Free Rice

See the link to the left? (It's below the saiga antelope.) Click on it to play the best vocabulary-building game ever. Every time you get a word correct, they donate 20 grains of rice. Might not be the most effective way of donating food, but it's really addictive. So far my best level is 49. (Max is 55, I'm still trying to get there.)

In case you're interested, a cup of rice contains approximately 7200 grains. (I know that that's a fact because I found it on the Internet!) So get clicking, you just need to get 360 words right to get there. That isn't very many, and it goes by fast!

Feeding the World

Right. I said last month that I am not a vegangelical, and I stand by that.

But it needs to be said.

Stop eating meat.

Despite the fact that I am an animal lover, I am not saying this to spare the cute 'n' cuddlies. The simple fact is that we are running out of grain, and eating animals is an inefficient use of grain, and although I sometimes don't like people, it doesn't mean I want a massive food crisis to hit around the globe. It takes 700 calories of grain to produce 100 calories of cow. I don't know about you, but 14% efficiency, to me, is WAY too low.

Some recent reading material:

Grains Gone Wild -- Paul Krugman's editorial from a few days ago.

Farmer's Spurn Conservation Program -- Science/Business Times this week.

First one is straightforward, just read it. Second article... well, do we want to eat or do we want to worry about the birds, as the baker says? Why can't we do both? Cattlemen have the answer:

“This program is taking money out of your pocket twice a day,” said Jay Truitt, vice president for government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “Do you think it’s right for you to pay so there’s more quail in Kansas?"

The cattlemen and bakers argue that farmers should immediately be allowed to take as much as nine million acres out of the Conservation Reserve without paying a penalty, something they say would not harm the environment.

Of course the cattlemen want more land out of the conservation program, they need it to feed their meat-producing machinery. What if I want to pay for the land in Kansas? It doesn't matter to me if the price of beef goes up, but it does matter to me if there is less land available for our native birds. (And who made a bunch of bakers and cattlemen experts on what would or would not harm the environment? Probably the same group that decided airlines could monitor themselves.)

Further, one of the demands on the food system is that countries that traditionally haven't eaten much meat (looking at you, China) are starting to adopt American-styles diets, full of beefy goodness. So, as though Americans weren't enough of a strain by themselves, people around the world now want to eat the way we do. And there just isn't enough land to support that lifestyle.

We're not going to get any more land. We have one planet, and that's it.

There's really only one solution. Stop eating meat. It's the easiest thing you can do today to save the world.

Two Stories, One High School Student

Matthew LaClair is a troublemaker.

Last year, he brought a law suit against his high school (in New Jersey!) for a history teacher's utter failure to make the separation between church and state in the classroom. He secretly taped the teacher saying things like, "only Christians had a place in heaven, that the Big Bang and evolution theories were not scientific and that dinosaurs were on Noah’s Ark." (Did I mention that I live in New Jersey too?)

Other than the fact that I'm still getting over this sort of thing happening in New Jersey (!), there are two sentences I find alarming in this article. First: "After the tapes became public, Matthew received a death threat and was shunned and bullied by some of his classmates, he has said." Wow. It's unbelievable to me that his actions would actually be cause for people to shun someone. If this had happened in my high school, I'm pretty sure we would have thrown him a parade.

Second: "In the fall, the board reprimanded the teacher and later adopted a policy barring students from taping in class without a teacher’s permission." I find this vaguely unsettling. What if another teacher is saying wildly inappropriate things in the classroom? How can students prepare themselves to keep church out of school if the school makes rules against what Mr. LaClair did? Very shady if you ask me.

Anyway. Sometimes you don't need a tape; the evidence is already written down and published.

You can't keep a good rabble-rouser down, and he's causing some more trouble in history class. This time, his beef is with a textbook that plays down the causes and impacts of global warming. (For example, although millions of people might lose their homes as coastlines are flooded, they won't have to pay as much for heating! Yay!)

Whether you agree with him or not, this guy deserves a lot of credit for standing up to The Man. Freethinking is not taught in most high schools; anyone who comes away with that particular skill is likely to be self-taught. Mr. LaClair, I salute you.

TV as an agent of good

Aliza says it best, so I'm going to just quote her on this one:

Dear Friends and Family,

TV's can be agents of destruction or agents of change. PBS reminds us of the power of television...

1. Beginning tonight at 10 PM EST and airing on three more nights on PBS will be a very important series about disparities in health in the US called Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

I highly recommend watching as much of the series as possible to help understand one of the most important issues affecting the US today, which is the focus of much of my graduate studies. It is wonderful that PBS will be providing a forum for these issues...

See below for more info. Please spread the word and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

2. As a PBS side note- the EXCELLENT documentary King Corn, which many of you may have seen already, will also be airing on PBS in April...check local listings.

This documentary film basically encompasses the other half of my current studies, and provides a humor-filled look at the the nature of modern agriculture and its effects on our food system and health.

So make good use of your TV -- or your friend's TV, if you don't have one-- and check out these wonderful documentaries!

Best,

Aliza

Television Watch: PBS to Air Series on Health Inequalities

What: Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

When: Thursdays at 10 p.m., March 27, April 3, 10, and 17 (check local listings, since dates and times may vary.)

Starting March 27, PBS will air a four-hour documentary series (with eight episodes) on health disparities in the U.S. and the role that income inequality plays in health and well-being. The series offers a broad look at the harm to health from income inequality, racism, and neglected communities.

The series focuses on a wide range of health disparities, including the prevalence of diabetes, heart disease, and asthma in some communities. There are a number of important points demonstrating the damage from the inability to access a healthy diet. For example:

Episode 5, Place Matters, looks at disinvestment in urban neighborhoods and the resulting impact on health. This can range from the lack of safe playgrounds in which children can play or exercise to the lack of healthy foods in communities.

Episode 4, Bad Sugar, looks at the links between income and chronic diseases like diabetes. It further demonstrates the links among hunger, poverty, and obesity, and the impact of limited income on health.

Episode 8, Not Just a Paycheck, looks at the impact of unemployment and job insecurity on health.

To learn more about the series, visit the Web site where you will find preview clips, information on the episodes, and discussion tips.