Dairy cows

I sure do not want to be a hypocrite.  Let me start this post by stating I AM NOT VEGAN.  I deeply admire those who are, and aspire to be.  What then, you ask, is holding you back?  This is going to sound extremely shallow and selfish, but honestly?  Time.  I have not had the time to build a cache of vegan recipes.  I feel like it will take a lot of preparation, which I also worry I do not have time for.  However - I am slowly working on using less dairy in my cooking (substituting almond milk for cow's milk, for example), in the hopes that I can always work towards a more vegan lifestyle.  I was under the false impression until recently that milk from organic cows was milk from humanely-treated cows.  Not so.  So after spending, I'm sure, thousands of dollars on organic milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and other dairy, I am now at a crossroads.  Now that I can't feel good about eating my organic dairy, I feel much more pressure to make the transition.  Why, you ask?  Here is the long explanation - read as much as you are willing.

From a PETA email:

Did you realize that nearly all cows used for milk are born with tissue that should develop into horns? That's really bad news for cows born into the dairy industry, which tends to pack animals into cramped spaces where horns aren't easily accommodated. So can you guess what happens to the cows?

In order to keep the horns from developing, many farmers press red-hot irons into their heads and burn this sensitive tissue out. While this happens, the calves bellow and thrash in pain. For grown cows whose horns have already fused with their skulls, farmers may use blades or hand saws, cutting or sawing away until the horns come off, often leaving gaping, blood-squirting holes.


Calves rarely receive anesthesia for the hideously painful dehorning procedures and may suffer in agony for hours after the mutilation occurs. Full-grown cows can take up to three months to heal. The calves don't understand why they're being tortured, and they can't do anything to lessen the intense pain.

There is a solution, and it's simple: The dairy industry can breed for naturally hornless cows, as most of the beef industry already does. But the most effective way for consumers to save cows from the barbarity of factory-farming is by choosing from the many readily available vegan milks, ice creams, and cheeses instead of those that come from suffering calves and cows.

Be an informed consumer. Watch PETA's new video about dehorning now, share it with others, and pledge to go vegan today.

Many people are surprised to learn that nearly all cows used for milk are born with tissue that will develop into horns. That's because most farmers remove the sensitive horn tissue or the horns themselves from the cows' skulls using searing-hot irons, caustic chemicals, blades, or hand saws.

Animals often struggle violently and have to be restrained manually or in a head bail (a metal apparatus for restraining a cow by the neck) during the painful dehorning process, which is frequently performed without anesthetics or painkillers and results in severe pain that lasts for hours and can become chronic.

Click here to watch some video (warning - disturbing to watch).

This procedure is extremely traumatic to young calves, who are often just a few weeks old when their horn buds are burned or cut out of their heads. Older cows fare even worse. Dehorning in mature cattle usually requires amputation of the horn, which has already attached itself to the skull. Tools used for this procedure include saws, sharp wires, or gruesome guillotine dehorners, which also slice off the surrounding skin. Horn removal in older animals can lead to post-operative problems of hemorrhage, tissue necrosis, bone fracture, sinusitis, and even death. The wound caused by this amputation can take three months or more to heal.

Farmers are fully aware that dehorning is painful, and it is up to the industry to phase out this excruciating mutilation. One simple solution is to breed for naturally hornless cows. A single gene determines whether or not a cow will have horns, and this approach has proved effective in the beef industry.

However, the easiest and most effective way for consumers to save cows from the misery of factory farms is to stop buying cow's milk and other dairy products and choose instead from the dozens of vegan milks, cheeses, yogurts, coffee creamers, and ice creams available in grocery stores. Browse PETA's website for hundreds of free vegan recipes, and pledge to be vegan today!

COWS USED FOR THEIR MILK

Cows produce milk for the same reason that humans do: to nourish their young. In order to force the animals to continue giving milk, factory farm operators typically impregnate them using artificial insemination every year. Calves are generally taken from their mothers within a day of being born—males are destined for veal crates or barren lots where they will be fattened for beef, and females are sentenced to the same fate as their mothers.

