"We do not condemn modern civilization but we don't like to get it at the cost of God Consciousness, that is suicide."
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The Beauty of Beans
"One acre of beans produces ten times more protein than an acre of pasture set aside for meat production." -Higher Taste
Moundsville, West Virginia
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ISKCON Gita Nagari Farm Community
Port Royal, Pennsylvania
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ISKCON New Goloka Farm Community
Hillsborough, North Carolina
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ISKCON New Talavan Farm Community
Carriere, Mississippi
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ISKCON Saranagati Eco-Village
British Columbia, Canada
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ISKCON Gaura Vrindaban
Paraty, Brazil
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ISKCON Krishna Valley Farm Community
Somogyvamos, Hungary
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Bhaktivedanta Eco-Village
Sagar Taluq, South India
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ISKCON Cow Protection
"There are so many facilities afforded by cow protection, but people have forgotten these arts. The importance of protecting cows is therefore stressed by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhavajam [Bg. 18.44]). Even now in the Indian villages surrounding Vrndavana, the villagers live happily simply by giving protection to the cow. They keep cow dung very carefully and dry it to use as fuel. They keep a sufficient stock of grains, and because of giving protection to the cows, they have sufficient milk and milk products to solve all economic problems. Simply by giving protection to the cow, the villagers live so peacefully. Even the urine and stool of cows have medicinal value."
-Srila Prabhupada
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Earth Day 2008: Something We Can All Believe In
In coordination with the National Council of Churches, the Religious On Earth Day 2007, EDN was successful in creating 12,000 sermons |
By Rebecca Paveley, The Diocese of Oxford Reporter
Churches across the Diocese of Oxford have pledged to buy in local food and services in a bid to support struggling farmers and rural communities.
In a groundbreaking pledge the diocesan synod - the decision making body for the diocese - agreed unanimously to back a call for all churches to use local food at meetings and social gatherings wherever possible.
It is hoped that congregations will continue to keep the pledge when it comes to filling their own shopping baskets at home.
The Church of England nationally has launched a “Shrinking the Footprint” campaign which aims to try and tackle climate change in ‘faith, practice and mission’.
The pledge by churches in our area aims to support local rural communities and businesses, and to cut down on unnecessary food mileage, so reducing carbon emissions.
The Revd Richard Hancock, area dean for the Vale of the White Horse in Oxfordshire, said: “What makes no sense is that food produced locally which does end up in local shops has first had to travel some 60-100 miles to a distribution centre before being driven back in another lorry so I can put it in my shopping basket.
“The hard reality is that our farmers are in crisis. 70% have no one to hand on their business to, and more importantly their knowledge to future generations.
“What will become of our nation is we are unable to feed ourselves?”
Livestock farmer Dickie Green, who is also a churchwarden at Ashbury St Mary on the Wiltshire border, said: “It is good that churches support the fairtrade movement but we have to think about what is happening in this country. It is a tough life for farmers today.”
The pledge commits churches to using local produce wherever possible alongside fairtrade goods, such as tea and coffee.
The Diocese backed a call for churches to use fairtrade products a few years ago, but Diocesan rural officer Glyn Evans said the two pledges would not clash.
This motion - brought by the Vale of the White Horse deanery - won unanimous support from synod members, who are appointed from churches across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
One a more local level, several deaneries have already passed local resolutions in support of the pledge, including Henley, Newbury, Deddington and Chipping Norton and Claydon.
Oxfordshire is the most rural county in the South East and though the Diocese as a whole is classed as wealthy, there are real pockets of deprivation, many in rural areas, said the Revd Glyn Evans.
Some 25% of rural dwellers have no access to a car and there has been a rise in depression, drug abuse and alcohol related incidents among youngsters in rural areas.
Farmers are also three times more likely to commit suicide than any other profession, he said.
The Diocese of Oxford has a team of rural officers, clergy and lay people, who work to support those struggling to maintain a living in the countryside and synod heard from several of them about the work they do.
