(After a few weeks of the “Good and Bad” posts, I’m rethinking them a bit. They didn’t quite work out as I’d hoped. So for now, we go back to regular old posts, reviews, etc.)
Love this video of a seven-year-old discussing veganism. Vegan kids are often isolated from other vegan kids and I think videos like this (with comments turned off!) help. At 4 1/2, my little girl really looks up to kids that are six or seven, so she loved this video.
Yay, Marielle!
The Good
This week I read about an “animal sanctuary” (the reason for the quotes will become apparent soon) in the town I grew up in that was caring for a baby Vietnamese pot-bellied piglet that had been hit by a car only a couple of miles from my parents’ house. The original driver had hit and run. A second driver stopped and put a sweatshirt over the piglet (but apparently left her behind, oddly). Then, a representative from the sanctuary came and got the little girl.
The sanctuary found a local vet to help out and is picking up the associated bills. A local restaurant (that is about as far from veg-friendly as one can get, but…) is holding a fundraiser.
Good stuff from back home.
The Bad
That “animal sanctuary” that’s helping out? They have another fundraiser event coming up.
A barbecue.
After looking around their site and seeing they dealt primarily with dogs and cats, I realized that this barbecue wasn’t likely to be very vegan. But, to confirm, I wrote to them to ask. “Quick question about your barbecue fundraiser – should I assume that’s going to be a vegetarian barbecue?” I wrote, giving them the benefit of the doubt. “I assume so since you’re an animal sanctuary and rescued the pig that was hit by the car, but I wanted to check and make sure…”
They wrote back shortly after explaining that the barbecue had been delayed while they searched for a different venue and that, “But no, it would not be a vegetarian bbq. All of our staff except for one does eat meat.”
Headslap.
Listen, I understand that even sanctuaries that actively promote veganism don’t have the luxury of only employing vegans. But when you’re holding a fundraising event while also taking care of a pig, it might be nice to, you know, not serve dead pigs.
Frustrating and disappointing.
This week’s bad…
What do you do when you’re 19-years-old and a complete jerk? You eat at McDonald’s and then purposely run over ducklings with your hummer, like Dillon Robert Pearce of Ann Arbor, Michigan, according to police.
Peace was arraigned on Tuesday on a charge of killing an animal. Magistrate Thomas Truesdell set bond at $5,000.
(via Obscure Store)
This week’s good…
The headline says it all: Child builds tiny cart for Joe the paraplegic bunny
Prepare for the unbearable cuteness:
(Via Mary Martin)
This week’s bad…
This week’s bad comes from Mercy for Animals, the team behind a number of undercover videos exposing the cruelty inherent to animal agriculture. This time around, they’ve got a video from E6 Cattle Company in Hart, Texas. E6 raises calves for use on dairy farms. As you’d expect, the video is brutal.
The video shows (from the MfA site):
Awful stuff. Keep this video handy for the next time someone tells you that “drinking milk doesn’t hurt the cow.”
(It should be noted that the final message the viewer is left with is “Boycott animal abuse. Go vegetarian.” Why would they choose to use “vegetarian” instead of “vegan”? Because, you know, going (lacto-ovo) vegetarian ain’t gonna stop this type of abuse at all. In fact, it might increase it since vegetarians often increase milk, cheese, butter, etc. consumption after they stop eating meat. We can say vegan when advocating for animals. It’s not a dirty word.)
This week’s good…
Deb tweeted a recipe she found today for homemade margarine. It doesn’t use palm oil, instead using a mix of corn or sunflower oil, olive oil, and coconut oil, blended with some coconut creamer and a few other things. And the good news? It tastes mighty fine on a bagel.
I’d use a touch more salt than they call for here. And when they say a “dash” of turmeric, they mean it. I put in a touch too much and things got a bit too yellow. Otherwise, it’s good stuff.
It’s nice to have an easy homemade option that’s an alternative to palm oil-based margarines. (To catch up on everything palm oil, Deb’s original post continues to be a great resource and the comment section is still active.)
This is a feature I’ve been kicking around in my head for a little while now, something to get me blogging here on a more regular basis. Let’s see how long this weekly idea lasts.
The concept here is pretty simple: each week, focusing briefly on one good thing that’s happened in vegan news (vegan news being something animal-related, health-related, etc.) and one not-so-great thing. The “bad” item is hopefully something that we can learn from and not just shake our heads and become despondent about. So, let’s try this out.
