Author: John Robbins
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Is McDonalds Betraying our Kids by Barraging them with Junk Food Ads?
We worry so much about the many dangers to our children, like drugs and pedophiles and violence. But we often take for granted what might very well be the largest danger of all to our kids: the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on ads designed to get them hooked on junk food.…
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Being Fat in America
We can, as a society, be astoundingly cruel to people who are obese. They might be creative, caring and hopeful people, but we don’t see that. Far too often, we see only their weight. What does it say about us that we act as though you can take the measure of a person by the…
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Could Anyone Find This Animal Abuse Tolerable?
On August 21, 2012, the USDA shut down operations at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford, Calif. The facility, located at the center of California’s dairy industry, slaughters California dairy cows when their milk production declines and sells their meat to make hamburger for the school lunch program. Federal regulators took the action after receiving…
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Chocolate’s Startling Health Benefits
The food police may find this hard to take, but eating chocolate can be good for you. People say it causes acne, that you should eat carob instead, that it’s junk food. But these accusations are not only undeserved and inaccurate; they falsely incriminate a delicious food that turns out to have profoundly important healing…
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Remembering Jack LaLanne
“Jack LaLannetowing 70 rowboats with seventy people on board for a mile and a half across Long Beach Harbor, all while handcuffed and with his feet shackled.” Photo from: User:cargoman02 — Jack LaLanne died on January 23, 2011 at the age of 96. He was a mentor to me, as he was to many. He was…
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Can Unforgivable Violence Ever Be Forgiven?
On October 2, 2006, one of the most brutal, senseless, and unforgivable acts of violence in U.S. history took place. And that day also brought one of the most extraordinary responses to unspeakable violence our culture has ever known. The schoolchildren had just returned to their classroom from recess on the morning of October 2,…
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Pink Slime and Mad Cow Disease: Coming to a Burger Near You
Burger lovers never seem to have an easy time. In March 2012, news broke that the USDA’s National School Lunch Program had recently purchased seven million pounds of something delectably called “pink slime.” Soon thereafter, news reports trumpeted that pink slime hasn’t just been making its way into school lunches, as bad as that sounds.…
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Are So Called Eco Terrorists Falsely Prosecuted?
In early January 2011, the Pennsylvania Homeland Security office received a heavy dose of well-deserved scrutiny. It seems the office had been distributing anti-terrorism bulletins to state police and other public officials. The “terrorist activities” targeted by the bulletins had included such dire threats to public safety as anti-BP candlelight vigils, peaceful demonstrations by anti-war…
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The Dark Side of Happy Cows
In July 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that essentially prohibits, starting in 2015, any egg from being sold in the state that comes from caged hens. This bill became law 20 months after a majority of California voters approved Proposition 2, making it clear that concern for the living conditions of livestock…
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How Egg Industry Greed Caused The Salmonella Outbreak
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For years, the U.S. egg industry has been telling us that there is no connection between salmonella outbreaks and the practice of cramming layer hens into cages so small the birds can’t lift a single wing. It’s been their party line for so long they’ve probably begun to actually believe it. Earlier this year, the…
