So I’m sure you’ve heard about the massive egg recall.  Eggs are contaminated with salmonella, and hundred of millions of dozens have been recalled.  Over 1500 cases of illness have been confirmed.

What you don’t know?  The owner of Wright farms, ostensibly a god-fearing Christian man who gives tons of money to  the Christian institution Hyles-Anderson College, has a long history of safety and labor violations at his farm.

In order to get us the cheapest eggs possible, he uses migrant and illegal workers, who are forced to labor in appalling conditions.  Ammonia so strong that Department of Agriculture workers were hospitalized.  Asbestos exposure.  Denying workers access to doctors. Rape.

How cheap are these eggs, then?

He’s been fined.  Because that’s all the government does in these cases- slap on a fine but don’t actually follow up on the requirement.

What are we eating?  All I want to do is serve my family a nice, wholesome, frugal breakfast.  All I want to do is bake up a pan of brownies  or mix up some mayonnaise.  But at what cost?

Eggs are healthy, and a staple around here.  Eggs are one of the first dishes I teach my children to cook, around age 6 or 7.  My 9 year old daughter cooks up eggs even better than I do (I’ve never mastered sunny-side-up but she is a whiz!)

But, it’s not healthy to eat foods that come at such a cost.  It is not healthy to feed my children eggs from an empire built, in part, on the illegal labor of other children (oh, that’s another fine he was levied.  Child labor violations.)

Animals are food, but that doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want with them.  We must be good stewards and ever respectful of God’s creation, even if that creation is ultimately destined for our tables and our stomachs.  And, aside from the human cost, the cost to the animals is too high.

Hens are fed ground up feathers and bone meal.  At Wright farms, they are kept in battery cages.  Because their daily living conditions are so appalling, they are given antibiotics to help them grow and keep them from dying.  Now the USDA is talking about giving chickens salmonella vaccines.

Salmonella is not the problem, but rather the symptom.  Feeding chickens unnatural feed (and eating bone meal is not natural for chickens), farms so big with working conditions so poor that eggs sit in rat droppings, tended by overworked, undertrained caretakers, with no regard for the chicken as a creation, not just a commodity, are the problems.  And no vaccination program is going to fix those problems.

So where does that leave me?  I haven’t been buying the battery farmed eggs.  My eggs are cage-free vegetarian fed, antibiotic free.  But I’m pretty sure that they are factory farmed, too.  Cage free doesn’t mean the birds frolic in pastures, eating bugs.  I’m still working out the ethics of food consumption. Balancing what I wish for with our budget reality. Frankly, I cannot pay $5 for a dozen eggs.

But we can’t afford salmonella, either.  We can’t afford to look the other way when we know people are being hurt by Wright farms, their employer.  We can’t afford to ignore what is right in favor for what saves us the most money.

I have been trying out Ener-G egg replacer, a vegan egg substitute, in my baking.  I bought it as part of our emergency supply, and once I did the math I’ve found that Ener-G is cheaper than an egg.  One box is the equivalent of 9 dozen eggs.  So, in a way we are reducing our consumption.

What kind of eggs do you eat?  Has the recall changed your buying habits, and is that for ethical reasons, safety reasons, or both?

Linking up!

Have You Really Heard About The Egg Recall? originally appeared on Mama Says on August 30, 2010. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.

Well, yes there is.  First, the rare earth metals that are the foundation of “clean energy” technologies are in China.  Also, the United States has a little department called the EPA that would make manufacturing clean energy products here impossibly expensive.  China doesn’t let pollution get in the way of profit.

Solar panels, hybrid car batteries, wind turbines?  The rare earths that power them are strip mined and processed on a factory floor even worse than the ones described in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. An environmental and human cost that the West would never put up with in our country.

It’s great to get better gas mileage, but at what price?

But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies.

Apparently, Obama’s new buzzword is Clean Energy.  By “clean” he apparently means not-profiting-big-oil.  I agree with his call for new, clean nuclear plants.

Here’s the very next sentence in the speech.

And yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.

He’s talking about Cap and Trade here.  That is, it’s not about making so-called clean energy more affordable, but making conventional energy generation more expensive so that the current price of clean energy looks like a bargain.  Then, clean energy will turn a profit.  Don’t fool yourself- cap and trade will cost you more money.

“Clean” energy is a misnomer.

Those CFL bulbs, the squiggly ones that use less electricity?  They contain mercury and may contaminate landfills.  They are often imported – shipped across oceans on oil fueled vehicles.

And those wind turbines?  They sound like a wonderful idea.  But they are not benign to the environment either.

There are no easy answers.  And it is irresponsible for our leaders to sling around buzzwords such as “green jobs” and “clean energy” when the reality is not cut and dried.

Clean Energy? Hmmm originally appeared on Mama Says on January 28, 2010. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

I’m pretty amazed I got 11 out of 12.  I missed the question about Iran’s borders.  Well, at least you know I didn’t cheat with Google!  But, that’s kind of sad that a silly little housewife who doesn’t even have cable did better than 93% of the nation.

Take the quiz. Are you informed?

H/T Mommylife!

Are You Informed? originally appeared on Mama Says on November 19, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

The cost of minute by minute reports is that some inaccurate information gets reported.  I rejoiced to hear that shots had not been fired in the housing developments on base.  I quickly retweeted the call for blood donors at the local hospitals, since it was all I could do, really, besides pray.

I waited to see if my friend who was stationed at the base would update his Facebook page.  (He and his family are safe.)

