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Time proves the times they are
a changin’
with cover story on
factory-farmed meat
August 29, 2009
It has been seven years since I
co-authored the original “Chemical-Free Kids” with Linda
Bonvie and Allan Magaziner, D.O., in which we tried to
explain to parents how our food system was impacting
their children’s health. More recently, I have had the
pleasure of helping my friend Dr. Steven Gundry to
promote his “Diet Evolution,” in which he recommends
that people who would like to lose weight and become
healthier and more youthful looking make an effort to
steer clear of corn, which, in addition to its presence
in such ubiquitous processed-food ingredients as
high-fructose corn syrup, is used to fatten up
factory-farmed animals.
Maybe it was the fact that I had just
gotten finished describing the perils of the factory
farm system to two music-industry executives over lunch
that caused me to dream that the current cover of
Time Magazine bore the message that
factory-farmed meat may be hazardous to your health. It
was a most pleasant dream, because for once I didn't
have to sermonize on this subject; I just showed people
the magazine, with the tray of meat on the cover.
Then, this morning, thinking perhaps I
had really just been dreaming, I quickly went to
the coffee table and the pile of new magazines and there
it was: the cover story featured in this week’s issue of
Time (8/21 ), saying the same thing I’ve
been telling people for years—that factory farming
is damaging our health, our economy and our environment.
I’m now on my way out to buy a dozen more copies.
Time, of course, isn’t the only
medium to get this message out – it’s also been recently
disseminated by the documentary “Food Inc.” But when it
makes the cover of a mainstream publication like
Time, it’s a really good indicator that
the times they are indeed a‘changin in regard to
“what’s for dinner.”
Urban hike through familiar territory
can be intriguing journey of rediscovery
August 24, 2009
After all the hiking I did on my
excursion to Iceland, I arrived home in L.A. determined
not to lose the newfound “momentum” I had gained while
there. So, still operating on Iceland time, which is
about seven hours ahead of ours, I awoke at 4 a.m., sent
out some e-mails, and then decided to head out on an
urban hike, my objective being to hoof it from the
Fairfax district to Santa Monica and the 405 Freeway,
which I estimated to be a distance of about eight or
nine miles.
Heading out, I kept mostly to side
streets, and soon found myself quite fascinated by the
way that Mother Nature manages to find so many openings
amid all the asphalt and concrete. It was, to be sure,
quite a contrast to the grandeur of Iceland, but
beautiful in its own way nonetheless. Rather than the
pristine springs and streams that serve as ‘watering
holes’ while traversing the Icelandic countryside, my
oasis on this hike was the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, of
which there were a couple along my route.. And instead
of the visionaries whom I had gotten to know while
hiking the land of the Vikings, I found myself engaged
in conversation with some of the people who regularly
bed down in the wooded area around one of the off-ramps
(where I found myself after temporarily becoming lost on
the Avenue of the Stars, not realizing that I was
actually disturbing the sleep of some of these
“locals”).
While perhaps not quite as breathtaking
as the treks I had recently been on, all in all it was a
beautiful little adventure in rediscovering my own
“habitat.” In fact, viewed from the perspective of a
hike, even things as seemingly banal and unattractive as
the graffiti, the signs and the alleys took on a new and
intriguing character, as did the homeless, from whom
there are many insights we could gain about the society
in which we live if only we would take the time to sit
down and chat with them.
When one has hiked in as many
fascinating locales as I have by now, from the
rainforests of Central America to the Colorado Rockies,
and most recently, the remote hills and valleys of
northern Iceland, the idea of hiking in such a humdrum
setting might seem less than appealing. But, as my
little excursion through the twists and turns of L.A.
revealed, there’s a lot to be discovered (or
rediscovered), even in the most seemingly familiar o f
landscapes, when you’re doing a “walk through” rather
than a “drive by.” Which is why I plan on heading out on
foot again tomorrow, this time to the Hollywood
Hills.
