Why I am a Vegan

[Diana]

Learn how to make sushi the black metal vegan way...

[Plenum]

just a quick update on where I am with this ...

at home, where I cook all my meals, I'm 100% vegan.  It's not an issue for me, and I like where things are at.

However, on those rare occasions where I do eat out (like during my Homecoming Trip), I just default back to vegetarianism.

Yet - if there were clear options to do so (marked on the menu, main dishes), then I probably would take those options.  I have no particular fascination with either eggs or cheese (although I did grab breakfast with Blatz at a place called Wild Eggs one morning, and that was pretty neat).

The thing is, I do get indicators that this is starting to shift.  Veganism is becoming more and more of a known cultural phenomena, and restaurants and menus are going to have to cater and adapt; if people are eating out, and someone is quite strict about their diet, and they plan ahead, some places are going to be skipped over because they aren't willing to flex for their customers.

But businesses only get this message if people ask.  

So that's just where I am with this.  I can see the shift changing, and it's great.  

[Matt1]

i have defaulted back to eating meat, to work on my body. Gotta get that protein.

[isis]

“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” Matt. 15:11 [KJV]

[Diana]

“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” Matt. 15:11 [KJV]

That is contradictory bible talk. In other places it spells out that certain foods are off limits and unclean. No offense isis, just putting this comment into context. Not that I care at all what it says in the bible. But I dislike seeing the waters muddied.

It certainly does matter what comes out of a person's mouth, but also what goes in, in my opinion. An individual is responsible for self in all aspects, I conjecture.

[Diana]

How To Be Vegan

The purpose of this article is to give out all of the knowledge I have received from being vegan myself, and watching many other vegans and people that have chosen to live a life free of animal products.
 
First and foremost, there must be no struggle.

If your mind is constantly wanting to eat meat and always desiring animal products, leather, fur etc… It is better to do these things and bring consciousness to them then to suppress the desire.

How do we get to a state where there is no struggle? ...

And here is the rest of this interesting take on being vegan: http://veganblackmetalchef.com/how-to-be-vegan/

[isis]

“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” Matt. 15:11 [KJV]

That is contradictory bible talk. In other places it spells out that certain foods are off limits and unclean. No offense isis, just putting this comment into context. Not that I care at all what it says in the bible. But I dislike seeing the waters muddied.

It certainly does matter what comes out of a person's mouth, but also what goes in, in my opinion. An individual is responsible for self in all aspects, I conjecture.

thanks for sharing, i didn't know that in other places "it spells out that certain foods are off limits and unclean"...despite having attended church practically every sunday until 18yrs of age, & attended church camps, i'm not rly familiar with the bible at all.

i only posted bc last night i was reading thru tilting book where Carla was talking about diet & read this:

JIM: Remember what Jesus said about diet?
Carla: Um . . . what did Jesus say about diet?
JIM: “Man is defiled by what comes out of his mouth, not what goes into it.” [6]
Carla: That’s true. He said that. Good one.

then i felt compelled to share it with matt before realizing verse was from matt. neat sync i thought.

[Diana]

i only posted bc last night i was reading thru tilting book where Carla was talking about diet & read this:

JIM: Remember what Jesus said about diet?
Carla: Um . . . what did Jesus say about diet?
JIM: “Man is defiled by what comes out of his mouth, not what goes into it.” [6]
Carla: That’s true. He said that. Good one.

then i felt compelled to share it with matt before realizing verse was from matt. neat sync i thought.

I have read the bible through. It's chock full of contradictions. To see it, one only needs to read the Ten Commandments and the few pages following where after saying "Thou shalt not kill," God spells out when it is okay such as when a son talks back to his parents.

Everyone has their blind spots, and in my opinion food was one of Carla's. She was a beautiful and giving person, but I feel there was a disconnect with food which probably did not help her health situation (such as eating fast-food burgers), and did not address animals as beings—other than pets—deserving of our compassion. Of course, this is my opinion only.

[isis]

I have read the bible through. It's chock full of contradictions.

i've tried to read it so many times but i like literally physically cannot do it. it puts me to sleep.

Everyone has their blind spots, and in my opinion food was one of Carla's. She was a beautiful and giving person, but I feel there was a disconnect with food which probably did not help her health situation (such as eating fast-food burgers), and did not address animals as beings—other than pets—deserving of our compassion. Of course, this is my opinion only.

she says in tilting book she gave various diets "a good try" (stayed on them 1-2 years) such as vegetarianism, macrobiotic diet, some cayce diet, but that they didn't help her.

