Author: Jana

  • Letter #1: Trader Joe’s


    I want to make sure that the companies that I trust are doing their best to support environmental farming and fair labor practices. To this end, I am writing letters to these companies when I find their products/practices questionable. Here’s the first entry from my letter writing campaign…
    ——-
    Dear Trader Joe’s:

    I often buy your frozen edamame (soybeans). I noticed recently that they are a product of China. Why do you buy soybeans from China? How do you ensure that these soybeans are grown in an environmentally responsible manner? How do you ensure that the workers who pick and process the soybeans are paid a fair wage?

    Dear Ms. R—:

    We understand your concerns with some of our products coming from China. Whenever possible, Trader Joe’s will try to source our produce from growers in the United States. However, often times domestic produce farmers cannot supply us in the amounts that we need and at the prices we are looking for. That is when we will source out products from China and other countries.

    All the produce that Trader Joe’s sells from China is grown in accordance with all current USDA regulations. Moreover, the vendors that we deal with are U.S. companies who have farms located in China; they have complete control and regulation of the standards of these farms and follow Good Agricultural Practices. Please be assured that all Trader Joe’s produce is of the highest quality and meets all USDA regulatory standards for food safety.
    ——-

    I like this response, but I will follow up with a letter to address the labor issue. My respondent sidestepped this issue entirely in her reply. Also, I’m not sure that USDA standards are high enough for my satisfaction.

    FYI, if you want to mail a similar query to Trader Joe’s, their address is:
    Customer Relations
    P.O. Box 5049
    Monrovia, CA 91017-7149

  • Blowin’ in the Wind


    Blowin’ in the Wind
    Photo by John

    A photo from last week’s Huntington Beach Procession of Light. To commemorate the initiation of Ghandi’s passive resistance movement and to memorialize 9/11, a local group of religious leaders and lay people marched down HB Pier with these banners and with a peace lamp. A lovely way to spend a Sunday evening.

    Note the blue headscarf of the Muslim woman carrying the reddish banner, the flowing white robes of the Methodist pastor and the yamulke of the Jewish rabbi on the right.

  • because there can’t be a path for war and a path for peace

    Watch this on your coffee break today. Then find a local rally for Darfur this Sunday and “make some noise.”

  • lunatic?


    “Life as it is–I see pain, misery, and cruelty beyond belief. I’ve heard the voices of all God’s nobler creatures, and the moans from bundles of filth left on the streets. I’ve been a soldier and a slave. And the comrades who died in my arms–these were the men who saw life as it is. They died despairing. No glory. No brave last words. Their eyes were filled with confusion, questioning why. I do not think they were asking why they were dying, but why they had never lived.

    Life itself seems lunatic. Who knows where madness lies? Perhaps being too practical is madness. To surrender to dreams, this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash is madder still. Too much sanity may be madness. But maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
    (adapted from Dale Wasserman’s screenplay, “The Man of La Mancha”)

  • literary tie in?


    So I’ve been thinking about making an iTunes playlist of songs with literary tie-ins. I’ll need your help in making my list because it’s pretty short so far (and, yes, I do have an eighties bias, but don’t limit yourself to that era):

    “Wuthering Heights” (from Emily Bronte’s novel) Kate Bush
    “Calypso” (from Homer’s Odyssey) Suzanne Vega
    “Killing an Arab” (from Camus’ The Stranger) The Cure
    “The Highwayman” (from Alvert Noyes’ poem) Loreena McKennitt
    “Lady of Shallott” (from the Tennyson poem) Loreena McKennitt

  • the global ceasefire and a plea to pick up the phone for Darfur


    All United Nations member countries agreed that September 21, the International Day of Peace, should be observed as a Global Ceasefire and day of peace and nonviolence. (United Nations Resolution 55/282).

    We have 9 days to urge governments, communities and individuals to honor this pledge. Help change the world … Get Involved in the campaign for a Global Ceasefire.
    Please ask your favorite group, organization, or religious institution to endorse the International Day of Peace.

    On a related note, please call the White House (now!) to let them know that you want UN peacekeeping forces sent to Darfur. The direct line is 202.456.1111. You’ll get to speak to an operator, to tell him/her a message for the President. Please ask him to “Make Darfur a top priority during his meetings with world leaders and in his speech to the UN General Assembly, to immediately appoint a special envoy; and to do whatever is necessary to deploy a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.”

  • where did all the money go?

