another green step

To celebrate Earth Day, I thought I'd share this very practical and encouraging post from Tracey Bianchi, a Christian creation care enthusiast and author of Green Mama, on cutting back a bit on meat for a number of very good reasons ...

I had a phase in college when I thought that perhaps I would become a vegetarian.  I had no real reason for doing so other than acting sort of hippie-ish seemed like an identity that I wanted to try on for a while.  That and a good friend at the time was a vegetarian.  Vegan was a little to extreme for my little experiment so I decided dairy would be okay, yogurt and ice-cream were close companions and I dared not part from them.

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all about chickens

Continuing on the theme of our tendency to value some animals differently than others, I'm grateful to animal advocate, filmmaker and friend Adam Durand for sharing "25 Random Things About Chickens" ...

I'm so tired of talking about me all the time that I've made a list of random things about my favorite animal: the chicken!  I'm willing to make huge sacrifices for these little guys, so I felt I should tell you why.  If you want to know more, check out my movie Fowl Play:

1. Chickens were domesticated from the Red Junglefowl of Southeast Asia.  Junglefowl are social forest-dwellers who perch, make calls, and look much like modern chickens. U nlike the ancestors of cows (the beastly "aurochs," the last of whom were killed hundreds of years ago), Junglefowl still co-exist with humanity, but they're thought to be facing extinction through interbreeding with domesticated chickens.

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forty-some days without meat?

With Lent beginning this Wednesday or next Monday for many Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, an ever growing number of Protestants and Evangelicals are also looking to honor in some way the ancient Christian period of fasting leading up to Easter.  See, for example, an informative and encouraging review of the practice by Rev. Ken Collins. 

The first two traditions have typically included abstaining from meat in their fasting, though in some cases seafood is permitted, while in other forms of fasting even non-flesh animal products are avoided as well.  But I wonder if many of us who are descendants of the Reformation consider fasting from meat or other animal products in any capacity as a legitimate, even vibrant, way of honoring Lent?  

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christian voices for compassionate animal farming

To close out a short series on a more compassionate animal farming and diet, which previously featured the "Back to the Start" animated video and "... Also Many Animals" from Rev. Leonard Vander Zee, I wanted to link to a few other Christian voices on this critical dimension of caring for God's creatures:

- The Christian Broadcasting Network posted a commendable news segment and accompanying article on Christian "alternative farmer" Joel Salatin, "Natural Farming: Inspiring Passionate 'Stewards.'"  Salatin has received national attention in the natural food movement, including films such as Food, Inc. and books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma.  Following the video is a great quote from Salatin in CBN's article:

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back to the start

We don't often share material which advertises a particular product or company, but as many others have found, this "Back to the Start" short from the Chipotle restaurant chain contains a powerful message on its own.  With quaintly animated farm scenes and characters, and set to a surprisingly poignant cover by Willie Nelson of Coldplay's "The Scientist," the 2 min. video movingly portrays the shift away from traditional animal farming practices to sterile and industrialized, or "factory farming," systems; but it ends with such a hopeful revelation and commitment to returning to the way things used to be ... 

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eating more compassionately in 2012

Similar to two years ago when we shared a new year's resolution post which included tips for eating in a more animal-friendly way, I wanted to highlight a great article from CNN.com's eatocracy blog with reasonable and doable suggestions for eating more compassionately in 2012 (many thanks to Rosie Andre for sharing).  Written by Gene Baur, co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, this "5@5" food feature includes advice on eating less industrially and cruelly generated farm animals and products, eating more plant-based foods in their place, and even trying vegetarianism for one meal or one day a week. 

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my faith, God's animals and diet

I prematurely concluded our recent series on Christian voices for animals before sharing this heartfelt personal reflection from Canadian friend and animal advocate Anne Sturgeon ...

Having been raised in a loving Christian home, it didn’t feel like a huge step to believe in a loving, merciful God who wants to have a personal relationship with me.  What I do find difficult is being the best person I believe God expects me to be.  I keep returning to him knowing He will be there, waiting for me, prepared to forgive and ready to guide me, once again, if I choose! 

Since a child, I have been hearing and feeling God's loving, gentle, caring, compassionate, and merciful voice telling me to take care of His creation.  God frequently teaches me through my day-to-day life, and I feel that His handiwork clearly points to Him and His awesome, magnificent power.  God's Universe is so amazing and reveals His miracles every day.

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happy turkey day?

I've been admittedly reluctant to write a post on this subject in recent years.  I have many happy memories of Thanksgivings past which prominently featured a turkey as the main course, and multiple turkey sandwiches afterward.  Thanksgiving traditions run deep in our society, and it's a time for remembering all we have to be thankful for, including the family and friends who share our tables, and the food upon it.  Please know I don't mean to detract from the day in the least.

But in honoring this special day and its traditions of gratitude, it's important that we're able not only to give thanks for the bird at the center of our meal, but for the life which God gave it, and for the way it was raised and slaughtered.  As someone once poignantly put it, are we truly able to say "grace" over the food before us, even a Thanksgiving turkey?

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plant-based and faith-based blogs

We're closing out the series on Christians and veganism by highlighting a few friends who blog on plant-based eating.  They come from a range of Christian perspectives, but each have some great motivation and advice to share, even mouth-watering recipes in many cases, whether you're simply looking to eat a bit healthier or to include less animal products in your diet.

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creation care, chronic pain and a plants-based diet

Here is one last personal reflection, and a thoughtful and nuanced one at that, in our series on veganism (see the introduction and motivation) from a regular contributor to not one sparrow, Lauren Merritt of The Christian and Creation: Glorifying the Creator ...

Six years ago, concern about eating animal products was not on my radar.

I was a division-one college swimmer, busy burning thousands of calories every day and scarfing them all back down in the form of dining hall hamburgers, pizza, and ice cream.  My body paid my way through the first two years of college, doing its time in the pool and weight room.  But it didn’t hold up under the strain of training and began to break down. 

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