Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
ETH Cookbook: Recipe of Love
An Ethiopian Cookbook
by Aster Ketsela Belayneh
Aster has owned and operated Addis Ababa Restaurant in downtown Toronto since February 1992. The restaurant was an immediate success among the Ethiopian community and enthusiasm soon grew throughout Toronto.
Aster has won several restaurant awards and innumerable glowing reviews have been published about Addis Ababa
http://www.recipeoflove.com/recipe.asp
by Aster Ketsela Belayneh
Aster has owned and operated Addis Ababa Restaurant in downtown Toronto since February 1992. The restaurant was an immediate success among the Ethiopian community and enthusiasm soon grew throughout Toronto.
Aster has won several restaurant awards and innumerable glowing reviews have been published about Addis Ababa
http://www.recipeoflove.com/recipe.asp
Ottawa ETH Adoptive Families Gathering
We had a great time at the Ottawa-area ETH adoptive families picnic on Saturday. Mei Le cemented her friendship with Teya, the youngest of 4 kids from a family quite close to us.
It was great to meet some new people, and to put faces to many of the names we only knew on-line. All the kids were great - so happy - and played well together.
Roma's Tristan:
Teya's brother, Tesfehun:
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Creative Women
Who We AreCREATIVE WOMEN cares … about beautiful hand-woven African textiles, about good design, and about improving women’s lives. We are a Vermont based, women-owned company, working in partnership with two textile design studios in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a textile studio in Swaziland, to create traditionally inspired contemporary accessories and home textiles. More than just designing and selling textiles, Creative Women works to promote equitable trading practices and to support women’s economic independence. “I founded Creative Women as a way to create jobs in Ethiopia and sustain an ancient art form by introducing the West to the beauty of Ethiopian textiles”, says owner Ellen Dorsch. “Today Creative Women provides a socially responsible link between producer and consumer by opening markets for these high-quality textiles."
http://www.creativewomen.net/index.htm
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I am losing my mind ....!
So - we are now at 6.75 months of waiting for the referral of Little Sister (since our dossier went to ETH). Current estimates of wait times for infant girls are 6-7 mo, and the last infant girl referral I have heard of was at exactly 7 mo. So, for the past 2 wks, I have been half-expecting to hear something - to the extent that I promptly check for messages (phone and email) whenever returning home, and half-jump when I hear the long-distance ring on the phone.
Yesterday, Monday, I woke up half-dreaming of Little Sister, sure that it would be The Day .. of course it wasn't. I am more-or-less non-productive at work - distracted by What is Coming ... Soon!
Every indication that I and others have received from the agency is that there is a group of young babies that recently (2-3 wk) arrived at the Transition Home, and they will be referred as soon as their medicals and AIDS tests are done. Some have suggested that there is maybe an additional short delay due to their young ages, because the AIDS tests can't be done (with any accuracy) until the infants are at least 1 mo old. Reading btw the lines, my impression is that our daughter is THERE, and they are just waiting for the paperwork before she can be referred.
At least I HOPE that's the case.
Of course, there's nothing to say that once the referral is in and we know who she is, that I will be any more effective in my life .... but at least we'll be on to the next phase!
Yesterday, Monday, I woke up half-dreaming of Little Sister, sure that it would be The Day .. of course it wasn't. I am more-or-less non-productive at work - distracted by What is Coming ... Soon!
Every indication that I and others have received from the agency is that there is a group of young babies that recently (2-3 wk) arrived at the Transition Home, and they will be referred as soon as their medicals and AIDS tests are done. Some have suggested that there is maybe an additional short delay due to their young ages, because the AIDS tests can't be done (with any accuracy) until the infants are at least 1 mo old. Reading btw the lines, my impression is that our daughter is THERE, and they are just waiting for the paperwork before she can be referred.
At least I HOPE that's the case.
Of course, there's nothing to say that once the referral is in and we know who she is, that I will be any more effective in my life .... but at least we'll be on to the next phase!
Monday, June 2, 2008
EIGHT MEATY FACTS ABOUT ANIMAL FOOD
From "Livestock Production: Energy Inputs and the Environment"
By David Pimentel
WHERE'S THE GRAIN? The 7 billion livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population.
HERBIVORES ON THE HOOF. Each year an estimated 41 million tons of plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce an estimated 7 million tons of animal protein for human consumption. About 26 million tons of the livestock feed comes from grains and 15 million tons from forage crops. For every kilogram of high-quality animal protein produced, livestock are fed nearly 6 kg of plant protein.
