Good Posts on The Jew & The Carrot and Failed Messiah

I mentioned The Jew & The Carrot last week, and I must encourage everyone to check out this blog about "Jews, food, and contemporary issues" regularly. In particular, there have been some fascinating posts lately about the controversy over pork in Netanya, what vegetarians eat during the Nine Days, and the Israeli-American Bagel vs. Falafel Conundrum. I had a guest post about the Local Pride case on The Jew & The Carrot last week. Click here to read my guest post from today about my vegetarian advocacy as Chris P. Carrot (and to see a picture); here's an excerpt:

The other night, I walked around the Norfolk Tides’ minor league baseball stadium, ran out onto the field, and climbed on top of both dugouts. I danced the Macarena with young children, showed off my air guitar skills to a thousand or so spectators, and put ketchup on a veggie dog when I could barely peer out of my carrot costume’s eye holes. Prancing around as Chris P. Carrot is a lighthearted way to tell people to “Go Veg!” and “Eat Your Veggies, Not Your Friends,” as the placards on my costume’s torso read.

Elsewhere in the Jewish blogosphere, Failed Messiah has continued to do a fantastic job of digging and reporting on the Local Pride case. I've already linked to numerous Failed Messiah posts about this topic in my previous entries. I'm not doing Failed Messiah justice by only posting the titles and one quote, so I encourage everyone to click the links and read everything for themselves:

• The OU Lies Again: Meat Hook Throat Probing Not USDA Mandated -- Meat Hook to Throat 'Part of Glatt Kosher Slaughter' (July 24)
• Why the 'Second Cut' Is Illegal (July 24)
• Special Prosecutor to Investigate Alleged Animal Abuse at Rubashkin's Gordon Plant (July 24)
• Understanding the So-Called 'Second Cut' (July 25)
• Breaking: USDA Clears Rubashkin; Hook Discontinued -- Again (July 25)

Here's a great quote to conclude Failed Messiah's first July 24 post on the subject:

There is, in my opinion, no way to know if the meat you eat was slaughtered humanely and the rabbis we entrust with certifying the kosher status of that meat have repeatedly proven untrustworthy.

What you do with this information is up to you. 2 1/2 years ago, I stopped eating meat and fowl when I realized the rabbis were playing fast ands loose with the truth. While I encourage you to do the same, the choice, and its consequences, are timately
yours.