Archives April 2020

We have to wake up: factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics: Covid-19’s history is not yet fully known, but the links between animal and human health could not be clearer Guardian

NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

While this pandemic continues, and most of the world remains locked down, it feels imperative to me to try to look at root causes, as a way to reduce the chances that this happens again. This does not minimize the work that countless people are doing to find a treatment etc. However, I think we can all agree that working to prevent the next pandemic is at least as important as addressing the current crisis. To be clear, information on this current pandemic is rapidly changing. I am focusing on a combination of what we know about this pandemic in the present, as well as what seems to be clear about trends, related to animals, food systems and climate change, in broader terms.

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Following up from a few days ago, there is more evidence that factory farming – and the general systems through which most of the world gets animal products (including meat, dairy and eggs) is an overwhelming contributor to the disease spread which leads to pandemics and the type of crisis that we are in right now.

Pathogens do not respect species boundaries, either. Influenza and coronaviruses move fluidly between human and animal populations, just as they move fluidly between nations. When it comes to pandemics, there is not animal health and human health – not any more than there is Korean health and French health. Social distancing works only when everyone practises it, and “everyone” includes animals. (Bold mine)

Guardian

So, the evidence is clear, The question is only related to how we respond to the clear risk to our own health (personally, communally and for the climate), that this evidence presents to us.

To reduce risk of pandemics for ourselves, our gaze needs to turn to the health of animals. In the case of wild animal populations, such as the bats that scientists have theorised as a probable origination point for Covid-19, the best solution seems to be to limit and regulate human interaction.

In the case of farmed animals, though, the lack of public understanding has allowed unscrupulous corporations to move policy in exactly the wrong direction. Across the globe, corporations have succeeded in creating policies that use public resources to promote industrial farming. One study suggests that the public is providing $1m per minute in global farm subsidies, overwhelmingly used to prop up and expand the current broken model. The same $1m a minute that promotes factory farming also increases pandemic risk. (Bold mine).

Guardian

What other systems are allowed to remain so pervasive in every day life, with consequences that are so profound, yet so unspoken? So, here’s today’s challenge. Let’s come out of this pandemic with at least one silver lining. Let’s make sure that we change our systems so that we have reduced our risk for the future. What does that look like practically?

Here are some next steps to consider. Pick, choose, adjust for your individual circumstances. 🙂

1) Stop eating animal products. Use up what you currently have in your fridge/freezer, and commit to not buying more after that.

2) Commit to only eating animal products from very small farms (eg a few backyard chickens etc), where the disease risks can (presumably) be managed, and we are not interfering with nature/wildlife (eg hunting etc). For overall climate emissions, a total consumption reduction is in order (especially for meat), but this is one way to still use eggs, for example, without the disease risks that come from larger operations.

These two are the fastest pathways to change, and are best for both disease prevention and climate health. Systems change, from a policy perspective, is very difficult, especially when large players are making money on the status quo.

Especially during this shutdown, stocking up on dried legumes and rice etc is not only easier and more sustainable, it’s also more cost effective. A large bag of brown rice and a few bags of dried lentils and chickpeas goes a long ways. 🙂

3) In addition to the above, a secondary level of change work is related to advocacy and policy change. After significantly reducing/eliminating the market for animal products from factory farms etc, creating strong policies to ensure better practices for the future is much easier, although it still often takes a long time.

Let me know what changes you are making in response to this challenge. I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Hope everyone is staying safe!

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Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target NYT

This particular conspiracy theory – or at least parts of it – is one that I have seen circulating multiple times already on social media, and it is discouraging, to say the least. In an era in which strong, cooperative leadership and community – both local and global – are so important, engages in baseless conspiracy theories is wildly counterproductive.

To be clear, I do not agree with Bill Gates, or his foundation, on everything. I disagree with the tax and other systems that allowed him, and others, to become so wealthy. Also, naturally, as with any development organization or foundation, I don’t agree with every planning, programming or funding decision that he or the org have made (although I have spent only minimal time accessing, so that’s a fairly superficial assessment.)