Carla: I just saw the details as being ridiculous to pay attention to if they weren’t helping me. So I just go with my bliss and enjoy what I eat. I think my spiritual principle involved there is to enjoy what I’m doing, and if I’m not enjoying it, don’t do it.

[Diana]

Carla: I just saw the details as being ridiculous to pay attention to if they weren’t helping me. So I just go with my bliss and enjoy what I eat. I think my spiritual principle involved there is to enjoy what I’m doing, and if I’m not enjoying it, don’t do it.

I understand the value of enjoying what you're doing. It is good for self, and has the side effect of injecting positive energy into the whole. However, as much as we can be aware of it at any given moment in time, doing what we enjoy might include not causing harm to others. Especially when it is not necessary. This is something not always easy to perceive. For instance, I try not to walk on plant life if I can avoid it. But if I step on the ground I may be squashing little insects; I don't know because I can't see them or even know if my molecules can interact that way with theirs. However, whether or not factory-farmed animals are mistreated is not vague—it's a harsh reality and the information is just about everywhere in all media.

What is necessary or not is a point of heartfelt contention here.

I realize many people don't agree with my take on things, and that's fine. But I just don't see how it's compassionate to eat fast-food burgers and in doing so, support the worst sort of cruelties directly or indirectly to plant life, animals, humans, and the planet ecosystem.

So therein lies the disconnect I observed in Carla, an otherwise compassionate and loving individual.

[isis]

you can't deny that it's *a possibility* that (infinite) beings could incarnate here (at this time) for the purpose of experiencing being mistreated - or rather experiencing w/e they may experience.

it could be that by eating animals (& animal products) you are actually always providing a service rather than a disservice. maybe every animal that crala ate incarnated here just bc they wanted to be eaten by her.

the other day i was skimming thru Natalie Sudman's NDE story & she talks about getting killed (temporarily, of course) & then learning (from the other side) that she had agreed to experience the NDE (agreed to get bombed in iraq) before ever accepting her current body & lifetime on earth.

bombing someone seems like something that's obviously wrong to do...but she thinks that those responsible did so at her own request & accepted her request bc they wanted to experience bombing someone & the consequences that come with that.

you may be right that food was one of crala's blind spots.

maybe it was dispassionate of her to listen to her heart/intuition & eat fast-food burgers, just bc she enjoyed them, w/o batting an eye that doing so may mean she was directly supporting an industry that tortures & slaughters billions of sentient beings every year...but i can't be so quick to judge.

i can't judge anything as wrong unless i know for sure it is. & i strongly suspect there's no wrong in existence. i can't deny that some things are seemingly wrong, though; you've got me there.

[Diana]

you can't deny that it's *a possibility* that (infinite) beings could incarnate here (at this time) for the purpose of experiencing being mistreated - or rather experiencing w/e they may experience.

it could be that by eating animals (& animal products) you are actually always providing a service rather than a disservice. maybe every animal that crala ate incarnated here just bc they wanted to be eaten by her.

the other day i was skimming thru Natalie Sudman's NDE story & she talks about getting killed (temporarily, of course) & then learning (from the other side) that she had agreed to experience the NDE (agreed to get bombed in iraq) before ever accepting her current body & lifetime on earth.

bombing someone seems like something that's obviously wrong to do...but she thinks that those responsible did so at her own request & accepted her request bc they wanted to experience bombing someone & the consequences that come with that.

you may be right that food was one of crala's blind spots.

maybe it was dispassionate of her to listen to her heart/intuition & eat fast-food burgers, just bc she enjoyed them, w/o batting an eye that doing so may mean she was directly supporting an industry that tortures & slaughters billions of sentient beings every year...but i can't be so quick to judge.

i can't judge anything as wrong unless i know for sure it is. & i strongly suspect there's no wrong in existence. i can't deny that some things are seemingly wrong, though; you've got me there.

You make very good points. I don't see it as right or wrong, however. It goes back to an old argument in these threads: if beings here choose to suffer (from torture/slaughter; rape; murder; molestation and so on), do I choose to experience being the perpetrator of that suffering? No, I choose not to harm, if I can help it. I choose not to support an industry killing and torturing animals.  

