There has been a lot of talk, in recent years/decades, about the idea of eating keto/low carb/like someone who lived in a cave. However, I think we can do better than that.
(Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist. What I am offering is what I believe is common sense advice, and the opportunity to do some further reading and research for yourself and/or with your health care provider).
With that, comes this idea that eating bacon and eggs, steak and burgers is being true to our ancestors in some way.
So, for a person who likes eating bacon and eggs, the idea that continuing to do so is not only healthy, but being supportive of one’s history and ancestors, might have a certain appeal, even if it’s not actually supported by the evidence.
And, it turn out, the link is likely not that clear, and there are a number of gaps in the logic. For example, among others:
our bodies have changed over time
the diet that was eaten way back then clearly did not consist of freezers full of plastic-wrapped, factory farmed steaks and other similar items, bought in bulk at the grocery store
our lifestyle now is widely different than it was in the past
we understand far more now than we did, even 50-100 years ago, about the climate and emissions impacts of an animal-based diet and the need to switch to a plant-based diet
the global population now is very different than it was long ago.
Actually, yes. Cavemen used to eat meat whenever they could get it, but this wasn’t often. In fact, almost never. You try hunting animals that are bigger and/or faster than you with the most rudimentary of tools, and you’ll quickly see how hard it is to snare your supper.
So, we actually ate very little meat and, thanks to recent improvements in DNA analysis of ancient teeth fragments, we know that we survived mainly on foraging for plants, nuts, and berries. Foraging is great because it keeps you in tune with nature: in season, eating locally and physically nimble and fit.
So, where does that leave us now? To reduce emissions, help ensure that everyone has enough to eat and be healthy, and to live in balance with people and the planet, the best evidence suggests a (heavily or fully) plant-based diet as the best path forward. Looking for more ideas, or resources? My website, along with countless others, have info and resources to help make the switch to plant-based eating easier to do.
Eating consciously, along with minimalism (rethinking consumption) mindfulness (rethinking our urges) environmentalism (rethinking our relationship with nature), is vital as we look to come back from Covid better and more harmonious than before.
Everything is up for grabs when you consider how unhelpful much of our perceived wisdom is.
So eat like a caveman and cut the meat. You’d never have kept up with that bison anyway. (Italics mine).
2020 was not the year that any of us were expecting, when the year began. A global pandemic forced a radical reset of how the world operates, in countless ways. Some of those changes were relatively easy – such as office workers switching to more remote meetings, with less travel for in person work. Other changes were much more difficult – in addition to the catastrophic death toll that results from any pandemic or other major crisis. Some of these changes, however, have resulted in a significant – if temporary – reduction in our emissions. Contrary to the frequently asked question – “When will things go back to the way they were?” – we were, globally, on a trajectory that was not sustainable. Therefore, we should, instead, be asking “How can we come out of this pandemic to something better than what we had before?” (as many people are already doing).
Covid Took a Bite From U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2020: NYT
BBC News – Climate change: US emissions in 2020 in biggest fall since WWII
Amid 2020’s gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful about the climate in 2021 Guardian
InsideClimate News: Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to Zero.
InsideClimate News: Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to Zero.
Lloyd’s market to quit fossil fuel insurance by 2030: Guardian
What does coming out of this to a new, better normal look like? What changes do we need to keep? What new changes will we still need to make? There is not the space here to allow for a comprehensive answer, but there are a few key pieces to highlight:
We must continue with the significant, rapid reduction in emissions that we saw during this pandemic. The rapid pace of change that happened showed that change is possible, where there is a will. Now, we need to maintain the momentum of these changes, without the catastrophic pressure that comes from a global pandemic. Globally, we all need to act fast, without waiting for others who might be further behind in this process.
A Universal Basic Income is essential, for many reasons, and should be implemented as soon as possible.
Multi-party systems, with proportional representation, seemed to fair better (based on research that others have done), and also are key to reducing polarization and misinformation campaigns. Countries that still have First-Past-The-Post or other non-proportional systems should put serious effort into switching as soon as possible.
Food and travel/transportation are big areas of emissions, both of which we have significant control over in our daily lives. Changes are critical – and will need to go beyond what is easy or comfortable at times.