This week’s bad…
I think given how it was all over the vegan blogosphere, twitterverse, and Facebook… galaxy?, it would be hard to mention something other than quarrygirl’s uncovering of VegNews‘ dirty little secret: not all of the food photos in their magazines or on their site are photos they’ve taken. In fact, the pictures might not even be of the food pictured. And to top it off, some of the photos are of meat and other decidedly non-vegan items. The most facepalming of the images is the shot of ribs that had the bones Photoshopped out before publication. Seriously, guys?
The response has ranged from “are we really going to spend time concerned ourselves with this?” to “OMG WE MUST CANCEL OUR SUBSCRIPTIONS, WRITE MANY ANGRY TWEETS, AND GO KICK SOMEONE IN THE NADS!” My take on it is somewhere in the middle, leaning toward the latter, perhaps minus the nad kicking.
Sure, it’s not the end of the world and it’s not like they were making meat dishes specifically to take pictures of them. These were stock photos. However, there is a lot to dislike about the situation. For one, they were not up front about their use of stock photos that contain meat. As a vegan publication, that’s the type of thing that you need to just not do. And it’s pretty clear they knew they shouldn’t be doing it, otherwise they would have made some sort of disclaimer somewhere about it (I’d hope). It’s disappointing and deceptive that this practice went on for so long.
In addition, I read that they’ve used vegan photographers in the past, but that they’ve been unable to reimburse them. A lot of photographers are OK with that, with the whole help-a-vegan-out mentality. Yet, in VegNews‘ apology, they seem to indicate that they can’t afford to take pictures of every item or to pay vegan photographers… but they can buy stock photos? Listen, I know stock photos are cheap and that the magazine industry’s in a tough place, but there were surely a lot of people out there willing to help.
Lastly, when people tried to bring the issue up on VegNews‘ blog, the comments were deleted and the initial commenter was told he was being “inappropriate and mean-spirited.” Even if the tone was off (I don’t know if it was), that’s a crappy way to respond as a magazine.
So, yeah, I’m pretty disgusted by the whole thing. It sucks for readers and supporters of the magazine and it sucks for vegan photographers that probably would have been more than willing to help out. But, do I hope the magazine folds because of it? No. I want them to pull through, fix it, and keep being a magazine that does a pretty good job reaching out to the mainstream. And hopefully that is what will happen.
This week’s good…
There’s one dog on Flickr whose photos I’ve followed for years. He’s a bluetick coonhound named Hugo that totally reminds me of Amina. I think they would have gotten along if they’d ever met.
Anyway, I came across this photo this week and the accompanying story. It’s too cute not to share.
Lots of catching up to do with cookbook reviews, so let’s get started with a few baking books that have piled up over the last year or two.
Ani’s Raw Food Desserts
by Ani Phyo
Da Capo/Lifelong, 2009
I’ve been a fan of Ani Phyo since her first book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen hit the shelves in 2007. This book focuses solely on desserts, all raw and free of wheat, gluten, dairy, and processed sugar.
There’s a nice variety of desserts here, from frozen items like Pineapple Icebox Cakes and Key Lime Kream Bars to cakes, cookies, fudge, crisps and cobblers, and sun-baked treats like scones and biscuits. As with Ani’s first book, the recipes are relatively easy to make and don’t usually require ingredients that are too off-the-wall or hard to find. Certainly her recipes are easier with something like a Vitamix on hand, but most don’t require extensive dehydrating or preparation. Ani continues to be one of the most accessible raw chefs.
I had good luck with the Coconut Ice Kream recipe, made with just five ingredients: cashews, filtered water, agave, shredded coconut, and coconut oil. It’s surprisingly easy and offers up a strong coconut flavor and smooth texture.
Also very simple and quick are Sliced Apples with Rosemary. With only three ingredients (apples, lemon, and rosemary), this an amazing little dessert that perfectly combines sweet, sour, and savory. Love it, love it.
While I haven’t had a chance to try out any of the cakes yet, I hope to make the cheesecakes soon along with some filled chocolate truffles on the side.
The book is small and well-designed (it’s basically the same layout as Isa’s cookie and cupcake books) with beautiful food photography. Definitely worth having on hand if you’re experimenting with raw foods and want to delve into the sweet side of things.
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo/Lifelong, 2009
I’m definitely late to the game reviewing this one, given that pretty much everyone that reads this blog probably has a copy, but here we go anyway. Viva la catching up!
Cookies. It’s a book with lots and lots of cookies. Kind of like the cupcake book, except with cookies.
The basic chocolate chip cookie recipe is quite good, of course, as are the Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies (known around our house as the Compromise Cookie since I’m all about the chocolate and my wife’s into oatmeal cookies). The whole wheat chocolate chip cookies are a slightly healthier version of the old classic, making use of the love-it-or-hate-it white whole wheat flour. The recipe also works well just combining half all-purpose and half whole-wheat flour. The Orange Agave Chocolate Chip cookies, however, were disappointing. With the combination of orange and chocolate, I was expecting the world.
