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The suggestion that chicken fat should become a major fuel source is idiotic - uh, yeah, because factory farms and its animal concentration camps are soooooo environmentally efficient. Not. If humans are going to survive with an environment in tact - the mass "production" of animals must be phased out. If you look at the facts, it is hard to think of a more destructive industry - the products are very energy/water intensive, create incredible amounts of waste and enviromental destruction, directly cause most chronic diseases, causing untold human as well as animal suffering... but hey, I guess if you don't care about the planet, biodiversity, people, or animals, it's a darn good idea! Incredibly destructive companies like Tyson are just not going to survive energy descent, unless they morph into something sustainable and beneficial (good luck on that).
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/environment.html
The suggestion that chicken fat should become a major fuel source is idiotic - uh, yeah, because factory farms and its animal concentration camps are soooooo environmentally efficient.
The other thing missing from the story is that those guys are wrong: Chicken fat is being utilized for biofuels. In fact, contracts are being inked right now to use waste animal fat in biodiesel production.
Rendering is an ancient business. I think maybe because it is not something we talk about in polite industrial society, we forget that it's out there, and assume "waste."
The interesting thing might be that fuel uses might pull rendered fats from their traditional uses, whatever they might be.
BTW, I just noticed that my canned Organic Black Beans from Trader Joe's, actually come from China. Should I have a moment of panic as I think of "organic" and "china?"
Given what I've read of pollution in China, I am trying to avoid all foods from China. That's in addition to the other reasons, such as trying to eat more locally.
I'm glad you made this excellent point on rendering. To often we assume it's "waste", ie landfill, and don't realize the myriad of uses that carcasses and trimmings are put to. Perhaps it will help to increase the price paid for the material.
It's hard to term anything organic as waste. Yet a side point of recent trends I've noticed in rendering is the increasing difficulty, no doubt also fuel related, in getting the rendering truck. Times past I could just call, and it'd be here within a couple days. Now you have too be "on their route"-have a weekly or monthly pickup. It's very diffecult to get an on-farm pickup. So the animal rots in the field, where the coyotes and magpies clean it up. Which is just as well, the price never amounted to a hill of beans.
Last year while touting the merits of the CSA I belong to, I found a few cans of these TJ's Organic beans stamped "China" in my cupboard. It was very frustrating to see that, as a can of these can be added to just about any meal. I've stopped buying them, since even if "organic" means the same in China (I'm very skeptical of that one), the trip around the world probably canceled out any benefit to the planet by buying organic. Since then I have found them with and without the China stamp on them. I wonder if this means that the ones not stamped are from the states (probably CA), or just that they don't have the stamp?
I personally will not buy anything labelled Organic that is not produced in the country that I am purchasing it in.
- Environmental benefits are cancelled out or worse
- Quality control or even "what is organic" is unclear
- one does not know what controls are there at the grower/packager level or in the supply chain to ensure that the product was indeed organic
In addition to China and others I believe that in Europe too there was some recent loosening of organic standards.
Also various special interest groups have succeded in preventing passage of labelling rules that would have forced retailers to label and stand behind country of origin labels - so
- read all lables carefully (when available)
- let the buyer beware
I would say that buy organic but try and ensure that it was produced as locally as possible - and definitely within your particular national border.
Well, finally something about which I feel qualified to add something to the discussion! Beans!
As an vegetarian and mostly organic house w/ two smallish kids, we found ourselves going through copious amounts of organic, canned beans--from TJ's and elsewhere. We were even buying by the case! Then, after very good luck making our own soymilk on a regular basis (see http://www.soymilkmaker.com/ ) we thought we'd try our long-forgotten crock pot...
Long story short: the cheapest, best-tasting, low-salt, perfectly cooked pinto, black turtle and pinto beans you've ever had! AND, we figure the small amount of electricity used for cooking is better than all of the energy to process and can and transport that can from ???. (Yeah, I know the beans themselves were trucked, but hey, we're tryin!)
Want to try it? Three cups cleaned, dry beans of your choice. Eight cups of water. Pinch of salt. Cook in your crock pot on high while you sleep--wake up to awsome beans. It really couldn't be any easier, plus, we've always (usually) got cooked beans ready to rip (!) in the fridge whenever we need them.
I must repeat how much tastier these are compared to any canned bean.
Salud!
Thanks, I'll try a smaller batch in my smaller crockpot ... which only has one speed.
Odograph,
I have two crockpots, one of which usually has a scrumptious batch of chilli con carne in it; the other one alternates between cabbage and potato soup (with soup bones) and whatever else I feel like, such as chicken with organic brown rice.
