The story begins simply, with Barry finding himself behind a heavy truck in Florida, laden with what appear to be green Granny Smith apples. Some of these orbs begin to fly off the truck, but they turn out to be tomatoes “so plasticine and so identical they could have been stamped out by a machine.” A few have cracks, most are unblemished, and not one is smashed, despite the long drop at 60 mph.
The story ends with Tomatoland, an exposé of today’s agribusiness systems, which produce industrial tomatoes as lacking in nutrition as they are flavor. Of all the fruits and vegetables we eat, none suffers at the hand of factory farming more than a tomato grown in the winter fields of Florida, which accounts for one-third of the fresh tomatoes grown in the United States. Modern agribusiness can’t deliver a decent-tasting tomato in large part because it’s essentially against the law; regulations set by the Florida Tomato Committee determine what a tomato should look like, and the older, tasty varieties don’t conform to the rules of color and shape.
As Barry explains in this fact-filled yet approachable book, consumers and society pay a price when we take taste and thought out of our food purchases:

• The tomato got its start in the arid climates of South America, making Florida’s humid weather possibly the worst place for tomato growing. This results in heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
• The underpaid workers in Florida’s tomato fields are exposed to chemicals daily, with a toll including cancers, respiratory ailments, and severe birth defects among newborns. That’s not all—one assistant U.S. attorney referred to Florida’s tomato fields as “ground zero for modern- day slavery,” complete with beatings and being “sold” to crew bosses to pay debts.
• A tomato today contains less vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, and calcium and 14 times as much sodium as its 1960s counterpart.

There’s no doubt anyone who longs for the flavor and texture of a truly home-grown tomato—will want to hear the messages of Tomatoland. Tomatoes are America’s second-most popular produce behind lettuce, with Americans buying $5 billion worth of commercially grown fresh tomatoes in 2009. And nearly nine out of 10 backyard gardens include tomatoes.

About Barry Estabrook
Investigative journalist Barry Estabrook’s 2009 article for Gourmet magazine, “Politics of the Plate: The Price of a Tomato,” won a James Beard Award in 2010. In addition to being a Gourmet contributing editor for eight years, Barry was founding editor of EatingWell magazine and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, and The Washington Post. He contributes regularly to The Atlantic’s Web site. He has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows. Barry tends his tomato patch at home in Vermont. politicsoftheplate.com

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit
Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4494-0109-2
Price: $19.99 ($22.99 Canada)
Hardcover: 6×9, 240 pages

Disclaimer:
Every item purchased from Amazon.com after following any of the above Tomatoland links generates commissions that support this site.

For more information please visit worldgoveganweek.org or www.mercyforanimals.org/veganweek.

The professors have joined a debate that in recent years has been gaining intensity by a growing awareness of the threats of factory farming to public health, nature and environment, climate, and animal welfare.

In 2001, an independent, broad advisory committee recommended several measures to structurally change the large Dutch livestock industry. These recommendations were adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture at the time, and plans were made to execute them fully before 2010. In 2002, however, a new government was installed, after which none of the recommendations were carried out.

The Netherlands is the second export country in the world of meat and dairy, whereas the country is far too small to carry the environmental damage produced by large-scale livestock industry, such as the manure surplus. The country has more pigs than people, and they lead miserable lives in large crowded barns that consumers never see: production of meat and dairy products has been industrialized and enhanced to the extent that consumers have become estranged from the process of how their food is produced.

The agricultural lobby in parliament has so far succeeded in countering widespread attacks on livestock farming, such as the citizens’ initiative ‘Stop Wrong Meat’ in 2007. In defense of the existing system, it is often said that the Netherlands cannot do much because this is a European matter. However, the professors argue, because of the disproportionate size of its livestock industry, the Netherlands should take the lead in Europe, to stimulate sustainable and animal-friendly farming.

