First of all, my apologies for the long delay! I have been very busy with the editing of Vegan Love. It is coming along very well. I am hoping to finish editing and tracklaying (sound editing) in two weeks. Once that is finished, my next goal will be to have a professional sound dub and grading session (colour correction) and hopefully a final output before Christmas!

I finished filming as planned on the 9^th and 10^th November. The shoot went remarkably well considering so many locations and such little time. On Sunday, we filmed 4 different locations in 4 different parts of London in 9 hours! On Monday, we began at the National Gallery of London at 7am, then moved to Neil’s Yard Café in Covent Garden, and finished at Eat and Two Veg Restaurant at midnight! On Tuesday, we even filmed a short scene on Tuesday at Foyles Bookstore on Charing Cross Rd. from 8am-10:30am.

I am very thankful to my crew who worked extremely hard and ensured that everything was done as efficient and professional as possible.

It was a very busy two days, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It is an amazing feeling to actually be creating something that has been in my head for months.

I will be adding more details soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics from the Shoot on 10^th November by Edgar Dubrovskiy:

But, “the times they are a-changin”, as Bob Dylan would have us understand. Yes indeed, the price of oil is fluctuating wildly and that has placed enormous pressure on industrial-farmed food prices. You can safely assume that your food prices are going up, even while food-borne health risks intensify and nutrition suffers, when agribusiness-as-usual continues. Are there any reasonable alternatives? Yes, I believe there are a few answers to these difficult questions. One answer lies with using less petroleum to produce food. My opinions are based on the great news delivered by Michael Pollan in a recent NPR radio interview. Mr. Pollan is the author of books including, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals”, and his “In Defense of Food: an Eaters Manifesto”. He brings his strong credentials to this latest interview and tackles these difficult questions.

Michael Pollan presented an “Open Letter” to both candidates for the 2008 presidency, which was published by The New York Times Magazine on October 12, 2008. NPR radio interviewed Mr. Pollan based on the superb and informative content of that letter on October 23, 2008. If you missed that interview, you can find it at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95896389. In the interview he makes a compelling argument for the reduction of petroleum used in farm operations. He also insists that more can be done by government by redirecting their crop subsidies to farmers that will use traditional farming techniques. This includes rotating crops, introducing farm animals back onto the farm (away from mega food-farming pens) and using cover crops (later tilled into the soil for fertilizer) between growing seasons. Each of these techniques have been wisely used before the advent of large industrial farming, which helped cut the farmers costs and required less petroleum to farm. Farmers faced with rising oil prices may find it becomes a matter of farm survival. Additionally, he suggests that buying food locally can save on transportation costs. He documents how these techniques can make crops safer, cheaper and more eco-friendly…all music to my ears. I highly recommend listening to the interview. I wonder what the winning candidate will think when he reads his “open letter” from Mr. Pollan?

Q: “Ryan, I thought the blog was going to be about filmmaking, and include interesting news for other Vegans and those people who are concerned about diet/health? I don’t see much about your films. Why haven’t you posted some of the more interesting emails you get? You seem to be all over the place with that blog. What is going on?”
-My Mom

A: Mom, you need to give these things more time. Right now I am very busy making the short film I have named “Vegan Love”, it is going just fine, we are having a great time, and it should be finished next month. I will call you later and explain the other things.

Q: “Son, are you eating ok…you turned into an awful picky eater? Why isn’t your film out yet, is there a problem? How come your ‘donations received’ has been stuck at 22% of your goal for so long? No takers? What is going on?”
-My Dad

A: Dad, I have been Vegan for about 6 years now. The film will be out next month. You have no room to talk…you have never donated to anything in your life. I will call soon and tell you everything, I promise.

Q: “My dog “Lenny” disappeared 3 days ago in the Chicago bus station area of downtown. He is a very cute, short-haired terrier with one blue eye and one brown eye. I was wondering if you could ask your readers to help find him or email you with any clues about his disappearance. Then you could forward them to me.
-Slim Phillips (Chicago Slim)

A: Slim, I would be happy to pass that on to my readers. You always want to try the dog pound first, then post signs on the telephone poles asking for people’s help.

NOW, on to other news….

It really depends upon whom you ask. Ask most vegans, or any health-conscious advocate, and the answer will be a resounding “yes”. That is because they have learned to appreciate the increased nutritional values, better tasting food and other benefits of knowing where their food has come from. Some people are very passionate about saving their seeds. Seeds from past generations of farmers (heirloom seeds) have been passed down through family farms to preserve the preferences that they have in their own food. Those choices include benefits like fewer chemicals used in food production, food naturally ripened to suit their tastes and raising fresh/live vegetables that have been proven to maximize nutrition. We should also mention the important benefits of watching things grow, the self-satisfaction of accomplishing something with your two hands, the fruits of physical labor and arriving at a consistent/fully predictable crop (unlike hybrid varieties)…to name a few. Please look at Fedco’s website for a few other reasons to save seeds.

