Hello all! I'm sorry I've been so remiss in posting--I've come down with a case of the flu and have spent much more time on the couch or in bed than in the kitchen. Amy was amazing enough to make me this Chick Pea and Rice Soup, a variation of our Chick Pea Noodle Soup. Doesn't she rule?

Chick Pea & Rice Soup

It's not serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, but my mother-in-law, who's a nurse, thought it sounded like swine flu. While not fully substantiated, there have been suggestions that intensive factory farming has contributed significantly to recent species-jumping viruses. Animals kept in close quarters and in unsanitary conditions (as in factory farming) are more likely to give rise to and spread viruses--and at a higher rate, which causes far more mutations.

All this leads me to the inevitable (and probably specious) conclusion that folks' need to eat bacon has given me the flu. It hardly seems right. When the pig-eaters of the world come down with a case of the Tofu Flu, I guess we'll be even. Until then, there will always be a little voice in the back of my mind that says eating factory-farmed animals is an infringement on my personal rights.

Disclaimer: This is flu-logic, people. All attempts to debunk these claims will be met with fever-riddled befuddlement.