Thanksgiving is not a happy time for turkeys, an American native bird notorious for their family bonding skills and gracefulness. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving became associated with eating the flesh of this beautiful bird and factory farms destroy the lives of millions of them, besides having genetically modified them so grotesquely that they can no longer reproduce without artificial insemination. So-called free range turkeys are not a better option as they also end up at the slaughterhouse. (more…)
It will sound ridiculous to anyone with common sense but, still, a lot of people who eat fish claim to be vegetarians. A new, meaningless term was created to describe these people: flexitarians. The phenomenon caught the attention of the UK Vegetarian Society, who said it loud and clear in its magazine that vegetarians don’t eat fish. Even the BBC chimed in to discuss the issue, and were followed by the Guardian’s columnist Barbara Ellen , who is an outspoken vegetarian. Said Ms Ellen:
Flexitarian is a stupid term anyway. These people should call themselves by their proper descriptive term – nit-picking, self-absorbed twits. Unlike vegetarians, who at least do the job properly, flexitarians seem obsessed with defining themselves in fiddly food sub-sections, as if “I’ll only eat organic”, “I’ll only eat sushi on Tuesdays” or any little quirk to their diet says something intensely interesting about them. Well, guess what, flexitarians, it doesn’t. Get over it. Real vegetarians have had to.
Vegetarianism has increasingly come to mean the same as veganism, although in many people’s minds it can include egg and milk (that would be properly defined as ovo-lactovegetarianism). But, as many undercover investigations have revealed, the reality of dairy and egg production is as grim, perhaps even more so, that what goes on at the slaughterhouse.So don’t fall for fad diets, flexitarianism and all this nonsense. Veganism is the real thing .
A Humane Society investigation led to the closure of Vermont-based Bushway Packing Inc. slaughterhouse. Videotape from the investigation reveals that veal calves only a few days old - many with their umbilical cords still hanging from their bodies - were unable to stand or walk on their own. The tape shows that the animals were kicked, slapped and repeatedly shocked with electric prods and subjected to other mistreatment.The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture took decisive action last Friday based on the information provided by The HSUS and immediately suspended operations at the plant, pending a continuing investigation.According to a report published by the Associated Press, “U.S. Department of Agriculture records show Bushway Packing Inc. of Grand Isle was shut down for a day in May, again in June and again in July after an inspector cited it for inhumane treatment of animals.”Still according to the AP report, “the slaughterhouse specialized in “bob veal” - meat from days-old calves that ends up in hot dogs and lunch meats.” Ironically, meat coming from this slaughterhouse was certified organic, which once again highlights how meaningless this label is when it comes to animal products.Veal is a by-product of the dairy industry, therefore the most effective answer to this horrible situation is going vegan. These innocent infants are babies snatched away from their mothers, who are literally milked to death, are then killed for someone’s pleasure. This is a not an industry that can be regulated because cruelty is inherent to the process of animal farming. But everyone can help eradicate it through a vegan diet. It’s that simple.Undercover video – contains imagery that some may find upsetting (but very revealing of what the dairy industry really looks like):
October and November are important months for the vegan community as this is when we celebrate and promote veganism. This week specifically is WORLD GO VEGAN WEEK (25-31 October, thanks to an initiative by San Francisco-based advocacy group In Defence of Animals) and it’s meant to send out a message to people urging them, well, to go vegan.A famous supporter is actor Woody Harrelson, who’s been a vegan for many, many years. Said Harrelson: “I chose to be vegan initially as an energetic pursuit, as meat and dairy slowed me down, but have since become convinced that it is not only the most healthy way to live, but also the most compassionate and ecologically responsible way.”Another famous supporter of veganism is comedienne and TV hostess Ellen DeGeneres who invited her personal chef to cook a vegan meal on air. So in case you missed this segment, I’ve added it below. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate WORLD GO VEGAN WEEK than actually cooking a vegan meal.Veganism is an ethical choice meant to mitigate the suffering we cause to animals. So-called ‘food animals’ account for 98% of all animal suffering. The world kills upwards of 50 billion animals every year (not to mention water animals), who live in appaling conditions before being sent to slaughter. Veganism is also recognized as greener than a meat-based diet and it helps prevent certain diseases such as diabetes and some types of cancer.ENJOY THE RECIPE AND GO VEGAN!
