Archives January 2020

I’m currently reading the updated China Study – haven’t looked through their work in detail since reading the earlier edition many years ago.

In addition to the overwhelming environmental evidence in support of a whole foods, plant-based diet, this adds in comprehensive health information regarding the benefits of ditching meat, dairy and eggs, while emphasizing the benfits of fruit and veggies, legumes (and other plant-based protein) and whole grains, such as brown rice etc. It’s a detailed read. If you are looking for quicker options, the website and apps, as well as the movie etc, are much faster ways to access the information.

Happy Reading! 🙂

Link here

Higher density communities are a must, for a whole range of reasons. Let’s see this as something to embrace and celebrate, instead of something to resist. 🙂

It’s well established that detached-home neighbourhoods use more energy and put a much larger burden on municipal infrastructure, per person, than higher-density neighbourhoods. It’s not a coincidence that Toronto — the only city in the Greater Toronto Area with any real urban density — has the lowest residential property taxes of any city in the region, while the least dense, most outlying communities tend to have the highest.

Link

BBC

Finland has pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2035 – that’s twice as fast as the UK government target. But to achieve this, it will have to make big changes, particularly in the peat industry, which currently provides energy, heating and jobs.

Can the Finns turn an ambitious plan into reality?

BBC

If Finland can do it, so can everybody else. It’s time to stop stalling because “somebody else isn’t changing, so I don’t need to until they do.” We all have to do our part – inaction from somebody else doesn’t justify our own inaction. We need to do our best personally, and to change any systems that we are a part of eg local, provincial, national etc. Let’s support ambitious goals, and help each other get there. 🙂

I’ve been off for a while, but will be getting things caught up here in the next while. Stay tuned! 🙂

Sojourners Website

What more is there to say? It still happens, far too often, and the worst offenders are the least aware of how negative their actions are. In all of most extreme cases that I am aware of, in my cirlces, all would strongly deny any problems with their actions. Finding ways to change that narrative, when certain notions of what “helpful” looks like, is not easy, but absolutely essential. Please share widely in your circles. It’s a conversation that needs to happen. 🙂

Here are a couple of key quotes:

“It leads to paternalism: doing things to or for others rather than seeking to empower and build local capacity. It makes us into heroes rather than empowering others to become the heroes of their own stories.” (Bold mine).

“It prevents mission, aid, and development work from being dialogical and participatory; the so-called experts swoop in with their answers and expertise and fail to include the voices of local leaders, organizations, and stakeholders.”

https://sojo.net/articles/6-harmful-consequences-white-savior-complex

We must stop trying to medicate the symptoms of the white savior and look at the deeper disease. It’s one thing to realize it’s not ethical to use poverty porn or post selfies with children who we have no relationship with. It’s another thing entirely to reflect on the colonial roots of white, Western, Christian supremacy. That means doing some hard, inner work if we’re white people. It means working to change the narratives that sustain injustice. (Bold mine).