Let's Advocate for Eating a Balanced Diet

Katy Perry struggles to stay vegetarian

By Vicky Allison Aug 22, 2011, 12:40 GMT

Pop star Katy Perry is finding it hard to stick to her pledge to stay vegetarian and has been secretly eating chicken and turkey, according to a friend.

The 26-year-old, who is currently on the US leg of her California Dreams tour, has failed her challenge to go vegetarian like husband Russell Brand.

British funnyman Brand, 36, was crowned sexiest vegetarian last year by PETA, but the Teenage Dream hitmaker likes meat too much to stick to his diet.

A source told British newspaper the Daily Mail: 'Russell has been a veggie for 22 years, but Katy adores meat.

'She did give it up for a while for Russell's sake but is finding it a struggle.'  Link

I will be excited for the day when we stop seeing celebrities urging people to be on this fad diet or that one.  We should all be able to agree that eating a well balanced diet that includes eating meat and dairy products is still the best bet.  Especially for children, we should never be advocating they eat an unbalanced diet even for a single day.  We continue to see people that struggle with their diet and health.  Regular exercise and a balanced diet would eliminate many of the problems that are occurring.  

How Animal Rights Activists Harm People

Slaughtering Indonesia's cattle trust

David Leyonhjelm

Published 1:50 PM, 16 Aug 2011 Last update 1:50 PM, 16 Aug 2011

The government’s decision to halt live cattle exports to Indonesia, without prior warning, deeply disturbed Indonesia. Australian beef accounts for 25 per cent of the country’s meat and is a vital source of protein for millions of Indonesians. There are also thousands employed in feedlots, abattoirs and downstream processing, and Indonesia had considered Australia to be close enough to form part of its own food security.

In addition, the Australian government has long had a policy of supporting neighbouring countries that are members of global animal health organisation OIE as they progressively implement its standards of animal handling and welfare. Indonesia is such a member.

The export ban undermined all that. Many in Indonesia now regard Australia as an unreliable supplier, and there are strong indications the country will seek to diversify its sources by importing cattle and beef from other countries while renewing efforts to become self-sufficient in beef by 2014.

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This is a great example of what kind of damage animal rights activists can cause.  I don’t want to see livestock being mistreated but I really don’t want to see people suffering from hunger either.  These extreme activists weren’t concerned about fixing the problems that occurred, they saw this as an opportunity to do damage to the family farmers and ranchers that raised livestock.  Along the way they damaged the families in Indonesia that rely on the beef they raise to feed their families.  Livestock play an important role in feeding hungry people.  It’s just unfortunate that many animal rights activists fail to realize this.  

Revised Guidelines for Livestock Processing

Meat Inspectors Get Clout to Stop Inhumane Slaughter

BY DAN FLYNN | AUG 16, 2011

Meat inspectors at federally regulated plants that slaughter animals got new instructions for humane treatment of animals.

Announced Monday by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the instructions come in the form of a new 40-page directive. The rules go into effect on Sept. 15. 

The directive on enforcement of humane handling codifies changes made in the last few years to ensure that animals going to slaughter are treated properly.  It replaces FSIS policies published in 1998 and 2003.

The new version, which FSIS says is going to require additional training for meat inspectors, includes a definition for "egregious inhumane handling" of animals -- "any act or condition that results in severe harm to animals, which includes the excessive beating or prodding of disabled livestock, stunning animals and allowing them to regain consciousness, or any treatment causing unnecessary pain and suffering."

The directive also provides inspectors with "verification instructions" to ensure that treatment of livestock during handling and slaughter "minimizes the animals' amount of excitement, pain, injury or discomfort."

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The goal of everyone in agriculture is to continue improving on our methods.  These guidelines are updated on a fairly regular basis because we keep finding better ways to handle issues that arise.  It’s vital that we learn from problems that have happened in the past and I think this proves that we do.  No one wants to see instances of livestock being mistreated. 

Another Reminder of How Great our Agriculture Is

Food insecurity, a growing problem for Pakistan

Internews/Islamabad

In spite of the significant progress Pakistan has made in food production over the last 60 years, the majority of the population still faces uncertainty in food security on a daily basis.

Over one third of the population suffers from chronic hunger; a significant proportion of the undernourished population has reached a peak of 36%, with 95,000 just children. About 48% of Pakistan’s 165mn people are deemed to be “food insecure”, the figure being much higher in the conflict-ridden Fata (67.7%) and Balochistan (61.2%) - placing Pakistan at NO-11 on the index of food stressed countries, which indicates, “extreme risk”.

The problem of availability of food in Pakistan is mainly due to difficulties in production and productivity of its agriculture industry.    Read More

We are so incredibly blessed with the abundance of food in this country.  Most places in the world don’t have anything close to what we do.  One of the main reasons is because of the technological advancements we have made.  Better genetics in our seeds coupled with better fertilizer and farming techniques gives us a near record grain crop year after year.  In livestock production its been the same story.  We are producing more red meat with fewer inputs than ever before.     The best part is that we continue improving every day too.  So no matter what kind of food you like, it’s available in this country and that’s something to celebrate!

Shelter Closing Due to Association with HSUS

Second Chance Rescue Center Closing Its Doors

Published: July 22, 2011, 6:08 AM

SIOUX FALLS, SD - A Sioux Falls animal shelter that recently fired its executive director and has faced financial troubles is closing. 

Second Chance Rescue Center announced Friday morning it could not overcome challenges it was up against and has decided to close its doors Sunday, July 24. 

In May, the organization announced it had fired its founder and executive director Rosey Quinn, but wouldn't say why, and that the shelter was going to head in a new direction. The organization's Board of Directors said that would involve a transition from a rescue center to an adoption center and a name change. 

The shelter also was involved in controversy over the past several years, including the large dog raid in 2009 where 172 dogs were taken from Turner County dog breeder Dan Christensen. The charges against Christensen were dropped when a judge decided Quinn acted illegally in obtaining a search warrant.    Link

Second Chance Rescue in Sioux Falls learned the unfortunate lesson of what happens when you work with a group like the HSUS that is more concerned with ending livestock and pet ownership rather than animal welfare.  As is the case in most animal welfare issues that HSUS is associated with, the animals end up suffering worse.  The HSUS convinced this shelter to lie to a judge in order to get a warrant to seize a group of dogs.  When the truth finally surfaced the judge order the dogs returned and now the Sioux Falls community has one less animal shelter.