Archive for November, 2006
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Vegetable on fruit violence… so sad. (And funny.)
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(tags: vegetarianism religion)
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(tags: buddhism)
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Absolutely essential (though difficult) viewing. Footage of turkey production from the earliest stages. [via VeganChai]
As Thanksgiving is tomorrow here in the US and families feast on dead flesh from coast to coast, I thought I’d pass on a few facts from the industry itself:
In 2005, about 256 million turkeys were raised. We estimate that 46 million of those turkeys were eaten at Thanksgiving, 22 million at Christmas and 19 million at Easter.
For those into percentages, that means that 18% of all turkeys raised are eaten on a single day (and 34% on the three holidays listed above).
Interestingly, the page this info came from lists a bunch of facts about turkeys that could actually turn people off from eating turkey. Admitting your food has an individual personality or unique traits probably isn’t the best idea for an industry that exists to serve you these same dead animals.
I’m going to point you to my post from last year which has a bunch of good information about the bird that somehow became associated with Thanksgiving. I’m also going to suggest you fill out the National Turkey Federation’s survey.
Have a good meat-free holiday, everyone.
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Some photos from this year’s even at Poplar Spring.(tags: poplarspring thanksgiving)
The Washington Post has a story in today’s paper titled Intelligence Of Dolphins Cited in Fight Against Hunt that discusses the fight marine scientists are launching against dolphin hunting as part of Japan’s annual “Dolphin drive.” According to the Wikipedia entry on the subject:
When a pod of dolphins has been spotted, they’re driven into a bay with boats by the fishermen while banging on metal rods hanging in the water to scare them. When the dolphins are in the bay, it is quickly closed off with nets so the dolphins cannot escape. The dolphins are not always caught and killed immediately, but sometimes left to calm down over night. If so, the dolphins are caught one by one and killed the following day. The killing of the animals used to be done by slitting their throats which resulted in a long and painful death for the dolphin, but the Japanese government banned this method and now dolphins may officially only be killed by driving a metal pin into the neck of the dolphin, which causes them to die within seconds.
The picture accompanying the Post article is particularly horrific, showing hunters in a boat surrounded by blood red waters.
Critics of the hunt call it “inhumane” because “according to a growing body of research, are not just intelligent but sophisticatedly self-aware.” Unfortunately, victims of other types of hunting around the world are rarely afforded the same respect. While I agree that dolphin hunting is terrible and needs to be stopped, linking inhumane treatment with intelligence perpetuates the idea that only “smart” animals rated against some arbitrary scale derived by us are worthy of saving.
An interesting quote later in the articles comes from Takumi Fukuda, the fisheries attache at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, a defender of the event:
It is “quite natural . . . no one wants to expose the killing scene to the public, like no meat company wants to release pictures from the killing scene in their slaughterhouses,” Fukuda said. “We should understand that all animal killing scenes contain certain cruelty.”
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He added that there is a growing awareness among fishermen of a need for more humane methods.
“We understand and think it is necessary to shorten the time until the dolphin dies, so we have been trying to shorten the times,” he said.
That last bit sounds an awful lot like the welfare argument being used in the factory farm reform movement. People fighting for an end to the dolphin hunt won’t settle for “more humane methods,” will they? Should we?
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Dogster folk speak out against the AETA, which brands pretty much anyone who opposes cruelty of any sort to animals a terrorist.
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“[T]he bill [with the AETA attached] was introduced and passed before it’s scheduled vote during an afternoon session with only six representatives present.” SIX.
This past weekend was Cupcake Weekend ’round our house, as I baked up two batches of goodies from Isa and Terry’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I went with the Tiramsu Cupcakes and made the Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze for an office potluck. Both were simply excellent, and not terribly complicated. Mine definitely leaned towards hideous looking since I have zero cake decorating experience or equipment, but I was more concerned with taste for these first few recipes. The cakes were a nearly perfect texture and the frostings were equally as good. I’ve found that I really enjoy the process of making frosting, too. It’s like, you’ve got Earth Balance and confectioner’s sugar in a bowl and there you are beating it. It’s all lumps and you start thinking, “C’mon, there’s no way this is ever getting creamy” and then magically a minute or two in, it does.
Simple pleasures.
If you haven’t picked up the book, you really need to. Every single recipe in there made me say, “Wow, I’ve gotta try that.” I mean, seriously, lychee cupcakes? Oh hell yeah.
Just a quick reminder that November 9-12 is the Artivist Film Festival being held in Hollywood at the historic Egyptian Theatre. Eric is a producer there this year and says that there’s a bunch of good animal advocacy stuff going on: “In addition to literature and vegan food sponsors, we have screenings of numerous shorts and features, including Mad Cowboy, followed by a forum I’m hosting on the cost of meat consumption and production. Howard Lyman will be there, as will Daryl Hannah, whom we’re honoring on Sunday the 12th along with Joaquin Phoenix, and other special guests…”
Good stuff. Be sure to check it out if you’re in the area.
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New webcomic. Guaranteed you’ve been through at least one of these situations. [via ananimalfriendlylife.com](tags: comic)
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A friendly reminder that it’s not just the cute, furry animals that need saving…(tags: blog preservation)
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