The Food Thread

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Vrede too
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Re: The Food Thread

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O Really wrote:It's not a straw man, it's an analogy....
I tried one of those, was it run away from, too? Either way, such confusion on basic English contributes to lots of nonsensical arguments and conclusions.
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Re: The Food Thread

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Vrede too wrote:
O Really wrote:"It's not a straw man, it's an analogy...."
"I tried one of those, was it run away from, too? Either way, such confusion on basic English contributes to lots of nonsensical arguments and conclusions."
It ain't me that posts nonsensical petitions. If you're going post 'em, you should expect some comments, even if you don't like them.
Grow up, little boy, the world doesn't revolve around you.

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Re: The Food Thread

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More details:
NC lawmakers want to shield factory farms from big damage payments to victims

Legislation moving through the North Carolina General Assembly would prevent people living near the state's numerous factory farms from recovering more than token damages in civil lawsuits where the farm's corporate owner is found responsible for harming them.

The proposal comes with such litigation already underway. In 2013, more than 500 residents of eastern North Carolina took legal action against Murphy-Brown LLC, the hog-growing subsidiary of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, which is owned by Shuanghui Group of China, the world's fourth-largest pork producer. Under contracts with local growers, Murphy-Brown owns the hogs at about two-thirds of farms in North Carolina, the second-biggest hog-producing state after Iowa.

North Carolina allows hog farms to store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons before spraying it on open fields, a practice that leads to water pollution.

There are better ways.

Murphy-Brown is embroiled in separate ongoing litigation with the Waterkeeper Alliance over its alleged failure to comply with a 2006 agreement to clean up groundwater contamination at 11 of its hog operations in the state. The lawsuits filed by the neighbors detail many other problems associated with the farms, including sickening stenches, swarming flies, chronic illnesses and piles of animal carcasses left in roadside "dead boxes."

Yuck.

... Environmental advocates blasted the legislation, with N.C. League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) lobbyist Dan Crawford describing it as "nothing more than lawmakers putting a foreign-owned company ahead of the long-term health and safety of the very communities who have been forced to endure the harms of hog waste for decades."

Some communities have endured more harm than others. In North Carolina, hog operations are concentrated in the eastern part of the state, part of the South's Black Belt region and home to a growing Latino community and the state-recognized Lumbee Tribe.

A 2014 analysis by UNC researchers found that the proportions of African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians living within three miles of an industrial hog operation in North Carolina are 1.54, 1.39 and 2.18 times higher, respectively, than the proportion of non-Hispanic whites — the reason why the state's hog farms are the subject of an ongoing civil rights investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

As I said, our pork products are subsidized the the health, safety, property values and quality of life of Hispanics and nonwhites.

A review of campaign finance data by Facing South shows that some of the bills' primary sponsors — all of whom are Republicans and most of whom represent eastern North Carolina districts — are also leading recipients of support from the livestock industry, a major political power in a state where hogs alone are worth over $2.5 billion annually....

In the last election cycle alone, Jackson — a member of the Senate's agriculture committee and chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources — was the top legislative recipient of livestock industry money after Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, taking in $19,500 in contributions, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics' FollowTheMoney.org database. Jackson was also the top legislative recipient of contributions from Smithfield Foods, at $10,000. Rabon, a veterinarian, received $1,000 from Smithfield....

In the last election cycle, Dixon — a turkey farmer and chair of his chamber's agriculture committee — was the top House recipient of livestock industry contributions at $9,500, followed by Lewis, a tobacco farmer, farm equipment dealer and agriculture committee member, at $8,500, according to FollowTheMoney.org. Lewis also received $1,500 in contributions from Smithfield. Bell, also an agriculture committee member, received $3,500 from the industry and $1,000 from Smithfield while Davis reportedly got $250 from Smithfield.

Of course.

... In legal opinions written for the attorneys suing Murphy-Brown, two prominent North Carolina Republicans — retired state Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr and former state Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam — said they believe the proposal violates the state constitution because it aims to benefit a particular industry.

"It would appear to attempt by legislative action to favor one litigant over another and deny the plaintiffs the remedies to which they are currently entitled under N.C. law," Orr wrote.
Hog farm protections advance without debate

Figures, the GOP detests open democracy.

HB 467 vote

My McGrady and 10 other Republicans voted "No" :clap: . There are some things that only the most complete lap dogs for polluters can stomach.
Last edited by Vrede too on Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Food Thread

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Farming has changed over the years. Used to be, hogs, as well as other livestock, were spread across the state, not so highly concentrated in a few areas. Food production was local. You either butchered the hog at home, or you took it to the meat place on 7th Avenue.

The same government that wants to limit compensation is the government that passed so many regulations, the small farmer was squeezed out. It's hard to buy local meat when the nearest abattoir is in Rutherford County. So we go to the store and buy food grown and processed hundreds or thousands miles away. Compare the price of regular old ground beef to grass fed Hickory Nut Farms beef.

