Here’s an excellent piece by Sam Boshra, about the recent proposal by Michael Smart and Jack Mintz to apply the GST to food, from Sam’s blog at Economic Justice: Low-income households can’t buy food today with a larger HST rebate they hope to get sometime in the future. A key objective
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Canadian Progressive World: Willie Nelson & Our Beautiful Sustainable New World
Willie Nelson & Our Beautiful Sustainable New World (via EcoLocalizer) television commercial,inhumane factory farming,Willie Nelson,urgent importance,urgent need,visual masterpiece,horrific damage,significant task,Coldlpay song,resonant message,majestic poetry,Mexican restaurant,educational animation,short film,sustainable way,loathe,Coldplay,genius,antibiotics,restructuring,factory,chemicals,food system,deftly,The film,Chipotle
Continue readingknitnut.net: An unusually romantic Valentines Day
We don’t usually make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, but this year we got swept up in it for some reason. Maybe it’s because you can’t ignore Valentine’s Day when you’re surrounded by symbols of romance, like lovebirds and a dog named Rose. Speaking of which, every time
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Cattle Starved for Globalization & to Preserve Self
A few weeks ago, my friend Seong (he’s from Korea), told me about the effects of Globalization on South Korean farmers. With cheap beef flooding into the country, farmers have been unable to sell their cattle, and unable to pay for feed. Cattle could be heard crying as they starved
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Honey, I Scalded the Kids
I don’t care for coffee. I don’t make this a secret, even though I probably should, since non-coffee drinkers are often looked at as some sort of aliens who are probably in league with The Man who makes you get up too darn early. Yes, I like the smell, and
Continue readingThings Are Good: Cargo Container Coffee
In very unsurprising news: Starbucks has opened a new coffee shop. In surprising news: that Starbucks store is made from repurposed cargo containers! With many containers scrapped at the end of an average lifespan of 20 years, the Starbucks solution served to convert a potential waste stream from the company’s
Continue readingThings Are Good: Victory for Chickens in Europe
Being a chicken who’s sole purpose is egg-laying can be hard because of the horrible living conditions. Too many animals, in this case chickens, are held in enclosures that don’t allow for movement. This is starting to change for chickens in Europe as they have now been granted better enclosures
Continue readingThings Are Good: Organic Farming Better Than Factory Farming in 30 Year Study
This is certainly good news for people who eat: organic and sustainable food production is just as good – or even better – than the standard factory farming setup. After an initial decline in yields during the first few years of transition, Rodale Institute claims the organic system soon rebounded
Continue readingArt Threat: Sue Coe’s slaughterhouse stories
“Art only happens when the viewer says it happens.” – Sue Coe Sue Coe grew up next door to a slaughter house, where she the rattling chains and screaming of animals led to kill went on through the night. As it was ignored by others it slowly became her obsession.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Ban on Fast Food Ads Decreased Bad Eating Habits
Some say advertising doesn’t work, reality says advertising does work. The Province of Quebec banned fast food ads and research has come out proving that Quebec had a good idea: junk food consumption decreased! By comparing English-speaking households, who were less likely to be affected by the ban, to French-speaking
Continue readingThings Are Good: Young Farmers Band Together to Propose New Farm Bill
Farmers don’t have it easy. There are significant hurdles to overcome for young farmers trying to produce sustainable food on traditional farms. There is a surging movement of young farmers trying to bring apprenticeships, local partnerships, and community supported agriculture (CSA) to the masses by proposing changes to the 2012
Continue readingThings Are Good: Global DIY Window Gardening
A TED Talk by Britta Riley is filled with inspirational information about the online movement to get efficient, open source, window gardening. Worth every minute:
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Pointless Gossip
What good is a blog if you don’t talk about what you’ve done? Last night I attended a bachelor party. First we went to Laser Quest and shot up a bunch of kids in good fun. I finished second for the night, and the groom fifth overall (fourth in the
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Return of Rich Ocean Farming
Using the bounty of ocean to feed people is nothing new, but with a new spin on ocean farming we can have a sustainable food source (currently fishing is quite destructive) that also helps slow down the rate of climate change. We can use the very plants and animals that
Continue readingThings Are Good: Using Food to Better the World
The West End Food Co-op in Toronto is looking to incorporate food production and consumption into bettering their local neighbourhood. The West End Food Co-op has 500 members so far, including 20 farmers. Dinner expects another 1,500 to sign up by the end of next year. (Membership costs only $5.)
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: The Attawapiskat Outrage
It is simply inexcusable that people should have to live in third world conditions in Canada. Yet that is how people in many First Nations (FN) communities across Canada do live. And it gotten so bad in Attawapiskat FN, Ontario — 694 km (432 miles) northeast of Thunder Bay, and
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Pizza May Contain Veggies, Boards Contain Nuts
Once upon a time, Saskboy made a pizza. It was not according to the design of the requester, instead it had nutritious onions on it. Saskboy got the cold shoulder when he delivered it. This short story was brought to you by the makers of pizza. It’s a vegetable on
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Monsanto And Why You’ll Care
I was surprised when talking with some fellow Occupiers the other day that they were unaware of what Monsanto corporation makes, and why it’s a threat to human and plant life. I explained it this way: WARNING: The following is suitable for small children and mature audiences. Some people may
Continue readingThings Are Good: Make Your Daily Glass of Wine a Little Easier on the Planet
The forward thinking company GreenBottle has been producing and selling a paper-based milk bottle for the past few years, but has recently toyed with making a paper wine bottle! We all know wine is delicious, but it often comes from far away places (South Africa, Australia, South America, Europe) and
Continue readingredjenny: Food Politics and American Elections
I find it fascinating how often American election campaigning features the cultural politics of food. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said in an interview with GQ out Monday that one can tell how “manly” a man is by looking at how many to…
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