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| An early morning view of the farm from our cabin. |
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| The People Barn houses interactive educational displays, the gift shop, and the breakfast room! |
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| Our cabin at sunset. |
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| Blitzen gets some love. |
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
7/21/11
Farm Sanctuary
I recently returned from a week's vacation up in Watkins Glen, home of Farm Sanctuary's New York shelter.
Having participated in the annual Walk for Farm Animals for years, seeing that fundraising in action nearly made my heart explode. Seriously. There is nothing like looking into the eyes of a young cow, rescued from a stockyard at one-day old after failing to sell for $1, and knowing that you and your family and friends helped make his survival possible.
What's that you say? You'd like more animal pictures? Well, I always aim to please...(after the jump)
9/2/10
Ripples
I realize I've been on and on about consumption choices lately, but I think it's incredibly important and I've started straying from my sphere of like-minded bloggery goodness and I'm baffled by the lack of scope displayed in so many me-centric posts and comments. So I'd just like to say again, "Your choices affect others." Say it with me, one more time,
"Your choices affect others."
The cloth for your clothing was grown and processed by someone. Your clothes were made and shipped and sold by someone. Your food was grown and picked and shipped by someone. If you're not veg*n - your food used to be someone. And it was raised, slaughtered, butchered, packaged, shipped, and sold by someone. The same goes for your shoes, your music, your books, your toys, your knickknacks and pots and pans . . . . your everything. Our choices have far-reaching consequences.
So when someone comments on a post asking if people buy organic produce by asking, "Like, does it really matter if your banana, whose peel you're throwing away, is organic?" I say, yes. Yes, it does.
You can certainly argue that a sweatshop job is better than no job, or that migrant farm work is still work. However, the results of the United Farm Workers Take Our Jobs campaign seem to speak for themselves. With national unemployment still at nearly 10%, the UFW has not been overwhelmed with applications. Maybe because a bad job is a bad job? With a net worth of $8.2 billion , Phillip Knight (the CEO of Nike) is the 52nd richest man in the world He could probably afford to make sure his workers are paid a decent wage.
And that's the thing - yes a job and a wage is better than nothing. But this working for pennies an hour, without any rights or privileges, no sick time, no vacation, no bathroom breaks, in horrible, poisonous conditions . . . it's making other people incredibly wealthy. The choice isn't a terrible job or no job. That's a false dichotomy. There exists the third option of . . . a good job.
We are complicit in this and we, as consumers, can help to effect change. Every little bit helps. We can throw stones and make ripples. Enough of us can make waves.
"Your choices affect others."
The cloth for your clothing was grown and processed by someone. Your clothes were made and shipped and sold by someone. Your food was grown and picked and shipped by someone. If you're not veg*n - your food used to be someone. And it was raised, slaughtered, butchered, packaged, shipped, and sold by someone. The same goes for your shoes, your music, your books, your toys, your knickknacks and pots and pans . . . . your everything. Our choices have far-reaching consequences.
So when someone comments on a post asking if people buy organic produce by asking, "Like, does it really matter if your banana, whose peel you're throwing away, is organic?" I say, yes. Yes, it does.
You can certainly argue that a sweatshop job is better than no job, or that migrant farm work is still work. However, the results of the United Farm Workers Take Our Jobs campaign seem to speak for themselves. With national unemployment still at nearly 10%, the UFW has not been overwhelmed with applications. Maybe because a bad job is a bad job? With a net worth of $8.2 billion , Phillip Knight (the CEO of Nike) is the 52nd richest man in the world He could probably afford to make sure his workers are paid a decent wage.
And that's the thing - yes a job and a wage is better than nothing. But this working for pennies an hour, without any rights or privileges, no sick time, no vacation, no bathroom breaks, in horrible, poisonous conditions . . . it's making other people incredibly wealthy. The choice isn't a terrible job or no job. That's a false dichotomy. There exists the third option of . . . a good job.
We are complicit in this and we, as consumers, can help to effect change. Every little bit helps. We can throw stones and make ripples. Enough of us can make waves.
8/26/10
Speaking Out
I've written before on the death penalty and our prison system as it pertains to children and people of color. Anti-death penalty is another label (like vegan and pro-choice) that I am happy to use, a mantle I wear proudly. I have more experience with the justice and prison systems than most who know me would expect, and I think that this experience informs and shapes my veganism-as-anti-oppression philosophy. It is part of the reason I strive to buy organic and fairly traded produce and clothing, avoid retailers that rely on sweatshop and child labor, and buy handmade and local when possible. It's all connected and in this imperfect, hyper-commodified, capitalist world, I want my dollars to do good work.
I mention all of this only because of a disturbing dream I had last night. I was a lawyer working a trial in some German Expressionist courtroom. I have no idea the whys or wherefores, or even the outcome of the trial. The only thing that is still stark and clear in my mind is this moment: the judge, wild haired and crazy-eyed, stands and leans cartoonishly out over the bench at me. He points at me, all imperiousness. "Sometimes the only thing to speak to a man's innocence is that man. That does not negate the fact of his innocence. Ten years from now, when the lies are revealed and the truth is known, the world will look at you."
It was terrifying . . . and true.
I realized as I awoke, that I am far too much the armchair activist and, that I need to start speaking my mind more. Amongst friends, family, and colleagues, I often hold my tongue (which may seem surprising to those who know me!) in an effort to keep the peace. Sometimes in an effort to keep a powerful conversation from being derailed, sometimes in an effort to just let something hurtful, ignorant, or wrong-headed slip on by because I am too tired, anxious, or angry to deal with it. When it is the latter, I am not being honest with myself or with those I love. And I am certainly not doing all I can to make my small slice of the world a better place. So less commiserating with the converted in empty halls and behind closed doors and more honest engagement on issues that matter to me (in real and internet life).
I mention all of this only because of a disturbing dream I had last night. I was a lawyer working a trial in some German Expressionist courtroom. I have no idea the whys or wherefores, or even the outcome of the trial. The only thing that is still stark and clear in my mind is this moment: the judge, wild haired and crazy-eyed, stands and leans cartoonishly out over the bench at me. He points at me, all imperiousness. "Sometimes the only thing to speak to a man's innocence is that man. That does not negate the fact of his innocence. Ten years from now, when the lies are revealed and the truth is known, the world will look at you."
It was terrifying . . . and true.
I realized as I awoke, that I am far too much the armchair activist and, that I need to start speaking my mind more. Amongst friends, family, and colleagues, I often hold my tongue (which may seem surprising to those who know me!) in an effort to keep the peace. Sometimes in an effort to keep a powerful conversation from being derailed, sometimes in an effort to just let something hurtful, ignorant, or wrong-headed slip on by because I am too tired, anxious, or angry to deal with it. When it is the latter, I am not being honest with myself or with those I love. And I am certainly not doing all I can to make my small slice of the world a better place. So less commiserating with the converted in empty halls and behind closed doors and more honest engagement on issues that matter to me (in real and internet life).
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