All of my charm necklaces in our shop have sold! YAYYYY! I'm so excited that a goal I had for myself this year has come into fruition, and with awesome results! (so many exclamation points...)
It's made me realize how far I've come in my craft, and it rekindles my fire to create even MORE miniature creatures. I'm going to focus my energy on our shop here, since I don't have to deal with shipping, BUT there are still a few small pokemans in my shop without a home, and there's always the custom option. I am always open for custom charms, just message me on etsy and I will respond right away.
I went to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN in February, which was a definite eagle-filled experience and all around good time! I guess it's about time I shared pictures of things that happened TWO MONTHS AGO.
This weekend I was busy participating in my second to last class to obtain my graduate environmental educator's teaching certificate, Sustainable Foods and Energy.
I'm a...passionate person, to say the least (aka loud and angry about many topics, especially when they have to do with the environment and conservation). We watched Food Inc. tonight and it opened my eyes to a lot of wrongdoings that I had an inkling were occurring, but didn't truly know the full extent of. Vegetarians and vegans who abide by the laws of PETA and who don't eat meat because of the cute piglets and brown-eyed cow babies that get slaughtered for meat consumption are being vegetarians for the wrong reason (to be harsh). I completely disagree with the thought process that meat should not be consumed because it is unethical to eat another animal; animals have eaten other animals for centuries. Omnivores, carnivores, and sometimes even accidentally by other herbivores, animals have become food for others. I disagree with our meat consumption because it is terrible the way animal are treated in the meat processing industry; it is completely and totally unethical. It is also destroying the environment. To eat a plant-based diet would mean to cut down on two and a half TONS of CO2 emissions that would otherwise be derived from cows, their unnatural corn-based diet, and transportation of the entire industry. THAT'S the right reason to eat a plant-based diet.
However, there are those of us (such as me) who still really like meat and would enjoy continuing to eat it, though I do not actually consume it all that much. In that case, it's important to NOT SUPPORT THESE COMPANIES. The companies that pack in animals, feed them antibiotics because of their corn-based diets, which make them sick, inject with rBTG, a growth hormone that has been clinically proven to cause young girls to enter puberty early (that's just scary), and then kill in inhumane ways and package in unsafe conditions, causing illness. Instead, we need to support grass-fed, local beef as much as possible, as well as free-range chickens (truly free-range). A couple of years ago, my dad saw Food Inc. and decided that from then on, we needed to buy organic animal products. At first I complained about the inconvenience, and I'm completely ashamed at how I reacted now. I am my father's daughter, raged at Food Inc, and thought about my role in helping to choke this inhumane, un-environmental industry. Now I want to make some changes in my eating and food intake, which I'll describe now to hold me semi-accountable for it.
1) About a year ago, I decided I wanted to only eat beef once a month, if at all, in order to not support the beef industry in all its corn-growing, cattle pushing glory. However, I pretty much failed since hamburgers are delicious and I am weak in that aspect. Now I realize that I am not eating beef very often, living at an environmental education center. I'm attempting to only eat beef once a week now (giving myself a little more leeway), and if I do eat beef then it should be organic and grass-fed if possible.
2) Go meatless at least once a week, more if possible! I tried going vegetarian when I was in middle school and after a week I was cranky, sick, and tired. That's because I was eating absolutely no protein AKA I was only eating pasta. So even though things haven't really changed that much, I'm still never going to be a completely plant-based diet person. Well, maybe someday. But not now. So in order to cut down on some CO2 emissions, I'm going meatless at least once a week.
3) One of the points made in my class for creating a cleaner world was to dedicate a larger portion of your paycheck to food. I don't often have to buy my own food, but when I do I have the luxury of buying items that are better for the Earth. Even though I'm dirt poor, I still need to attempt to buy organic, in season, and maybe even non corn-based. This will be a tough road, but I'm going to start the walk. There's an organic store in town (surprisingly), so I believe I'll see what prices of milk is there and go from there. I can buy fruits and vegetables that are in season, and if I ever buy meat for myself (which will probably never happen), then I'll buy organic. I just learned the eggs the local grocery store supplies comes from a chicken farm with terrible conditions that has multiple environmental issues, so I need to stop buying those. Basically, food that is treated humanely will continue to be expensive until everybody makes the decision to buy ethically treated food. That is when the change will happen.
4) Make better choices for myself and for the planet. I need to start being healthier in what I eat, what I choose to eat, and what I do. I should also probably start brushing my teeth more...
Here and here are blog posts that really encompass how I feel about the whole eating meat thing, especially the "ethical" side of it. In fact, her entire blog is great and you should probably read it.
I'm probably "preaching to the convinced", as mentioned in Food Inc., but I wanted to get this off my mind. So many people have different opinions about food in general, and I just want them to watch this documentary and make their own decisions from it. I often talk about how PETA and Greenpeace use blatant propaganda to try to sell their "product", but sometimes you do have to look at the facts, that this is real and something should be done about it. It doesn't mean stop eating burgers, it means please stop eating them as much, or try getting a grass-fed burger!
I believe the whole movie can be found on Youtube :) It's akin to a horror movie, but unlike most, this one is ACTUALLY based on true events. Even the soundtrack of this documentary had a definite horror theme chill to it, an eerie combination with scenes of acres and acres of miserable feed lots packed with cattle.
But don't let that discourage you, it really is a great documentary, and really helped me open my eyes.
