Feeding the World

I was recently introduced to a website that I would like to share with everyone, a website that not only encourages humanitarian efforts but also challenges that 'ol brain of yours using something dear to my heart.....VOCABULARY!!

The website I am urging you to visit is www.freerice.com

"Over two-and-a-half billion grains of rice have been donated to WFP thanks to online campaign FreeRice -- enough to feed more than 125,000 people. Web surfers have the chance to boost their word power and donate food to the hungry thanks to the internet quiz which is the brainchild of John Breen."

Free Rice is a division of the World Food Programme, one of the frontline UN programs to combat world hunger. Created in 1962, the WFP works with Governemnts, NGO's, Corporate Partners, and Individuals to enable the distribution, and purchasing, of food supplies.

The WFP primarily provides aid to:
1. Victims of natural disasters
2. Displaced persons
3. Hungry poor

In 2006 the WFP fed 87.8 million people from 78 different countries. I spent some time browsing the website before I decided to promote what they are working for. Feeding people and nurturing others is something that I feel is very important in my life, and I found the website brimming with information and incredibly educational. For instance, did you know that there IS enough food in the world to feed everyone, the problem lies in a distribution imbalance?

Do you know the difference between malnourishment and under-nourishment?
Do you know how many people go hungry every night?
Do you know how many people die from starvation every day?

Something I feel compelled to point out is that this is not a distant problem, a problem of developing countries. Hunger is everywhere--and not just hunger. Malnourshment and under-nourishment are common afflictions even in the United States. The difference in nourishment between countries like the United States and those like Zimbabwe, are that under-nourishment in the US is, in my view, often caused through the choices made in the grocery store.

I urge you to visit this site, see how many bowls of rice you can donate, FOR FREE, and add some sunshine to someone else's day!
www.freerice.com

Increasing Your Fuel Efficiency

"Wayne Gerdes of Wadsworth, Ill., is a champion hypermiler — one of a growing number of Americans who use specific driving techniques and science to drastically increase their vehicles’ fuel efficiency. Gerdes — who gets 59 miles per gallon in his ordinary Honda Accord — shows how ordinary drivers can begin hypermiling and save big money at the fuel pump."

This is a wonderful article taken from the Radish Magazine, November 2007. Wayne Gerdes provides a comprehensive and simple means to increase fuel efficiency--perhaps more practical for 'city-dwellers', but it provides suggestions we can all implement on some level--and with the rising gas prices, who wouldn't want to get the most out of their buck!?


For more information, visit www.CleanMPG.com.

Comforting Words

A favorite poem of mine:

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

It seems this time of every year I begin to turn to the words of favorite authors and poets to aid me in the transition from fall to winter. Mary Oliver has long been a cherished poet of mine, putting words to feelings about the natural world that I share but haven't the words to express (or if I do, they are not near as poetic and beautiful!) Hoping this poem inspires thought, introspection, and acceptance--and would love to hear your thoughts on her words or your experiences as well!

On Becomming a Huntress....

This year has been marked by my transition from taking a relatively Buddhist-minded approach towards other organisms (since there is always an exception, mine is spiders....) to becoming an 'Along-for-the-Ride" Huntress. Let me explain this a little.

In college I began to really form my first opinions about hunters, befriending one of the few males on campus, a local to the area, a farmer, and an avid hunter (of many things). My Grandparents have hunted since time began, so I am not sure why this was the defining moment, but it was. It was like the scene from “Alice’s Restaurant” when Arlo Guthrie jumps up and down at the Army Recruiting office screaming “I wanna Kill!” This boy was out for blood. He knew the best time during each season to get the species he was looking for. He knew the best spots, where they would be crossing the road, how many were here, there, everywhere. Although this knowledge amazed me, for I have never known any place like that, I was also somewhat saddened by the desire to hunt these beautiful critters. Squirrel, rabbits, raccoon, deer, pheasant…you name it, he shot it. I preferred them where they were—not in my freezer.

Over time and through my formal and non-formal education, I began to see the need for hunting: a source of food, a source of income, a way to control populations of species that boomed due to our mismanagement. While in Iowa, I worked for a couple who had a sign in their living room that read: “Don’t let your love of nature blind you to the needs of man.” We had many discussions about the meanings of this saying, and even today I am still on the fence about the degree of intrinsic value I assign something, but I do know it is a culmination of these events, and many others, that have allowed my perception to expand and become more realistic. Yes, we need to hunt. Yes, there are people who rely on their skills in this area to provide a living. Yes, when done with a conservation minded approach, hunting is an art and I don’t want to be removed from this aspect of life any longer.

Why did I shy away from hunting for so many years? Was it a fear of facing my own mortality? I definitely wouldn’t put that notion out of the realm of possibilities, but I think it was more a displaced act of compassion—I was allowing my love of these animals to taint my views of my fellow man who were, and are, surviving utilizing this way of life. The friend I talked about earlier, his chin would drop if I told him that I recently entered the world of ‘Coon hunting, and love it. I should specify—I love the hike, the crispness of the night air, watching the stars while we wait for the dogs. I love how magical the landscapes are at night, hearing the dogs when they tree a ‘coon, becoming part of this nocturnal world, and I love just listening to the night. When I think about what I am learning about this art, I am somewhat amazed that for as much as I love hiking and nature, I never thought to do this sooner. So, I call myself an “Along-for-the-Ride-Huntress” because 1) I don’t do any of the shooting or skinning, and 2) because I say I am going for the hike, when, secretly, it is the whole way of life that has me captivated, and perhaps I am not ready to admit that yet.