After their calves are taken away from them, mother cows are hooked up, several times a day, to milking machines. These cows are genetically manipulated, artificially inseminated, and often drugged to force them to produce about four and a half times as much milk as they naturally would to feed their calves.

Animals are often dosed with bovine growth hormone (BGH), which contributes to a painful inflammation of the udder known as "mastitis." (BGH is used widely in the U.S. but has been banned in Europe and Canada because of concerns over human health and animal welfare.) According to the industry's own figures, between 30 and 50 percent of dairy cows suffer from mastitis, an extremely painful condition.

A cow's natural lifespan is about 25 years, but cows used by the dairy industry are killed after only four or five years. An industry study reports that by the time they are killed, nearly 40 percent of dairy cows are lame because of the intensive confinement, the filth, and the strain of being almost constantly pregnant and giving milk. Dairy cows' bodies are turned into soup, companion animal food, or low-grade hamburger meat because their bodies are too "spent" to be used for anything else.

VEAL CALVES

Male calves—"byproducts" of the dairy industry—are generally taken from their mothers when they are less than 1 day old. Many are shipped off to barren, filthy feedlots to await slaughter. Others are kept in dark, tiny crates where they are kept almost completely immobilized so that their flesh stays tender. In order to make their flesh white, the calves are fed a liquid diet that is low in iron and has little nutritive value. This heinous treatment makes the calves ill, and they frequently suffer from anemia, diarrhea, and pneumonia.

Frightened, sick, and alone, these calves are killed after only a few months of life so that their flesh can be sold as veal. All adult and baby cows, whether raised for their flesh or their milk, are eventually shipped to a slaughterhouse and killed.

The good news is that removing dairy products from your diet is easier than ever. Today there is a multitude of nondairy "dairy" products on the market, such as soy, rice, and almond milk and soy ice cream. Check out a list of our favorite dairy and meat alternatives.

And, please, visit this link.  As a mother, this really tugged at my heart strings.

So - are any of you vegan?  Or do you have some tried-and-true vegan recipes at least?  If so, please comment and share!  Help me move towards a more vegan lifestyle!

Why I am a vegetarian (and why, sometimes, I'm not)

I am a vegetarian.  I have been since I was 15 - that makes it 17 years now.  So - for over half of my life I have abstained from eating meat.  Well - mostly.  But more on that in a moment.

I have always had a soft heart for animals.  My heart bleeds when I hear a story about animal abuse.  So it was only natural that, as I grew older and learned where the meat I ate came from, I was turned off by it.  Around the age of thirteen I started toying with the idea of giving up meat in my diet, but my mother was adamantly opposed to it, worried that her growing daughter would miss much-needed nutrients and not develop properly.  However, as time went on, my conviction grew, and finally she agreed to let me try it - with one caveat.  I had to see a dietician in the early stages, to make sure I was eating properly.

So, at age 15, in the year 1995, I decided that my New Year's Resolution would be to cut meat out of my diet.  Gradually at first - I planned to allow myself meat 2-3 times per week.  However, upon making my resolution known, I never again felt the need to eat it, had a craving for it, so just like that - cold turkey - I became a vegetarian.



I did it because I didn't want to be part of the populace who inflicted cruelty upon animals.  Not because I think it is cruel to eat animals; I have no problem with people who humanely (and legally) harvest animals from the wild for meat, or who raise meat in a humane and sustainable way to eat.  However, the meat produced for our grocery store shelves is anything but raised this way (a series of posts on that to follow soon).  And I did not want to play a role in their horrible treatment.

After seventeen years of being a vegetarian, reading more on the subject, earning two science degrees, and becoming generally more worldly than I was when I was fifteen, I have become further convinced that this lifestyle is the right way to go, and have more reasons as to why.