By CAROL GLATZ and ALICIA AMBROSIO, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY. Expanding its mission from saving souls to saving the planet, the Vatican is going green.
A giant rooftop garden of solar panels will be built next year on top of the Paul VI audience hall, creating enough electricity to heat, cool and light the entire building year-round.
“Solar energy will provide all the energy (the building) needs,” said the mastermind behind the environmentally friendly project, Pier Carlo Cuscianna, head of the Vatican’s department of technical services.
And that is only the beginning. Cuscianna told Catholic News Service May 24 that he had in mind other sites throughout Vatican City where solar panels could be installed, but that it was too early in the game to name names.
Even though Vatican City State is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a binding international environmental pact to cut greenhouse gases, its inaugural solar project marks a major move in trying to reduce its own so-called carbon footprint, that is, the amount of carbon dioxide released through burning fossil fuels.
The carbon dioxide-slashing solar panels will be installed sometime in 2008 after prototypes, environmental impact reports and other studies have been completed, Cuscianna said.
In a May 23 article in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Cuscianna wrote that safeguarding the environment was “one of the most important challenges of our century.”
The Italian engineer said appeals by Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II to respect nature inspired him to help power the Vatican’s energy needs with renewable resources.
He recalled how, in his 2007 World Day of Peace message, Pope Benedict warned of “the increasingly serious problem of energy supplies” that was leading to “an unprecedented race” for the earth’s resources.
Cuscianna also found inspiration from Pope John Paul’s 1990 peace message, dedicated in its entirety to the need to respect God’s creation.
“We cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past,” the pope wrote, calling for “a new ecological awareness” that leads to “concrete programs and initiatives.”
Cuscianna took the initiative and helped draw up and deliver to the Vatican governor’s office a feasibility study of going solar.
He said the Paul VI hall was chosen first for a number of reasons: Cooling and heating the large audience hall makes it one of the top energy guzzlers in the Vatican, and its roof was in need of repair.
When the project is finished, more than 1,000 solar panels will cover the football field-sized roof.
While not revealing how much the solar project will cost, Cuscianna said “it will pay for itself in a few years” from the savings on energy bills.
Whatever solar power the hall is not using will be funneled into the Vatican’s energy grid and benefit other energy needs, he said.
The solar rooftop garden is not the first environmental project the Vatican has undertaken. In 1999, as part of preparations for the jubilee year, the entire lighting system of St. Peter’s Basilica was upgraded to be low-impact. Strategically placed energy-saving light bulbs were installed inside and out, cutting the basilica’s energy consumption by an estimated 40 percent.
In 2000, the Vatican unveiled its own electric motor vehicle recharging station, where electric wheelchairs, scooters and cars could “tank up.”
Unfortunately, the idea of replacing polluting, gas-powered cars with a network of electric vehicles within the Vatican stalled. U.S. Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, the former archbishop of car-capital Detroit, had pushed for the cleaner switch while he was head of the commission that governs Vatican City State.
Pope John Paul, however, regularly used an electric car at Castel Gandolfo toward the end of his pontificate when he was no longer able to move easily around the grounds.
Cuscianna said the Vatican has a commission that studies environmental issues and potential eco-friendly practices. Programs facilitating recycling, composting and waste reduction have not yet been established.
An expansion of the Vatican’s use of renewable energy resources would not only reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, Cuscianna said, “it could be a condition that makes Vatican City more autonomous” and less dependent on Italy’s power grid.
With Italian news headlines warning of yet another sweltering summer and potential power brownouts and blackouts, greater energy autonomy for the Vatican through the sun sounds like a cool idea.
By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Food For Thought
Humans are funny birds. We get so wrapped up in habits, comfort zones, and traditions that sometimes we forget who we are, what we care about, and why we even do what we do. Thanksgiving is one such instance, sadly exemplified by its alternative name: “Turkey Day.” Thanksgiving is meant to be a day when we celebrate the bounty of the harvest, pause in gratitude for the abundance most of us experience, and share what we have with others. Most people don’t stop to think about the nearly 300 million birds that are killed each year in the U.S., just to satisfy our taste buds. Of this number, 45 million are killed for Thanksgiving alone.