And substituting humans for animals is another part of the old argument: if a child in this life has chosen to be molested, would I be willing to do the molesting as service to that child? Or if a person chooses to be murdered would I be willing to kill? No. Would Carla have done so? I seriously doubt it, but I can't know for sure. Hence—and it's only conjecture on my part—a disconnect between animal and human suffering.

This is all based on the assumption that suffering is chosen. While it seems worth considering that humans choose it (for various reasons), I find it more difficult to imagine animals choose it. And if they do, in service to us, what do you imagine that to be? To let us know we need to learn compassion (beached whales; dolphins caught in nets, etc.)? If it is to become self-aware, well, that's been covered as well, and seems a pretty poor way for us to offer service. Love, as one does with pets, seems a better one to me. If it's to experience what we experience, jeez, I loathe the thought they would follow humanity's violent history. But there is free will and I honor it. 

If Carla (or anyone) did a service to animals by eating them, I don't see that as out of the realm of possibilities. But what is one to say then about the other consequences: harm to the planet, the ecosystem, starvation, global warming—it's all directly related to factory farming animals. Is anyone living here now—from elsewhere or not—excused from any responsibility to this collective existence? Humans are already humancentric. Beings here who may be more evolved would, I think, make a poor show of higher consciousness by just doing whatever they fancy without considering the consequences. But then again, who is to say what higher consciousness is? Some imagine they are from very advanced densities where nothing matters, or all is well, from a larger perspective. 

[Plenum]

I think the dietary restrictions were from the Old Testament, and Jesus 'fulfilled the law' and was able to make a new convenant between humans and God.

So there's no 'kosher' for Christians; unlike for Jews and for Muslims.

http://ask.metafilter.com/24518/Why-dont...eep-kosher

Leviticus 11 has all the 'rules'.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se...viticus+11

Clean and Unclean Food

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

4 “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.

13 “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,[a] the vulture, the black vulture, 14 the red kite, any kind of black kite, 15 any kind of raven, 16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

20 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. 21 There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

26 “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. 27 Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 28 Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.

29 “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. 36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. 37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. 38 But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

39 “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

41 “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

46 “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”

[Night Owl]

I have discovered vegan sausages made of tofu this week and I like the taste. More precisely the tofurky italian sausage. I didn't really eat real sausages for like the past 10 years but I thought this could be a great addition to my diet if I can cut one meal or two a week with these. Plus I think they just taste even better than real sausages. The texture and taste is closer to real meat than cheap sausages I think. Any experienced vegan knows if they're really that good for health? i've heard tofu can be full of GMOs. I guess it's still better than killing a hundred different animals and melt their intestines together but I figured I'd just ask those who are way ahead of me on this subject. It's a simple step in the good direction I guess. Thought it tasted really good with rice.

On a side note, great to see this thread so unified for once!

[Jade]

I've always advocated vegan sausages as a good transition food, for specifically the reasons you speak - sausages in general are just filler meat product and flavoring, so you might as well just swap that filler out with veggie proteins.

As far as health goes, I do my best when I buy soy (or anything) to buy organic (which means non GMO here). I don't think Tofurky products are organic, but I do buy them sometimes. I think they're mostly wheat gluten (the aforementioned seitan), which also isn't the greatest if not organic. It's about everything in moderation, and as you say, it is still healthier than 99.999% of meat (which is fed GMOs and antibiotics and literal garbage and all that crap) anyway. Plus, no cholesterol - a great benefit when you have a meal without animal products.

Vegan meat/cheese products are getting so good. I can make anything that I crave from "the old life". I love that people are willing to make swaps. I had Field Roast sausages for dinner tonight (not organic either, a little pricier than the Tofurky sausages but I think I like the texture even more). I do like the Tofurky Italian sausages though, chopped up in some pasta marinara. Yum!

I find the veggie ground beef crumbles to be adequate for things like tacos (or burritos, taco salads, nachos, that sort of thing), or also in pasta.

I'll be honest, I feel "healthiest" when not consuming stuff that's highly processed, but the fact is, it's good comfort food and awesome for people transitioning. I eat it with some regularity. I had the Field Roast sausages for dinner and currently have Tofurky lunch meat in my fridge for sandwiches. It's probably one of the things I regularly buy that isn't organic. That and Earth Balance boxed mac and cheese.

