2009/09/26

Walk For The Animals

The Farm Sanctuary located in NY and California works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy. They envision a world where the violence that animal agriculture inflicts upon people, animals and the environment has ended, and where instead we exercise values of compassion. Please click here to learn more about the sanctuary. If you can’t get to the Farm Sanctuary to visit all these wonderful animals, check out the Virtual Experience.

For more than two decades, Farm Sanctuary’s annual Walk for Farm Animals has helped spread the word about the treatment of animals on factory farms and raised vital funds for our rescue, education and advocacy work.  The Walks are an important part of Farm Sanctuary’s history and our outreach and fundraising efforts. They are also a great way for supporters to help send a positive message of compassion and hope for farm animals.  Please feel free to join me, donate or support the sanctuary any way you can. 

 

A Compassionate World Begins With You!

“All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life.” -Buddha

“Animals are my friends. I don’t eat my friends. ” -George Bernard Shaw

“Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is — whether its victim is human or animal — we cannot expect things to be much better in this world. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature.” -Rachael Carson

“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.” -Leo Tolstoy

“I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.” -Henry David Thoreau
“Things do not change; we change.” -Henry David Thoreau

“The greatness of a nations and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” -Mohandas Gandi

“Think occassionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” -Albert Schweitzer

Share|

1 Comment

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as

2009/09/11

Real Price of Cheap Food

  Bryan Walsh from Time Magazine brings out some interesting facts about the hidden price of feeding Americans cheap food. Have you heard about the obesity epidemic costing our health care system $147 billion a year? What about the antibiotic resistant bacteria among farm animals? Some people think eating organic is the solution but it is a long way off since less than 1% of American cropland is farmed organically. 

Sow On Concrete for 4-5 yrs unable to nedge her offspring, stand up or turn around.
Sow On Concrete for 4-5 yrs unable to nedge her offspring, stand up or turn around.

 Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The waste produced by the pig and his thousands of pen mates on the factory farm where they live goes into manure lagoons that blanket neighboring communities with air pollution and a stomach-churning stench. He’s fed on American corn that was grown with the help of government subsidies and millions of tons of chemical fertilizer.When the pig is slaughtered, at about 5 months of age, he’ll become sausage or bacon that will sell cheap, feeding an American addiction to meat that has contributed to an obesity epidemic currently afflicting more than two-thirds of the population. And when the rains come, the excess fertilizer that coaxed so much corn from the Continue reading →

Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under AR, Environment, Uncat

Tagged as , , ,

2009/07/20

Herbivore or Carnivore?

Herbivore or carnivore

1 – Human, 2 – Cow, 3 – Cat, 4 – Dog, 5 – Horse

I have a degree in Anthropology but you don’t need one to see the differences in the photo posted above. In my opinion it speaks for itself and the shape of our teeth and the way our jaw moves are just a few reasons why I think we are not physically designed to eat meat. Just because we can consume meat doesn’t mean we should be eating it.

Have you looked at the average waistline in our society? Most children eat the same foods their parents ate which are loaded with saturated fat, salt and sugar.  My own town of Continue reading →

Share|

9 Comments

Filed under Nutrition, Uncat

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

2009/07/17

Addicted To Silk Soymilk

Loving Silk years ago it was a staple in my espresso latte and oatmeal. After all it was soy milk and it was organic. Now my niece drinks it like water and I’m concerned. Dean Foods who now owns Silk kept the product packaging and removed the word “organic’. I think that is deceptive marketing even though they launched a new product labeled organic which is a different color. I doubt we would ever see Earth Balance pull that off. If you are still drinking the blue or red box above, you might want to read one of the links below so you can make an intelligent choice based on facts. I think I’ll stick with almond milk and skip the hexane.

Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under Nutrition, Uncat

Tagged as , , , , ,

2009/07/14

Organic Industry Giants

Factory Farming - reality vs mythI get a ton of emails just like everyone but the ones I get from the Organic Consumers Association are packed full of information. Below I’ve pasted a paragraph from their article “The Organic Alternative: A Matter of Survival”. When you know the difference between conventional and organic produce, hopefully you can make an intelligent decision about the food you put in your mouth. It is our body’s fuel and you get what you pay for. Conventional produce lacks nutrition and it is really a no-brainer once people educate themselves and stop being lazy about their health. This article brings into light how grocers such as Whole Foods Market, United Natural Foods and others promote and sell greenwashed and “natural” food more then organic. Conventional is cheaper but we get what we pay for.

