Geçmiş Olsun

I was feeling a little under the weather yet, so I had some red lentil soup at the Istanbul Grille on Center & Craig. But I added some Frank's hot sauce....

Pan de Muerto

Today in my Latin American Narrative course, we were treated to the bread of the dead. This bread is cooked as part of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in Mexico, which occurs on November 3rd. This is a time that pays tribute to friends and relateives who have passed on, and food and other objects are offered to the dead. The living then eat some of the food after the Spirits have taken nourishment from it.
We had two of the more traditional shapes of the bread, one in the shape of a skull, and decorated with green colored sugar, and the other in the shape of crossbones.

Whose Food Is Safe?

I had heard about the Bees dying. I had noticed a particular lack of them flying around. It was tossed about that this had to do with the weather changes, with cell phone signals... Now some scientists at the Dept of Agriculture wonder if some Honey Bees may have consumed commercial bee feed tainted by the same thing that caused the deaths from the dog and cat food that was later recalled-- melamine, the industrial chemical used to raise protein levels.

I was already afraid of what to give to my dogs. Whatever I put in their food bowl they eat. They don't have any reason to suspect it's poisoned. They are trusting. I have already been a little worried about all of the diseases that have been around in livestock, like Mad Cow and Bird Flu (though not enough to stop eating chicken when I was overseas...). It concerns me that so much of this could have been prevented or at least diminished. If you recall, the brain disease in farm animals was caused by feeding them stuff they should have been fed (meat and bone meal with ground-up brain in it, when cows are herbivores-- cutting corners to get them protein). The companies trying to make more money without spending more money put the melamine in the dog food to raise the amount of protein (and now maybe in the bee food).

Not to mention all of the hormones that are pumped into livestock. Not to mention the horrid conditions of factory farming. Not to mention the inhumane treatment of the animals humans kill for food while they are yet alive.... I'm not exactly saying we reap what we sow....but at the addage "we are what we eat" is becoming more threatening than ever.




Sources:
"DOA Has a New Theory On Why Bees Are Dying, Disappearing"
A Scientific American Article on Mad Cow