And in the “not-a-cookie, but good anyway” category, the Deluxe Cocoa Brownies are moist and super awesome.
Reading back this review, I realize that I’ve pretty much only made chocolate chip cookie variations. Not sure what’s up with that, but there are certainly a handful of other cookies I’m dying to try out at some point, including the Lazy Samoas, Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows, and Peanut Apple Pretzel Drops.
The book’s got great photography, the familiar Da Capo “square vegan baking book” layout mentioned in the last review, and all of the wonderful added text from Isa and Terry you’d expect. The recipes are not heavily reliant on Earth Balance, so if you avoid EB, it’s not an issue. Another thumbs up for America’s favorite cooking duo.
Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book
by Jennifer Katzinger
Sasquatch Books, 2009
While no one in my family has any level of gluten intolerance (that we know of, at least!), I still try to keep up on gluten-free cooking and baking. With so many more people finding out that they’re intolerant or allergic, it’s helpful to have some knowledge of different flours and baking techniques so you can accommodate everyone at a dinner party or make sure all the little ones in your son or daughter’s class can join in when it comes time for birthday cupcakes.
Jennifer Katzinger runs the Flying Apron bakery in Seattle and this cookbook offers up some straight-up gluten-free goodness for anyone ready to dive headfirst into gluten-free baking. The recipes in this book are VEFH (seriously, what’s up with the vegan books that still have honey as an ingredient? Can we just list agave instead or, at the very least, use the term “liquid sweetener”?) and all the recipes are appropriate for those with Celiac Disease (meaning low-gluten flours like spelt are not used). In addition, all recipes are soy-free.
Before going any further, let me be honest: I’ve made only two recipes from this book. While there are a lot of really, really tempting recipes, in many cases, one of two things held me back. For one, lots of the recipes called for a stand mixer, which I don’t have. I realize that it can be done by hand, but sometimes I just don’t feel like putting in the effort.
The biggest issue, though, is that these recipes can get quite expensive to make. For instance, to make one 10-inch square Earl Grey Tea Cake, you need three cups of maple syrup. Given what maple syrup costs, that’s easily $10 in just sweetener for just one cake. Yikes.
Some bakers may also be turned off by the use of palm oil in many recipes, given the issues that exist.
Obviously some of the flours are going to be tricky to find, too, but that’s not a criticism I’m willing to level on a gluten-free cookbook. If you’re going to get into gluten-free baking, you’ll get used to hunting down brown rice flour, hazelnut flour, and quinoa flour.
So, with all that said, let’s get to the food.
The first recipe I tried was the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, which uses brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour (which tends to lend a nice “egginess” to foods). While recipes with brown rice flour can tend to be a bit gritty, these cookies were quite tasty and didn’t suffer from an overly gritty texture.
For Thanksgiving last year, I made the pumpkin pie, which makes use, interestingly, of apricot puree. There’s definitely an apricot-y flavor to the pie, so it’s not traditional in that sense, but it is quite good. The texture wasn’t firm enough for my liking, but overall, I enjoyed it.
Given my lengthy commentary, you might think I wouldn’t recommend this book, but the fact is that I’ve recommended it and lent it out several times to friends with Celiac or with gluten-intolerant children. Even with its faults, it’s still quite a resource for those that still want the sweetness in their life but may not live near a Babycakes or Flying Apron.
Thanks to Paul for pointing out the very fun #veganmusicoptions hashtag on Twitter today. Here are some of my favorites (I stayed away from any that were already vegan, like Ice-T… and, yes, I included a lot of my own here… sue me):
This is a guest post from Gary Loewenthal, co-creator of the advocacy group Compassion for Animals.
A couple of weeks ago, Gary mentioned on his Facebook page the intriguing idea of “equal time advocacy.” That is, allowing others, like missionaries, to speak to you about their message in exchange to listening to you about your animal rights message. Gary has always amazed me with his ability to reach out to people I wouldn’t even give a second thought about discussing animal rights with, and this particular example was especially interesting to me. So, I asked him to write a little bit about the concept as well as his experiences putting it into action.
The other day, two Mormon missionaries on their rounds stopped by my house. As usual, they agreed to my “equal time” advocacy proposal, in which I get to advocate to them as much they get to advocate to me, for as long as they like.
I started doing this several years ago, shortly after I got involved with vegan outreach. Since I’ve worked at home for most of those years, I encounter my fair share of door-to-door evangelists and charity solicitors. At least it seems that way.