As someone who teaches vegetarian cooking classes, I’ve seen many people turn away from meat, dairy, and eggs and embrace the array of delicious, nutritious plant-based foods available to us. I’ve also seen them change the lens through which they view the world, which I think is critical for shedding the comfort zones of the past and creating new ones. Some people have a real fear that they will no longer have satisfying, filling meals – especially on Thanksgiving. I can say with confidence that they can put their fears to rest.
Our Thanksgiving feast every year is full of comfort foods galore, prepared with organic ingredients from local farms: mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, bread & nut stuffing, mashed rutabagas, cranberries with pecans and cranberries, stuffed acorn squash, corn bread, Brussels sprouts, corn, peas, pumpkin pie with cashew cream, and apple pie. This was our menu last year, and I’m sure I’ve left something out. Indeed, there is no dearth of food on our table on this special day, as we share it with our closest friends and family.
For those who have never met them, turkeys are magnificent animals, full of spunk and spark and affection, with individual personalities and charms. These animals, who have been abused and discarded by human beings, whose beaks and toes have been mutilated, and whose genetically overgrown bodies are susceptible to heart disease and leg deformities, still display immense affection towards humans. They are incredibly curious and follow you wherever you go, and their wonderful vocalizations include an array of clucks, purrs, coos, and cackles.
Turkeys love to be caressed, and people often remark that they respond just like their own dogs and cats. Turkeys even make a purring sound when they are content, and not until you’ve had a hen fall asleep under your arm have you lived. She will literally melt under your touch, relax her body, and begin to close her eyes, softly clucking all the while. It’s a sight to see, and I’m moved every time I have the privilege to witness it.
Some individuals are more affectionate than others, climbing into your lap and making themselves as comfortable as can be. At an animal sanctuary I frequent, a particularly friendly turkey became infamous for her propensity to hug. As soon as you crouched down, she would run over to you, press her body against yours, and crane her head over your shoulders, clucking all the while. It’s amazing how so generous a hug can be given by someone with no arms.
They’re not all saints, but some are heroes. One turkey became my personal protector when I was trying to clean a barn and was continually accosted by a particularly rude and aggressive bird. Each time the aggressor would begin to close in on me, my hero would waddle over and get between me and his barn-mate. It was remarkable, and it happened over and over (turkeys are very persistent). What made this scene even more touching was the fact that these toms suffered from bumble foot, an occurrence of abscesses on the footpads that resemble corns, a common occurrence in domesticated turkeys. Between their grotesquely large breasts and inflamed feet, turkeys walk very awkwardly and with a lot of effort. I was very touched that such an effort was made on my behalf.
I grew up eating turkeys’ breasts, turkeys’ legs, and turkeys’ wings, and I’m still making amends to these extraordinary animals. I believe we’re able to mutilate certain animals for our gustatory pleasure because we don’t have relationships with them. We never meet them face to face. Once I met a turkey, I was never the same again. Once I began to celebrate Thanksgiving as turkey-free holiday, I learned for the first time what “Happy Turkey Day” really means.
“Nature is symphony played on many instruments, following complex patterns of harmony. We can learn about the instruments in their arrangements of harmonies, but that is not the same as simply appreciating the beauty of the music, or feeling the inspiration being expressed by its composer. All of life, from the universe as a whole down to the individual trees and seeds, every living creature and the very earth beneath our feet, expresses the inspiration of the soul that dwell within it and ultimately of the Great Composer whose creation it is. If we can understand the divine purpose that animates the world, we will know how we are to live in it and how best to use it. Scientific knowledge has advanced in many fields in the last two hundred years, making it possible for us to manipulate nature and produce material benefits our predecessors could not have dreamed of. However, the Vedic scriptures advise that knowledge of matter, namely science, must be cultivated alongside knowledge of spirit it is to benefit humanity.”-Vedic Ecology by Ranchor Prime
October 15 - 21 will mark the annual observance of Feed the World Week (FWW). During this week, Food for Life volunteers and concerned people in over 60 countries will serve out millions of karma-free vegetarian meals to the world!The inspiration behind Food for Life, Srila Prabhupada, once wrote: ““By the liberal distribution of prasad (pure vegetarian food) and sankirtan (pure sound), the whole world can become peaceful and prosperous.” He also said, “…one earns happiness by making the cows and bulls happy.”
