New Film - "Vegucated"

The documentary Vegucated follows three heavy meat and dairy eaters as they try to go vegan for six weeks. Watch as they uncover the hidden truths about meat production and animal agriculture, and feel compelled to expose the same industry they fully supported weeks earlier. According to the film's website, Vegucated "showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who share one journey and ultimately discover their own paths in creating a kinder, cleaner, greener world, one bite at a time." Check out the film's website here, and the trailer below. Also, click here to read Epicurious's interview with the film's director, Marisa Miller Wolfson, to find out what inspired her decision to make the documentary, how she went about making it, and what she hopes audiences will get out of it.

Epicurious - Our Favorite Vegetarian Dishes

Check out Epicurious's collection of delicious vegetarian-friendly recipes and tips:

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/dishes/vegetarian

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, so Happy Veggie Eating!

Farm Sanctuary - National Conference to End Factory Farming

Farm Sanctuary is hosting, for the first time, the National Conference to End Factory Farming: For Health, Environment and Farm Animals. The conference will be held in Arlington, Virginia, from Thursday, October 27th through Saturday, October 29th. It will feature "over 30 speakers from a wide range of backgrounds" and "will be unique in its exclusive focus on factory farming and the problems surrounding it." The goal of the National Conference to End Factory Farming is "to reach a broad audience of professionals and advocates from the animal protection, health, and environmental movements to collaborate on these issues."

To find out more about the conference, including how to attend, who will be speaking, and its daily program, check out the conference website.

The Atlantic - The Locavore Movement's Mistake: Deregulating Animal Slaughter

James McWilliams criticizes the locavore movement's attempt to deregulate animal slaughter and allowing backyard livestock owners to kill their own animals for food. According to McWilliams, the consequences of such a move will be dire - for both the animals and the movement in general. He warns that "by extending their mission from the plant to the animal world, those who want us to eat local risk reducing this hard-earned victory into nothing short of a bloody mess."
-----
September 13, 2011
By James McWilliams

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/the-locavore-movements-mistake-deregulating-animal-slaughter/244897/

Civil Eats - Americans' Views of Industrial Agriculture by the Numbers

This article reveals some positive signs about Americans' thoughts on the food industry with the results of two recent surveys of "American attitudes on issues related to agriculture, the environment, and the federal budget." Also discussed is a recent panel called "Food Dialogues," which was formed "as an effort to connect consumers with farmers and ranchers." The public's growing interest in and concern about food is a necessary step towards improving the system!
-----
September 29, 2011
By Donald Carr

http://civileats.com/2011/09/29/americans%E2%80%99-views-of-industrial-agriculture-by-the-numbers/

Mother Jones - California's Fruit-and-Veg Behemoth: Too Productive for Our Own Good

Tom Philpott reveals how dependent we are on California's (increasingly "water-challenged") agriculture, and urges Americans to move away from the western state and towards a more local, seasonal approach to their produce purchasing.
-----
September 9, 2011
By Tom Philpott

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/09/california-agriculture-too-productive-our-own-good

Food Safety News - Ag Subsidies Fund Junk Food, Report Says

A new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group reveals that since 1995, approximately $16.9 billion of American tax money has fed into farm subsidies, not for fruits and vegetables, but rather, for four core ingredients of junk food: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and soy oils.
-----
September 22, 2011
By Gretchen Goetz

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/09/ag-subsidies-fund-junk-food-report-says/

Mother Jones - Meat Industry Still Denying Antibiotic Resistance

Tom Philpott discusses the meat industry's new denial tactic in regard to the adverse effects of feeding antibiotics to farm animals: the industry blames bad science.

-----

September 21, 2011
By Tom Philpott

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/09/meat-industry-antibiotic-resistance

The Atlantic - Bringing America to the Table: How to Get People Interested in Food

Author Helene York bemoans the recent flood of books about the food industry, calling them overly dire and negative, and claiming that they are "preaching to the choir" of food journalists, activists, and conscious consumers. She insists that "for the food system to change meaningfully, Mr. and Mrs. Average American have to tune in eventually." And the solution to getting through to them is not requiring them to read "ominous tomes." Instead, York suggests three alternate angles that will get the American masses to care about their food: gardening, health, humor.

-----

September 22, 2011
By Helene York

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/bringing-america-to-the-table-how-to-get-people-interested-in-food/245442/

Food Safety News - Media Influence on Food Safety Practices

A new study reveals the positive impact of food safety issues being reported by the media. Both the public and the industry benefit from awareness about food safety (including food handling outbreak prevention), and that awareness is at least partially due to the media's coverage of those issues.

-----

September 26, 2011
By Mary Rothschild

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/09/media-coverage-influences-food-safety-practices/

The Atlantic - Antibiotic Resistance and the Case for Organic Poultry and Meat

A recent study from the Maryland School of Public Health found that livestock who were not fed antibiotics showed an immediate and dramatic decline in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Neil Wagner discusses the issues surrounding the study and how they affect human health. He ends the article encouraging readers to buy organic meat and poultry, thereby making a statement to the industry about the unnecessary and harmful use of antibiotics in the meat industry.

-----

September 14, 2011
By Neil Wagner

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/antibiotic-resistance-and-the-case-for-organic-poultry-and-meat/245067/1/

The Nation - What's Next for the Global Food Movement?