An idyllic island provides some
practical idealists an ideal setting
to find new
ways to save the world
August 20, 2009
I have just gotten back from
spending four days in Iceland with the most eclectic,
brilliant and galvanizing group of individuals I ever
had the pleasure of meeting. We had come together to
discuss nothing less than how the people of the world
might be saved from destruction in ways that make sense
and can be quickly facilitated. This involved asking
such questions as: could the planet support nine billion
people if there wasn't any waste created by anyone or
anything, or if everyone’s waste could be turned into
someone else's food? Or, how do you introduce
cradle-to-cradle philosophies to the world in a big way
so that we can enjoy abundance and growth without raping
the planet’s resources?
Now I would normally do some
name-dropping here, but I really didn't get anyone’s
approval in advance, so I will just say it was an
incredibly interesting group whose members ranged from a
superior court judge to a manufacturer of concrete on
the ground to an individual who is trying to avoid the
eventuality of a landfill being created on the moon.
All-told, it was easily the most powerful and inspiring
conference I have ever attended. Rather than specific
outcomes or conclusions, however, what I would rather
convey to you are the impressions and the feelings I
left with.
The innovative thinkers and passionate
solution seekers I met on this trip have given me a
renewed sense of hope and faith that the current
problems we face will ultimately be solved in ways that
we currently may not even be considering. What if every
product found on a grocery shelf, for instance, was
produced without any toxins or carcinogens, and what if
the leftover waste, instead of being discarded, could be
used as a food source for animals or plants? What if
every piece of a car or computer could be reused in
perpetuity to manufacture new cars and computers, rather
than consuming precious natural resources for such
items?
In essence, the message I took home from
this gathering of visionaries is that we can solve
problems ranging from global warming to autism by
reexamining every process in which we now engage from
beginning to end -- and we can start doing so today
without having to wait for some sort of official
approval. And we can succeed in achieving outcomes that
are positive and hopeful, and manage to have all the
things we need in abundance without destroying our
habitat to acquire them.
As for the conference itself, the days
were long and fulfilling, the setting idyllic, and the
outdoor activities, which included fishing, horseback
riding and hiking, quite invigorating – the perfect
setting to make one realize that the world is indeed a
place worth saving. (In fact, I could well understand
how convening in a place such as Iceland might have
helped inspire Reagan and Gorbachev to seriously
contemplate dismantling their nuclear arsenals.) I will
be writing more about this in the coming days and
sharing some of pictures of the occasion, as well as the
blogs of other participants as they come in.
GreenOps Premieres in Hollywood!
August 11, 2009
Sunday was a big day for me
personally and for Greenopolis as a team. We cut the
ribbon on our newest GreenOps Tracking Stations in West
Hollywood, California. For those of you who don't know
about the GreenOps Tracking Stations, let me tell you
about how incredible they are.
GreenOps Tracking Stations are the
physical arm of Greenopolis. We've been placing these
Tracking Stations at Whole Foods Markets around the
country. They allow folks just like you to recycle
plastic bottles, glass and aluminum and receive rewards
at Greenopolis that can be used for dining,
entertainment and other purchases. You can learn more here.
But back to Sunday and why it was such a
big day…
When I showed up at the West Hollywood
Whole Foods Market, I was frustrated and sweating. The
chain had fallen off my bike and I couldn't get it back
on. I began to wonder if this was an omen for how the
day would unfold.
Then I looked up and immediately became
happy.
To my surprise, there was a stage, a
podium and a sound system. Melissa McGinnis was doing a
sound check and scripting the event with Amanda, Tanya,
Annie, Pam and the rest of the team.
I immediately said, "Wow, they are
really doing this right."
Then, Tony Banuelos (the Whole Foods
Store Team Leader) walked up to me, very excited about
the GreenOps machines and the buzz it was creating in
front of the store on this warm Sunday morning.
I thought, "This is really
something."
I noticed Abbe Land, West Hollywood's
Mayor, who had just shown up. She wanted to see how the
Tracking Station worked and we were able to walk her
through a flawless demonstration. It made me think about
all of the time and energy Paul Wolff has put into
designing the machine. I also reflected on the energy
Jonathon and Mark have put into the installation
process.
As the receipt printed from the machine,
I thought about all of the people in Houston behind that
receipt: Antonnella Commiato, Rohit Anabheri, Doug
Stasney and the rest of the development team.
Melissa then suggested that Abbe go on
Greenopolis.com for more information and to get her
rewards. That brought to mind Jeff Smith, Erin Link, Joe
Laur, Dan Gilbert, Robert Kidwell, Joe Laur and rest of
the Greenopolis Team that are working to make the
digital world interesting and rewarding.
