Poll: Your #1 environmental/health issue

SuperGreen

LargeMargeSentMe:

And as a side note (since farmers market berries were being discussed on that thread), I paid $4 a pint for Michigan (local) strawberries, and I swear, they were the best dang thing I have ever tasted in my life.   They were droolingly good, and don't hold a candle to the Cali strawberries that are in the grocery store right now (that are probably produced specifically for the ability to be shipped long distances and still look perfect). 

I know right!  When strawberries came to our market on May 1, I sprinted (not running, sprinting) to them.  You could smell them from 10 feet away.  I must have eaten half a quart just standing there in the vendor's booth.  I can't smell the WF strawberries if I stick my nose into the box.

This week I bought a pint of blueberries and two kinds of cherries.  I'm eating the three mixed together for lunch, and O.M.G. they are delicious!

Lucyboo25

# 1 - When people say, "Ignorance is bliss" or "What I don't know can't hurt me", etc etc etc. Especially when it comes to their food and learning about where it came from. What you don't know is that a dumb yokel at a factory farm beat the crap out of an innocent cow with a hot poker all so you can have cheap, mass-produced beef patties on your burger. So what you don't know will not only be hurting millions of animals everywhere but it will probably also give you cancer and/or obesity. Dumb s**t.

 

# 2 - People who don't vote, and then complain about the way government runs health care, taxes, education, etc etc etc. Not specifically an environmental issue, but it can and does apply. If you care about change, you have to make a change. Don't be lazy.

 

 

hbarbour

Food is a biggie. CAFO's/factory farming makes me totally sick to my stomach when I think about how the animals are treated. Knowing where your food comes from is huge. I love the popularity of CSA's and farmer's markets and supporting local growers and producers. Just today I joined a CSI (community supported ice cream!) which seems like such a fun way to reach people. 

Energy and water consumption is another. And on that one, I wish I did a better job of walking my talk. I take long showers, still use an overhead sprinkler on the garden, and we still have an old inefficient washer/dryer set. I think we're better on energy, but still we leave so much crap plugged in/on although lately we've been plugging things into power strips so we can turn off. And our old house could use some insulation and sealing!

 

 

Temp123197812503460

climate change, and more specifically cap and trade/climate change legislation.  i think there is a real serious risk, and that without national (and global!) action it wont get fixed.  

Alisha_A

SuperGreen:

Alisha_A:

SuperGreen:

another KT:

My neighobrs don't recycle and it is so easy to do nowadays; they just can't be bothered.

This too!  DH's BFF and her FI (acronym time!) live in our neighborhood, so we have dinner together a.lot. They don't use our neighborhood's single-stream curbside recycling bins.    They're huge bins with wheels, it couldn't be any easier.  The 4 of us go through a lot of beer, and I've asked my DH to death if I can ppplllleeeeasseee bring the bottles home with me instead of watching them throw them away and he says no, and it turns into a huge fight.  It's one of the few things we still fight about, actually.

That is so strange. Why don't they use it?? Why ask? I'd just put the bottles back in the case, and take with me. If they said anything just say so you can recycle them. You don't have to be preachy, but why should you be forced to go against your beliefs?

DH won't let me put the bottles back in the case and take them with me, that's what we're fighting about.  He says it's their home, they don't have to recycle if they don't want to and it is not my place to change what they do in their home.  I've tried telling DH I'll do it quietly, I won't even say anything let alone preach, and that doesn't work either.  I can't bring the bottles *I* emptied home with me, either.  DH makes a huge stink about it and it turns into a screaming match.  It's one of the few things we still fight about.

They don't use it because they just throw everything into the trash.  When I asked them about it years ago, they  and made jokes about me being crazy for even suggesting they take the 2 seconds to sort their trash.

Its so weird to me your H finds this such a big deal. You aren't trying to change what they do. They are your bottles too, and they don't want them. I don't see why they'd care if you took them. I can't help but find it a little odd too that he won't 'allow' it. I mean, what, if you take them you go to time out? Its just so weird its such a big deal. Its trash! Why would they care if you took it? Seems like it'd save them the space in their garbage anyway.

mxolisi

It's food for me as well, but to be honest I'm probably more concerned about the health/environmental/human rights issues in the source communities of our foods than anything.

I don't think my breakfast should kill anybody, break up a family, or come from slave labor. 

CutesBoots

I hate the bury your head in the sand and focus on price and convenience over all else mentalities.  Thanks to people and corporations like that, there are pollution and spill sites all over the US that we're still trying to clean decades later.  How can people not learn from history and realize that it WILL catch up to us?

A friend said to me the other day, "I don't need my food to be organic.  These cost less and still taste good."  Ugh.  What I should have said: But fresh and local food tastes a million times better than cheap processed stuff and it's better for you.  Pay for it now and get the taste benefit, or pay for it and health bills later and don't.