1) Whether cage confinement of chickens, mass crowding on feedlots of cattle, poor treatment of pigs, or lack of compassion towards dairy cows, the conventional method for raising mass amounts of meat for human consumption is cruel and inhumane.

2) Raising feed animals is extremely environmentally destructive.  Some examples are in order (with sources at the end of the post):

Livestock accounts for as much greenhouse gas emissions as transportation.

 

The sheer amount of pollution coming out of feed lots is devastating to the local environment (air and water).

 

The production of food animals consumes a vast amount of natural resources (such as water, fossil fuels, and topsoil).

 

Vast tracts of rainforest are being clear-cut to make room for raising food animals, erasing valuable wildlife habitat and causing species endangerment and extinction.

 

Switching to a plant-based diet is the single most important thing one person can do to help the environment.

2)  Antibiotics given to animals are creating drug-resistant strains of bacteria.

3) Meat is an extremely inefficient way to feed people.  There is enough food on this planet (currently, at least, though if we continue growing at this rate...) to feed the entire population.  However, there are the haves and the have-nots.  Many survive on one meal a day, if they are lucky.  And they do not have meat in that meal.  Few survive on a diet consisting largely of meat.  And it has been reported that you could feed ten people on the amount of grain it takes to produce enough beef to feed one (not to mention the amount of water livestock uses, when water is so precious and scarce in many places).  When there are so many in this world who are starving - how can one consciously eat meat?  I can't.

I strongly suggest you read this article in the New York Times titled "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler".  I found it staggering.

But to revisit the "why sometimes I'm not" statement...

I can't honestly state that in 17 years I have had no meat.  The first time I was 26 (11 years after becoming a veggie) and on a tropical ecology course in Costa Rica.  We were staying at a high mountain cloud-forest farm where the owner raised trout on his sustainably-modeled eco-farm.  Because I strongly believed in what he was doing, I opted to taste some of his home-grown trout.

The second time was when my husband was about to throw out some deer chili that his best friend had made (with a deer he had shot) because he didn't like it.  I hated the thought of that deer going to waste, so for the second time made a conscious decision to eat some of the meat.  I wasn't contributing to the take of the animal, and it had lived a good life - I could feel good about it.

The third time was shortly after.  My husband (who is a hunter, though VERY selective and ALWAYS humane, only taking certain shoot-to-kill shots) made some deer jerky, and really wanted me to try it.  I did.

After that, I quit counting, though I can say it has been less than ten times I have partaken.  And only in circumstances where the meat was humanely taken, and when it was not taken on my behalf (in other words, the animal would have died regardless).  I never purchased it, contributing to the demand for food animals.

I am not raising my daughter vegetarian.  I want that to be a choice she makes.  I do not feed her a large amount of meat, and when I do, it is always organic, environmentally friendly, and humanely raised.  Wild-caught Alaskan salmon, organic free-range chicken, local grass-fed organic beef, etc.  And sometimes she doesn't finish it.  And lately, I've been known to take the last couple of bites, rather than throw it in the trash (after, of course, I've frozen and preserved and reheated and just feel I can't do it anymore).

Because, I do NOT have a problem with people eating meat.  As long as it's humanely grown and harvested, and grown with minimal impact on the environment.  However - by definition, it is hard on the environment, even when that effect is maximally minimized, and it does use resources that could be more evenly distributed to the world's hungry.  So, for this reason, even if you decide not to be vegetarian, I encourage you to eat less meat.



Thus, I begin my weekly series of "Meatless Monday" posts.  Every Monday I will post a vegetarian recipe.  Hopefully, you will give some of them a try (or other tried-and-true veggie recipes you have) and try to go meatless, at least once a week!

If you partake in Meatless Mondays, I would love to know!  Please leave your comments!  And, to get you started, here is a link to past veggie recipes I have already posted!