Dribs and drabs tweeted-posted -broadcast.  The shooter had “an Arabic sounding name”.  There was a high powered rifle involved.  He was a psychiatrist.  He went to VA Tech.  He was shot 4 times and killed.  Oops, no rifle, only handguns. A 13th person died.  Oops, no, 12 dead, 31 injured.

Someone tweeted:

want to know: Is it “innnovative” or “exploitive” to set up updating twitter account for horrific shooting?

I replied to this total stranger:

not for family and friends dying for news on the shooting. Not exploitative at all IMO.

Some tweets starting getting ugly.  Others called for love.  I posted on Facebook:

Shooter has “Arabic sounding name” – Malik Nadal Hasan. Please, God, don’t let racism and xenophobia make the tragedy any worse. Please let everyone keep their heads.

Later, it was revealed that Malik Nadal Hasan was still alive, and had been shot by a civilian woman (a local police officer, I think)

The Twitter stream veered off course.  People called for the Fort Hood shooting not to derail the healthcare vote.  Others, noting Hasan was an Army doctor, preached that this is what we could look forward to with Obamacare.  A caller to a local talk radio show ranted about cover ups and assault rifles.  Many promoted their opinion that this was a cover up.

Jake Tapper tweeted a statement made by Hasan’s family, 140 characters at a time.

Real time reporting is ugly and beautiful and addictive.  Is this the future?

Twelve people won’t return home tonight.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.  May they rest in peace.

**Added Nov. 6 morning**  Fourteen people are dead.  Thirteen people killed directly plus an unborn baby.  His mother had just returned from Iraq.

Fort Hood originally appeared on Mama Says on November 5, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Athlete of the Year and a 4.0 GPA!  Proud to say we share some of the same genes!

Way to go, Rebecca!

Proud Relative originally appeared on Mama Says on November 4, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Of interest today:

Healthcare bill vote tomorrow – why that’s bad

HSLDA stalwart Chris Klicka dies.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace, AMEN.

Quick Update originally appeared on Mama Says on October 12, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

The book outraged America, not for the labor practices described, but for the vivid and disgusting descriptions of how food was made.  The outcry was so great, it lead eventually lead to the formation of the FDA.

You must read the New York Time’s article about ground beef.  Stunning.  And gross.  Perhaps it’s time for this new Jungle to lead to a reformation of the FDA that does not receive funding from the companies it regulates, but instead is a truly independent watchdog agency.

The Jungle originally appeared on Mama Says on October 7, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Child molesting goes mainstream

It’s appalling that pedophiles and lecherous old men who abuse children and steal their innocence have Hollywood elites petitioning for these crimes to be swept under the rug.  Harvey Weinstein et al. are happy to take our children’s money to profit on the latest block buster, but don’t care anything about prosecuting criminals who prey on children.

I would boycott, but I only go to the movies about once a year to begin with!

Is Child Molesting Mainstream Now? originally appeared on Mama Says on October 1, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Perhaps the children need a union, demanding a 40 hour education week, along with 15 minute breaks to spend outside playing.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think more time spent in schools is the answer.  Playing, spending time with family, and participating in the community will help students more than doubling their time inside seated  at a desk.  Many schools are cutting their art, music, and hands- on classes.  When are students who want a more rounded education supposed to take piano lessons, attend dance class, or go to karate tournaments?  When are they supposed to see their parents and spend time just hanging out?

If the Obama Song is what passes for culture and music class, I’ll just take care of that at home, thank you very much (oh, wait, I already do!  But what if homeschooling isn’t the best choice for our family in the future?  This is important even if you homeschool, because the public schools are educating your child’s friends, future spouses, co-workers, and bosses and set the tone for how society views children.  Are they going to be viewed as underachievers who need more time in an institution (the school), handled by professionals, or are children going to be welcomed as a natural part of every day life?

Not to mention how many ice cream truck drivers might be put out of business…

Obama in our schools originally appeared on Mama Says on September 27, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

An excerpt from the current letter:

Over the past two days we have been able to learn more about this situation and would like to provide you with some additional information. The song was one of eight skits performed during a February 2009 program that included second grade classes. Parents attended the program which took place on February 27, 2009. The other skits in the program included Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Abraham Lincoln, Valentine’s Day, George Washington, Mardi Gras, and Dental Health Month. The song about President Obama was in recognition of Black History Month. We have been informed that the lyrics of the song were sent home with the children in advance of the assembly, which was the teacher’s normal procedure. There were no concerns or complaints prior to, during, or after the program.

On March 23, 2009, an author visited the Young School as part of the school’s Women’s History Month recognition. As is usual procedure, parents were notified prior to the visit and invited to attend. The author presented two assemblies during which she read from two of her books. She also met with the Teen Book Club at our high school and did an evening book signing for parents and children. The author was accompanied by two individuals. After the first assembly on March 23rd, the class that performed the song at the February assembly about President Obama provided a special performance for the author, since one of the books she wrote was about Barack Obama. We were informed by a representative of the author that one of the individuals who accompanied the author video recorded the performance. School staff had no knowledge of the recording.

I don’t know if this letter even makes sense – if Charisse Carney-Nunes (the author of I Am Barack Obama) was visiting the school as part of Women’s History Month, what’s with the large poster of her book about Obama?  And why does the author say that the video was recorded for a Father’s Day presentation and that the children made up the lyrics?

Apparently, the class performed this song twice, once in February and once on March 2009.  I wonder how much the school district paid for Charisse Carney-Nunes to vist?

Obama Song to Children, part II originally appeared on Mama Says on September 26, 2009. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com