Moving into a better 2021 – and beyond – means living within our planetary boundaries, not taking more than our fair share and living simply, in balance with our global neighbours and with the earth. (Photo Credit)
HINT: There are countless great deals to be found in the online store on all things sustainable! Check out all of the options by clicking on each page in the store! Happy browsing! 🙂
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Veganuary is coming up soon – and so are new coaching sessions to help guide your switch to plant-based eating! Have you heard about Veganuary? Started in the UK, it’s a movement of people committed to starting the year off on a fully plant-based diet – with the option to continue longer, if desired.
If this is the year that you might be thinking of making a switch, you might also be wondering how to do it. You might have questions like?
Does this mean I have to give up cheese or pizza?
Will I have to stop eating my favourite foods?
Is it hard to do? How do I substitute out commonly used items?
Why should I consider a whole foods, plant-based diet? What are the health and environmental benefits?
What would I eat if I made the switch?
Do I have to switch all at once or can I make gradual changes?
Looking for some help and guidance?* That’s what I am here for – to answer all of your questions, and help you navigate this change. With a bit of guidance, from someone who has made the switch already, this can easily be turned from something that may feel a bit overwhelming, to an exciting – and even cost-saving – new adventure!
New coaching packages for 2021 are currently being put together – so stay tuned and watch the website for details. Interested in learning more? Send me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible! 😊
*NOTE: I provide general guidance and help answer questions about plant-based diets. I am not a certified nutritionist, and any questions regarding your specific health concerns should be directed to your nutritionist or other health care provider. Thank you!
NOTE: The Facebook boycott is still ongoing. Please share widely in your circles, and subscribe to newsletter updates on the website to stay up to date on what is happening at Menno Adventures! 🙂
There are more philanthropists than ever before. Each year they give tens of billions to charitable causes. So how come inequality keeps rising?
A long read, but well worth it. Not saying that I absolutely agree with every detail (specifically around the role of the non-profit world), but the general idea that I want to pull out from here is this:
Regardless of whether the ultra-wealthy occassionally use their wealth for something that happens to benefit the rest of the world, that doesn’t justify the massive wealth imbalance that allows them to be so “generous.” If CEOs and others paid their fair share in taxes, if corporations truly paid the true cost of their operations (including cleaning up pollution), if companies capped CEOs salaries (including benefits) at something reasonable and paid all staff a living wage with good benefits, if we rethink the relationship between how public goods benefit private profit, the ultra-wealthy would have a lot less money to “donate.” Likewise, at that point, we would have a lot less concern that the interests of a handful of individuals are displacing the work of government and civil society.
Here’s a bit of context to help understand what we are up against…
To understand how rich billionaires really are, use this calculator. (Guardian) (See below)
How Long Does It Take Tech CEOs to Earn Your Salary? Here
As a quick sample, I entered in a mortgage of $200,000 and Mark Zukerberg’s Facebook salary. Here’s what the calculator found:
Mark Zuckergerg: Outstanding Mortgage Payment. It will take Mark Zuckerburg
0.03 Days, 0.80 Hours, or 48.24 Minutes to earn your mortgage
Extreme wealth inequality has a variety of negative impacts, even when some of that wealth happens to be used for things that some people see value in, as the opposite is also true. Just as someone can buy a policy or change that someone might like, someone else can just as easily buy off a government to get a policy that people strongly oppose
Yet the priorities of plutocracy, rule by the rich, and democracy, rule by the people, often differ. The personal choices of the rich do not closely match the spending choices of democratically elected governments. A major research study from 2013 revealed that the richest 1% of Americans are considerably more rightwing than the public as a whole on issues of taxation, economic regulation and especially welfare programmes for the poor. Many of the richest 0.1% – individuals worth more than $40m – want to cut social security and healthcare. They are less supportive of a minimum wage than the rest of the population. They favour decreased government regulation of big corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wall Street and the City of London. (Bold mine.)
The common assumption that philanthropy automatically results in a redistribution of money is wrong. A lot of elite philanthropy is about elite causes. Rather than making the world a better place, it largely reinforces the world as it is. Philanthropy very often favours the rich – and no one holds philanthropists to account for it.