Sources (I encourage you to take a look for some sobering statistics):

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/the-environmental-impact-of-a-meat-based-diet/

http://www.earthsave.org/environment/foodchoices.htm

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/beef/environmental_impacts/

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/meat/review.php

Shot at Life

The United Nations Foundation supports a campaign entitled Shot at Life, in which they aim to use immunization to save more than 2.5 million children's lives each year.  Isn't it amazing, to think that for only $20 (probably about half of what it takes to fill your gas tank) you could literally SAVE the life of a child?  That's right.  It has already saved the lives of at least 6.4 million people worldwide.



Check out this infographic on the power of vaccines, because it is - well - powerful.  And click here for even more information.

Add your voice to the movement!  Check out their homepage here.

Email Congress and tell them to support global vaccine funding - it only takes a few seconds!

DONATE!  It is amazing what such a SMALL AMOUNT can do!  Check it out!

And if you feel compelled to do more - read here.

And a WAY cool event going on this month is Blogust - simply by going to a different blog each day and leaving a post, your comment will donate another $20 to save a life!  I challenge you to go - every day!

What to splurge on when it comes to organic

I have been a proponent of organic food for about 5 years now, but got really serious about it when I got pregnant in January of 2010.  Many people find it overwhelming, however, to change their eating habits drastically.  If you'd like to start slowly, here are some good starting points.



An MSN article titled The Dirty Dozen: Top 12 Foods to Eat Organic suggests starting with the following, and gives the reasons why.  They state "Not all of us can afford to go 100% organic. The solution? Focus on just those foods that are laden with the highest amounts of pesticides, chemicals, additives and hormones and deploy your organic spending power on buying organic versions of these whenever possible."

Meat

There's the likelihood that chicken, pork, and cow feed is grown with the help of pesticides, antibiotics and chemicals. Similar to milk and milk-based dairy products, many chemical pesticides could end up in the animal, which may end up in you.

It's been widely reported that meat has higher concentrations of pesticides than plants, but the Environmental Protection Agency says that isn't so. Their findings suggest that "meat does not contain higher levels of pesticides than plants" and go on to say that "In general, meat contains much lower concentrations of pesticides than plant products. Moreover, pesticide residues detected in fruits and vegetables are generally at least ten times lower than what is legally allowed under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act."

(Note from TWK - this may be true, however, chemicals concentrate in fat, so whenever you eat animal products, especially fatty ones such as red meat and whole milk, you are getting larger doses of these concentrated chemicals.)

Milk

The fat in dairy products is another haven for pesticides, antibioltics, and bovine growth hormones. These get passed on to you through commercial milk, cheese, and butter. Organic dairies do not use chemicals or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST.

Coffee

Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don't regulate the use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the Fair Trade Certified label on the coffee package or can; it will give you some assurance that chemicals and pesticides were not used on the plants. It will also mean that fair prices were paid for the end product in support of the farm that supplied the coffee, and that the farm workers are treated fairly.

Peaches

Forty-five different pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Watermelon, tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit.

Apples

Scrubbing and peeling a fruit doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely so it's best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Organic apples taste sweeter than conventionally grown, too. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Watermelon, bananas, and tangerines.

Sweet Bell Peppers

Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're one of the most heavily sprayed vegetables out there and may be coated with nearly 40 commonly used pesticides meant to keep them insect-free. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Green peas, broccoli, and cabbage.

Celery

Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the twenty-nine different chemicals that are used on conventional crops. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Broccoli, radishes, and onions.

Strawberries

On average, strawberries receive a dose of up to 500 pounds of pesticides per acre. If you buy strawberries out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that use less-than-stringent regulations for pesticide use. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Blueberries, kiwi, and pineapples.

Lettuces

Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

Grapes

Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically. Vineyards can be sprayed with 35 different pesticides during different growth periods during the season and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's permeable thin skin. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Blueberries, kiwi, and raspberries.

Potatoes

America's popular spud ranks highest for pesticide residue. It may also be tainted by fungicides added to the soil for growing. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Eggplant, cabbage, and earthy mushrooms.