Regardless of any policy or program disagreements that I may have, there is absolutely no place for these kinds of attacks or conspiracy theories. They are fundamentally inappropriate and must stop. I am no engaging on the specifics of the topic at hand here – just the fundamental process of how we engage in positive and meaningful public dialogue, including civil society, government, faith groups, non-profits, public health and others.

From that perspective, there are a few things that are needed, including:

– Respect: If we do not start from a fundamental place of respect for others, everything that comes later will be tainted. A strong civil society is better equipped to discern baseless conspiracy theories and not give them traction.

– Shared Values and an end to Polarization: Any conversation that becomes black and white, like this, is likely to end poorly. When the discussion becomes “I do option A and I’m right, so anybody who doesn’t do option A is bad”, the conversation has little value, and will likely do a lot of harm. To be very clear, that does NOT include tolerating hate speech of any kind, violence against anybody or other similar things. It does mean, however, that more cooperation and less polarization would do the world a lot of good right now. 🙂

– Cooperative, respectful leadership: Leaders that enflame tension, belittle others or use a crisis to justify their own authoritarian tendencies cause problems for everyone. Humble, cooperative and respectful leadership is needed from everyone.

So, here’s hoping for an end to the conspiracy theories, and a positive, cooperative, respectful future. Happy weekend everyone! 🙂

NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

While this pandemic continues, and most of the world remains locked down, it feels imperative to me to try to look at root causes, as a way to reduce the chances that this happens again. This does not minimize the work that countless people are doing to find a treatment etc. However, I think we can all agree that working to prevent the next pandemic is at least as important as addressing the current crisis. To be clear, information on this current pandemic is rapidly changing. I am focusing on a combination of what we know about this pandemic in the present, as well as what seems to be clear about trends, related to animals, food systems and climate change, in broader terms.

Here is a bit of what I’ve been reading:

Coronavirus: Outbreak puts wildlife markets in the spotlight. Aljazeera.com

Surely the link between abusing animals and the world’s health is now clear Guardian

How did coronavirus start and where did it come from? Was it really Wuhan’s animal market? Guardian

The boast that “when the facts change, I change my mind” is a proud one. “When the facts change, I reinforce my prejudices” is truer. If you want proof, look at the coronavirus that has changed everything and consider the undisputed fact that it spread because of humanity’s abuse of animals.

Imagine a world where facts changed minds. The United Nations, governments and everyone with influence would now be saying we should abandon meat or at a minimum cut down on consumption. Perhaps my reading is not as wide as it should be, but I have heard nothing of the sort argued. Making the case would be child’s play and would not be confined to emphasising that Covid-19 probably jumped species in Wuhan’s grotesque wet markets. The Sars epidemic of 2002-04 began in Guangdong, probably in bats, and then spread to civet cats, sold in markets and eaten in restaurants. The H7N9 strain of bird flu began in China, once again, and moved to humans from diseased poultry.

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Diseases have always jumped species, but the Covid-19 pandemic may be a sign of an ominous acceleration. A paper this month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society suggests the rate of new infections could be rising as humans cram into every corner of the planet. The loss of habitat and the exploitation of wildlife through hunting and trade increased the risk of infectious “spillover”, it said. Ferocious punishments for the use of “exotic” animals for food and medicines are required. Once again, though, that is too easy a slogan for people in the west to chant and feel virtuous as they chant it. We should be examining our own diets.

Guardian – Bold mine

Without adding to much length here, and turning this into a dissertation (or a rant :)), it is abundantly clear that our relationship to animals and food needs to change, to protect individual and communal health, as well as the environment. Actions and results are inter-related in countless ways – individual and communal health, climate change impacts from heavy consumption of animal products, impacts on climate and health from factory farming and markets, impacts from the entire process from beginning to end.

