Rotten tomatoes.

If you have any handy, lob 'em in the direction of Burger King.

Do you remember the Taco Bell boycott a few years back, because the Bell wouldn't agree to a measly increase in wages for the migrant workers who pick their produce? A boycott that actually got relatively quick results.

Now it's Burger King's turn. As "Fast Food Nation"'s Eric Schlosser writes in today's New York Times, BK won't sign on to a similar agreement, thus killing deals with the other fast-food giants. The pickers are asking for a mere penny's raise per pound of tomatoes -- meaning they'd earn about 77 cents per bucket. The head of a "growers" (landowners) consortium calls this request "pretty much un-American." They and the fast-food giants say it's the owner's right to run his business "his way" (think BK's "have it your way" motto).

Sure, but it's equally the consumer's right -- and responsibility -- to decide how to spend her/his money. And you can decide not to spend it on a company that thinks so little of those who do its backbreaking work. And you can further tell BK that you want it "your way" -- you're willing to pay extra to inch even closer to a fair wage for those workers.

It's interesting to note that one of Burger King's main stockholders is financial giant Goldman Sachs. The CEO of Goldman Sachs "earned" a $53.4 million bonus last year -- a Wall Street record. And thats just his bonus, not his "earnings."

An extra penny per bucket of tomatoes, by contrast, would cost Burger King $250,000 a year.

This pisses me off particularly because I don't do fast food anymore -- yet yesterday, while volunteering at Nebraska AIDS Project, I had a caffeine craving and went down the block for a Diet Coke. And what's down the block from NAP? Burger King, of course.

So I want to ask each of you to do two easy things -- especially easy compared with the average tomato picker's work of picking two tons of tomatoes a day (think about that for a sec):

1. Boycott Burger King. Because, beyond the health and environmental and animal rights reasons, is this really where you want your money to go? To help the CEOs of the world earn billions on the backs of those who do their dirtiest, hardest labor?

2. Contact BK and tell them why you're boycotting:

Burger King
Consumer Relations Department
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 378-3000

There. I've made it pretty easy for you. You could even just copy and paste a version of this post into your letter or email. It'll take you, like, five minutes. You can do that for some fellow human beings, can't you?

Join the Church.

... The Church of Stop Shopping, that is.

The new documentary "What Would Jesus Buy" is at the Ross through Dec. 6. The point is to take a leap of faith -- a flying leap off the consumer bandwagon.

Knowing (hoping) I'm headed for Africa next spring has really killed my desire to acquire, and that's an awfully good side effect. Suddenly, I don't need anything.

To that end, I've tried to talk my family into not buying each other Christmas presents. None of us needs anything or even wants anything -- it's a struggle even to think of what to get each other. I'd much rather we just spend a slow, comfortable day together ... eating too much, laughing at the kids ... that'd be gift enough for me. But they refuse to buy in, so to speak.

OK, so go get yourself a cup of organic, free trade coffee ... I've been saving up several similar opportunities to proselytize ...

Bag the bags.

The Journal Star had a good story on a Doane College project to recycle plastic bags into more permanent totes. There's more info and even a how-to video here. A truly great idea, no? They make it sound easy to try at home ...


Why waste it just because you can?

Treehugger.com is always a great resource for useable tips on reducing consumption and waste. One of their latest drives is to promote the use of an email signature that says something like: "Save a tree. Don't print this email."

Believe it or not, according to this L.A. Times article, this small idea has created controversy. Is it just sanctimonious liberalism, the idea that using less paper can make a difference?

When I look at the overflowing pile of papers no one even bothers to pick up from our office printers -- several reams' worth, every single day, I can't help but think it can't hurt to try and be a bit less wasteful. Fewer trees killed, fewer landfills clogged, less electricity/energy/ink used ... what could be wrong with that?


Freecycling.

Along with wasting less, we could all be re-using more. The Freecycle Network aims to make that easier -- it's kind of a Craig's List of things people don't need anymore and are willing to give away locally. I haven't signed up to see if there's much Lincoln action, but I plan to. I'll let y'all know what I find.

Do you want to play a game?

Are you up to the challenge of testing yourself to see just how sustainable a life you're living? Consumerconsequences.org offers just such a test. I measured a 4.1 -- not nearly as good as I'd hoped. But collected some good tips for improvement in energy use. It's kinda fun, if you have five minutes to kill.

This shit, it is bananas.

I've stopped buying bananas that aren't organic from the local health-food coop. Here's why:

Chiquita sued over killings in Colombia

Chiquita paid off guerillas to protect their "interests." Chiquita and Dole both have a long history of infiltrating, then decimating, local Latin American communities. For an only slightly ficitionalized history, see the opening chapters of Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude." I can't knowingly support a company that considers human lives expendable.

More food for thought.

Related to the bananas, I recently came across this New York Times article:

Five easy ways to go organic

Milk and apples were already deal-killers for me -- they have to be organic. Too much bad stuff in the commercial stuff. Bananas, too -- for political rather than health or environmental reasons. Peanut butter's one that hadn't occurred to me. Miz K has suggested I try making my own ... a good winter project!


Still more food for thought.

Last weekend's book club focused on "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" -- the Barbara Kingsolver book I reviewed last spring about growing/making one's own food or, when that's impossible, buying only from within a 100-mile radius. Unfortunately, most of my fellow bookies found it rather guilt inducing. I'm as guilt-prone as the next bleeding heart, but it didn't make me feel guilty at all; rather, I found it inspiring for the many possible small changes/choices I could make. A few snippets that may, in turn, inspire you:

-- “If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.”

-- “Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles. … Energy calories consumed by production, packaging, and shipping far outweigh the energy calories we receive from the food.”