Tomatoes

The standard regimen of pesticides used on conventionally raised tomatoes numbers 30. Their easily punctured skins are no match for chemicals that will eventually permeate the whole tomato. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: Green peas, broccoli, and asparagus.

And when should you NOT worry about buying organic?

"If the cost of buying all organics isn't within your budget, fear not. Check out The Daily Green's top ten list of fruit and vegetables you don't need to buy organic, with tips for buying, cleaning, storing, and using them in delicious recipes."

For yet another source, from Shine: 11 Things You Should Buy Organic (and this one goes beyond just food):

By now, we all know there's a benefit to buying some stuff organic. But these days you're faced with the option of getting everything organic-from fruits and veggies to mattresses and clothing. You want to do right by your body, for sure, but going the all-natural route en masse can be pricey.

So we wondered: What's really essential for our health? That's why we came up with this definitive list. Here's what should be in your cart-and what you don't have to worry about.

Beef
You've probably read plenty of stories about the risks of eating chicken. But the most important protein to buy organic may well be beef. "Research suggests a strong connection between some of the hormones given to cattle and cancer in humans, particularly breast cancer," says Samuel Epstein, MD, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. Specifically, the concern is that the estrogen-like agents used on cattle could increase your cancer risk, adds Ted Schettler, MD, science director at the Science and Environmental Health Network.

Though there are strong regulations about the use of hormones in cattle, "not all beef producers are following those regulations strictly, and some studies continue to find hormone residue in cattle," Dr. Schettler says. When you buy beef that's been certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), you're not only cutting out those hormones, you're also avoiding the massive doses of antibiotics cows typically receive, which the USDA says may lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.

Strawberries

Strawberries may be a superfood-but they pose a potential risk unless you go organic. In addition to having up to 13 pesticides detected on the fruit, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis, conventional "strawberries have a large surface area and all those tiny bumps, which makes the pesticides hard to wash off, so you're ingesting more of those chemicals," explains Marion Nestle, PhD, a professor of nutrition and public health at New York University and author of What to Eat.

If you can, also skip conventional peaches, apples, blueberries, and cherries, which are typically treated with multiple pesticides and usually eaten skins-on.

Cookware
Your pots and pans are just as crucial to upgrade as the food you cook in them: "Most nonstick cookware contains a fluorochemical called PTFE that breaks down to form toxic fumes when overheated," says Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist at the EWG. "Those fumes can coat the inside of the lungs and cause allergy-like symptoms."

Tests commissioned by the EWG showed that in just two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with nonstick surfaces could exceed temperatures at which the coating emits toxic gases. Switch to stainless steel, ceramic, or cast iron cookware.

Popcorn

The linings of microwave-popcorn bags may contain a toxic chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which is used to prevent the food from sticking to the paper. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFOA is a likely carcinogen. "We don't know all of the hazardous effects of PFOA yet, but we have some evidence of a link to cancer, as well as to effects on the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems," says David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany.

Pick up an air-popper or make your popcorn in a pan on the stove top.

Yard pesticides
Some lawn and garden pesticides contain suspected carcinogens, according to EPA data. Long-term pesticide exposure may be related to changes in the brain and nervous system, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reports. "Not only are you breathing the chemicals in, but you bring them indoors and onto carpets via your shoes," says McKay Jenkins, PhD, a journalism professor at the University of Delaware and author of What's Gotten Into Us?

Healthier brands like BurnOut and EcoClear are made from vinegar and lemon juice, and are effective weed-killers.

All-purpose home cleaners

Time for spring-cleaning? Using common household cleaners may expose you to potentially harmful chemicals. Ammonia and chlorine bleach can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. And some cleaners contain phthalates, some of which are endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with normal hormone activity, says EWG senior scientist Becky Sutton, PhD.