I, too, am willing to pay extra. And, yuck! I didn't know the Chinese own Smithfield- they'll never get another penny from us.
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Re: The Food Thread

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Vrede too wrote:More details....Yuck.
Good info. Kudos for excellent research.

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Re: The Food Thread

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k9nanny wrote:"Farming has changed over the years. Used to be, hogs, as well as other livestock, were spread across the state, not so highly concentrated in a few areas. Food production was local. You either butchered the hog at home, or you took it to the meat place on 7th Avenue."
You probably knew about the hog farm I mentioned; it was out on Crab Creek Road.

"The same government that wants to limit compensation is the government that passed so many regulations, the small farmer was squeezed out."
Like the dairy farms. They used to abound here.

"It's hard to buy local meat when the nearest abattoir is in Rutherford County. So we go to the store and buy food grown and processed hundreds or thousands miles away. Compare the price of regular old ground beef to grass fed Hickory Nut Farms beef."
We like the freezer locker.

"I, too, am willing to pay extra. And, yuck! I didn't know the Chinese own Smithfield- they'll never get another penny from us."
Does that mean you don't go out anymore and you're bare-foooted? :lol:
Years ago, I managed a shoe store, and most athletic shoes were made in Europe, namely Poland, The Czech Republic, and Estonia. Now practically ALL shoes (and clothes) are made in China. I wanted a pair of Red Wing boots sometime ago, but I refused to pay the high selling price because they were made in China.

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Re: The Food Thread

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Mr.B wrote:I have nothing against any society that kills and eats animals. I DO abhor the cruel methods that are used many times to put an animal down.

Videos of the Chinese dog meat festival, shows graphic scenes of dogs and cats being boiled or skinned alive in the belief that the more any animal suffers, the better the meat will taste.

Videos from inside slaughter houses here in the U.S. are not exempt from animal cruelty; but fortunately when exposed, the culprits are prosecuted.

So why do so many repug states have laws making it illegal to report cruelty
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Re: The Food Thread

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billy.pilgrim wrote:So why do so many repug states have laws making it illegal to report cruelty
Including NC:
2013 - Beat Your Meat: Factory Farmers Want to Choke Their Chickens in Private

The hidden camera worn by an employee at a Butterball turkey farm in North Carolina recorded workers stomping and kicking birds, throwing them by their necks into metal cages, and beating them with metal bars. The animals had festering wounds on their bodies and eyes. Some writhed in pain on the ground. For three weeks, the employee, an undercover investigator for Mercy For Animals, documented abuse after abuse in the milking barn, which is where semen is manually collected from the toms; the birds have been bred so large and deformed that they can no longer reproduce naturally. After the investigation, the nonprofit turned over the video footage to prosecutors.

Within days, cops prepared to raid—something unheard of when it comes to factory farms. But Butterball had friends in high places, including the government agency in charge of overseeing its operations. The director of Animal Health Programs called a friend at Butterball hoping to thwart the raid.

The tip-off didn’t work. The raid led to national media exposure, the conviction of a top-level Department of Agriculture official for obstruction of justice, and criminal charges against five employees for animal cruelty. Two of the employees have pleaded guilty, marking the first felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed birds. On February 22, two more former Butterball employees were found guilty of animal cruelty....
Ag-gag

2013 - Breaking: New Ag-Gag Bill Introduced in North Carolina on Same Day (fifth) Butterball Worker Pleads Guilty to Cruelty
North Carolina’s ag-gag law an affront to human decency

... On Jan. 1 (2016), the North Carolina legislature enacted a law banning photographs and the collection of information at workplaces, including farms and slaughterhouses, and specifically targeting whistleblowers who seek to release such information to the public went into effect. This is the latest in a slew of “ag-gag” bills introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. Proponents of the factory farming industry are fighting hard to suppress whistleblowers. Just what is it they don’t want the public to see? ...
Having given Big Ag carte blanche to abuse animals 2 years ago, most of the NC GOP now wants to give it a free pass to abuse largely nonwhite or Hispanic humans, and some people are fine with that. There's still time to contact your NC state senators. If that doesn't work Cooper may veto and it may be sustained.
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Re: The Food Thread

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Image

The petition to the Office of Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency reads:

"Immediately investigate collusion between EPA employees and Monsanto."
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Re: The Food Thread

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Interesting contribution to the discussion here... https://gmo.geneticliteracyproject.org/ ... dangerous/

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Re: The Food Thread

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Could be correct, but your source is lacking in credibility.
Genetic Literacy Project

The Genetic Literacy Project is associated with the Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) and the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). Its executive director is Jon Entine.
Statistical Assessment Service

... STATS promotes itself as a disinterested, non-partisan guardian of scientific and statistical integrity to often unsuspecting media outlets. It has been surprisingly successful in this guise, with other organizations citing STATS.