The October 3rd issue of The Nation features a central piece by Frances Moore Lappe, titled "The Food Movement: Its Power and Possibilities," along with a series of response pieces by authors such as Raj Patel, Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan, and others.

Lappe's article and the brief replies survey a range of issues related to the global food industry, such as environmentalism, diet, workers' rights, food deserts, politics, land use, GMOs, world hunger, and more.

The Nation's focus of an entire issue on the food movement reiterates its increasingly prominent position in the media and among consumers, and yet the pieces remind the reader that the food movement has a long history, both within the U.S. and globally, and has produced both good and bad results. The hope of these essays' authors and their audience is that the movement continues to gain traction and make progress towards a more productive while also more sustainable global food system.

• The Food Movement: Its Power and Possibilities by Frances Moore Lappe
• Why Hunger Is Still With Us by Raj Patel
• Resisting the Corporate Theft of Seeds by Vandana Shiva
• It's Not Just About Food by Eric Schlosser
• How Change Is Going to Come in the Food System by Michael Pollan
• The Production Conundrum by Samuel Fromartz
• Walmart's Fresh Food Makeover by Bridget Huber
• Farm Bill 101 by Daniel Imhoff
• Who Says Food Is a Human Right by Anna Lappe
• Venezuela's Radical Food Experiment by Paula Crossfield

New Film - American Meat

American Meat is a new documentary that surveys the current state of America's meat industry. The film features a number of farmers who take varying approaches to raising animals for meat. Some of these farmers reveal to the audience the longstanding industrial system, while others - like the infamous Joel Salatin - introduce us to the growing grass-based farming revolution. Through tracing the history and the current state of meat production in our country, the film encourages a more promising future for animal husbandry by presenting every day solutions for improving the system.

Watch the trailer below and check out the film's website or follow it on Twitter or Facebook to find out when a screening is near you.


AMERICAN MEAT TRAILER from Leave It Better on Vimeo.

Real Simple Recipe - Ratatouille

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/ratatouille-10000000524327/index.html?xid=dailyrecnews-09-06-2011

The New York Times - Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables

Another excellent opinion piece by Mark Bittman. He suggests taxing junk food (soda in particular) and subsidizing fruits and vegetables (instead of the current subsidization of corn and soy, both of which are used in highly processed foods and soda). His argument is highly convincing for its exploration of the many predicted benefits to America's financial and physical health, and the use of tobacco as a precedent for his propositions.

-----

July 23, 2011
By Mark Bittman

"What will it take to get Americans to change our eating habits? The need is indisputable, since heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the Standard American Diet. (Yes, it's SAD.)..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24bittman.html

Farm Sanctuary's Walk for Animals

This fall, thousands of people in cities across the US and Canada will gather for the 2011 Walk for Animals by Farm Sanctuary. The walks are a fun and  way to raise funds for Farm Sanctuary as well as to raise awareness about the abuse of farm animals. As states on the event's website, "the Walk for Animals is a positive way to speak out on behalf of animals who cannot speak for themselves and to make a real difference in their lives."

To find out if there's a walk near you, click here. Also visit the event's website to find out more about the walks, what they support, and how else you can get involved if there isn't a walk near you.

LA Times - Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart and the 'food desert' problem

Discusses the problem of the lack of access to fresh produce in low income neighborhoods (now given the name "food deserts" as a result) and lists some programs being developed to increase that access.

-----

July 22, 2011
By Daniela Hernandez

"What a first lady, a chain store and others are doing to try to make fresh fruits and vegetables more available in poor communities."

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/22/news/la-heb-fruits-vegetables-poor-communities20110722

Chicago Tribune - Meat labels: A lot of fine print to read

A helpful guide to current labels found on meat products, and an introduction to various other initiatives to help consumers be more informed about the origins of the meat they eat.

-----

July 13, 2011
By Steve Cavendish

"Dan Buskirk knows the path meat takes to arrive on your table. And the Michigan State University animal science professor knows that consumers increasingly want to be informed of that route as well. 'People want to know where their meat comes from,' Buskirk says..."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-13/features/sc-food-0708-meat-labeling-20110713_1_meat-labels-beef-grades-usda

The Atlantic - How 'Conscientious Carnivores' Ignore Meat's True Origins

James McWilliams questions the ethics and motivations of those who choose humanely raised meat over a meatless diet, and whether their actions have any impact on reforming the meat industry. Although I generally disagree with his argument, he does raise some valid and interesting points about this recent phenomenon of the "conscientious carnivore."

-----

July 12, 2011

By James McWilliams

"If there's one phrase I'd like to put to pasture it's the increasingly popular designation of 'conscientious carnivore.' As with so many other expressions in the food movement's growing lexicon of culinary virtue, this one euphemistically makes a harsh reality with a soothing, but ultimately damaging, rationalization..."

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/07/how-conscientious-carnivores-ignore-meats-true-origins/241828/

CNN Eatocracy - How animals are raised for food

Bruce Friedrich of Farm Sanctuary divulges a list of five lesser known (and perhaps surprising for that reason) facts about the meat industry.

-----

July 8, 2011

1. The average American eats more than 30 land animals, and countless sea animals.
2. The egg industry is even worse than the veal industry for animal welfare.
3. Broiler chickens are given more drugs than any other farmed animal.
4. There is no national legislation to protect 98.5 percent of farmed animals.
5. Farmed animals are interesting individuals, just like the dogs and cats who we know a bit better.

Click here to read the full text accompanying each fact.