Millions of health-minded Americans, especially parents of young children, now understand that cheap, non-organic, industrial food is hazardous. Not only does chemical and energy-intensive factory farming destroy the environment, impoverish rural communities, exploit farm workers, inflict unnecessary cruelty on farm animals, and contaminate the water supply; but the end product itself is inevitably contaminated. Routinely contained in nearly every bite or swallow of non-organic industrial food are pesticides, antibiotics and other animal drug residues, pathogens, feces, hormone disrupting chemicals, toxic sludge, slaughterhouse waste, genetically modified organisms, chemical additives and preservatives, irradiation-derived radiolytic chemical by-products, and a host of other hazardous allergens and toxins. Eighty million cases of food poisoning every year in the US, an impending swine/bird flu pandemic (directly attributable to factory farms), and an epidemic of food-related cancers, heart attacks, and obesity make for a compelling case for the Organic Alternative.

Share|

2 Comments

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , , , ,

2009/07/13

COOL Asheville, NC

It has been very hot in Florida lately and the rain just isn’t stopping. Without the ocean breeze the forecast should just say “sweat, try to breath or go to the beach”. So J and are on our way up to the mountains after a busy 3 day work stop in Atlanta. Our final destination will be Asheville, NC but will make some other stops along the trip. Our goal is to do some bike riding, hiking, and check out the local scenery. My vegan food list will be shorter this trip because of the many places to dine! After a quick check on HappyCow.net I’ve noticed a few listings of places with veg options so we shall see how well they accommodate. Some of the reviews are older so we will also rely on some suggestions from our hosts. I’ll be looking for the words “vegan options” or an * on the menu first. Then I’ll ask the typical questions and post their answers, photos and reviews after we return. A few resturants we want to visit 8/10 – 8-13 are:

  • Rosetta’s Kitchen
  • Laughing Seed Cafe
  • Firestorm Cafe
  • The Green Sage (maybe)

Check back mid August for an updated post. Please email me if you have any suggestions.

9/30/09 – We did get to visit some of these restaurants but need to go back before I review them in detail. For instance we ate at Laughing Seed for lunch and it was great. When we brought guests for dinner on a Saturday night our service was horrible.  A busy night is no excuse for poor service and cold food. I  didn’t have a meal at Rosetta’s Kitchen but their peanut butter chocolate cake was the best I’ve had in a long time. It was moist and not too sweet.  I loved their casual menu so we will definitely dine there and order take out.  Bottom line I don’t think it is fair to write a review based on one or two meals. I love being a traveling vegan so we have another trip planned to Asheville during the 2′nd half of October. I will post another update and photos as we revisit these restaurants and those labeled as vegan friendly.

Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

2009/07/05

Thai Cuisine in PA

 The next stop on our journey was to pick up our Dad and find a restaurant that had vegan options. Both of us pulled out our cell phones again and started making calls. There was a vegan restaurant listed in Emmaus, PA but she was closed and in the process of finding a new location. After probing her with questions on where someone from out of town could eat she suggested the White Orchids Thai Cuisine restaurant. She gave us directions and told us that they will give you a vegan menu if you ask. Wow! That would never happen in any restaurant where I live in Jacksonville, FL. The restaurant owners here are to archaic in their thoughts. St Augustine, Fl would be an excellent location for a Vegan Bakery or restaurant!

When we arrived at the White Orchid my Dad told us ” I eat that stuff but you will have to order for me. ” So we did and ordered a variety of items off their “Vegan Menu” to share. When the vegan tofu appetizer came out my dad had a strange look on his face but proceeded to dip a slice in one of their fabulous sauces. “This is good! What is it?” he said. That brought a smile to my face and a chuckle. Our total order included their Pad Prik King – Red Curry Stir Fry, Pad Gra“Prow – Thai Spicy Basil Stir Fry, Vegan Tofu Appetizer and Summer Rolls (not fried). Most dishes came with Jasmine rice but you could substitute. We didn’t have desert because we had Vegan Treats in our car! I’d give this restaurant 5 stars. You can download their vegan menu off their website http://www.whiteorchidsthaicuisine.com/.
Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , , ,