Philanthropy is always an expression of power. Giving often depends on the personal whims of super-rich individuals. Sometimes these coincide with the priorities of society, but at other times they contradict or undermine them. Increasingly, questions have begun to be raised about the impact these mega-donations are having upon the priorities of society.
There are a number of tensions inherent in the relationship between philanthropy and democracy. For all the huge benefits modern philanthropy can bring, the sheer scale of contemporary giving can skew spending in areas such as education and healthcare, to the extent that it can overwhelm the priorities of democratically elected governments and local authorities.
To be clear, this is not, in any way, suggesting that non-profits, civil society or good governance are futile. Rather, it is the opposite – they are so critically important that they can not be risked to appease the personal whims of the ultra-wealthy. A better system is possible, if everyone truly pays their fair share. 🙂
Freelancers and others frequently get asked to work for free, or for significantly reduced rates. It definitely happens in the non-profit world, and I have heard from others that it is frequently a problem in the creative world as well.
Along with strong support for a Universal Basic Income, and significant caps on CEO/executive and other high earner salaries to close the gap between low and high earners, let’s start from the premise that everybody deserves to be paid fairly for the skills and expertise that the bring to a project. We all deserve to have a living wage, whether freelancer or not.
Happy watching! (And thanks to everyone in the video for testing the theory in the real world, so that I don’t have to do it! :))
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As the pandemic shutdown continues, with some restrictions lifting in various places, several things have shifted, particularly around how we, collectively, source and prepare food. People are baking more – yeast shortages, unheard of before, are now a common occurrence, with flour and other supplies flying off of the shelves. At the same time, increased discussion regarding the possible/likely links related to our current mainstream factory farms/animal food systems (in terms of individual health, zoological diseases and their role in this pandemic, and overall climate health) has increasing numbers of people seeking out more plant-based options.
At the same time, when switching key aspects of how we buy and prepare food, many people struggle with how to make that transition, particularly when also managing other aspects related to living in a pandemic.
Help is on the way! Are you looking for help with plant-based eating? I am now offering coaching sessions – all about how to switch to plant-based eating, whether you want to go 100% plant-based, or start with a few simple changes to how you eat.
Sessions will be customized, depending on what you are looking for, and where you are starting from, and may include, among other things:
– learning simple tricks and ideas about how to switch to more plant-based eating
– finding recipes or resources to help make meal planning, or travelling easier
– sharing and exploring resources related to reasons for switching to plant-based eating
– switching to reduced waste and/or plastic with food purchasing, storage and prep
– other items as requested.
You may choose one-on-one, or invite a few friend to form a group, or book a larger group session. I will do my best to customize sessions to where you are at – whether you are looking for quick and easy or more complex food projects.
NOTE: I am not a certified nutritionist. You are responsible for your own health decisions. I am here to help provide ideas, work with you and to share my experience on the journey towards plant-based eating.
Questions? Want more information? Curious about rates? (I aim to keep my rates as affordable as possible for everyone!) Go to the website and contact me for details. I look forward to hearing from you! 🙂
I saw a quote on social media few days ago, and am sharing it here. While I was searching for that one, I came across a couple of others, that I am sharing as well. Happy Monday!
These quotes are relevant in all of the areas that we talk about here – development, food, sustainability and others. As we all deal with this pandemic, and the climate crisis, our collective failure to listen to experts – who have been calling for massive changes to prevent a climate crisis for decades – can not be ignored. Changes to our choices – individually and collectively – need to be radically rethought, so that we come out of this pandemic with a Green New Deal (in various forms, locally and globally), with related changes to how we live, work, eat, use energy, get from place to place and support each other collectively, among others.
Based on wide-ranging interviews with former employees, board members, and others who have intimate knowledge of Mortenson and his charity, the Central Asia Institute, Three Cups of Deceit uncovers multiple layers of deception behind Mortenson’s public image. Was his crusade really inspired by a desire to repay the kindness of villagers who nursed him back to health when he became lost on his descent down K2? Was he abducted and held for eight days by the Taliban? Has his charity built all of the schools that he has claimed? This book is a passionately argued plea for the truth, and a tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong.
