Welcome!
Hey there--thanks for joining us as we launch this project! See the welcome message here.
Are We Reading the Same Article?
According to the Dairy Herd Network, milk remains the “gold standard” for calcium intake.They claim that “studies have linked calcium supplements to a higher risk of heart attacks and kidney stones.”
They base their claim on an article in The Wall Street Journal, “Dutifully Taking Your Calcium Pill? It May Be Too Much.”
Let me preface by stating that I am not a nutritionist, but I can read.
None of the studies attributed DAIRY MILK consumption with a decreased risk of heart attack or kidney stone. Nor did any of the studies claim that the only source of calcium can be obtained from the milk of another species. At no point did the WSJ state that milk is the “gold standard” for calcium intake.
The premise of the article is that excess calcium supplements, especially exceeding 2,000 mg a day, may increase the risk of kidney stones and heart attacks. Even though that is the premise, the journalist acknowledges that the studies are conflicting.
According to the Institute of Medicine, most adults only need around 1,000 mg of calcium each day. In the United Kingdom, the recommended daily allowance is suggested at 700-1000 mg/day.
You can obtain calcium in food other than dairy milk. Dairy products have been touted as good sources of calcium, but the truth is that no one needs dairy to reach their daily calcium intake.
Vitamin D plays a role in how well calcium is absorbed, so make sure to eat foods with vitamin D! Or, spend 15-20 minutes in the sun (season permitting) without sunscreen each day. The article did not suggest there was any issue with a vitamin D supplement, so perhaps consider that over a calcium supplement.
Sources of calcium (Note: Dark leafy greens contain oxalic acid which can limit calcium absorption. This is not a problem for healthy teenagers and adult, but can pose a risk for those with kidney or gallbladder stone problems. There are plenty of other plant-based calcium sources). The following list was obtained here.
Bok choy (cooked) – 330 mg
Kale – 180mg
Bean sprouts – 320 mg
Spinach (cooked) – 250 mg
Collard greens (cooked) – 260 mg
Mustard greens (cooked) – 100 mg
Turnip greens (cooked) – 200 mg
Swiss chard (cooked) – 100 mg
Seaweed (Wakame) – 120mg
Okra – 130 mg
Broccoli – 45 mg
Fennel – 45 mg
Artichoke – 55 mg
Celery – 40 mg
Leeks – 55 mg
Almonds (1/4 cup) – 95 mg
Brazil nuts (1/4 cup) – 55 mg
Hazelnuts (1/4 cup) – 55 mg
Almond butter (1 tbsp) – 43 mg
Sesame seeds (1 tbsp) – 63 mg
Tahini (1 tbsp) – 65 mg
Amaranth (cooked, ½ cup) – 135 mg
Brown rice (cooked, 1 cup) – 50 mg
Quinoa (cooked, 1 cup) – 80 mg
Chickpeas (cooked, 1 cup) – 80 mg
Pinto beans (cooked, 1 cup) – 75 mg
Soy beans (cooked, 1 cup) – 200 mg
Tofu (soft or firm, 4 oz) – 120 – 400mg
Tempeh (1 cup) – 150 mg
Navy beans (1 cup) – 110 mg
White beans (cooked, 1 cup) – 140 mg
Figs (dried) – 300 mg
Apricots (dried) – 75mg
Kiwi – 60mg
Rhubarb (cooked) – 350 mg
Orange – 70 mg
Prunes – 75 mg
Blackberries – 40 mg
Blackstrap molasses (1 tbsp) – 135 mg
Disclaimer: I purchased this book myself, this review was not requested by anyone, and I receive no compensation for writing this review.
This book engaged me right from the start, as Vivian Sharpe, the 15 year old hero of the story, experiences something that creates an awareness of what (and specifically, who) the food she’d been eating really was. Though the development of that awareness was unusual – a dream in which she experiences the end of a life of a pig through his eyes, followed by a conversation with his spirit – the overall experience of the awakening is one that we can all relate to.
Most impressive to me in that opening scene was the brilliance in the way it was handled. I’ve talked quite a bit here about the use of graphic images, and my discomfort with them. Marla managed to paint an evocative picture with suggestion, but no gory details. Instead, she capitalized the fact that our imaginations are more than enough to form the picture ourselves. She simply set the scene, and pointed her readers’ minds in that direction, knowing we would do the rest.
I found this brilliant because, obviously, I had absolutely no wish to read another description of these things myself. But also, thinking about the potential “unawakened” readers, I wondered if this would reach them more effectively than if it had been described in horrible detail. If that opening passage had been handled differently I probably wouldn’t have continued reading, and I think Marla knew many would feel that way.
