Lifestyle Hub

Have some ammonia with your beef? Maybe some E. coli too.

A few weeks ago there’s was another E coli outbreak, this time in beef treated with ammonia (it is treated with ammonia in an attempt to kill bacteria). [1] Anhydrous ammonia is the same chemical commonly found in floor cleaners, and can comprise up to 15% of many fast-food burgers, and in the ground beef that goes to the U.S. school lunch program.

Seventh Generation TV ad

Seventh Generation have a new ad for their environmentally safe cleaning products.

See their YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/SeventhGeneration#p/c/2AAC7791F096C6E7

Waterbeds for cows?

Island Dairy on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island, is giving their cows waterbeds! Apparently, cows who sleep on waterbeds give 10 – 20% more milk. And they also intend to play nice music to the cows while milking them, which will also result in more milk. Owner Bahman Sadeghi explains it this way: "Happy, healthy cows produce more milk."

Gingko Biloba: effective for seniors?

A major new study on the effectiveness of Gingko Biloba in reducing cognitive loss for seniors showed it was not effective. The January 6, 2010 online edition of the natural foods merchandiser [1] reported the results of the study published in the Journal of American Medicine. As with many mainstream studies, this appears to be aimed at finding alternative therapies ineffective.

Rising obesity, part 2

I reported in my December 14, 2009 blog on a recent study predicting that the effects of increasing obesity in the US are forecast to outweigh any benefits from continued reductions in smoking rates over the next decade. Now WebMD reports on this [1], saying that from 1993 to 2008, the proportion of smokers among U.S. adults declined by 18.5% while the proportion of obese adults increased 85%. Researchers say smoking had a bigger impact on deaths while obesity had a bigger effect on illness.

Oh great, new Oahu electric plant to be powered by animal fat

A Honolulu Advertiser article today (Wednesday, January 6, 2010) states, "Hawaiian Electric Co. said it has signed a contract for biodiesel produced from animal waste fat and cooking oil to power its new $137 million generating plant at Campbell Industrial Park."

He must come from the city!

Lavagirl really took exception to my blog about how to skin a cat, and laid into me, no holds bared, stating amongst other things that:

"Coming from a medical family - my father is a surgeon - I would argue with the extremist view the author purports.

Calling dissection "horrific" and "unbelievable" is easy to say from your armchair when you're not faced with some life threatening surgery coming up."

"Has the author ever had surgery? I would rather have a medical student train on a cat so s/he is better prepared to carve up MY body."

Molly Katzen becomes a “flexitarian”

I was disappointed to read that Molly Katzen, the famous vegetarian cookbook author of vegetarian bibles: The Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, has put out a new cookbook with recipes for beef!

Buy organic and save money!

It was great to see a mainstream news service promoting the consumption of organic foods today (Monday, January 4, 2010). The Honolulu Advertiser carried an article by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service extolling the virtues of organic foods.

Danish dolphin slaughter, part 2

Caitlin Rose made some great comments on my post about the dolphin slaughter in the Faroe Islands. She brought up several excellent points, the first being that the Faroese Islanders said: "… most people in the modern world have become so far removed from the harsh realities of animal food production that they have formulated unrealistic notions of how food actually gets to their tables.”