100% of Jon Krakauer’s proceeds from the sale of Three Cups of Deceit will be donated to the “Stop Girl Trafficking” project at the American Himalayan Foundation (www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/project/stopgirltrafficking).
When Three Cups of Tea was first released, the book suddenly became frequently talked about – at least in some development circles. In my circles, responses seemed to fall (very roughly and unscientifically) down two lines – those who thought it was an inspiring and fact-filled story, proving that all you need to be an excellent NGO worker is to be a nice person with a nice story and, on the other hand, those of us (mainly people in the NGO world in some way), who saw countless red flags, both in his story and in the development model he was advocating for. Full disclosure: From the beginning, I have been firmly in the second camp.
Having heard bits and pieces over the years about the follow up from the original book, and then his second book, I hadn’t thought about it for a long time, until an unrelated discussion happened to bring it to my attention. A quick search, and some reading, got me at least partly caught up on what has happened in recent years.
Many of my concerns with the original book, and the work that followed, are covered in detail in Three Cups of Deceit. Without writing a full dissertation on everything that is wrong with Three Cups of Tea, I will summarize a few primary concerns here. These are my points (ie not quoted directly from Three Cups of Deceit), but they are generally shared among various critiques that have been written of Three Cups of Tea:
1) It promotes the idea (long ago disproven) that work in development requires only that someone “be a nice person who wants to help”. As with countless other jobs, being a nice person is obviously required, but is in no way a substitute for professional expertise or knowing what you are doing/how to do it well. And, ultimately, the damage done by poorly managed development projects is so destructive (to communities and to other organizations), that being “naive but well-intentioned and nice” results in impacts that are actually not a very nice for others at all.
2) It is overwhelmingly, factually inaccurate. It is fiction posing as non-fiction.
3) It is extremely disrespectful of communities that he claims to want to serve and help. The focus is on him and his imaginary hero-story – where he is the knight in shining armour saving helpless communities from themselves. He sees himself as Santa Claus, dropping in from the outside to deliver gifts, then leaving again. That is not development – it is the epitomy of White Saviour Complex.
4) It promotes a model of development that is not grounded at all in modern best practices, and is actively harmful in many ways – far more than can all be identified in one post. His model promotes a world-view that is highly colonialist, disrespectful of others, and not effective at achieving his stated goals. For example, putting funds towards teacher training or other things would have had a greater positive impact on education than putting it towards construction. That said, given that he seems to have kept most of the funds for himself, it can’t even be said that he put the money towards construction – but that was the theoretical aim, it seems.
5) The active mismanagement of funds and other problems risks decreased trust, by the general public, of the work that really good NGOs are doing. Hopefully, the reverse is true, and people will learn from this, and really appreciate the excellent, transparent and accountable work that countless good NGOs are doing. 🙂
I am grateful to the author of Three Cups of Deceit (and others), for doing the hard work to fact check an organization that has been unaccountable for far too long. Based on what I was able to find currently, I was not able to (in a fairly brief search), definitively determine the current status of the organization. That said, I can say definitively that it is not an organization I would donate to, or recommend that others donate to. If you have a copy of Three Cups of Tea on your shelf, consider replacing it with Krakauer’s well-written critique, instead.
Want to read more about this? Here are a few more resources, with a few key quotes. All are well worth reading.
(Note that some of the resources on this topic are a number of years old, from when some of the more significant allegations of corruption and misuse of funds came to light publicly).
How the U.S. military fell in love with ‘Three Cups of Tea’ – Washington Post
“No amount of tea with Afghans will persuade them that we are like them, that our war is their war or that our interests are their interests,” said Michael Miklaucic, a longtime official with the U.S. Agency for International Development who is currently serving at the Pentagon’s National Defense University. “The war in Afghanistan isn’t about persuasion or tea. It is about power.” (Italics mine).
Another reason I’ve always had trouble talking about Mortenson’s books is that it’s hard to give an alternative for people who feel the need to act. Even before the reports of C.A.I.’s mismanagement, I saw little value in this model of development. It’s centered around a foreigner, and the foreigner has no special expertise in either education or Central Asia. Even a balanced and reasonable individual is likely to fail in this situation.