    Yes, I’ve blogged on Sarah MacLachlan’s “World on Fire” music video before, but it seems time for a reprise. I can’t watch this vid w/o tearing up, it always makes me feel like I must do more to alleviate suffering, as I realize the impact that a few dollars can have. To bring water, health, nourishment and joy to others. Money that I would not even miss. [Thanks to John, for first sharing this with me]

    I am reading a book that is making me feel all raw and angry and committed to making change. I will blog more about it soon, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for a read that will change your life, pick up a copy of Disposable People.

  • the horror


    ‘nuther silly tree
    Originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    The obligatory first day of school picture w/more on flickr. Now I’m off to sign papers and write checks. Why am I the only one with homework today????

  • fuzzy peach


    fuzzy peach

    I took my new digital camera (thanks John!) to the garden last night. I wanted to share the loveliness of the full moon, the way it lights up flowers, fruit and vines in my garden plot. My skills are still those of a novice, but I think a few of my efforts do manage to capture the beauty of the moment.

    Click on the photo above for a brief garden stroll with me. Ahhh, don’t the peaches hang like moons on the boughs of this dwarf peach tree?…

  • how far is east from west?

    This powerful post about peace and forgiveness from God Girl is a must-read (really, all of her posts are worth a gander, but do take a few minutes to contemplate this one)…

    John initially showed me this post because the photo of double-amputee Gill Hicks caught his eye. That she has forgiven the London bombers whose acts resulted in her loss is a miracle.

    Today I showed my students a video about the 1992 LA Uprising/Rodney King Riots. The movie, Sa-I-Gu, explores the tensions in central L.A. between African-Americans and the Korean shopkeepers whose businesses were looted and burned to the ground. Though there are interviewees in this documentary that speak kindly about their neighbors, I left class today with an overwhelming weariness. Feeling as if the world is way too complex. With a loss of hope that was exacerbated by a conversation with a student in the Navy following the film.

    But I think I will prepare for Rosh Hashanah this year as God Girl has suggested, by finding hope through forgiveness. She quotes Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald as saying:

    “We have this concept that God is in the fields….He’s not in his temple, he’s not in his abodes . . . he’s not transcendent. He’s very, very imminent. He comes out to the fields, to the people in the fields, begging them, ‘OK, come to me and just ask for forgiveness.’

  • biography: Oliver Sacks


    I’m writing a brief biographical article about Oliver Sacks for a forthcoming academic encyclopedia. It’s a thrill to be delving deep into the life and writings of one of my favorite authors. A few years ago Mike Davis sent one of my essays to his editor, describing my writing style as akin to Oliver Sacks’. I walked on clouds for a few weeks after that.

    Below is a list of Sacks’ major publications. You probably know him best as Robin Williams’ character from the movie “Awakenings” (based on his novel with the same title). I suggest that you explore a few of his books. A Leg to Stand On is my personal favorite. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is probaby his most popular book. It’s good reading, too!

    Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. New York: Vintage, 1996.
    —. Awakenings. New York: Summit Books, 1987.
    —. A Leg to Stand On. New York: HarperPerennial, 1990.
    —. Migraine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
    —. Oaxaca Journal. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2002.
    —. Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf. New York: Harper Perennial, 1990.
    —. The Island of the Colorblind; and, Cycad Island. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.
    —. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales. New York: Touchstone, 1998.
    —. Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

  • pilgrimgirl on video

    John surprised me with a new camera as an anniversary gift. We tried it out in the following video where we show some of the quirky features of our hotel.
    Notes on this video:
    1) of interest is the latter portion of the video where we sneak into an adjacent room (that was unoccupied during our stay) despite the fact that there was a large sign saying not to sneak into other rooms and that NO CAMERAS or VIDEOTAPING was allowed. Enjoy our quick escape back to our room when we hear someone coming up the stairs.
    2) In the moments at the end of the video, I look decidedly stony. Part of this was bliss at having a very romantic anniversary. Part of this was complete lack of sleep. When John and I finally settled into bed (after watching Amelie, having a delightful carpet picnic, and a lovely test of the hot tub’s features), I heard a loud scritchy-scratchy sound in the wood paneling about the head of our bed. As we were on the top floor of a 127 year-old Victorian inn (just under the eaves), we knew that some type of animal had tunneled into the space above our heads. Despite my efforts to pound the ceiling with my crutches, the beastie kept up his racket. John, my hero, saved the day by pulling all of the bedding off of the bed and making us a sleeping space on the other side of the room. He wrapped himself around me, assuring me that any beasties would have to gnaw their way through him before they could get to me. Ok. So I maybe slept 10 minutes that night. So remember that as I you see me looking so spacy at the end of this vid.
    3) I will probably only keep this link up for a few days. I’m feeling a bit shy about posting this to the web. :)