On the other hand, six companies, DuPont, Mitsui, Monsanto, Syngent, Aventis, and Dow control 98 percent of the world’s seeds. They have gobbled up most of the small generational seed companies and have genetically modified numerous seeds for which they have received government patents. Those patents are registered with world governments to control the availability of the seeds, and thus, the production from those seeds. Some call it a conspiracy…they call it good business. To get an idea of the number of food varieties they control, look at the seeds from one recent Monsanto acquisition here.. Before it was acquired by Monsanto, Seminis eliminated 2,000 varieties of seeds from its inventory. These were the open-pollinated types that were not genetically modified, thus not as profitable. So what’s the problem with leaving the world’s food supply in the hands of a few large agribusinesses? Well, there IS that one little matter that I call; “the squeeze” — more commonly known as the “profit margin”. This would only be a problem if these companies prioritized their profits above consumer benefits…in this case, the consumer’s health. In fairness, Monsanto claims to have made more food available to more people through its’ heavy chemical sales to modern farmers. But, critics warn that problems from a food supply monopoly, chemically-induced health concerns and aggressive patent supervision (in the form of lawsuits that have ruined small farmers) does not speak well of these large companies.

Seeds are the ultimate source for all of our food. It would be impossible to describe how important they are to our survival in writing this short blog article. It is also difficult to sort through the various arguments made for and against the methods for growing. One thing seems certain about the supplies of seeds worldwide…the older varieties are being lost. I would encourage everyone to look further into this seed argument, and be the judge for you. That would include the radical act of trying to grow some of your own food. You can gather seeds from your own garden each year and reuse them to personalize your crop. One of the healthiest food supplies in the world could come from your own back yard. There are still a few generational seed banks if that is your preference. You can get a catalog from “heirloom” seed suppliers like Baker Creek Seed Company. Owner, Jere Gettle, tells us more here.

I also noticed simple improvements, like eliminating milk, which improved my complexion. I was wonderfully surprised when changing my food choices actually worked for me. The information was readily available by reading about other people’s diet. It was one health benefit after another as I experimented with different people’s advice on self-improvement. It was less trendy back then, but I was motivated more by feeling better when I got it right.

Today, we face additional food challenges…paying attention has become critical. It would be great if mankind simply evolved by doing what is in our best interests. But, this is not likely as life is more complicated than that. For example, let’s examine the many chemicals that are added to our food. Adding chemicals to food during production helps keep the costs down for businesses during the various steps taken to reach our table. I found an excellent article, found on the Vital Earth Minerals website located (here), that opens a safety debate:

“Chemicals create mutations through chromosome damage, interfere with immune system function, and have been shown to cause a multitude of serious health conditions. Even if all of the food additives used in our foods were safe individually, rarely does any processed / convenience food have only one additive in it. And nobody knows the effects of the many different additives when they are assembled together in a single product.  There are literally thousands of various and potentially dangerous combinations.”

I suggest that you read the entire article. It will certainly make you think about a rapidly growing problem, from one hardly recognizable just a few years ago. I would be a vegan and prefer to eat raw/living foods for this reason alone. There are other reasons. Realistically, the only way to consistently assure healthy food in our homes is by growing and preparing our own food. That is not very likely for most of us. Maybe science will prove that food chemicals are not that dangerous or that fewer chemicals will be needed in the future. If you insist on gambling with your diet please remember to fully consider the odds. You will be betting against the “profit and loss” sheets of most food production businesses.

It does not appear to be a lack of science that perpetuates the problem. It appears to be the lack of public inquiry, or people’s outrage against this treachery, that is missing. In a brief search for the culprit you may gloss over the nearly silent FDA and USDA regulators and land squarely on the “profit motive” of big business. Is there ever going to be a point at which agribusiness will “cross the line” in it’s pursuit for profits because it adversely effects the health of its consumers? What is that line? In fairness, I am certain that the FDA will argue that it defends the American food supply every single day. But, the FDA and other government agencies are limited in the duties they perform. I can just hear big agribusiness saying that I need to be specific and show examples of these claims. It would probably take me forever to find an example of overreaching by the industry. NOPE !!!, it took 2.3 seconds according to my search engine timer. I found an article dated October 11, 2008 (here). This article entitled:
“Monsanto-Backed State Bill Seeks to Outlaw rBGH-Free Lable Claims on Milk Products”, informs the reader that agribusiness giant Monsanto (the drug’s manufacturer) has lobbied the Indiana house of representatives to pass a Bill that would PROHIBIT the dairy industry from labeling their products as being “rBGH-free”. Despite the claims of the Bill’s critics, that the public prefers to avoid the recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in their dairy products, HB 1300 will be voted on in the House. The Hormone is used to vastly increase the amount of milk produced by the injected cows. This should prove to be an interesting battle between those farmers who make more money by producing more milk and those farmers who advertise a hormone-free product. Sadly, this also makes a competition out of the consumer’s right to know what is in their dairy products and Monsanto’s “bottom line”.