To be clear, that does not mean that there is an inherent problem with someone raising a few chickens in the backyard. I am talking about systems here – most people in the world get most of their meat etc from factory farms and/or from live markets. If we removed that from our global food systems, we would be looking at a very different world. So, given where we are at, what will it take to create change? Does a change to our food systems seem like a worthwhile trade off to reduce the chances of a future pandemic?

Even if individuals change, the dominant culture makes demands for society to change appear ridiculously utopian. Imagine a politician campaigning for stiff restrictions on meat consumption. Critics would accuse him or her of punishing the poor – for people who barely think of the poor always invoke them when their pleasures are threatened. They would be damned for wanting to ban the good old Sunday lunch and the joy a Big Mac brings. Our grandchildren may look back and find our abuse of animals incomprehensible. For the moment, arguments to stop abuse provoke incomprehension.

Guardian (Bold mine)

So far, in Canada at least, one unusual outcome of this pandemic has been a rush on yeast and other baking supplies, with a related increase in people baking bread and other things, far beyond what the average was before the pandemic. In fact, many grocery stores are completely out of yeast. Perhaps eating more rice and legumes and nudging more towards plant-based eating, with a matching change/decrease to our factory farms and other large-scale animal-related food systems, is another change that will come out of this. 🙂

Hope everyone is staying safe. 🙂

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Donations, whether large or small, are gratefully received to help maintain this website. PayPal details are available on the website. Thank you!

NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

Over the last few weeks, since the shutdown started in Canada, I have seen a lot of two conflicting messages popping up on social media, with a lot of strong feelings on both sides. So, with the hope that I can diffuse things a bit, I am going to wade into the middle and offer a third way.

Option A: The shutdown means that we aren’t going out as much. We aren’t driving to work, our kids aren’t doing extra-curricular activities and most things on our schedules have been cancelled. We have no sports practices or choir rehearsals or any of the other things that fill our evenings and weekends. Therefore, we have extra time on our hands and have the opportunity to get some extra projects done around the house/apartment etc.

Option B: Things are shutdown because of a crisis. We are stressed and barely getting through the day. Suggesting that we be extra productive is adding insult to injury. Ignore all of the talk about productivity and just get through the day however you can.

Then, by extension, this manifests into countless dichotomies, such as:

“Here’s a calendar that I found helpful for keeping my kids’ day organized” vs “My kids are stressed by having a calendar so everything should be completely open and flexible”.

Or

“Here’s a new recipe that I found that helped break the monotony at home” vs “Extra kitchen tasks are an added stress when I am already stressed about other things…”

And so on… You get the idea. So, in that light, here is

Option C:

Most of us, generally are not endlessly productive robots, and we are also, not spending every minute of the day on the couch watching Netflix and eating ice cream. We are real people with real emotions and varied circumstances, which vary from person to person and from day to day. Regardless of the day, we still need to eat, and laundry still needs to be done at some point. Many of us have kids or others that need help in some way.

We will all likely experience the whole range of emotions and places on the continuum during this shutdown – times where we need to do laundry even when we don’t feel like it, when getting something productive accomplished helps to make the day feel worthwhile, when relaxing with Netflix or a good book is the break we needed, when family life or work or something else is challenging and when it’s relatively easy.

Life is varied, and so are our circumstances and our responses – and, if we are taking a break when someone else is being productive, that’s fine. Maybe tomorrow or next week or next month, it will be the opposite and you will be cleaning our your closet when a friend is watching a movie with a yummy dessert treat. Ultimately, there are plenty of things going on that are stressful, and we are all doing out best – let’s not add to the list by either judging others, or ourselves, for our responses. Let’s focus on supporting each other and bringing out the best in each other, to get through this, and other challenges, together. 🙂

Take care of yourselves, and each other. 🙂

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Donations, whether large or small, are gratefully received to help maintain this website. PayPal details are available on the website. Thank you!

NOTE: During this pandemic, and always, immediate safety, health and other concerns come before discussion on other related issues. Discussion on policies during the pandemic, their implications and choices we make collectively for the future do not, in any way, minimize the impacts of the present crisis.