Since 2006 we have been aware that livestock’s greenhouse emissions account for 18% of the total that goes into the atmosphere and causes global warming. Contrast that with transport’s share at 13% and you get an idea of how environmentally unsound animal agriculture and its products and byproducts are. Did I mention the unspeakable suffering inflicted on animals by this horrible industry? (more…)
TV man Larry King hosted a discussion about the safety of eating meat last night, following the national interest in how dancer Stephanie Smith’s life was destroyed by eating E Coli contaminated meat. Stephanie went into weeks-long coma and emerged from it brain-damaged and unable to walk.
Three people from families wrecked by contaminated meat told their stories. Then T. Colin Campbell came head to head with Nancy Rodriguez of the University of Connecticut about whether meat is good for you. Colin’s China Study indicated a strong link between animal products, such as meat and dairy, and disease such as cancer and heart disease. Studies since have backed up the findings that a plant-based diet can not only help prevent disease but also cure it. Because of this, Colin strongly promotes a plant-based diet. Nancy, a so-called nutritionist, objects to Colin’s point of view but how can you take her seriously when her university website bio says that “Dr. Rodriguez has an active research program that has been extramurally funded by agencies including USDA, NIH, the American Heart Association, the National Dairy Council, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the Egg Nutrition Center”?. She’s not impartial and I wonder why she was invited on the show.
However, the real point is not whether meat is safe, but whether it is necessary to our diets and the answer is a resounding NO. That’s the official position of the American Dietetic Association. Forget all the gobbledegook about protein. You get can get plenty of that from plant-derived foods. And, most importantly, the ethical reasons to give up animal products is the most compelling of them all. Animals suffer terribly to provide humans with their own flesh and excrements, as so many videos around the internet document and we can all help mitigate so much suffering simply by switching to a vegan diet. Yes, there are health and environmental benefits to a vegan diet and I take them as an added bonus. Good karma, as some may call it.
PostPunk Kitchen is once again organizing Vegan Month of Food, a food blogging extravaganza to spread the word about the wonders of vegan cuisine. “The idea is to write as much as you can for the month of October about vegan food. The blog entries can be about anything food related - your love of tongs, your top secret tofu pressing techniques, the first time your mom cooked vegan for you, vegan options in Timbuktu - you get the idea. There is no strict guideline for how much you have to write, but we shoot for about 20 times a month, or every weekday”, writes Isa Chandra Moskowitz , PPK’s ringmaster.This year the master list of participants is being hosted by Kittee, Cake Maker To The Stars. Follow the link to get a lot more information, ideas and suggestions. So if you’re itching to write about vegan food, the time has come. Have fun!
You have likely heard of the devastating floods that have hit the Philippines. Last weekend, Tropical Storm Ketsana, dumped 42 centimeters of rain on Manila in just 12 hours, flooding 80% of the city and causing the deaths of 143 people and hundreds of thousands of animals.The floodwaters rose so high that residents and their companion animals had to take to the roofs of their houses. So many animals didn’t make it, however. There are reports of dead dogs floating in the water. Tragically, many of them didn’t stand a chance, as they were chained to fixed objects, a common practice in Manila, and would have drowned as soon as the waters rose above their head.Some organizations are working to provide relief to these animals in need and they need your help. Please make a donation to Network For Animals who’s present in the Philippines. I do realize times are tough for everyone but this is an emergency. There’s more rain predicted to come over the weekend so the situation may get even worse. Any help will make a vital difference.
Virgina Messina, a well-known vegan dietician , has given her approval to the USDA’s new fact sheet for vegetarians. Says Ms. Messina:
While the fact sheet lists some nutrients that vegetarians need to focus on, it doesn’t have any of that annoying verbiage about the need to carefully plan meals. (Vegetarians and vegans should, of course, carefully plan their meals; so should everyone else.) More importantly, there isn’t a word about animal products in the whole fact sheet, other than how to replace them.
That is, despite the vegetarian terminology in the title, the fact sheet is vegan in essence. To download the sheet, go here .