I am a vegan to simplify knowing what is good for me. It keeps me searching the blogs constantly to be informed about my food choices. “Live, and let live?”…good luck.

One pointed example of dealing with factual issues about diet and health is my deep concern about food safety in this country. It is estimated that the average dinner salad ingredients have traveled 1400 miles to reach our table. For our non-vegan countryman, that use animal products in your diet, you can expect at least that distance for your evening meal. The fast-growing “global economy” is responsible for an ever-increasing traveling distance for our food. An excellent blog: http://foodsafetycentral.net, gets our well-served attention about the problems associated with importing food. Articles like:
“Tyson Foods Enter Brazilian Poultry Industry”, “China promises better food safety standards…”, and a dear-to-my-heart article, “Heart disease – diabetes linked to BPA…”, a reference to bottled water that is tainted with a “potential” toxic chemical in the lining of plastic bottles. Unfortunately, we cannot rely 100% on the FDA screening for health issues on these distant imported goods. I ask you to consider reading a recent article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/09/10/food-safetys-dirty-little-secret.html?s_cid=et-0910. I was shocked and horrified to discover that the FDA is under funded and understaffed to handle our rapidly expanding food chain. As a result, the responsibility for food safety is largely being delegated to the producers and retailers that market the food. The article cites examples of conflicting interests when Government raids exposed that many slaughter facilities saved money by cutting out E. coli tests.
Say Whaaaaaaaaaaatttttttt???????????

I am not attempting to spread fear about these issues (I will leave the fear-mongering to our politicians). Rather, I hope to spread a “word to the wise”. I have written about the benefits of locally grown vegetables in recent blog articles. These backyard and homegrown models of food production appear to be the best solution to the problems associated with shipping food over ever-expanding distances. I have always advocated eating the most freshly-picked vegetables you can get for nutritional value. I will now add a longer list of benefits to raising your own food that includes food safety benefits. We must become responsible for what we eat and where it comes from before this trend goes much further. Are you actually ready for a time when the FDA, in a cost-cutting decision, turns to you and says: “folks…you are now on your own”?

I read desperate comments left on blogs that reflect a growing frustration from people who have learned the importance of growing your own vegetables, but lack the skills to do it. Don’t worry, you have a great idea and there IS help available. Your frustration stems from the rapidly disappearing, or dare we say –nearly lost, skills that were taken for granted on the “family farms” of past generations. So, where in the world could the average person start from scratch and learn to “grow like pro”? Try Missoula, Montana.

I recently spoke with Tim Hall, the community garden director of the Garden City Harvest program located in the western Montana town of Missoula. He told me an amazing success story about a program started in 1996, growing vegetables on a small plot of land that ballooned into a sprawling network of vegetable gardens supported by the entire community. You can find out more about this program through their website located at: http://gardencityharvest.org/index.html. Tim says they offer garden-growing help to everybody that participates in any of the four programs within the Garden City Harvest organization. According to the website, the help comes from: different grants, foundations, local schools, the Courts, a supporting staff, a board of directors, local businesses, private donations, local buyers (shares), volunteers and others. The help goes to: students –for class credit, local food banks, volunteers (paid in-kind for their work), low income recipients and others in an effort to meet the goals of GCH’s mission statement:

Garden City Harvest’s Mission Statement:
1. Provide high quality food to low-income people.
2. Offer education and training in ecologically conscious food production.
3. Use our sites for the personal restoration of troubled youth and adults.

The mountain of work to coordinate all of these different interests seems to be a daunting task. However, over time, the pieces have fit together perfectly to form a truly “win-win” program that could easily be the right model for future growers of local vegetables. The hard-to-get resources of seeds, tools and plots of land have already been found and organized for the participants, together with a two-way communication system that provide answers for the participant to the never-ending questions about growing. Credit goes to the hardworking staff made up of dedicated and passionate people like Tim. To those of us who worry if it is even possible to grow our own vegetables, once we choose to do so, the answer is a resounding “YES”. People like us are doing it right now, even as we read this blog.That is proof that it can be done.

For others of us who are already growing vegetables; by learning from parents, are self-taught, or have found help, take at look at this model – it works. Many frustrated people need a helping hand from you that have gained the experience. You may be pleasantly surprised by the benefits of helping. After all, “you reap what you sow”, right?

Now, it’s Official!

On Tuesday, the UN released a report on stating that the easiest way a person could help to curb global warming was to eat less meat. The report went on to state that livestock production has a bigger climate impact than transport.

Hmm…if it’s so important why didn’t Al Gore put it in his film, An Inconvient Truth? Hopefully, the environment will get more pundits that Al Gore.