Over the last 50 years of studying international development, scholars have built a large body of research and theory on how to improve education in the developing world. None of it has recommended providing more school buildings, because according to decades of research, buildings aren’t what matter. Teachers matter. Curriculum matters. Funding for education matters. Where classes actually take place? Not really. (Italics mine).
A New Mission for Nonprofits During the Outbreak: Survival NYT
NGOs, among others, are in a particularly difficult spot during this shutdown. Fundraising is frequently a challenging part of NGO work, particularly when applying for grants etc. When there is a downturn or crisis, everything becomes much more difficult. When an org is living at the very edge of financial viability at the best of times, there is little capacity left to cover gaps or challenging times.
In a 2018 survey by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a consultant, three-quarters of nonprofits said they would run out of cash in less than six months. Nineteen percent said they had only enough funds to last, at the most, for a month.
(Bold mine, and I believe that this is a US stat, but not confirmed. I assume stats would be similar for Canada).
I had not seen specific stats on this piece, and, while I am not entirely surprised, it is still shocking, assuming these stats are accurate, to see how close to the financial viability edge many NGOS are operating.
In the immediate term, I hope NGOs and small businesses etc are able to get through this crisis intact. There will be very tough decisions to make, and things will likely get worse before they get better.
In the longer term, my hope is that NGOs, especially the smaller ones, learn from this and come back with stronger admin structures where needed, a more extensive donor relations base that can weather storms more easily, professional support and expertise where they need it, and a savings account that can help buy them time through the next crisis. In some cases, perhaps that will mean coming back to full functioning via a merger with a similar small NGO or any of a variety of creative solutions. Through this difficult time, stronger organizations with better program design, admin structures and donor relations may be the silver lining that we can look forward to. 🙂
I’ve been away for a bit, as other plans have been continually adjusting over the last week or two. I have also debated whether to write about the pandemic, or avoid it/take a break, and focus on something else. So, as a compromise, I’m going to do a bit of both. I’m going to focus on how we can use this pandemic to reset parts of how we operate, to ensure that we come out of this into a local and global community that is better than it was before.
NOTE: We have been at home, as a family, for almost 2 weeks, since school was shut down here. No known exposure to anything at this point, and we are all healthy so far. We are going for walks around the block etc, but not much more than that. We are grateful for our cold room (well stocked with flour, oats and lots of other good things), our bread machine, dehydrator and instant pot, and the fact that we have been able to order things online for delivery.
Pandemic and Climate Crisis:
Without wanting to minimize the very significant impacts of the virus in any way, I think that there is a lot that we can learn from this crisis, in order to avert further climate damage before it’s too late. If there is any silver lining, a massive global Green New Deal, with massive action to avert the worst of the climate crisis, is it.
The Covid-19 crisis is a chance to do capitalism differently: Guardian
Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?: Guardian
What could change look like?
To be clear, I am not proposing that nobody ever leave their house again. However, there is a lot that we can keep from this shutdown that could help deal with the climate crisis.
SUVs second biggest cause of emissions rise, figures reveal: Guardian – If we can leave our big vehicles at home more in the future, and use public transit/drive a smaller EV etc, the impact would be significant. Likewise, if companies have adjusted and found ways to get work done with less driving/flying to meetings, there is to reason to go back to status quo when this is over.
‘Individual actions do add up’: Christiana Figueres on the climate crisis: Guardian
Toronto Star: Did free cash drive people to quit work? Not according to a new study of Ontario’s basic income experiment. (Star) – This pandemic is yet another reason for countries to implement a universal basic income, starting ASAP. 🙂
No putting meat on expenses, says property firm: BBC News – I actually saw this one before the pandemic, and it is an interesting, if somewhat complicated response to impacts of food choices on climate and business. 🙂
And, naturally, it goes without saying that I am not supportive of fossil fuel subsidies, or bailouts of large companies that are making massive profits at the expense of people or creation. I support workers, and retraining for anybody who wants, and a universal basic income. 🙂
Doing nothing will lead to more crises in the future. Let’s use this crisis as an opportunity to build the better world that so many people have been seeking for so long. 🙂
