I had a strong reaction to the opinions you ran on whether to get flu shots (“A Picture of Health,” Nov. ’08). As a person with no health insurance or sick leave, a day (or three) off sick is a day without pay, pure and simple — so I get shots religiously. Yes, flu viruses mutate, but my understanding is that by getting these shots regularly, I’m priming my immune system better than relying on catching the random flu.
To not get the cheap and widely available flu shot is, to my mind, lacking in ethics and integrity. Lacking ethics because you will pass the flu on to someone else. Lacking in integrity because you are relying on others getting the shots to shield you from the disease. Once I finally do have children, they will reap the benefits of my immune system through the placenta, through mother’s milk — and because mommy isn’t out sick.
—Flu-less in Seattle
Fight For the Right of Mr. & Mr. Rights
I find it curiously odd how largely oblivious your magazine is to the LGBT community, in San Francisco of all places. For example, “Becoming Mr. Right” (Oct. ’08) could have been an inclusive, “Becoming the Right Person.” On the cusp of the election and Prop 8, your writers have a lot to do to become relevant — and I believe they can do it.
—Alex Meller, San Francisco
Thanks for your feedback Alex! It gives us the opportunity to reaffirm one thing loud and clear: here at CG, we are in love with love… all love… gay, straight, bi, married, single, poly, forwards, backwards and upside down. We were absolutely appalled by the 52 percent of so-called “Californians” who voted to pass Prop 8 — a vote against love, a vote against equality and civil rights, a Stone Age vote that breaks our hearts and boggles our minds. We encourage readers to help us vanquish this shameful decision to the dark recesses of history where it belongs by attending one of the rallies listed at protest8sf.wordpress.com.
And as for “Becoming Mr. Right,” we still think the Authentic Man Program is a great tool for Mr. & Mr. Rights to find and keep each other. (Would-be Mrs. Rights should check out the corresponding Authentic Woman Experience.) —Eds.
More Bank For Your Buck
I enjoyed the “The Company We Keep” article in the October issue. Next time you’re writing about this topic, give the Santa Cruz Community Credit union a look. They’ve worked hard to make their services low cost and serve folks who might not otherwise have access to banking. They provide a number of programs for their members and aim to support local businesses with loans. Their Visa card features some of the lowest rates around and contributes $.05 per transaction to community nonprofits that have been nominated by credit union members. All in all, a great place to do your banking, and definitely socially conscious!
—Lisa Schaechter, Santa Cruz
Apples to Apples to Ethical Bananas
I was disheartened to read the suggestion (“What Counts?” Sept.) that readers should switch their breakfast to yogurt, cereal, and bananas. Bananas are an exotic fruit, grown in monoculture with petrochemicals, and shipped thousands of miles. Additionally, bananas and the corporations that grow them have historically trampled the rights and lives of people living in the countries where they are grown (this is where the term “banana republic” originates). These fruit are a perfect example of what’s wrong with our globalized food system, and to see them recommended in a conscious publication is disappointing in the extreme. It seems to me that a better suggestion would be local, seasonal fruit.
—Tari Follett, Chicago
You’re absolutely right, Tari — as we always say, local, seasonal and organically-grown is far and away the number one choice when it comes to — well, almost everything! But the piece in question was analyzing the merits of the “typical American breakfast,” and in that case, conventional yogurt, cereal and bananas triumph over your factory-farmed eggs and bacon (and, as noted in the piece, a vegan shake trumps them all — especially one made with organically farmed, fair-trade, shade-grown, sweat-free, free-range, chakra-balanced, ethically-, emotionally- and politically-correct bananas — or even better, any old fruit from your organic garden).
— Eds
Ageism Of Aquarius
I find your publication to be, for the most part, very enlightening and beautifully done. The one somewhat annoying thing is how so many of your photographs, including your cover pictures, seem to aim for younger than middle-aged readers. It would be lovely if you would be more inclusive by adding pictures from a wider variety of age groups. Perhaps you could even request this of some of your advertisers?
—Melody W., Seattle
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the October issue! I love the practical reporting on eco-activism of various stripes, and the profiles of people and orgs doing something to make the planet glow. A bit o’ critical feedback occurred to me, however, as I glanced at the contributors page: faces all younger than 35, I’ll wager. As a mother of adult children as well as a children’s publisher, and as a champion and mentor of a number of amazing young people, I applaud you making space for these important voices. At the risk of being stereotyped as an old whiner, though, I’d like to offer this notion, and hope it becomes a friendly bee in your bonnet: You might want to seek contributors in the upper age range to balance your coverage of the change we all wish to see and be in the world. It would warm many hearts, as well as giving many eager-for-change young people a stiff shot of great mentorship. There are exciting green-minded folks all over, of all ages.
—Ceci Miller, Seattle