Contributions to the plea were written by 105 full professors from different Dutch universities and different fields of expertise. They have joined forces and expertise to promote a critical evaluation of why the 2001 recommendations were never carried out, even though many of the current problems and threats were foreseen at the time, and to encourage the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture to start taking measures to protect animal welfare, the Dutch landscape, national health, and the future of coming generations and of global food supply.

The essay is on the Dutch website www.duurzameveeteelt.nl (sustainable livestock farming) which is attracting many visitors and supporters signing the plea. Initiator Professor Roos Vonk, psychologist of Radboud University, was disappointed with the response of the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Gerda Verburg: “She said she could not listen to every ‘protest group’ and that we were misinformed. Apparently, she did not realize that more than 100 professors, many with relevant expertise, have been working on this essay since February. I was shocked to hear this, coming from a minister who is responsible for letting Q-fever and ESBL threat get so out of hand. I do hope our initiative will resonate in other ways, because the need for change is urgent.”

The complete essay can be downloaded as a pdf file here.

Click here to download the free
Tasty Vegan Holiday Recipes eBook
in ePub format.

To read ePub eBooks you will need a digital reader. There are now many such readers available with the most popular being the Sony Reader, Apple iPhone, Bookworm and Adobe Digital Editions.

The Good Earth Dinner

Celebrating the season’s bounties

Courses:

• Nutmeg mushrooms
• Onion Soup In the French Tradition
• Minty pea and rice salad with apples
• Tempeh Bourgogne
• Lemony spinach with cashew pieces
• Maple Almond Fig Galette with Vegan Maple Mascarpone

Gourmet Harvest Dinner

Elegant meals that none would suspect are vegan

Courses:

• Waffle Pieces with Lettuce and Papaya Chutney
• Filled baby spuds
• Gourmet fennel & celery soup
• Zucchini tartar with paprika-raspberry puree
• Layered eggplant with chopped nut filling
• Brussels sprouts with apples and onions
• Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Cookie Crust and Bourbon Sauce

The Turkey’s Favorite Friends Dinner

Delicious recipes gently celebrating honoring all life

Courses:

• Spinach & Sundried Tomato Windmills
• Coconut Carrot Soup
• Spicy Broccoli-mango Salad
• Brussels Sprouts with Bananas and Carrot Cashew Loaf
• Pumpkin with cranberries
• Pumpkin Parfaits with Ginger Snaps

Homecoming Favorites

Family favorites from our house to yours

Courses:

• Fava bean bruschetta
• Sweet Red Bell Pepper with Apple Soup
• Hawaiian Carrot Salad
• Tempeh Schnitzel with a Citrus Sauce
• Stuffed Potatoes with Asparagus
• Vegalicious Brownies Deluxe

If you enjoyed these recipes, you can support us by buying something from our Amazon Shop or from our Cafepress Store.

Save The Chimps is a non-profit organization that runs a ‘retirement home’ for more than 280 chimps rescued or retired from biomedical research, the entertainment industry, or the pet trade.

In 1998 I had the honor to get to know Carole, and created the initial web-site for Save The Chimps. I continued working as their web-master until we moved to the Netherlands in October 2000. Carole was a great inspiration for me, and it is wonderful to see what she has achieved in the past 11 years. Her dream became reality, she won legal battles, and was able to rescue not only the former Air Force ‘space chimps‘, but all chimpanzees from the horrific Coulston laboratories in New Mexico.

Lear more about Dr. Carole Noon:

• Dr. Carole Noon Founder and President, 1949-2009
• Carole C. Noon, Who Founded Save the Chimps, Dies at 59
• Chimps lose an unsung hero

Let’s help to realize her dream! Many chimpanzees still live at the former labs in New Mexico, and are looking forward to start a new joyful live in the permanent sanctuary in Florida. The project ‘Great Chimp Migration‘ costs $2500 per chimpanzee. As Vegalicious we started a Save The Chimps 2009 fundraiser. Our ambitious goal is to collect $25,000, so that at least 10 more chimpanzees can make the trip to Florida. Please consider a donation and help Save The Chimps!