-- “(T)here-quarters of all human food now comes from just eight species, with the field quickly narrowing down to genetically modified corn, soy, and canola.”

-- “Six companies – Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Mitsui, Aventis and Dow – now control 98 percent of the world’s seed sales. These companies invest heavily in research whose purpose is to increase food production capacity only in ways that can be controlled strictly.”

-- “The business of importing foods across great distances is not, by its nature, a boon to Third World farmers, but it’s very good business for oil companies.”

-- “Government quality standards are stricter for tap water than for bottled.”

-- “In 1965, U.S. farmers used 335 million pounds of pesticides. In 1989 they used 806 million pounds. Less than ten years after that, it was 985 million. That’s three and a half pounds of chemicals for every person in the country, at a cost of $8 billion. Twenty percent of these approved-for-use pesticides are listed by the EPA as carcinogenic in humans.”

-- “Because they grow underground, conventional potatoes are among the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables.”

Next up: I'm reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma," so expect more proselytizing soon.


Quote of the day.

“Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.”
– Maggie Kuhn (founder, Gray Panthers)

"Oh crap -- I'm 40!"

-- T-shirt birthday gift from my ever-helpful ex-husband.

Actually, that's not how I feel about it at all. The past few years have been the best of my life, despite all the angst and challenges, and I expect the next five to be better yet.

Not bad for 40, huh?


So excuse the tardiness in this post from my birthday adventure in Tucson. You can blame it on Miz K, who kept me so entertained that I've only just recovered. (And who also gave me a real literary potboiler of a novel that I had to finish before I could do anything else this week.)

It had been way, way too long since I'd seen my dearest friend. (You can read her account of the weekend here.) So how did we start our weekend? By going to see Neko Case, of course!


I've seen Neko three times now, each time with Miz K, and this was the best show yet. Her voice was *on.* Plus, it was a benefit for No Mas Muertes, an extremely worthy cause.

Friday we spent in forced relaxation mode, waiting for the gas inspector (insert gas joke here; it's a long story of annoyance you can catch up on by reading Miz K's blog), then headed up to Phoenix to visit the homemaker's mecca that is Ikea, then spend the night with K's sister Julie and her adorable family.

Saturday evening we went on a mini bar-crawl to see out my 30s, photographic proof of which can be found on K's blog (dig the birthday hats!). Started at The District, the closest replication of our O'Rourke's stomping grounds back home. Met up with a work friend of Krista's and some friends of his at Plush for live music, then to Che's Lounge (get it?), which I knew was gonna be cool as soon as I heard the cover band wailing "G-L-O-R-I-A" as we walked in the door.

But the definite highlight was my birthday proper, spent exactly as I had hoped: with a dear friend, hiking on a mountain, then watching the sun go down over the rocky cliffs. The top of Mount Lemmon, in the Catalinas, is less than an hour's drive from Krista's front door.


The drive itself was amazingly beautiful -- we kept gasping each time we rounded a bend. As we ascended the 9,000 feet, craggy cliffs peopled with saguaros pointing the way upward gave way to aspens and pines and cool mountain air.

We chose the Sunset Trail, not at all challenging, but a lovely short hike down to Marshall Gulch and back. Fallen leaves made a lovely crunching noise under our feet, pine needles whispering and giving off their unmistakeable, cleansing scent, and the glitter of quartz begging for a closer look.


We scurried back down to 6,000 feet to get to Windy Point in time for the sunset. Too many people there, but the view is lovely, over a sheer cliff. We dangled our feet over the edge, watched a couple of rock climbers, and sat mesmerized as the sky turned golden, then cotton-candy pink streaks, then back to gold again, shimmery as fool's gold.


The sunset and other good photos are Miz K's expert work with my dorky little camera. With her permission, I've posted them all on my Flickr site -- I'm always amazed by how she can frame a setting to bring out its most enticing features.

That evening, Krista took me to the Bee Line for my birthday dinner -- a good bottle of wine and the best fish tacos I've ever had. Doesn't she look old-school elegant, in her new short 'do?


The week's end came too soon. Monday we went to El Charro (great corn tamales! I miss tamales!) and did some shopping in the old town neighborhood. I couldn't resist buying a cowboy hat, even though straw is out of season here in the north.


I'm gonna have to find the travel fundage to get back to Tucson more often, because it's a truly awesome town and home to one of my favorite people in the world.

Quote of the day is by Miz K herself, on why she can't be an actor:

"I like being myself too much."

Going into my 40th decade, I find these excellent words to live by.

Whither goest Winona?

My plans to stalk the role model of my youth have been dashed. It seems Winona Ryder has backed out of the movie being filmed around Louisville/Plattsmouth. I *so* wanted to be Winona circa "Reality Bites." She was so tiny and impish and impulsive ... Audrey Hepburn for the slacker generation ...

Just tonight, a relatively new friend asked whether I'd ever had short hair. I had 2-inch long locks for most of my adult life. I was striving for Winona, but I think I just came off as butch.

I forget that so many people in my life now don't know the "old" me. Even I have a hard time remembering her. Part of me wonders who I'd become if I were to cut my hair ... it grew out just as I grew into myself, and as a result I think I've given it a Samsonesque quality.

Meanwhile, the stranger who was the husband to the "old" me gave me a birthday gift tonight ... a Tshirt that says "Holy Crap! I'm 40!" Just the gift to pick up at The Wal-Mart along with a case of Old Milwaukee on your way to the big birthday bash at the trailer park.

In related news, Miz K informs me via TM that she cut her hair off this weekend. I'll get to see for myself in a few days ... I take off Wednesday evening for Tucson. Can't wait to see the town, the lovely little abode ... but most especially Miz K herself!

I plan to be hiking a nearby mountain on my 40th birthday. And no, I won't be wearing that damn T-shirt.