Although there's no definitive proof that phthalates cause problems in humans, "the greatest concern is how early-life exposure will affect male [reproductive] development," Dr. Carpenter says. There's weaker evidence, he adds, that phthalates affect the nervous and immune systems. Go natural with the cleaner you use the most frequently and in the most places, such as kitchen-counter spray-look for brands approved by Green Seal or EcoLogo, two organizations that identify products that have met environmental label guidelines.

Water bottles
You've probably heard that many hard, reusable plastic water bottles could be bad for you because they may contain BPA, or bisphenol A, another endocrine disruptor according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

"For adults, the biggest concern with BPA is that it may increase the risk of breast cancer in women and reduce sperm counts in men," says Dr. Carpenter, who explains that BPA can leach out into the water in the bottle. To be safe, sip from an unlined stainless steel or BPA-free plastic bottle.

Food-storage containers
BPA strikes again: Many food-storage containers are made of the hard, clear polycarbonate plastic that may contain BPA. As is the case with water bottles, the BPA can leach out of the plastic in these containers and seep into your leftovers.

"The leaching is increased during heating, but it also leaches to a smaller degree even when cold foods are stored," Dr. Carpenter explains. Glass containers are your safest-not to mention planet-friendly-bet. Both Rubbermaid (at left) and Pyrex make glass ones with BPA-free plastic lids.

Milk
The milk you're drinking may not be doing your body good: Dairy products account for a reported 60 to 70 percent of the estrogens we consume through our food. If that seems like a shockingly large number, it's mainly because milk naturally contains hormones passed along from cows. What worries some experts is that about 17% of dairy cows are treated with the hormone rBST (or rBGH), which stimulates milk production by increasing circulating levels of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1).

"Elevated levels of IGF-1 in people are associated with an increased risk of cancer, including breast cancer," Dr. Schettler explains. In fact, the use of rBGH is banned in Europe and Canada. Although research has yet to definitively conclude whether drinking rBGH-treated milk increases your IGF-1 levels high enough to cause concern, Dr. Schettler says it's advisable to buy milk that hasn't been treated with it. So pick up milk that's labeled rBGH-free, rBST-free, or is produced without artificial hormones.

Celery
When researchers at the EWG analyzed 89,000 produce-pesticide tests to determine the most contaminated fruits and vegetables, celery topped the chart. "In terms of the sheer number of chemicals, it was the worst," says Sonya Lunder, senior analyst at the EWG. Celery stalks are very porous, so they retain the pesticides they're sprayed with-up to 13 of them, according to the EWG analysis. Lunder also advises buying organic bell peppers, spinach and potatoes because they scored high for pesticides, as well.

Tomato sauce
When picking up tomato sauce or paste, choose the glass jar or box over the can. "The lining on the inside of food cans that's used to protect against corrosion and bacteria may contain BPA," explains Cheryl Lyn Walker, PhD, a professor of carcinogenesis at MD Anderson Cancer Center and past president of the Society of Toxicology.

In 2009, Consumer Reports tested BPA levels in a variety of canned foods and found it in nearly all of the brands tested, suggesting that the chemical leaked in. "What can happen is that BPA in the lining can leach into the food," Walker explains.

And my ever-present favorite Environmental Working Group puts out an updated Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce so you can always make sure you have the most updated info.  I posted about the cleanest and dirtiest produce options here, and a tip to help you at the grocery store.

Eating turtles to extinction?

As a lover of all animals, I must admit, my deep appreciation for herps (reptiles and amphibians) came later in life.  Don't get me wrong - I was always fascinated by them.  I always picked up frogs and toads, despite the "warts" warning from my friends, always stopped (or made my parents stop) to move box turtles across the road.  But it wasn't until I married my husband - a bonafide herpetologist (and more specifically rattlesnake biologist) that I gained a real appreciation for these little understood animals.



Like how the metabolism of a turtle is so slow, if they are fatally injured it can take days or even weeks for them to expire.  Consider that the next time you see an injured turtle on the roadside (or even worse - consider running over a turtle in the road).  Not to mention many of them are probably older than you are.



