Is the Indian Mouche Lost Forever?

Should we shed a tear or rejoice at the possible disappearance of the Indian mouche (mustache)? You be the judge:

Indian Moustaches 'face the chop'

Some pictures from my last days in Delhi

Hey! One of my friends sent me these pictures they took during my last few days in Delhi... A bunch of Vivek and I being silly and also a few feeding the tiny, fuzzy, adorabible Indian squirrels.

Celebrate the Cuteness!

Murray is going to be 6 next month. And still as cute as ever.

Irony

Mice suspected in deadly cat fire

Brookford Farm- A Success Story

I sit here, sipping the first Indian style tea I have had since I returned from India-- it has my Taj Mahal brand loose leaves, ginger, sugar, and of course... milk! But, for the first time in the U.S., I am not drinking pasteurized milk. I'm drinking raw milk. That's right folks... straight from the cow's teat! (well, not exactly). I read up on raw milk, and read that it isn't so dangerous as people think. The reason pasteurization started in the 1920s was due to unhygienic farming practices and transportation of milk. Nowadays, a small, local, organic farmer can have a hygienic milking area and clean ways to package it.

Raw milk is supposed to have more nutrients, many of which break down in the pasteurizing process, and it is also more flavorful. The fat in the milk of grass-fed cows is supposed to be higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, and some other stuff, I forgot, that is also good for you. So it has fat, but its better-for-you fat. And we also got the 'low fat' version of raw milk, which just means they scooped the cream off the top (which they probably used in one of their many other products.)

My sister and I gave Brookford Farm a call and set up a time for a first visit, where they will give us a tour of the farm. A very nice guy who works on the farm came out and gave us the tour. We went inside and petted adorable fuzzy Jersey cows and their reticent Holstein sisters. We saw the pastures they graze in, the multitude of hens running about (He said there were about 70) all over the farm and running up to us to see if we had any food scraps for them.

We also saw the baby cows, which are fed by their own mothers before they are milked. We did hear that the boy cows would eventually go to "s-l-a-u-g-h-t-e-r" when they are older (it was spelled as such so the poor little guys wouldn't hear, haha) but not as veal calves since they are allowed to roam and play as cows on the farm.

We also met Oliver, the adorable son of the farmers, who went on the tour with us, telling us interesting stories about farm.

All in all, a very nice day, and we bought a dozen fresh eggs and a 1/2 gallon of fresh raw milk.. now in my tea. Yum! It was a bit more expensive than the store, but I think it is worth it personally. And it was only 15 minutes from my house. Who knew eating morally could be so easy?

Exploring my Options

I've been a vegetarian for 15 years. There were a few things that sparked my vegetarianism as a 12 year old. First, I loved animals and always had. As a young child I had a 'bug cemetery" by an old stump that looked like a church where I buried the poor hapless dead bugs I found outside.

I used to spend hours watching animals outside. Once, after a lot of patience, I got a chipmunk to take food from my hand on the front step. I also always loved dogs, cats, horses, you name it. I was always observant and interested in animals body language and sounds. There was never any doubt in my mind that animals can think, feel, and enjoy their lives much like humans.

I still feel that the line we draw between humans and animals is exaggerated. Yes, we have opposable thumbs. We can make tools and tame our land. But don't chimps make tools, though simple? Don't dogs noises mean something to other dogs? And don't animals protect and love their families and friends (pack)?

One of my friends suddenly became a vegetarian around 5th or 6th grade. I thought, wow, what an idea. Growing up in Maine, I hadn't been exposed to vegetarianism as a food choice at that time. Around the same time, I wrote a paper for school on slaughterhouses. That sealed the deal, and since I was 12, I have been a vegetarian.

At that point, I was quite the anomaly in my small town in Maine. My family didn't know what to feed me, and felt frustrated by my refusal to eat meat. Restaurants often didn't have vegetarian options, and relatives weren't sure what I WOULD eat. People often joked by offering me meat at the dinner table:

"Hey Lindsey, want some chicken?"
"Hey Lindsey, are you SURE you don't want a hamburger? They are so juicy."

People still do this. Others, like my dad, view me as an 'extremist', a sort of outside of normal American culture freak. A Food fundamentalist. I of course, see his intake of meat (often 1-2 times a day) in the opposite light.

When I was 12, people regarded it as a 'phase', something I would get over and move on. Something new and trendy. Something I would get bored and tire of, eventually picking up that chicken wing or grabbing a slice of pork sirloin. But, here I am, age 27, still strong in my convictions.

Because for me, it was never a phase, but a moral conviction. I never wanted to be responsible for the suffering, pain, and death of other living creatures. At 27 though, I have a greater ability to educate myself about the world and the what's going on in it. For a long time, I felt sure in my convictions as a vegetarian who still eats eggs and milk, who still buys leather.

But, recently, I came across an "eat vegetarian" site which opened up Pandora's box for me. Maybe it never occurred to me, or maybe I just didn't want to know, but most eggs and milk in this country are also produced in large commercial facilities. For a long time, I have been buying 'cage free' eggs, thinking that is solving my dilemma. Chickens get to run free on a farm if they are 'cage free', right? Right?

It looks as though my assumptions are wrong. Cage free doesn't necessarily mean farm life, especially if its a big commercial brand. Instead, it looks as though it just means that 1,000s of chickens are crowded into a small, sunless shed. Still unable to go outside, they are sent to slaughter once they stop laying well. Bleck.

Then, we have milk. I have been somewhat lactose intolerant for years, and usually drink soy milk, but lately I found some probiotics that enable me to eat more milk products I enjoy, like cottage cheese, yogurt, and, my Achilles heel, ice cream. Let's be honest. I have no idea where that milk comes from. I never really thought of it. I always thought "Oh! Those silly vegans! Cows aren't killed for their milk, what's the problem?"

Well, it turns out these huge commercial dairy farms aren't so appealing either. From what I gathered, many keep these cows pumped up with hormones, separate their young soon after the birth, causing severely emotional reactions from both mother and calf, send the male calves to be raised for veal, shackled and unable to turn around, and due to lack of proper care, exercise, etc many of the dairy cows end up lame and sick, and are then sent off to slaughter. Double beck.

So, finally Lindsey needs to face the facts. Being a vegetarian is pretty good, but, umm, I have had my blinders on. My cage free eggs are not so farm life happy. My milk is feeding an industry of death, sickness, and torture.

So, now I am on a journey. I want to re-find that old fashioned, let's go milk the cows and send them out in the pasture to munch on grass while chickens are running around the barnyard, pecking up grains and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.

So I looked for a local organic farm that sells fresh farm eggs and milk. I found Brookford Farm not so farm from my house. Tomorrow I think I will give them a call and go get a tour of the farm, and see what they have for sale.

Now I just need to figure out what to do about leather.