Everett Dirksen Again
By Don's Early Light, Donald J. Brix, Ph.D.
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.”
That’s what Senator Everett Dirksen, now long gone, once said in his characteristic trenchant style about government spending.
John Robbins’ website, The Food Revolution, recently reprinted an article from ZMI Science by Mihai Andrei. The piece bore the news from 2014 that 400 million fewer animals were killed for people to eat that year in the United States.
So, thinks me: 400 million here, 400 million there, and pretty soon you’re talking about lots of critters.
My debt to the late Senator’s catchy verbiage, here mimicked, is acknowledged. To get a little perspective on this though, you need to know that in 2014 not counting fish, a reported 9.5 billion animals died so Americans might maintain their habitual, and I daresay, scarcely examined, appetite for animal flesh.So if we’re ever going to stop killing ourselves with our forks and knives and in the bargain stop wrecking our climate and fresh water supply, we’ve got a ways to go. Things are happenin’ though.SUCH ASTuesday, October 6 is the monthly plant-based potluck sponsored by Get Healthy Rockwall, 901 E Washington, 6:30 p.m. I plan to be there with my fave lentil salad in tow.And if that’s not exciting enough, Saturday, October 17 is the annual Texas Veggie Fair at Reverchon Park, 3505 Maple Ave. in Dallas, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oh boy! My big chance to wear my spiffy “Give ‘em Kale” T-shirt.And as October winds down T. Colin Campbell’s new movie, Plant Pure Nation, will be on the screen at the Angelika in Mockingbird Commons in Dallas, 7:00 p.m. Thursday, October 29.I’ve mentioned and quoted Dr. Richard Oppenlander, Food Choice and Sustainability, before. Turns out, along with Michael Pollan of The Omnivore’s Dilemma fame, Oppenlander is one of several experts featured in the new documentary, Cowspiracy. It’s not in widespread distribution yet, but you may have a chance to see it in your area. I missed a recent showing in Dallas. I’m gonna try to beg, borrow, or steal the DVD or, that trio failing, actually buy it. Hang tight, maybe you’ll be able to borrow it from me.And April 1 next year, Get Healthy Marshall (Texas) is sponsoring Healthfest 2016. This is the town in East Texas where the Mayor arrested and reversed a diagnosis of colon cancer by changing his diet from animals to plants, got so excited about it that he and his wife got the community involved in a project, to… yeah you guessed it, get healthy. Gave it a name: Get Healthy Marshall, then started holding annual gatherings.Healthfest is a Friday thru Sunday event with a host of plant-based nutrition and fitness experts on hand to tell you what I’ve been telling you for lo these many months, except they get paid. They must know something I don’t know. Anyway, Healthfest will cost you some bucks.You may have noticed that the name Get Healthy Marshall bears a striking similarity to Get Healthy Rockwall mentioned above. I’d bet when Carol Miskin decided to organize a group of like-minded, health-conscious people in her area willing to try the plant-based way of eating, she thought, why reinvent the wheel. Just think, there could be “Get Healthys” all over the place. For starters, how about one in Calhoun, Georgia; Huntsville, Alabama; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Joplin, Missouri; Columbus, Ohio; Clinton, Washington. If you don’t see your town here, stay tuned. I know where you live.AND A TIMELY QUOTE“It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” ~ Pope FrancisEat wisely, and safeguard your dignity. ~ Don
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