[Night Owl]

I see so they might not be the ultimate meal, but in the meantime there's other areas of diet I should look into and the tofurky will do great in the meantime. And you're right that between wheat gluten/gmos and meat that's also been fed with it, might as well just cut the intermediate.

On a different matter, I kind of realized that eating healthy makes my energy field way more sensible to external energies. Do you experience that as well? And how do you deal with that? like not feeling all the negativity around? I always did feel this but I think eating meat kind of refocus your energies on your own energy field which is somewhat of a positive side effect coupled with the negative feeling of being heavy.

[Jade]

You mean more sensitive? Hmm, I'd say that's a likely side effect. My problem is that I went vegan before I was spiritual at all, so I don't have a reference for that. I feel like I was -more- sensitive to outside stimuli before I went vegan. I had really bad anxiety coupled with digestive issues that all went away when I stopped eating meat/dairy. I assume, in retrospect, that it was because I gave up interacting with the energy fields of those that had been severely traumatized.

But, if you have been using meat as a "desensitizer", this is a likely outcome. It's also likely that as you purge some of the toxicity/negative thoughtforms through this fasting, that you will see the negativity as more of an external thing to deal with instead of internal.

I know people think of fasting as abstaining from all food, but when Ra describes it, it seems like just eliminating one item and focusing on it for a reprogramming is possible. (This is why I defend those who are anti-gluten!)

41.21 Questioner: You mentioned in the last session that fasting was a method of removing unwanted thought-forms. Can you expand on this process and explain a little more about how this works?

Ra: I am Ra. This, as all healing techniques, must be used by a conscious being; that is, a being conscious that the ridding of excess and unwanted material from the body complex is the analogy to the ridding of mind or spirit of excess or unwanted material. Thus the one discipline or denial of the unwanted portion as an appropriate part of the self is taken through the tree of mind down through the trunk to subconscious levels where the connection is made and thus the body, mind, and spirit, then in unison, express denial of the excess or unwanted spiritual or mental material as part of the entity.

All then falls away and the entity, while understanding, if you will, and appreciating the nature of the rejected material as part of the greater self, nevertheless, through the action of the will purifies and refines the mind/body/spirit complex, bringing into manifestation the desired mind complex or spirit complex attitude.

So, what do you associate the partial elimination of meat with? I think that might help you figure out what sort of metaphysical side effects you are experiencing.

[Diana]

On a different matter, I kind of realized that eating healthy makes my energy field way more sensible to external energies. Do you experience that as well? And how do you deal with that? like not feeling all the negativity around? I always did feel this but I think eating meat kind of refocus your energies on your own energy field which is somewhat of a positive side effect coupled with the negative feeling of being heavy.

It has been my experience that eating more healthily, and even more so, cutting animal products from the diet, both make you more sensitive.

As for what to do about it—I think there is nothing. I think, based on my own experience, the idea is to become more sensitive and at the same time, be able to bear it—to be able to handle it. At least, that's my working theory.

It does make life here more challenging. 

Cluttering the body with foods it must take great measures to deal with most definitely clogs up the system, and takes up all the ram so to speak. And animal products carry heavy burdens of fear and suffering from hormones, energies, and so on that "deaden," desensitize, and overwhelm the senses and emotions. When one ceases to ingest animal products, one becomes less clogged and burdened and more clear and sensitive.

A person could choose to go back, like the character in The Matrix who regretted taking the red pill and wanted to be plugged back in. But it's only a temporary fix. Nothing is simple or easy it seems. With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility.

[Nía]

Everyone's Practice of Ahimsa Is Imperfect

-`ღ´-

[Plenum]

decided to add avocadoes ("alligator pears") back to my diet, as per an earlier suggestion in this thread.

Going organic this time around



[larger]

[Nía]

5 Deeply Ingrained Fictions That Desensitize Us to the Animals We Eat

[Diana]

5 Deeply Ingrained Fictions That Desensitize Us to the Animals We Eat

Could you explain a little here, or pull a quote? I am always hesitant to go to these links not knowing what I might see. Thanks in advance.

[Nía]

Could you explain a little here, or pull a quote? I am always hesitant to go to these links not knowing what I might see. Thanks in advance.

Really sorry, Diana, I'm just about managing posting links I think might be interesting/helpful to some, time- and energy-wise, so can't promise to do that all the time, but I'll try.

