Apr.15.02

Whew! What a day! It's gorgeous outside and I've been out there most of the day.

I thought it might be nice to do a bit of shopping for some maternity-type clothing. I went down to my old 'hood and hunted around in the several consignment shops. Apparently, no formerly pregnant women are consigning their clothing to any of the stores in Wicker Park. Silly me! What am I thinking? That neighborhood is full of nothing but hip young things who are all 5'10" and weigh 98 pounds! And I'm not being sarcastic. It's true. I forgot. But anyway, I did find one lovely large-ish vintage cotton dress. It's cute. A miracle!

One item of clothing down, maybe ten items to go. Or something.

While I was out, I also went by the hardware store and bought garden supplies. I never thought I'd be so excited about mushroom compost, but I totally am! I am so going to have a garden! It IS becoming a reality.

WARNING! WARNING! I feel a rant coming on...

Right now, I'm sitting here listening to NPR. "All Things Considered" is covering the story about McDonald's* and their movements toward anti-animal cruelty, specifically in chicken farms. Basically, they're saying that PETA pressured them and then actually worked with them to fix the problems. I think this is great, but they've still got a long, long, long way to go. I've heard, over and over, that the McDonalds corporation is actually receptive to changing their various evil ways if only those who object to their practices actually speak up and pressure them. The reporter on NPR cites the recycling issue--A major group of environmentalists worked with McDonalds to get them to use more post-consumer recycled materials in their packaging, and they did change. And I think that's very good. But here's the thing I have trouble with: What if you disagree with McDonalds' practices, but you aren't part of a massive, highly organized group? Will a big corporation really listen to one or two people who don't like what they're doing? No, they won't.

So, while I think it's great that McDonald's is taking tiny steps to make things better, I want to know what they plan to do about the fact that they actively discourage unionization of their workers (who are basically treated like highly disposable trained monkeys), and they still buy their meat from packing plants where the workers are often non-English-speaking folks who are being grossly exploited. Do these people know how to make their voices heard?

And don't even get me started on the rising statistics of low-income folks who are obese because the food is so tasty and cheap and non-nutritious...

And really don't get me started on the disgusting amount of marketing targeted to kids or the fact that many of their commercials are messages to parents that they are "good parents" for "spending quality time with their kids" by taking them to McDonald's...

I know, I know, I'm just bitching, and what am I going to do about it? Just complain? Well, I do what I can. I never, ever eat at fast food chain restaurants. Ever. That's one thing I can do easily--vote with my dollars.

Okay. I feel much better now. If you've read this far, thank you for indulging me.




*I only target McD's in this rant because they are the undisputable kings of fast food. It's a fact that if you can get McD's to stop doing something, the others (Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc., etc.) will follow in their gargantuan footsteps.

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