David's Blog

The New York Times covered a, story on E. Coli contamination in ground beef.
Im sure everyone has heard a caution about how volatile this product is, but this article seriously puts things into perspective.
Taken in stride, Im sure only a small portion of people who ate the contaminated shipment of beef were infected. Your still more at risk when you get into your car each morning. Still, coupled with the serious health problems Americans have, most of which can be traced back to terrible diets, I have to ask myself. Why does everyone eat this stuff?

Along with that article was this diagram: Anatomy of a Burger.
Humor me and take a peak at where your burger comes from:

• Omaha
• Texas
• Uruguay
• and a company that treats their beef with… ammonia!?

And a couple more points, from the article:

• “Cargill, whose $116.6 billion in revenues last year made it the country’s largest private company”
• “Greater Omaha Packing, where some 2,600 cattle are slaughtered daily and processed in a plant the size of four football fields.”
• “It warms the trimmings, removes the fat in a centrifuge and treats the remaining product with ammonia to kill E. Coli.”

I’m a vegetarian, not because I think cows shouldn’t die to feed people. I’m a vegetarian because this system is completely insane! Beef should be expensive, if you eat a dead animal, you should feel it (at least in your wallet) The current process of beef production in our country is ridiculous! It is so completely warped it has gone beyond anything most people can imagine. (2600 cattle a day?)

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
-Mohandas Gandhi

Ive just completed a couple major updates to this blog

• Blog Changes will be posted to my Twitter
• Ive added Google Analytics to the site
• Added openid for outside users to easily post comments
• switched my email to david@edrifter.net

There’s still some refining to do, but its coming along.

Pickens County sets aside land for public gardens.

Living in New York years ago, I had a couple of friends who were all about raising their own veggies in small shallow plots of land tucked between buildings. It seemed like a futile act to me, and their plants never resembled the vibrant produce at the market place, but I still enchoraged them.
Everyone needs a hobby, something that makes them happy. I still like to paint small miniatures when I have the time, and even I admit it is almost pointless, almost.

Well, these public gardens have made their way into the rural mountains of North Georgia. Pickens county has set aside a small amount of land to be leased by residents who want to grow their own food, and don’t have the land to do it. It’s not a bad idea, but I can easily forsee a few problems.

For starters there will be a clash of two types of homegrown farmers;The Hungry Farmers, and the Organics.

The Hungry Farmers will want a high yield from their crop, they will no doubt try to grab up as much land as possible and plant as much of a high yield crop as possible. They will concentrate on hardy plants that require little maintenance, and because of the abundance of water in the vicinity, will rarely return to their plot, until harvest. Of course they will use pesticides, chemical, as well as hormonal and other animal product derivitaves such as; bone and/or blood meal. This will help their produce grow fast, hardy, and need the least amount of maintenance. “After all, we want the most out of our money.” They either have alot of mouths to feed, and work long shifts, or will be toting their produce to the local Sunday market to help pay for daycare. So who can blame them? The Organics will, and here’s why.

The Organics are aware of the inherent problems with supermarket produce, have a devoloped pallate, or just like to be independent and “green.” Some Organics, like the Hungry Farmers, are not exactly rich, and cannot neccesarily aford to pay the hefty markup on organic food. Others are simply looking for a rewarding outdoor environment to spend their days.

At first they will be overjoyed at this prospect to create their own tasty, naturally grown veggies, but they will soon come to odds with the rude, obtrusive, and poisoning Hungry Farmer. They will spend more time working their plot as the refugee weeds and insects from the nearby chemical warzone (Hungry Farmer’s plot) descend on their unprotected plants.

Of course Hungry Farmer will also be outraged on their inefective use of chemicals because the enemy is always so close at hand. Organics will complain of the contaminants carried by rain water down stream, and Hungry Farmers will be enraged at the Garden Nazi’s demands.

Of course after an entire summer of bickering, it will probably all be for nothing, after a group of teens steal into the garden before the new school year and tear it all to shreds. Thank goodness for kids, just don’t tell them where I keep my miniatures(in a box under my desk)