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April 28, 2008
By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor
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Well, we’re halfway there already, what with political correctness. But here in Canada, we have something called “Human Rights Commissions.” These are the equivalent of Child and Family Services for grownups. If you tick off someone else, they can complain their human rights were violated and drag you before a tribunal which may financially or otherwise penalize you. Certainly, you’ll find there’s a social penalty to face, just for becoming a defendant.
A few years ago, a rash of gay-versus-Christian cases went through the HRCs.
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April 24, 2008
By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor
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By Molly Noble Bull with Cathi-Lyn Dyck
Molly: I would love to really visit Canada someday. Do you live in Alberta maybe or near there?
Cat: I live about a day’s drive from Alberta, and there’s another province between here and there. Niagara Falls is twice as far the other direction. But we have real cowboys here in Manitoba too. Did growing up country-style have any positive influences on your development as a writer? Any negative ones?
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April 23, 2008
By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor
Category: , ,
Molly Noble Bull with Cathi-Lyn Dyck
I went looking for stuff to drag home last week, and got into a conversation with author Molly Noble Bull. She just won a pretty cool award for her historical fiction book, Sanctuary. However, I’m from Canada, which prompted some questions in return.
Cat: Hi, Molly, and welcome to Humble O. Tell me the weirdest opinion you’ve heard out there lately. :~)
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April 21, 2008
By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor
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Radio Netherlands reports that classical music concerts can be responsible for 50 tons of carbon emissions. Since the Dutch don’t have enough land for the number of trees it would take to cancel that out, one organizer is donating concert revenue to a project for using cow manure to make electricity.
Here in Canada, the CBC reports that cattle emit 200 to 300 litres of methane per day, and there’s about 1.2 billion of them. Never mind the sheep, goats, camels and water buffalo. Meanwhile, back in 2006, according to a Buddhist blogger, the New York Times was already blaming cows for 18% of climate change-causing methane emissions.
So. We use the cows to fuel the concerts to reduce climate change, but we’ve got to get rid of the cows to reduce climate change. Sounds like the global initiative is a well-orchestrated, streamlined logic machine to me.
And that’s my opinionated opinion for this week. Ta ta!
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August 06, 2007
By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor
Category: , , ,
As of last Monday, we now know that soil management is one major point in the organic rationale, and it’s not actually cow doo-doo. A couple of years back, CTV (one of Canada’s national television networks) aired a comparison of the nutrient value of a potato today and fifty years ago.
I didn’t know potatoes used to contain Vitamin C. Apparently they basically don’t anymore, so I guess I wasn’t missing anything. At least in one sense. Also, potatoes now have only about half the Vitamin A they used to. There’s also genetic selection by growers to blame, but we’ll tackle that one another time.
Ultimately, the organic concept is not just about how food is grown, or whether it makes better food, but whether it makes a better life overall. In order to be a certified organic grower, for instance, the entire growing chain must be organic, not just the final product. The soil must be chemical-free for a certain period (length of time depends on the certifying body), the seed must be organically sourced, the greenhouse seedlings must be chemical-free, and of course, we don’t use synthetic chemical controls on the food.
Soil management is the core of organic growing. Soil depletion provides one possible rationale for why organic foods don’t weigh in better than synthetically-produced ones in nutrient value, when you look at the long-term changes in food nutrition. So, here’s to dirt. Oh, and cow doo-doo. But sustainability is not just a practice; it’s a cultural movement, one that a lot of Christians have joined. What are the implications?
Lemme know what you think.
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