2009/07/02

Vegan Treats – Bethlehem

What a miracle! My sister “C” and I typed “vegan restaurants” into our GPS enabled cell phones and “Vegan Treats” popped up. We also remembered reading about it possibly in Vegnews magazine or on HappyCow.net . We were visiting family in northeast NJ and took a drive one day to visit my Dad who lives in a very small town in PA. Our goal was to take him to lunch and we gladly accepted the 20 minute detour to Vegan Treats. It is in the middle of a town called Bethlehem near remnants of old steel mills and a quaint town. Finding this bakery where everything is edible was like a miracle! Only strange thing was that the girl at the counter told us she was not vegan and we didn’t ask. HUH? I bit my tongue and started drooling instead. Maybe she was related but I’d like to think there must be vegan in Bethlehem looking for a part time job. Anyway – a picture is worth a thousand words. In the summer bring a cooler with you.

Share|

3 Comments

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

2009/06/23

Amazing Buckwheat Groats

This morning I surfed a link to the movie FOOD INC while eating my homemade rawnola and having tea. It will never show up in my town but a friend has it backordered online. Then after a few other distractions, petition signing and updates on the metro crash I looked back at my cereal bowl and said to my self ” I want to blog about organic buckwheat groats”.

BUCKWHEAT GROATS – (taken from a book by Gary Null) When roasted these gems are known as kasha. Buckwheat has more then 90 percent of the protein value of milk solids, and more then 80 percent of eggs. A pound of buckwheat provides protein equivalent to a half-pound of beef. It contains high amounts of all eight essential amino acids and is closer to be a complete protein than any other plant source, including soy beans. You can purchase them at a whole foods. I get mine from the bins at Native Sun in Jacksonville, FL.
Cheers for buckwheat pancakes but that isn’t the only thing you can do with buckwheat. Here is a link from the sunnyrawkitchen for granola. This recipe is similar to mine and is flexible to what you have on hand.
Here are links to a couple simple pancake recipes. Of course it is cruelty free of eggs and dairy products which are better for our health, the environmnet and the baby cows and chickens. ( side bar- did you know that all animals that are confined in factory farms are pumped up to a ripe age of a baby and then slaughtered?. Yes! All the animals that people consume are still babies. That is a fact.)
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes, Serves 3 or 4
1 1/4 cups soy or rice milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or white spelt flour (substitute rice flour to make pancakes completely gluten-free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bananas, thinly sliced
Mix all the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a slightly bigger bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir just enough to combine. Don’t overmix which is how you get tough pancakes. Place banana slices on as you cook or afterwards.
One more link to an awesome mulberry jam cookie if you own a dehydrator.
Enjoy your Buckwheat!

 

Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , ,

2009/06/21

Blairstown and Princeton Junction

My sister from Texas and I are meeting up next weekend in NJ to celebrate one of my nieces getting married and also to spend some quality time with our Dad and rest of scattered family members. I have 6 siblings which included one set of twins and one set of triplets. I promised my sister in law who is putting us up that I would cook a vegan dinner next Friday night for a group maybe as large as 16 – 20. I often feel like a vegan chef or caterer when I cook for a group but it is rewarding. The menu will consist of Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna, a big salad, bread, dipping sauce and Zucchini Brownies for desert. The vegan recipes are easy to come by but I might have a challenge with the ingredients. I’m an organic snob and may have to settle for the conventional produce, regular sauces and bring tofu, nutri yeast, cocoa and seasonings with me. The lasagna recipe comes from Susan at her http://www.fatfreevegan.com website and she calls it her “Favorite Lasagna” and now it is my favorite for these kinds of occasions or a potluck. The zucchini brownies come from allrecipes.com. They aren’t the healthiest but have a lot less fat and oil than some recipes. The trick to these brownies is to read the recipe and follow it exactly.

Update on the garden: We had so much rain in May that my Cucumber leaves got white powdery spots on them. I harvested 2 large ones so far but have to stop the fungus before it kills the plant. I just tried a solution that included baking soda and dish soap. I’m now down to two tomato plants that also look like they had to much to drink.

I’ll post some pictures of the NJ dinner and my vegetable garden in about a week..

Share|

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncat

Tagged as , , , , , ,