Food for Life Global’s mission is to UNITE THE WORLD THROUGH FOOD, and so we invite anyone and everyone to join us during this week! Contact your local Food for Life representative to volunteer some time, or become an advocate or donate now!
Feed the World Week is based on the following principles:
1. Feed the World Week is based on a simple principle: For one week, the world should experience a wholesome, nonviolent diet, and thus pave the way for a peaceful and prosperous world.
2. Feed the World Week is an open community event to show how food when prepared and distributed with love, has the power to unite and heal the world.
3. Feed the World Week is a call for action: for the world to move away from animal agriculture—the greatest cause of environmental destruction and the principle reason why there is so much hunger in the world today.
Filed under: Cow Protection, Environmental Politics, Health, Morality, Uncategorized
TRANSLATION
by Srila Prabhupada
During the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk.
PURPORT
The basic principle of economic development is centered on land and cows. The necessities of human society are food grains, fruits, milk, minerals, clothing, wood, etc. One requires all these items to fulfill the material needs of the body. Certainly one does not require flesh and fish or iron tools and machinery. During the regime of Maharaja Yudhisthira all over the world there were regulated rainfalls. Rainfalls are not in the control of the human being. The heavenly King Indradeva is the controller of rains, and he is the servant of the Lord. When the Lord is obeyed by the king and the people under the king’s administration, there are regulated rains from the horizon, and these rains are the causes of all varieties of production on the land. Not only do regulated rains help ample production of grains and fruits, but when they combine with astronomical influences there is ample production of valuable stones and pearls. Grains and vegetables can sumptuously feed a man and animals, and a fatty cow delivers enough milk to supply a man sumptuously with vigor and vitality. If there is enough milk, enough grains, enough fruit, enough cotton, enough silk and enough jewels, then why do the people need cinemas, houses of prostitution, slaughterhouses, etc.? What is the need of an artificial luxurious life of cinema, cars, radio, flesh and hotels? Has this civilization produced anything but quarreling individually and nationally? Has this civilization enhanced the cause of equality and fraternity by sending thousands of men into a hellish factory and the war fields at the whims of a particular man?
It is said here that the cows used to moisten the pasturing land with milk because their milk bags were fatty and the animals were joyful. Do they not require, therefore, proper protection for a joyful life by being fed with a sufficient quantity of grass in the field? Why should men kill cows for their selfish purposes? Why should man not be satisfied with grains, fruits and milk, which, combined together, can produce hundreds and thousands of palatable dishes. Why are there slaughterhouses all over the world to kill innocent animals? Maharaja Pariksit grandson of Maharaja Yudhisthira while touring his vast kingdom, saw a black man attempting to kill a cow. The King at once arrested the butcher and chastised him sufficiently. Should not a king or executive head protect the lives of the poor animals who are unable to defend themselves? Is this humanity? Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity and nonviolence?
Therefore, in contrast with the modern, advanced, civilized form of government, an autocracy like Maharaja Yudhisthira’s is by far superior to a so-called democracy in which animals are killed and a man less than an animal is allowed to cast votes for another less-than-animal man.
We are all creatures of material nature. In the Bhagavad-gita is said that the Lord Himself is the seed-giving father and material nature is the mother of all living beings in all shapes. Thus mother material nature has enough foodstuff both for animals and for men, by the grace of the Father Almighty, Sri Krsna. The human being is the elder brother of all other living beings. He is endowed with intelligence more powerful than animals for realizing the course of nature and the indications of the Almighty Father. Human civilizations should depend on the production of material nature without artificially attempting economic development to turn the world into a chaos of artificial greed and power only for the purpose of artificial luxuries and sense gratification. This is but the life of dogs and hogs.