In the winter time I can keep crockpots outside (covered from inquiring animals) instead of the refrigerator when space gets scarce. One nice thing about my two-crockpot system is that whenever people stop buy unexpectedly, there are always a few quarts of soup for them--that combined with my most excellent homemade bread (organic stone-ground whole wheat flour) makes me a nearly permanently prepared host at very little effort. (Bread freezes very well and can be quickly thawed in the microwave.)
Delicious crockpot food not only can be cheap and nutritious, I have found that it helps me in weight loss, because "real" food is far more satisfying than the typical U.S. junk food diet.
Robert:
(Hijacking a bit here) Any comment on these 2 stories on corn-based ethanol that are being put out to farmers? Given the political clout coming into alignment here (Archer Daniels Midland, Khosla, the farm vote and the mantra of independence from ME crude oi), I read this as a steam roller for corn ethanol to the deteriment of sound energy policy and investment in advancing other alternatives, such as PHEVs.
Your juxtaposition of ethanol producers with those calling for energy independence is misleading.
What some politicians and activist groups espouse is a far cry from the reality on the ground and no one in the ethanol community is saying energy independence can be met with ethanol alone.
Ethanol and biofuels in particular, are but one important part of a total, overall solution to mitigate the liquid transportation fuel crisis that is Peak Oil.
Khosla and other proponnents such as myself who believe ethanol to be sound energy policy, have gone to great lengths to explain that corn ethanol is but one step in an ongoing drive to a more efficient and higher yielding production path.
And in the case of PHEVs, I have personally advocated the procession to Bio-PHEVs where R&D and investment monies for both technologies is warranted.
My apologies for applying too broad a brush. I meant to refer specifically to congressional policy making and funding decisions. Given the current political and fiscal environment, I doubt that their planning and funding horizons will extend much beyond the 2008 presidential election and that their thinking will be fairly shallow. Rather, I expect they will stop at the first solution appearing to fall within the boundaries of the calculus of the 2008 vote and corn-based ethanol fermentation appears to do that, irrespective of its EROEI or the potential of other solutions.
Yes, unfortunately that is one of the drawbacks of the US political system, however, there are some new elements in 07' that should affect the decision making process, namely, the transition to a Democrat run House and Senate.
Domesitc energy security is very much a non-partisan topic and coupled with a likely guest appearance in this year's State of the Union, the Dems will be also forced into substantiating their Energy Independence platform. Of course they will soon discover the reality of the situation at hand and thankfully there are dedicated people behind the scenes at NREL and similar US institutions like INL and PNWL who have the necessary expertise to show them what is actually doable.
Yes, unfortunately that is one of the drawbacks of the US political system, however, there are some new elements in 07' that should affect the decision making process, namely, the transition to a Democrat run House and Senate.
Domesitc energy security is very much a non-partisan topic and coupled with a likely guest appearance in this year's State of the Union, the Dems will be also forced into substantiating their Energy Independence platform. Of course they will soon discover the reality of the situation at hand and thankfully there are dedicated people behind the scenes at NREL and similar US institutions like INL and PNNL who have the necessary expertise to show them what is actually doable.
This also spells trouble for the pet-food industry. It may get very expensive to keep Fido or Tabby in the manner to which they have become accustomed.
I wouldn't be surprised, as we go down the backslope of PO, to see a drop in the number of songbirds as millions of backyard bird feeders are left empty because of non-existent or limited bird-seed supplies.
Or , as the song goes: 'four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie...''
I mostly agree with veganmaster on this issue. The first world definitely consumes far more meat than it should, and that meat is produced in a scarily destructive, and morally questionable way. Grain consuming animals are especially suspect for food production. Because their feed isn't easily consumed by humans, ruminants can occupy some higher ground, except that the conventional system feeds them grain anyway. But making a higher value product from animal fats that are going to be produced anyway isn't that bad of an idea, especially if it will counter some fossil fuel use. (Whether it does reduce fossil fuel use is an important point.)
More importantly, lets not lump all livestock production into the same category as the dominant conventional form. One can produce and consume meat in an environmentally sustainable and healthy way. To a point, one can even keep the welfare of the animal in mind. Feel free to disagree, but I believe that supporting the members of the livestock industry that most closely satisfy my concerns is a better strategy than condemning the industry as a whole. That is one of the reasons that I'm not vegan, or even vegetarian, but consume meat two or three times a week and animal products (dairy, eggs) nearly every day. Most of these products come from producers that I feel are moving in the right direction. More and more, since I have the will, time, and land, I'm producing these products myself (an eye-opening experience).
Spoken as a true Calgarian. Alberta ranchers produce some of the best beef in the world where great pride is taken in producing a quality product. And as Europe's slow food movement winds its way to North America, one can hope that quality will overtake quantity like it used to.
Well, at least it seems certain that Quantity will be overtaken, one way or another..