5 Deeply Ingrained Fictions That Desensitize Us to the Animals We Eat is an excerpt from a new book called Farm to Fable: The Fictions of Our Animal-Consuming Culture (the link goes to Amazon), by Robert Grillo (Vegan Publishers, 2016).

The five fictions the article and book are discussing, using examples like an apparently well-known US TV commercial featuring Jim Perdue talking about what good lives his chickens have, are:

1. Anthropomorphism
2. Consent
3. Objectification
4. Superiority
5. Naturalism

You get the idea. There's also a disgusting photo of a 'grilled suckling pig on a plate in banquet restaurant', in case you would find that upsetting/hurtful. But I guess you're not the audience this article and book was intended for anyway...

-`ღ´-

[Diana]

You get the idea. There's also a disgusting photo of a 'grilled suckling pig on a plate in banquet restaurant', in case you would find that upsetting/hurtful. But I guess you're not the audience this article and book was intended for anyway...

-`ღ´-

Thank you. No, I'm not the intended audience. However, I like to expand my knowledge base, as I endeavor to have as honest and clear a picture possible of the general situation, so that I may communicate when the time arises with clarity and informed reflection.

[Nía]

However, I like to expand my knowledge base, as I endeavor to have as honest and clear a picture possible of the general situation, so that I may communicate when the time arises with clarity and informed reflection.

Me too.

[kylissa]

just a quick update on where I am with this ...

at home, where I cook all my meals, I'm 100% vegan.  It's not an issue for me, and I like where things are at.

However, on those rare occasions where I do eat out (like during my Homecoming Trip), I just default back to vegetarianism.

Yet - if there were clear options to do so (marked on the menu, main dishes), then I probably would take those options.  I have no particular fascination with either eggs or cheese (although I did grab breakfast with Blatz at a place called Wild Eggs one morning, and that was pretty neat).

The thing is, I do get indicators that this is starting to shift.  Veganism is becoming more and more of a known cultural phenomena, and restaurants and menus are going to have to cater and adapt; if people are eating out, and someone is quite strict about their diet, and they plan ahead, some places are going to be skipped over because they aren't willing to flex for their customers.

But businesses only get this message if people ask.  

So that's just where I am with this.  I can see the shift changing, and it's great.  

Been vegan for 12 years
To me the biggest impact is on the fresh water system
1000 gallons of water per pound of meat
Destruction of rivers and fresh water bodies from
massive runoff of factory farms
Feeding our grain and more importantly water to our 'food' is wasteful and defies logic
Meat eaters be playing with disaster

[Plenum]

thanks kylissa.

That's a good run!

I must admit, I've not investigated a lot of the ecological impacts.  

I just find it more 'efficient' on a personal, experienced level.

[Nía]

decided to add avocadoes ("alligator pears") back to my diet, as per an earlier suggestion in this thread.

Going organic this time around

Sorry, a little off-topic, but just stumbled upon this article, and thought you might be interested to read it as well: Are You Eating Smuggled Avocados?

Hopefully, going organic, and where possible local or fair trade, might offer a chance to avoid this? Better even, growing your own (no chance in our climate)!

[Nía]

Just stumbled across this image...

[Plenum]

Sorry, a little off-topic, but just stumbled upon this article, and thought you might be interested to read it as well: Are You Eating Smuggled Avocados?

yeah, great article facettes.

The article seems to pinpoint that restaurants are the main buyers of these stolen items.  But I'm sure they can infilitrate supply chains in insidious ways.

 

Hopefully, going organic, and where possible local or fair trade, might offer a chance to avoid this? Better even, growing your own (no chance in our climate)!

yeah, the business that I buy from (organic, delivers to most areas in Sydney) seems pretty trustworthy, although I've never been to their warehouse and seen how they operate, from the inside.  They claim to establish a one-on-one relationship with all the farmers that supply the produce that ends up with the customers (ie, me).

They even have profiles of the farms - and where they're located; so if someone was ultra-vigilant, they could contact the farms directly, and talk to the people involved.

/ /

as for growing your own, I'm not much of a green thumb myself, and I live in an apartment building.  Greens could be viable, but haven't gone down that route myself.

Definitely would be very re-empowering to have some of your own food grown right under your nose.

There was actually someone at Homecoming this year who talked about how much of their own food that they grow.  Very inspiring!