Going Green

I plan to go green one day. As Kermit the frog said, it isn’t easy being green! Well Hubby and I made our first tentative step towards the green brigade. We installed our first water butt and it was a major success! It was this that prompted us to buy a bigger one and divert water from one of our down pipes around the house so we can use rain water for our plants. There might be a water ban in the South West one of these days and we want to be ready for it. Actually, watering my garden using rain water from these butts really helps cut down on water bills and is also beneficial to plants. At least rain water does not contain a lot of chemicals—unless it is acid rain!

My next project is a composter. I’ve been reading up on it and there are a lot of models available on the market. I think I am leaning more on the compost tumblers or those plain, compact, compost bins. This is actually the best time of the year to do something environmentally friendly as “composting”. I think I will need to research more on this. I also need to get serious with recycling. I think everyone should think seriously about conserving energy, not just to save on bills but for the future of the planet!

I read in my Sunday magazine that it is now acceptable to eat veal—but not just any kind of veal. They mean British veal coming from the dairy industry. I stopped the practice of preparing veal since the early 90s when I found out how the animals were treated. They were kept in crates so that their flesh remains white and delicate to the taste. The moment I found out I felt absolutely disgusted and never touched the meat again. It was the story with foie gras. The first time I tasted the stuff I was covering a story in Amsterdam and we were treated to dinner by this big company. They had foie gras as a starter and of course I ate what was on offer. Besides I read so much about the stuff I thought I was being “classy”. Then someone told me how they forced fed the geese in order to make their liver nice and fatty. That’s it. Never again! I had images of these poor little creatures being forced fed. Anyway, back to the veal issue, apparently bulls being born to cows in the milk farm are now bred as veal BUT they are allowed to wander around the farm. They are just slaughtered young—like lamb. I might just consider it (veal) with Italian dishes like osso bucco and the like. But I will not touch the ones coming from the Continent. I understand they are still bred in crates!

I am thinking of food now because the season to gorge is near. I was perusing a Marks and Spencer Food booklet last night and I was so hungry in the end. Not a good bedtime reading.