Also, we have approx 200 new people (and growing rapidly) joining us here via the new Menno Adventures Facebook business page. Welcome here! 🙂

Impacts from this pandemic are being felt in countless ways. I have put things into some rough (but not exhaustive) categories below. Naturally, many resources could be cross-referenced to more than one category, but are listed in only one spot.

Emissions

With the global shutdown, it is true the actual, real-time emissions are down. However, climate change is a result of many decades of emissions. This halt, if followed by a huge surge in emissions when the shutdown ends, will not result in any net positive impacts on climate change. However, if this crisis is used as an opportunity to create better systems, locally and globally, we can increase the changes of turning things around before it’s too late.

Global lockdowns might reduce CO2 emissions but won’t halt climate crisis, scientists say: CBC

Oil Companies Are Collapsing Due to Coronavirus, but Wind and Solar Energy Keep Growing: NYT

Financial help for airlines ‘should come with strict climate conditions’: Guardian

Food

Ban wildlife markets to avert pandemics, says UN biodiversity chief : Guardian.

There has also been a fair bit of coverage around the increase in baking bread and other food-related changes that I have seen in the last few weeks. It will be interesting to see where this leads. Plant-based staples (eg dried beans etc) are, in my opinion, much easier and more cost-effective to stock up on than frozen meat, for example. Will this change how people eat once the crisis is over?

Economy/Universal Basic Income

Ottawa is handing out $2,000 cheques to out-of-work Canadians. Could a basic income be next? Star

Tackle climate crisis and poverty with zeal of Covid-19 fight, scientists urge Guardian

To be very clear, I, and countless others, based on the overwhelming climate science, are calling for an end to fossil fuel use and other significant changes to how we eat, live and go about our days, without the added stress and crisis that a pandemic brings. Also, we are asking that major fossil fuel companies and other not be bailed out, with public funds, to continue to earn private profit at the expense of the climate. Protect workers, not wealthy corporations – especially those that are heavily polluting.

As with any crisis, tackling the climate crisis requires a multi-faceted response. Eating red meat three times/week has a certain carbon footprint, as does one medium-length flight/year. Instead of debating which particular change to recommend or justifying poor emissions choices (ie “Flying is bad, so everyone should be encouraged to eat as much red meat as they want because it’s not as bad…” or “My per capita emissions aren’t as bad as others so I don’t have to change” any other combination), let’s all do our best to be sustainable, given our own individual circumstances, out of desire for a livable world for everyone. 🙂

I am supportive of a universal basic income, free post-secondary education, a Green New Deal and job retraining for anybody who wants to transition to a cleaner job. (There are lots of details on various ways to do a Green New Deal for anybody who wants to read further on this.) The only, possible silver lining that I see to this crisis is if we use it to build a better future for everyone. 🙂

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Donations, whether large or small, are gratefully received to help maintain this website. PayPal details are available on the website. Thank you!

CBC

We are head into another weekend, and getting ready for another week of isolation in Canada, with schools and many other things shutdown. Rick Mercer’s most recent rant is a reminder that looking for loopholes to recommendations to maintain physical distancing will not help anybody. The best thing we can all do, for our collective good, is to stay at home as much as possible.

As a reminder, physical distancing does not mean social distancing. We are not only allowed to still maintain relationships while we are distancing, it is encouraged! Set up remote coffee break chats with people, use texting apps such as WhatsApp or others to set up group chats with various people (if you haven’t already) to keep in touch, and do anything else that comes to mind that maintains, and even builds, relationships. 🙂

Plus, as a bonus, if you stocked up on things like rice, flour, oats and dried beans before things shut down (we always have lots in our cold room), you have an opportunity to experiment and find some new favourite veggie recipes, or pull out an old favourite. (Of course, don’t let that add more stress to an already stressful day. Only add it in if it feels right. :))

Happy weekend everyone! 🙂