Kallie joined us at the end of August. She is fitting in very nicely now. Here’s how it all went down:
Niko’s New Little Sister
Niko doesn’t know this yet… but tomorrow night she is getting a new little sister! (This photo is at least a month old… she’s around 3-4 months now).
Chris has been bothering me for some time about a second cat – to even out the score. Now we’ll have two people, two dogs, and two cats. Plus three boys and three girls – so we can gang up on eachother, or something.
Her Humane-Society given name is Tootsie, but we’ll be choosing a new name for her once we get to know her. We’ve never introduced two cats before… the new kitten will be living in our “Chill Room” for a couple of days until everyone sniffs her out. Then the plan is to put Niko in that room alone for a while, to give her a chance to smell while the dogs meet the kitty.
She has a lot of experience with other cats, and she’s really playful and loves to fight/play with the black lab that she’s being fostered with right now. Exciting!
Who-owns-who
I was researching Cargill when I found this interesting who-owns-who graphic. It was done by Dr. Philip H. Howard, Assistant Professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies at Michigan State University. He seems like he would be an interesting person to talk to; he did his pre-doctoral research at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California.
Dr. Howard has a lot of these graphics – most of them current as of July 2007 – on his website. I couldn’t find any poster-sized versions for sale, but if I run across them I may just have to purchase them… I wonder how well they would be received posted at the Food Co-op.
One of the biggest issues I struggle with at the food co-op is the whole Corporate Organics structure. Cargill, the largest privately owned corporation in the United States and also in the top four factory-farmed meat producers (others include Sara Lee, Hormel, and one more I can’t recall offhand because my Vegan Sourcebook isn’t with me… ConAgra?) is one of the primary suppliers to Hain Celestial, which owns/produces many, many, many of the products on our shelves. But, our store is here to serve our customers and most people simply don’t care who makes their food or who gets paid for it.
I’d like to do more consumer education (or at least volunteer and member education), but it seems – at least in our small town – people just aren’t interested in learning. We post signs and newspaper clippings that nobody ever reads. I printed some information on our chocolate in our recent newsletter, and nobody cares that Wilbur Buds are owned by Cargill. I even posted a Who-owns-who article on the bulliten board behind the counter (for volunteers to read), and someone threw it away.
The Wilbur Buds, especially, push my buttons. It’s a pain in the ass to order from the company, the food co-op pays retail price (no wholesale deals) for the chocolate – plus shipping/handling, the chocolate isn’t farmer-friendly, they won’t ship in the summer, they won’t accept checks (actually, I got a credit card for the co-op just for these stupid chocolates – better than using my personal credit card!), and the co-op whose principles are to “promote sustainable and locally grown foods” is giving money directly to Cargill with the purchase. Our volunteers and members know that Cargill owns Wilbur… but they all keep buying the chocolate and shrug, “What can you do about it?”
Silk: The Creamy Soy Beverage from Microsoft, ExxonMobil, and Wal-Mart.
More and more Americans are switching from dairy milk to soy milk – mostly for the health benefits of soy protein, lactose intolerance, and because it’s frequently in the refrigerators on many television shows and movies. While most people aren’t buying the dairy alternative for ethical reasons, I wonder how many people who do realize that their favorite brand of soy milk is made by the largest dairy processor and distributor in the world.
White Wave Foods (who owns Silk) is a subsidiary of Dean Foods. This means that purchasing the most widely available (at least in the Midwest) meat- and dairy-alternatives is giving money to the unethical treatment of cows in factory farm conditions.
Dean Foods owns many dairy companies, including Horizon Organic who was recently boycotted by many individuals and health food stores for their false claims about organic production running under factory farm conditions. Dean Foods also licenses Land O Lakes products, which is distributed by White Wave as well. Talk about a huge vicious circle.
Other products that play into the Dean Foods/White Wave hands include Hershey’s milk shakes, International Delight creamers, and over 40 brands of milk. They are also a leading supplier of branded and private label pickles, olives, relish, sauces, puddings, and dips. About 80% of store-brand pickles are private labeled Dean Foods products.
Corporate share holders of Dean Foods include Microsoft, Wal-Mart, ExxonMobil, and Coca-Cola. More information about Dean Foods at The Responsible Shopper, FamilyFarmDefenders.org, and PeaceCouncil.net.
Raw Kohlrabi
The dogs get super excited about raw vegetables. Their favorites are the brassicas – especially broccoli and kohlrabi. Last night we cut up an old kohlrabi bulb for the boys, and Niko came running to check out all the fuss.
Not wanting her to feel left out, I cut up a small chunk into bite-sized pices. She couldn’t get enough! She quickly ate all of her pieces and begged for more. Here she is, licking the skin.
The other month Niko ate some burdock root that Chris harvested from Clare’s house… I thought that was just because it had been cooked up in soy sauce, but maybe she’s into crunchy vegetables. Curious cat.
Homemade Pretzels
I’ve been craving pretzels since I was at the McCarran National Airport in Vegas waiting for my flight home from Utah. There was an Auntie Anne’s pretzel booth. I always thought that pretzels were one of those “naturally vegan” foods, but I still asked if they had an ingredient list. They didn’t, but they said that all of their pretzels contain dairy ingredients. I sat down at a nearby table and pulled up their website, but couldn’t find any ingredient information online – only nutritional facts, which aren’t worth a can of beans.
Anyway, I love to make pretzels and haven’t made them for a while. So today’s project was to satisfy my craving. Here’s the recipe:
Homemade Pretzels
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp. yeast
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 cups flour (half and half white/whole wheat)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. baking soda
Combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let rest ten minutes. Add oil, flour, salt, and knead for 10 minutes (or put in a bread machine).
Divide and roll into long ropes; shape into a pretzels. Place on a baking sheet (preferably covered in parchment paper) until doubled in size. The recipe says 45 minutes, but it only took about 20 today in 80ºF weather.
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bring water and baking soda to a boil. Liberally brush hot water/soda onto each pretzel and sprinkle with kosher salt (or poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc). Bake at 450ºF for 12-15 minutes, flipping baking racks half way through if you have two sheets.
Yield: 6-8 giant pretzels. Or 12 smaller pretzels for pot lucks and house guests.
Nothing beats fresh, hot pretzels. Serve with vegan cheese sauce… I’ll post a recipe for this some day.
Oh yeah, Niko enjoyed the pretzels too.