Sometimes you wonder what kind of society we live in when courts debate whether making a profit out of videos depicting animal cruelty staged for the purpose of ‘entertainment’ is legal or not.A man called Robert J. Stevens (pictured) produced videos showing gruesome dogfighting scenes. He was sentenced to 37-months in prison under a 1999 federal law that bans trafficking in “depictions of animal cruelty.” Now the Supreme Court is set to hear his case on October 6 and, believe it or not, this man is being defended by ‘free speech’ groups who are invoking the First Amendment for legal protection. The court will decide whether dogfighting videos and other videos showing animal cruelty without a serious purpose is “too vile” to be protected under the First Amendment. This definition of vileness is what removed First Amendment protection from child pornography in 1982.It is the issue of ‘seriousness’ that is bothering the free speech camp and while I support the idea of free speech wholeheartedly, I find it terrifying to see such a confused take on it. Animal cruelty is illegal, therefore staging it simply to make a profit is obviously illegal. It’s a no brainer. I think the free speech camp would put their energy to better use by fighting censorship against positive, stimulating, truthful ideas and justice in general. Wasting time defending sadics is just outrageous.I second a comment made by beemer5 in relation to the San Francisco Chronicle article on which this blog is based:
There is no question that this man should be prosecuted. If these films weren’t making money for someone, they wouldn’t be made. What kind of society are we that we are even arguing the legality of selling these animal snuff and torture films? If it was up to me, I would go further and put Robert Stevens in with a pack of pissed off fighting dogs, and film what happens to him. I’d then use the film as a warning to anyone else that thinks that this is OK.Those who argue for this man’s ‘rights’ disgust me. Get a set of values and some compassion, for god’s sake.
Thanksgiving is not a happy time for turkeys, an American native bird notorious for their family bonding skills and gracefulness. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving became associated with eating the flesh of this beautiful bird and factory farms destroy the lives of millions of them, besides having genetically modified them so grotesquely that they can no longer reproduce without artificial insemination. So-called free range turkeys are not a better option as they also end up at the slaughterhouse.
It will sound ridiculous to anyone with common sense but, still, a lot of people who eat fish claim to be vegetarians. A new, meaningless term was created to describe these people: flexitarians. The phenomenon caught the attention of the UK Vegetarian Society, who said it loud and clear in its magazine that vegetarians don’t eat fish. Even the BBC chimed in to discuss the issue, and were followed by the Guardian’s columnist 
Since 2006 we have been aware that livestock’s greenhouse emissions account for 18% of the total that goes into the atmosphere and causes global warming. Contrast that with transport’s share at 13% and you get an idea of how environmentally unsound animal agriculture and its products and byproducts are. Did I mention the unspeakable suffering inflicted on animals by this horrible industry? 
PostPunk Kitchen is once again organizing Vegan Month of Food, a food blogging extravaganza to spread the word about the wonders of vegan cuisine. “The idea is to write as much as you can for the month of October about vegan food. The blog entries can be about anything food related - your love of tongs, your top secret tofu pressing techniques, the first time your mom cooked vegan for you, vegan options in Timbuktu - you get the idea. There is no strict guideline for how much you have to write, but we shoot for about 20 times a month, or every weekday”, 
You have likely heard of the devastating floods that have hit the Philippines. Last weekend, Tropical Storm Ketsana, dumped 42 centimeters of rain on Manila in just 12 hours, flooding 80% of the city and causing the deaths of 143 people and hundreds of thousands of animals.The floodwaters rose so high that residents and their companion animals had to take to the roofs of their houses. So many animals didn’t make it, however. There are reports of dead dogs floating in the water. Tragically, many of them didn’t stand a chance, as they were chained to fixed objects, a common practice in Manila, and would have drowned as soon as the waters rose above their head.Some organizations are working to provide relief to these animals in need and they need your help. Please make a donation to 
Sometimes you wonder what kind of society we live in when courts debate whether making a profit out of videos depicting animal cruelty staged for the purpose of ‘entertainment’ is legal or not.A man called Robert J. Stevens (pictured) produced videos showing gruesome dogfighting scenes. He was sentenced to 37-months in prison under a 1999 federal law that bans trafficking in “depictions of animal cruelty.” Now the Supreme Court is set to hear his case on October 6 and, believe it or not, this man is being defended by ‘free speech’ groups who are invoking the First Amendment for legal protection. The court will decide whether dogfighting videos and other videos showing animal cruelty without a serious purpose is “too vile” to be protected under the First Amendment. This definition of vileness is what removed First Amendment protection from child pornography in 1982.It is the issue of ‘seriousness’ that is bothering the free speech camp and while I support the idea of free speech wholeheartedly, I find it terrifying to see such a confused take on it. Animal cruelty is illegal, therefore staging it simply to make a profit is obviously illegal. It’s a no brainer. I think the free speech camp would put their energy to better use by fighting censorship against positive, stimulating, truthful ideas and justice in general. Wasting time defending sadics is just outrageous.I second a comment made by beemer5 in relation to the 