From its inception, however, STATS has repeatedly attacked environmentalists, civil libertarians, feminists and other "liberals." The first director of STATS, David Murray, was not a statistician at all. His academic training was in anthropology, but he was often described in the media as a "statistician" when he commented on various topics....
Center for Media and Public Affairs

Foundation funding

... Thus, out of the total of $3,323,416 in foundation grants, nearly all of it ($2,693,916) came from just four sources: the John M. Olin, Scaife, and Smith Richardson foundations. In other words, CMPA received 81% of its foundation funding from those four donors. Here is a sample of other right-wing causes funded by these 3 donors, as listed by their respective SourceWatch articles: ...
Jon Entine

"He is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C....
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Re: The Food Thread

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Dang, I guess I was a "...often unsuspecting [outlet]."
Of course, practically everybody in the discussion of GMO's as well as RoundUp has their own point of view, only part of which is really without bias. I'm willing to believe that EPA colluded with Monsanto to minimize the carcinogenic effect of RoundUp, but I'm also willing to believe that there's been a lot of science people looking at the chemical worldwide for a long time. Experts do not agree.

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Re: The Food Thread

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Gov. Cooper: VETO the big pork protection bill!!

Petition by Bob Musil, Rachel Carson Council

To be delivered to Governor Roy Cooper

VETO HB467/S460! This bill limits the ability of North Carolina citizens to sue for relief from harm and pollution from industrial hog operations. This bill benefits big polluters and hurts poor and minority North Carolinians. It erodes fundamental Constitutional rights for us all. VETO HB467/S460!!
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Re: The Food Thread

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I have mastered the art of making couscous while I was away.
You aren't doing it wrong if no one knows what you are doing.

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Re: The Food Thread

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JTA wrote:I have mastered the art of making couscous while I was away.
If you're talking about preparing couscous you bought in a box, then I'd say you're probably trained well enough to move up to egg boiling. If you're talking about making your own from scratch, I'd be majorly impressed. :clap:

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Re: The Food Thread

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Couscous is the best. It's like rice but easier to prepare. So late night when you get the munchies you can prepare some couscous in mere minutes. Couscous can be made to taste like whatever you want it to to taste like. It's amazing.
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Re: The Food Thread

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JTA wrote:"Couscous can be made to taste like whatever you want it to to taste like. It's amazing."
So can a cat!

Common Spotted Cuscus
(It pronounced the same)


Image

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: The Food Thread

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JTA wrote:Couscous is the best. It's like rice but easier to prepare. So late night when you get the munchies you can prepare some couscous in mere minutes. Couscous can be made to taste like whatever you want it to to taste like. It's amazing.
My chef d'ouvre is risotto. OK- it takes a lot longer, but I get to drink wine while making it. A splash for the pot, a swallow for me.
Like couscous, the flavor is limited only by the imagination.
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Re: The Food Thread

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Mr.B wrote:
k9nanny wrote:"Farming has changed over the years. Used to be, hogs, as well as other livestock, were spread across the state, not so highly concentrated in a few areas. Food production was local. You either butchered the hog at home, or you took it to the meat place on 7th Avenue."
You probably knew about the hog farm I mentioned; it was out on Crab Creek Road.

"The same government that wants to limit compensation is the government that passed so many regulations, the small farmer was squeezed out."
Like the dairy farms. They used to abound here.

"It's hard to buy local meat when the nearest abattoir is in Rutherford County. So we go to the store and buy food grown and processed hundreds or thousands miles away. Compare the price of regular old ground beef to grass fed Hickory Nut Farms beef."
We like the freezer locker.

"I, too, am willing to pay extra. And, yuck! I didn't know the Chinese own Smithfield- they'll never get another penny from us."
Does that mean you don't go out anymore and you're bare-foooted? :lol:
Years ago, I managed a shoe store, and most athletic shoes were made in Europe, namely Poland, The Czech Republic, and Estonia. Now practically ALL shoes (and clothes) are made in China. I wanted a pair of Red Wing boots sometime ago, but I refused to pay the high selling price because they were made in China.
If you will remember, that farm also had dead pigs in situ.

No, I don't go barefoot, and none of my shoes are made in China.
My favorites are made in Spain and Germany. The Keens are made in Mexico, the Tims in Vietnam.

I was looking for Mandarin oranges, and every last can and plastic cup came from China, even the allegedly organic ones.
Despite the name, they used to be imported from Spain.

Never did I imagine I'd look for Mexican produce (if there's no USA available), but in the off season, I do.

I do homemade chicken planks (jerky) for my dogs. The Chinese product was killing dogs, and the USA product is more expensive than making my own.

And, gag, forget the Asian farmed seafood.

Above all, whenever possible, we buy local, and we read labels.
Se Non Ora, Quando?

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Re: The Food Thread

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k9nanny wrote:
Above all, whenever possible, we buy local, and we read labels.
:clap: :clap:

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