FOSSIL FUEL TO FOOD FUEL. On average, animal protein production in the U.S. requires 28 kilocalories (kcal) for every kcal of protein produced for human consumption. Beef and lamb are the most costly, in terms of fossil fuel energy input to protein output at 54:1 and 50:1, respectively. Turkey and chicken meat production are the most efficient (13:1 and 4:1, respectively). Grain production, on average, requires 3.3 kcal of fossil fuel for every kcal of protein produced. The U.S. now imports about 54 percent of its oil; by the year 2015, that import figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.
THIRSTY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. U.S. agriculture accounts for 87 percent of all the fresh water consumed each year. Livestock directly use only 1.3 percent of that water. But when the water required for forage and grain production is included, livestock's water usage rises dramatically. Every kilogram of beef produced takes 100,000 liters of water. Some 900 liters of water go into producing a kilogram of wheat. Potatoes are even less "thirsty," at 500 liters per kilogram.
HOME ON THE RANGE. More than 302 million hectares of land are devoted to producing feed for the U.S. livestock population -- about 272 million hectares in pasture and about 30 million hectares for cultivated feed grains.
DISAPPEARING SOIL. About 90 percent of U.S. cropland is losing soil -- to wind and water erosion -- at 13 times above the sustainable rate. Soil loss is most severe in some of the richest farming areas; Iowa loses topsoil at 30 times the rate of soil formation. Iowa has lost one-half its topsoil in only 150 years of farming -- soil that took thousands of years to form.
PLENTY OF PROTEIN: Nearly 7 million tons (metric) of animal protein is produced annually in the U.S. -- enough to supply every American man, woman and child with 75 grams of animal protein a day. With the addition of 34 grams of available plant protein, a total of 109 grams of protein is available per capita. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) per adult per day is 56 grams of protein for a mixed diet.
OUT TO PASTURE. If all the U.S. grain now fed to livestock were exported and if cattlemen switched to grass-fed production systems, less beef would be available and animal protein in the average American diet would drop from 75 grams to 29 grams per day. That, plus current levels of plant-protein consumption, would still yield more than the RDA for protein.
By David Pimentel
WHERE'S THE GRAIN? The 7 billion livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population.
HERBIVORES ON THE HOOF. Each year an estimated 41 million tons of plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce an estimated 7 million tons of animal protein for human consumption. About 26 million tons of the livestock feed comes from grains and 15 million tons from forage crops. For every kilogram of high-quality animal protein produced, livestock are fed nearly 6 kg of plant protein.
FOSSIL FUEL TO FOOD FUEL. On average, animal protein production in the U.S. requires 28 kilocalories (kcal) for every kcal of protein produced for human consumption. Beef and lamb are the most costly, in terms of fossil fuel energy input to protein output at 54:1 and 50:1, respectively. Turkey and chicken meat production are the most efficient (13:1 and 4:1, respectively). Grain production, on average, requires 3.3 kcal of fossil fuel for every kcal of protein produced. The U.S. now imports about 54 percent of its oil; by the year 2015, that import figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.
THIRSTY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. U.S. agriculture accounts for 87 percent of all the fresh water consumed each year. Livestock directly use only 1.3 percent of that water. But when the water required for forage and grain production is included, livestock's water usage rises dramatically. Every kilogram of beef produced takes 100,000 liters of water. Some 900 liters of water go into producing a kilogram of wheat. Potatoes are even less "thirsty," at 500 liters per kilogram.
HOME ON THE RANGE. More than 302 million hectares of land are devoted to producing feed for the U.S. livestock population -- about 272 million hectares in pasture and about 30 million hectares for cultivated feed grains.
DISAPPEARING SOIL. About 90 percent of U.S. cropland is losing soil -- to wind and water erosion -- at 13 times above the sustainable rate. Soil loss is most severe in some of the richest farming areas; Iowa loses topsoil at 30 times the rate of soil formation. Iowa has lost one-half its topsoil in only 150 years of farming -- soil that took thousands of years to form.
PLENTY OF PROTEIN: Nearly 7 million tons (metric) of animal protein is produced annually in the U.S. -- enough to supply every American man, woman and child with 75 grams of animal protein a day. With the addition of 34 grams of available plant protein, a total of 109 grams of protein is available per capita. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) per adult per day is 56 grams of protein for a mixed diet.
OUT TO PASTURE. If all the U.S. grain now fed to livestock were exported and if cattlemen switched to grass-fed production systems, less beef would be available and animal protein in the average American diet would drop from 75 grams to 29 grams per day. That, plus current levels of plant-protein consumption, would still yield more than the RDA for protein.
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