Or like how a limbless snake must rely on it's extra-sensory organs, such as heat-sensing pits and scent-sensing Jacobson's organs, to catch its dinner - which it then must do with its mouth and nothing else.  Could you do that?



They are fascinating creatures, with fascinating life histories and roles within the ecosystem, and contrary to popular belief, were NOT put here for the sole purpose of harming us.  Trust me - after tracking many timber rattlesnakes with my husband in east-central Missouri, and finding myself on more than one occasion standing inches from a coiled snake yet never receiving any indication it was there (hiss/rattle/strike), I know these animals have a "live and let live" attitude.  They want to be left alone.  The only reason I ever knew I was inches from them is because of the transmitter implanted in their bodies which my husband was able to to track to, well - just beside my foot!  Otherwise I would have stepped right over/past them and never even known.

So, this is the first of what will probably be a few posts on hazards facing herpetofauna, why we should care, and what we should do.  I hope you also find them interesting, and worth protecting, enough to do something for them.

The first article I encourage you to read was a New York Times editorial titled Eating the Wild.  Here's an excerpt:

As global wealth rises, so does global consumption of meat, which includes wild meat. Turtle meat used to be a rare delicacy in the Asian diet, but no longer. China, along with Hong Kong and Taiwan, has vacuumed the wild turtles out of most of Southeast Asia. Now, according to a recent report in The Los Angeles Times, they are consuming common soft-shell turtles from the American Southeast, especially Florida, at an alarming rate.

Here's a National Geographic article about the same topic.



The second was a BBC News article titled A Billion Frogs on World's Plates.  Here's an excerpt:

Up to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year, according to a new study.  France and the US are the two biggest importers, with significant consumption in several East Asian nations.

What can you do?  First of all - refuse to eat wild-harvested reptiles and amphibians.  In the US they are popularly prepared as turtle soup and frog legs.  And don't put any other pressure on these already dwindling populations, such as having them for pets.

Second, write to your state legislature and encourage them to list native herps as protected species.  In some states, they are.  In others, people are free to do with them as they please - including collecting them for mass export to other countries.

Finally, become informed, and participate in action alerts having to do with these matters when possible.  I encourage you to join HerpDigest.org : The Only Free Weekly E-Zine That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation and Science as well as Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.  Their mission?  "To conserve amphibians, reptiles and their habitats as integral parts of our ecosystem and culture through proactive and coordinated public-private partnerships.”

My charitable organization

I have fallen in love with an organization, Mercy and Sharing, who helps orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti (I wrote this post about them earlier).  As a single-income family (though I feel we live well compared to many, and are very blessed) I have struggled with how to work this organization into our budget.  One way I have decided to do this is to donate any funds generated from this site to them.



If you, too, would like to donate to them, click here.  And thanks for any support you give the blog, as through that you will be helping as well!

So you wanna teach your baby to sign?

I HIGHLY recommend it.  I did it with my daughter, and it is one of the best things I chose to do!  A friend of mine actually gave me a copy of the book Baby Signs, which is what prompted me to do it.  However, another friend of mine had taught her baby to sign, and watching him do it, I always thought it was so cool.  So, I set out to teach my little C sign language, hoping it would give us an avenue to communicate long before she was able to speak.

It didn't happen until she was 11 months old, and we were actually in Italy for my brother's wedding, sitting at a restaurant, when she signed "more".  I was ecstatic - it was the coolest thing ever.  For a long time, that was her only sign.  Then they started up like crazy - eat, bath, diaper change, drink, help...  It is awesome, when your baby can tell you what s/he needs.

And right now is as good as time as ever to get started, with this 40% off offer.

To take advantage of this special, click here.  And make sure you enter the code DVD40 at checkout.  If you order, or if you use sign language with your little one(s), I'd love to know!  Leave me a comment!