So, how about that cleanse… the Friday night after I wrote my last post, Britt, my cleanse buddy, brought me to the health food store and proceeded to tell me that I was doing the cleanse improperly. Basically, I was supposed to cut out everything that was making it not terrible (banana smoothies, greens in a smoothie instead of mixed with water [gross], and pineapple juice) - and she also told me that I had to start taking a tablespoonful of fibre every day. !! So, I decided to do the cleanse my own way.

And then I got grumpy.

I guess that cleanses are supposed to make you grumpy, but I hate hate hate being grumpy. I am generally a pretty cheerful person… but when I don’t eat for three days, grumpy is just one toe-stub or shitty conversation away. Bah! So, I ate a spoonful of peanut butter, and then I ate some grapes, and by the next day I was wolfing down spinach salad and gin… so I guess I failed.

Fuck cleanses. I’m a healthy vegan. I don’t need to cleanse. I love to eat. I officially cleansed for four days. That’s not so bad; I feel like I refreshed my diet a bit and got out of the habit of overeating. Since then I’ve been trying to be a bit more conscious of my food choices. Less seitan, more salad. Less oil, more water. It’s summer, after all, which is the time for fresh fruit and other delights.

Unfortunately, leaving my job has left me a little bit broke. After rent this month I am pretty destitute, so if you’d like to buy my art and support my habit of eating regular meals at the same time, I’ve got three paintings up for sale. Check here for photos and information. I’m also available to do commissions in watercolour and acrylic.

If you’re the omnivorous type, check out this article from MSN Health: Grass is Greener - Steak Without the Guilt. I’m all for more ethical, environmentally responsible and healthy alternatives to traditional Western consumption habits, and this is a great article filled with a tonne of information on just how and why.

But let’s face it: For a lot of people, biting into a thick, juicy steak ranks up there with make-up sex and cocktails on the company’s dime as one of those priceless MasterCard moments. So what’s a carnivore with a conscience to do? Instead of focusing on what you’re eating, how about taking a look at what your prime rib had for lunch last week?

Research is showing that beef from grass-fed cattle is leaner, healthier, and less costly to the planet — and may even be safer to eat than the heifers you’re chewing on now.

Truly a recommended read for anyone who doesn’t want to give up meat. I know that not everyone is willing to go vegan, but we all have a responsibility to work toward conserving our planet and making it a better place to live for all of its inhabitants.

P.S. Go vegan.

This is interesting - “Veganic” farming in New Mexico’s Espanola Valley. Don Bustos, whose family has farmed this land for generations, elected to go organic 15 years ago to protect his children’s health. Now, as the article describes, he’s gone veganic, choosing to use no animal byproducts in the fertilizers and no pesticides whatsoever.

Salmonella and e. Coli are bacteria that live in the intestines of livestock and are present in their waste. Livestock waste, or manure, can be used to fertilize fields, potentially contaminating crops with the disease-causing bacteria.

Crops can also be contaminated by contact with infected animals or their byproducts, including bone meal and blood meal, which are used as fertilizer as well.

Veganic farmers use crop rotations and composted plant matter — or “green manure” — to fertilize their crops.

I think this is fantastic and frankly it suddenly makes me feel really gross about my organic hothouse tomatoes. Blood meal… that is a hugely unappetizing image. Also, I feel like if we’re going to make an effort to support ethical food production - avoiding cruelly factory-farmed meats, dairy, and eggs, or, as in my case, avoiding animal products entirely - it makes sense to go all the way when possible.

“You think you are getting these clean happy vegetables, but more often than not they’re grown in waste from factory farms,” he said. “The animals … were fed non-organic feed laced with hormones and antibiotics. Those products bio-accumulate in the animals and it’s present in their waste as well.”

I’m not sure what the requirements are for organically grown produce. Do the animals whose waste is present in the fertilizer have to be on an organic diet as well? I’m going to look it up, but it’s definitely something to think about.

I hope that I can start purchasing “veganically” grown produce in my area soon. I think it’s absolutely worth the extra cost to purchase food that is produced ethically, that causes the least amount of harm to the earth, animals, the farmers, and the health of the consumer. After all, there is very little that is more intrinsic to our ability to survive than the way we produce and consume that which we live on - food.