Interesting links on what's for dinner. Learn you something!

1. The most modern slaughterhouse in the world.

...while there is a strong case for a serious discussion about whether or not we really need to eat, or should be eating, as much meat as we do, that is a discussion for another day. The reality is that the society we live in craves meat, on a massive scale. Where there is a demand there will be a supply, and finding out how that supply is met is something that all meat-eaters should be interested in....I find it difficult to tolerate those who love eating meat, but cannot bear to think about, or look at, the slaughter and death of that animal – it seems disrespectful towards the animal, and if I wanted to get really eggy about it, I’m not sure if such people should be allowed to eat meat at all.

2. The difference between GMO and Hybrid.

Not a single day passes without some well-meaning reader leaving a comment like this one: “GMOs are perfectly safe. Farmers and gardeners have been cross-breeding seeds like this for thousands of years. Take off your tinfoil hats, people!”

     Um… no. Just no.

Farmers and gardeners have NOT been cross-breeding seeds like this for thousands of years. What those well-intentioned readers fail to understand is the fundamental difference between hybrid seeds and GMOs...

3. Malort! A documentary

Doug Stanhope first introduced me to Marlort after knocking back a few shots at one of his shows in Chicago. A few weeks after the show I got around to trying it, myself. Awfully delicious! Since leaving Chicago I've seen it here and there. But this Florida made liquor remains a Chicago phenomena.

Links: Why experience > stuff and how to experience travel to the fullest

1. Being Present in Travel: 6 Reasons Why, 4 Ways How (Uncornered Market) 

"What if in our quest to create memories, we inadvertently sell the actual experience short or diminish its importance as it happens? That is, we forsake the experience for the metaphor. How can we be more present during our travels so as to savor those experiences for what they are in the moment while also deepening how we might recall and share the memory of them later?"



2. Buy Less, Do More: 5 Reasons Experiences Make Us Happier than Things (Alternet)

This is a longer article, but it gets particulaly good when Wallman starts listing specific reasons why experience is better than stuff about 3/4ths in. From reason two (it's hard to have a bad experience):

"Think about being on a long bus ride, and you’ve sat next to a person who’s sick – literally sick – all over you. And there are chickens on the bus, the windows won’t open or shut, you bang your head, the seat is really uncomfortable, and you break your coccyx and you’re just in agonizing pain, it’s supposed to be a one-hour journey and it takes three days. At the time, that’s a really horrible thing to be going through. But the more you tell it, the better it is, right? There’s that magic. The magic of a bad experience is that it’s almost like there’s no such thing as a bad experience. That’s probably my favorite reason."