Day 25 & 26 - Mummy, where does meat come from?

I was informed by my housemate that out at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on most evenings that Hari Krishna run a Food for Life program. Interested at the prospect of free vegan food i set out to explore further on Wednesday night. Much to my dismay, the guys there had wrapped up for the evening(Get there round 6 if you want a feed). Should time permit i will have to revisit them again. So i continued to trek down Enmore road and come across a Lebanese takeaway store Man^oosh.

They make tasty Zatar on the spot and for $2, you couldn't go wrong.

As stated earlier, my current reading is of "The Ethics of what We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I am still going through, but there are some really interesting points raised. The authors take on the task of identifying the chain from which the food that the consumer buys at the supermarket to the very source that it comes from. Aside from the inhumane treatment in which the livestock are handled and slaughtered, the authors additionally go about examining the resources expended to farm and produce for the population. The efforts to farm and produce commercial meat is by no means simplistic in nature.

In order to produce the meat you eat;

• vast areas of land and large quantities of fresh water are required to support the livestock and the feed that they eat.
• Antibiotic and growth enhancement drugs are needed to mitigate the risk of infection and accelerate production.
• The disposal of excrement/waste,
• transportation to abattoir
• and finally, packaging and delivery to the supermarkets to you the consumer.

What the authors impress upon the reader, is the demands that this has on our environment and the lack of foresight in understanding the ramifications. Climate change is the hot topic in recent years, yet clearly there are many underlying issues that are overlooked by the media and public. Clearance of forests to make way for farming, chemical and waste run off into rivers and lakes, contribution to air pollution in surrounding areas are just some examples that potentially should be brought to attention.
I have not been transformed into an overnight "greeny tree hugger vegan", but my interest has definitely been pricked in how i can contribute to eating sustainably.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Tomato and Pasta (leftover)
Dinner: Zatar - Oregon and Sesame, Bean Mix and Baby Spinach.

Total Cost: $4.05

Thursday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Bean Mix and Baby Spinach, 2 wholemeal buns
Dinner: Soup (last frozen pack from a few weeks ago)

Total Cost: $1.60

Photo Courtesy of flickr: agilitynut