Throughout the book, Marla brings up difficult issues. Vivian learns first-hand about the impact environmental devastation has on animals, and she learns the power of taking action. She also learns second-hand the cascading impact of that same environmental devastation on humans. She deals with the reactions of her family and people in her school to the changes she’s made in her life, and later she deals with the reactions of the people in her town to the choices she made.
Read more…
Turkeys
It is so much fun watching the rescued turkeys enjoy their outdoor pasture, acting like their wild cousins.
This is Miwok and Cheyenne. They are two of five turkeys who were dropped off at the sanctuary a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.
After their quarantine, the four boys (the girl is with the female turkeys) were released into their new enclosure.
The boys spend their time roaming the meadow, perusing the grass for edibles. Sometimes they perch up on the boulders, looking pleased with their new vantage point. There will come a time when such a feat will prove difficult, if not impossible as they will weigh too much.
Plus, when they see you enter their territory, they come running over. Sit down, and they are all over you. They love freckles and hair bands. Creek loves it when you scratch his chest. Miwok will stand still and start preening himself if you rub his belly. Dakota is shy, while Cheyenne loves to walk on your leg.
Florida Senator Reintroduces Ag-Gag Bill
Florida Senator Jim Norman believes that accessing farms and taking video or still photographs is almost like terrorism. At the behest of an egg farmer, Norman introduced legislation (SB 1184) that would criminalize the act of taking photography on farms.
The nonhumans on these farms experience actual terrorism in their daily lives. Accessing farms in order to document animal welfare violations and cruel treatment is not terrorism. Considering undercover investigations that cause no harm to another living being acts of terrorism is insulting, at best.
You can read more over at Green is the New Red
If you live in Florida, contact your Senator: This link takes you to a form letter you can edit while this link takes you directly to the Florida Senate website. Ask them to oppose SB 1184
Hugs All Around
Douglas gets a big hug from our animal care manager at the sanctuary. He loves hugs, although these days he and his brother Linus consider themselves big boys and avoid physical contact with people at all costs. They’ll get over this, as all growing calves do, and we will welcome them back with open arms.
A Little Bit of Chicken Love
I have been asked if chickens feel. Emotions. Thoughts. Sometimes I am told whether they do or not (and when I *am* being told, it’s to let me know they don’t). I am unsure of the nuances and depth of chicken thought and feelings. I know they experience emotions, I have seen it. This is irrefutable to me. It is simple fact made complex by people.
Today I watched two animals bond. It was a simple act of comfort being offered and accepted. I cannot describe it in any other way.
There is a hen who has a bad eye. The eye, it squints. There is perhaps difficulty seeing. When she cannot see, she becomes uncomfortable in her skin. You can see it by the way she turns in circles, keeping her good eye to the world. When the good eye is turned the wrong way, towards the center of the circle, her world winnows down and she paces, circles, paces, circles. You want to reach out and help her but know quickly how flighty she is, how afraid of humans a hen from a battery cage operation becomes.
Her good eye suddenly catches sight of white, feather, fluff. The soft down of another bird. Carefully, she investigates. Sometimes those she seeks to touch retaliate with pecks or move away. Sometimes chickens are moody and cruel. She stands in front of the other bird, then sidles to the side – I am no threat, she says, remember me? The other bird appears to do so. She is an ex-battery cage hen too.
Under the misters, they touch. Squinty-eyed hen circles the seeing hen, leaning into her, deeply, superficially, but always touching. She drapes a head over her companion’s back. She touches the comb of her friend, gently. At one point, she falls deeply into the contours of the hen’s body, filling the small “s”. A perfect connection.
But this photo is my favorite moment. It is the second the hen with the squinty eye can totally relax it. She does not struggle to keep her bad eye open. She closes it. She has a friend.
Holding Onto Sorrow
My little note: I am a firm believer that things will get better, that progress will continue to be made for all oppressed beings. But this post is less about that and more about sadness. Just want to express that caveat – I think we have the right, have earned it, to feel what I believe are healthy emotions, like sorrow.
The horror of Harris Ranch, for me, is that I only ever really see the animals suffering on it after leaving the Animal Rights Conference held in Los Angeles. Nothing ruins a great weekend of inspiring animal rights activists like a barren drylot with thousands of cows and steers awaiting death.
You don’t see this feedlot – which can hold up to 120,000 animals at one time – while going south. You smell it, but can avoid (unwillingly or not) seeing, truly gazing upon, the thousands of cows* who live that smell.
Traveling north, unless you take a longer route, will take you directly by.
I hate the place.
I hate it not because it is run by people who profit off the oppression and abuse of sentient beings.
I hate it because it exists in the open and no one cares.
I hate it because no matter what I do, no matter how many vegan meals I eat, I know the fate of those beautiful creatures, know that nothing I do now in this very moment means anything to them, to their future.
