “The factory farm industry, allied with the pharmaceutical industry, has more power than public-health professionals.”

Our state health departments have been doing an abysmal job when it comes to tackling food-borne illnesses, as Reuters recently reported. How can we demand better from our government officials?

On Election Day, we have the power to support the politicians and policies that are dedicated to protecting us from potentially lethal business practices. Today in Ohio, for example, voters have the opportunity to weigh in on Issue 2, a measure intended to protect the industrialized farming methods that Foer, Philpott, and a wide range of experts have cited as contributing to the disease outbreaks that are becoming all too common.

So, before you decide to blow off that trip to your local polling booth, consider the possibility that you may well be passing up a once-a-year opportunity to support legislation that actually has an impact on your life and the lives of those around you.

Think of your ballot as a list of menu options. Would you like your burger with, or without, deadly pathogens?

There seems to be a lot of chatter lately about the nutritional value of meatless meals. While some agree limiting meat is a healthy choice, others worry that plant-based fare won’t provide adequate protein. Truth is, by having a Meatless Monday, you not only are nourishing your body with sufficient and diverse protein sources, you’re taking strides toward better health.

During a recent USDA press conference, a reporter asked the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack how he felt about Meatless Monday in Baltimore City Public Schools:

Mr. Secretary, I was wondering if it bothered you… that school districts like Baltimore, Maryland institute Meatless Mondays… not letting the children have protein in the diet by doing that.

The misconception that meat is the only source of protein is a common one. But in truth, protein can be adequately obtained from beans, nuts, whole grains and vegetables. In most parts of the world meat isn’t the primary source of protein in the average diet. Indeed, globally, only 30% of protein is derived from animal sources!

Dr. Marion Nestle, a nationally renowned food expert and professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, agrees that a proper nutritional balance can be easily obtained through plant-based meals:

All proteins are made up of the same amino acids. ALL. No exceptions. The difference between animal and vegetable proteins is in the content of certain amino acids. If vegetable proteins are mixed, the differences get made up. Even if they aren’t mixed, all you need to do to get the right amount of low amino acids is to eat more of that food. There is no “need” for animal proteins at all.

Melissa Mahoney, the dietician responsible for the nutrition of the Baltimore City Public Schools, selected Meatless Monday as a positive way to introduce healthy options to the students she serves. Each Meatless Monday meal provides more protein than the USDA requires. The menu consists of beans, milk, grains and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, ensuring that the students “don’t lose out on a single gram.”

Further, the children who attend Baltimore City Public Schools are learning the value of a varied diet firsthand. Not only do they enjoy a multitude of options in the cafeteria, they discuss nutrition in their science and health classes. According to The Atlantic, “…in the elementary and middle school grades, teachers are talking about Meatless Monday in relation to the food pyramid.” The diverse program developed there ensures the student body will be capable of making nutritionally sound choices as they move into adulthood.

You too can explore the limitless possibilities of plant-based protein! Here is just a short list of protein sources you can enjoy this Meatless Monday, complete with a recipe to get you started:

Peanut Butter- 4 grams per tbsp
Peanut Banana Pudding

Broccoli- 4 grams in 1 cup
Eastern Vegetable Noodle Soup

Soymilk- 7 grams in 1 cup
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Tofu- 11 grams in 5 oz
Spinach Tofu Curry

Lentils- 18 grams in 1 cup
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Welcome to Farmville, Pop: 62 million If your experience with the Facebook sensation is anything like mine, it’s been limited to “hiding” notices about friends’ wandering cows, and apparently, we’re missing out on something.  Apparently, online faux farmers outnumber actual farmers 60 to 1.

Iceland says bæbæ to the Golden Arches The collapse of the krona has led McDonald’s to shut down operations throughout the country, as it’s no longer feasible to fly in ingredients.

US says hello to more imported produce? The California drought may force the issue.

Frightfully disgusting The Consumers Union wants the FDA to outlaw the disturbing practice of feeding “poultry litter” (chicken manure, feathers, bedding material and often, random foreign objects like rocks and dead rodents) to cattle.  Should they really have to ask? One last spooky fact: because it’s legal for chickens to be fed meat and other material from cows, this could lead to an upswing in mad cow disease.

An appointment with controversy Environmentalists are up in arms about Obama’s nomination of Islam Siddiqui, as Chief Agriculture Negotiator.  Siddiqui is a former lobbyist and current VP for science and regulatory affairs at Crop Life.  Can you say “conflict of interest?”

Biggest Losers visit WH Garden The remaining contestants on the weight loss reality show hit up the White House garden recently, the WHO Farm reports.  The episode will air Nov. 3.

Taxing carnivores? Pete Singer makes a case for sin tax on meat, though he fails to acknowledge the fact that there are farmers out there practicing more sustainable methods of meat production.

Are you a “fan” of the USDA? True to her word, the increasingly modern Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will host her second live Facebook chat on November 5 at 3pm.