Filed under: Morality
By Pat Shellenbarger, The Grand Rapids Press
“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to
receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or
sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his
name.”– Holy Bible New International Version, Revelation 13:16-17
BLANCHARD — Glen Mast doesn’t own a computer, doesn’t want one, but he and other Amish farmers complain the state Department of Agriculture is insisting they tag their cattle with electronic chips in violation oftheir religious beliefs.
State agriculture officials say the radio frequency chips are necessaryto track animal diseases and protect public health. Mast and other Amish farmers say the chips’ 15-digit number is the Mark of the Beast warned of in the Bible’s book of Revelation.
“We’re a people who are inclined to mind our own business,” Mast said, sitting in the wood shop he operates without electricity on his Isabella County farm. His small herd of dairy cows lounged in the shade of the barn. Across the road, one of his sons raked hay with a team of horses. “We’re never happier than when we’re just left alone,” Mast said. “That’s all we’re asking.”
All over Michigan, Amish farmers are resisting the state program requiring that all cattle be tagged with the electronic chips before they can be sold. Some say they will quit farming if it comes to it. Some say they will leave the state.
“They keep saying that, and that’s their choice,” said Kevin Kirk, who coordinates the program for the state agriculture department. “Our No. 1 goal is animal health, human health and food safety. I know it’s hard sometimes to trust the government, but that’s what we’re asking is trust us.”
State exceeds national program Michigan’s program, which began March 1, is part of a National Animal Identification System created after the outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease in Europe and hastened by fears of terrorist attacks on the United States’ food supply. The national program, administered by the U.S. Department ofAgriculture, is voluntary.
Michigan is one of the few state’s making itmandatory because of a 1998 tuberculosis outbreak among cattle in the northeast Lower Peninsula. Under the program, each farm is issued a seven-digit identification number entered in a national database. All cattle must have theelectronic ear tags, which cost $2 each, before they can be moved offthe farm. Scanners at livestock auctions and slaughter houses automatically read the ear tags, tracking each animal’s movements.
While the program covers only cattle, it might be expanded to all farm animals, Kirk said. Most Michigan cattle already are marked with metalear tags embossed with numbers, allowing health officials to track them, but Kirk said the computerized system is much faster.
“If we have a disease outbreak, we don’t have months to track it,” he said. Amish farmers, he said, produced a “very, very small” percentage of then early 397 million pounds of beef sold by Michigan farmers last year.
Not all Amish raise cattle, but those who do typically have herds of eight or 10 animals. But the Amish aren’t the only farmers opposing the new system. Several organizations representing small farmers are fighting it nationally, claiming it is costly, bureaucratic and intrusive.
Gale Faling, who is not Amish but raises beef cattle in the midst of a Montcalm County Amish community, said the old system was working fine. “I don’t see the need to change it,” he said. “To me, it’s another layer of government interference.”
A neighbor, Amish farmer Alvin Shetler, agreed. “We’re not against the government,” he said. “We’re thankful for the freedom we got, and we’d like to continue with that.”
So far, the state has not forced the Amish to use the electronic tagsbut, as a compromise, said they can wait until the animals arrive at an auction before having them applied. The Amish, that makes nodifference.
Stating their opposition
In April, Mast, Shetler and a few dozen other Amish farmers appearedbefore the state Senate Appropriations Committee, urging it to block the program, a decidedly unAmish act, since they do not vote, run for office or receive any government money.
Craig Starkweather, chief of staff for Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, said his boss may introduce a bill granting a religious exemption if the agriculture department tries forcing the Amish to comply. Mast cited Revelation, which says the beast forced everyone “to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark.”
“They’re asking me to use this number to be allowed to buy and sell,” he said. “To me, the beast is the computer.” Mast said he will not file a lawsuit to block the program. “We feel that Jesus has taught us to turn the other cheek rather than sue,” he said. “If they persecute you in one place, just flee, go the other way. Probably, we’d just leave.”