Below you can watch a video profile of Save The Chimps including interviews with Dr. Carole Noon:

Part 2 of the video

Factory farming and long-distance live animal transport apparently led to the emergence of the ancestors of the current swine flu threat.

A preliminary analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus isolated from human cases in California and Texas reveals that six of the eight viral gene segments arose from North American swine flu strains circulating since 1998, when a new strain was first identified on a factory farm in North Carolina.

Read the full article

Josh from Herbivore Clothing is riding his bike to Farm Sanctuary 600 miles to help millions of animals.

Farm Sanctuary is a national, non-profit animal protection organization. Each year they rescue, rehabilitate and provide lifelong care for hundreds of animals rescued from factory farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses. In addition to operating the shelters, they work to gain legal protection for animals used in food production and to raise public awareness about factory farm cruelty and cruelty-free alternatives.

Help to raise money for Farm Sanctuary. Give NOW!

Josh will be writing about his training and the ride on his blog and if you are on Facebook you can join his fan page.

The occasion is the 25th annual observance of the Great American Meatout, world’s largest annual grassroots diet education campaign. This year with a change in U.S. Administration and a new public outlook, Meatout is inspiring dietary change with this year’s slogan: “Change Your Diet – Change The World!”

The nation’s capital will feature a massive Meatout feed-in for peace. Tens of thousands of attendees at a massive peace rally will be educated about a non-violent diet with literature, signs, “Tofurky” sandwiches, and other vegan goodies. The Seattle VegFest is expected to draw thousands of visitors. Other festivals are planned in Asheville, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, and several other cities. They feature live bands, speakers, exhibits, video screenings, health screenings, food vendors, cooking demonstrations, vegan food samples, and games.

Some communities are exhibiting unusual creativity to capture public attention. Boulder is hosting a large display with life-size models of industrial farming techniques, screenings of meat industry practices, and giant charts of nutritional information about veganism. In the style of a 60′s sit-in, Philadelphia folks are hosting a Meatout Veg-In complete with a cooking class and art project. In Orlando, the “vegan police” are holding a ‘steakout’ with Happy the cow offering delicious vegan food samples to crowds.

California residents are participating in Meatout’s “Operation Prop 2 Follow-Through” advocating a vegan diet throughout the state. The campaign was launched in response to last November’s passage of Proposition 2 requiring that animals raised for food have enough space to turn around and spread their limbs.

Activists are protesting and distributing vegan food samples at dozens of KFC outlets. More than 75 universities are taking part this year, with exhibits, information tables, video screenings, and/or a veg cafeteria line. Humane societies, animal sanctuaries, and yoga centers throughout the U.S. are offering free Veg Starter Kits to visitors.

Food manufacturers and retailers are supporting this year’s observance by supplying samples of their vegan products. Nearly 100 health food stores and restaurants throughout the U.S. are hosting Meatout displays and offering special discounts.

Hundreds of bus cards, billboards and letters to the editor carry the Meatout message to millions. Proclamations urging citizens to explore a wholesome, nonviolent diet of vegetables, fruits, and grains were issued by several governors and mayors of major cities (see www.meatout.org/media/proclamations.htm).

Other countries taking part in this year’s observance include Australia, Belarus, Bermuda, Canada, Croatia, Congo, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, UK, and Zambia. Click here for a full list of events.

You can also send fun Meatout e-cards to your friends, family, and everyone in your address book!

via: http://vegandad.blogspot.com

EWG always recommends organic, but you can’t always find it. The new Guide features the 12 fruits and veggies with the most and least pesticides so you’ll know which ones to buy organic, and which conventionally-grown ones are okay when organic isn’t available.

How’d they do it? EWG analyzed over 42,000 of the latest government tests for pesticide residues on commonly-eaten fruits and vegetables. Then they ranked the results based on six measures of pesticide loads, even after washing and peeling. Download your printer-friendly PDF Guide in English or Spanish today: http://www.foodnews.org/getguide/.