A Remembered New Year's Resolution

 Aha! I recall my New Year's Resolution, mostly in time for the so-called Chinese New Year (*1). So it's to absolutely ban all GMO foods from our house! We have done a generally good job in avoiding this biologically engineered plague from entering our mouths, but I have slipped up a few times. Yes, thanks to Vermont, they are required to label GMO or suggest that there may be a bio-engineered ingredient (typically corn or soy products) but I had been under the mistaken idea that Vermont BANNED all GMO products. Nope- they just have to be labelled.

Which is no doubt why suddenly everything seems happy to proclaim they're GMO free:

I love seeing that little insignia. Surprising things claim to be non  GMO... like Domino's sugar. Hard to believe but I'll go with it.

Sneaky companies print the inclusion of bio-engineered foods in tiny hard to read lettering; this is why it's easy to slip up occasionally. I am such a crank at the supermarket. I read everything. We've been avoiding high-fructose corn syrup and their treacly friends for years. But it seems suddenly, the GMO crowd is pretty rampant. I know there are many who insist that there's "no difference" or that some genetically modified foods are better (in that they may keep fresh for longer or they may be more packed with vitamins etc) but I want to avoid Frankenfood that is Monsanto inspired and full of harmful forever chemicals. Look at Round-Up ready crops! Corn! Yuck! People are winning law suits and getting seriously sick and yet these dandy bio-hazards are winding up under you slice of cheese or in your breakfast bowl.

So I say: eat what you want! If downing a chemical-laden breaded coating or drinking milk that comes from cows treated with BST makes you happy... go for it! But our household is not buying! Happy Lunar New Year!

(*1) I believe it occurs this Sunday and it's the year of the Rabbit. Supposedly a kinder, gentler year as befits a bunny. Last year was the year of the Tiger and obviously it was a ferocious tiger!

Carrots and Sticks in the New Year

That's Crispin talking (straight) out of both sides of his mouth: "I will be a good horse", "I will be a bad horse". A fine way to begin the New Year!
As is typical of many a person, I begin the New Year utterly thankful that 2011 is done, over finito. And making lists... that's a traditional way to start off the new year. Here goes:
*I will eat more salad in the New Year.
*I will get more exercise. (How mundane can I be?!!???)
*I will be nicer to Republicans and Tea Baggers and Conservatives in the New Year. (Well, you have to  
  include a few things that you won't actually do, but they sound open-minded and possible!)
*I will spend more time making art this year. What with our moving (which seemed like it would never be
  completed) and my eye injury, I didn't get the studio time I needed and wanted. And I typically have such
  a good track record of studio application!
*I will try to worry less about money. I guess I could tie that to generating more money, but even worrying
  less would be a big step! And making more money is very problematic in this economy.
*I will prioritize even more effectively than I already do. (I think that sentence was guilty of some pretty 
  awful grammar but you get my drift.) I already spend plenty of time with my dog in the great out of doors, 
  but I'll spend more time... that good, well used time. I refuse to spend one second more than is absolutely
  essential on the phone arguing over bureaucratic details...
*I will cure cancer, eliminate prejudice and inequality, give everyone a raise, stop wars, pick up litter, feed
  the hungery and reverse global warming. And that's just the first week of January. (And so, we return to
  Janus, and that pesky habit of speaking out of both sides of the mouth).
That's it for now.