I took a sip of ReSource water and
reflected on over a years' worth of weekly conference
calls, working to get a water bottle made of 25%
recycled PET into the hands of consumers.
Then before I knew it, Melissa was on
stage introducing Tony Banuelos. I knew I was next, so I
had to step back into the present and listen to what
Tony had to say. Then it was my turn to step onto the
stage.
As the crowd looked up at me and thanked
the people who made this event real, all I could do was
acknowledge that the event gave me chills.
A little later, after the Mayor had
spoken, Pam Fabulous brought her flowers and a gift
basket of ReSource as she came off stage.
What an incredible moment for the entire
team…and for the planet.
Congratulations to all that made this
day work.
UK scientists’ potshot at organic
industry
could be just the shot in the arm it
needed
August 4, 2009
While reading about the organic
industry’s highly publicized counteroffensive to the
study done by scientists in the United Kingdom whose
conclusion was that organically grown foods are no
different from a nutritional standpoint than
conventional ones, I was struck by a somewhat
unconventional thought. Might this latest potshot at the
value of organic food be exactly the shot in the arm the
industry needed to get it back on a path of leadership
and growth?
I have been very upset with the organic
industry for the last couple of years because of the
infighting within our own ranks (peeing in our own tent,
so to speak), engaged in by organizations like the
Organic Consumers Association and Cornucopia Institute.
This internal strife has, in my opinion, impacted the
growth and unity of the industry. We have for the last
five years worked to have The Organic Center be the
industry’s scientific voice, speaking on behalf of all
its various groups and companies, big and small. Now,
reading the last round of articles about the UK report
and the responses to it, it occurred to me that the
center may finally be functioning in the role we have
envisioned for it since its formation, and that there
may be a glimmer of hope that the industry can get its
act together and start moving forward to claim a bigger
share of the market.
Those UK scientists, in fact, may have
actually done our industry a huge favor by giving The
Organic Center and its chief scientist Chuck Benbrook
the stage they needed and deserve, and The Organic Trade
Association a new sense of purpose and a reason to lead.
My hope now is that this action and reaction will unify
the industry and give OTA Executive Director Christine
Bushway the opportunity to better organize the industry
by assigning more clearly defined roles and
responsibilities to all our allied organizations, and
that The Organic Center and The Organic Farmers Research
Foundation can work and publish together.
As for the Cornucopia Institute and The
Organic Consumers Association, one can only hope that
this episode serves as an awakening for them of just how
essential unity is to the survival of this industry,
which agribusiness and its agents will continue to
target whenever they sense an opening. Should they
continue to cause dissension and undermine consumer
confidence in the growth of organics by pushing the
mantra of “big is bad,” however, it might well behoove
the other players to withdraw their support for these
organizations.
So, yes, that team of naysayers from the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
are
to be thanked for rallying the industry. But, then
again, whenever you see change, it’s usually because
some new development or point of view has shaken things
up---and that’s exactly what happened here.
Now for some kudos: thanks so much to
Ken Cook and the Environmental Working Group, whose
immediate involvement took this discussion to a new
level. By the EWG deferring to The Organic Center for an
analysis of the science involved, it made the stage even
bigger, and that was exactly what was needed.
Maybe now the organic industry has a
chance to unify and move beyond its three percent share
of the market after all. Or maybe it’s just going to
take some more quirky circumstances, like this UK study,
and supporters like the Environmental Working Group to
get it done and dispel the notion that big organic is
bad organic. But this attempted assault may be exactly
what we needed to get back on track.
I, in an event, will remain
optimistic and hope the industry learns and grows from
this experience, because I truly do believe in organic
agriculture and that it has room to become a much bigger
force in the marketplace without having its core values
compromised or corrupted. I also believe that there is
no way that constant infighting will ever get us where
we need to go. But if we can get some real leadership
and consensus, and take our newfound unity and
confidence to Capitol Hill with sympathizers like Tom
Vilsack and Kathleen Merrigan in positions to help us,
then we need never worry about agribusiness’s slings and
arrows putting chinks in our armor or hindering the
progress of our mission.
Copyright AnthonyZolezzi.com |