The “equal time” technique has worked consistently well. As far as I can tell, “the other side” has the same positive impression. Here are some possible reasons for its success:
During my allotted time for outreach during these sessions, I try to meet my worthy counterparts where they are, and proceed from there. I start by asking them their views of our obligations toward animals, and about their diets. I might ask if they have any companion animals and how they feel about them.
I try to explain how vegan concepts and behaviors are compatible with their religion, and how striving to be as compassionate as possible is a sincere and glorious way to practice one’s faith and to respect and honor both Creator and Creation. (I use upper case here strictly to reflect how my audience at the time refers to the two upper-cased entities.) If those concepts are not met with any serious objections, I generally move into practical tips and personalized suggestions, and finish up by a) emphasizing how important I think it is to transition away from animal exploitation and toward a vegan lifestyle, b) the degree of suffering and hurt done on our behalf that each of us can – and thus should – reduce by choosing veganism, and c) the peace of mind that comes with knowing that one is not inflicting avoidable harm on others.
I listen to what they have to say also. I’m honest and state that it’s unlikely that I’ll convert to Mormonism or become a Jehova’s Witness, but I am keenly interested in knowing what they feel is compelling about those choices.
As it turns out, Mormonism has some fairly progressive views on animals. According to the missionaries, we’re to eat meat sparingly, and mostly in times of famine or when there are insufficient non-animal food sources. I usually ask, in return: “Since most of us in the developed world now have access to an abundance of non-animal food all year round, are we thus obligated to forgo animal products? Would abstaining from animal products reflect an earnest, good-faith adherence to the idea of refraining from killing animals for food except when there is no other practical alternative?” This line of questioning is generally productive. Somewhere in there, I point out the considerable suffering and killing – if not the inherent cruelty – in commercial dairy and egg operations.
Before leaving, the missionaries usually want to leave some literature. So do I. So I propose my “equal amount of literature” policy, to which they, so far, always agree. I highly recommend having some copies of the Christian Vegetarian Association’s “Are We Good Stewards of God’s Creation?” pamphlets on hand.
So far, all these sessions have gone well, and we part amicably. One of my hopes is that if anything I say or hand out to the missionaries resonates strongly with them, they will employ their outreach skills to spread the word to their peers and associates.
I use some similar approaches with people who come by the house to solicit funds for Greenpeace, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and progressive lobbying organizations.
One variation with people asking for donations – assuming I like the goals of the organization – is “if you pledge to be vegan for X days within the next Y weeks, I’ll write a check for Z amount.” This equation is dependent on many factors, such as how much money you can spare, but you can usually arrive at a deal that everyone thinks is fair and meaningful. If the person represents a progressive group, there’s a good chance that they’ve already partly divested from the standard American meat- and dairy-centered diet. He or she may already be vegan, in which case you can just give the secret handshake. More seriously, when I have encountered vegetarians or vegans soliciting for a non-veg group, I ask if they’re in a position to influence the group. They may already be doing that. That response may increase the chance of me giving the group a donation,
I try to be mindful of the solicitors’ time schedule; I figure they want to cover as many homes – and get as many donations and email signups – as possible. But sometimes the discussions are apparently mutually enjoyable and they insist that no, they’d rather stay for a few more minutes and talk. Maybe they get tired of getting curtly turned away or knocking on doors of empty houses, and a polite discussion about topics in which they’re interested is a nice change of pace.
Granted, “equal time” advocacy is not something you can do every day, but it’s fairly easy, since your audience comes to you, and the individuals in that audience tend to be good listeners who know and appreciate the hard work of outreach and are thus likely to give you the respect that all advocates want. You may gain some interesting insight into their worldviews also, and that in turn could help your own advocacy.
Just a quick post today about Thanksgiving and the “tradition” of eating turkey…
I used to be all about tradition, especially with regards to Thanksgiving. I loved the food, the family, the football, everything. These days, the family/friends portion of it more than suffices. After becoming vegan, it eventually became clear: tradition doesn’t always equal “good” or “right” and thus shouldn’t be some sort of magical excuse able to be applied to anything that someone wants to do. As has been said many times before, there have been a lot of “traditions” throughout history that have been pretty evil. There is nothing implicitly good about something just because it’s the way it’s always been done.
With that, two things you should read:
To My Friends at Thanksgiving by Mary Martin,
Traditions are decided upon. They are consciously, intentionally repeated. And new ones can be created at any moment. I choose to opt out of traditions that cause harm and are the direct result of the exploitation and commodification of beings just like Charles, but who look a little different. And I want Baby Sky to grow up in a home where there is just as much respect for chickens and calves and fishes as there is for greyhounds and cats and people. Of course, the world outside of our home tells a different story. But we can bring our story to that world.
and my favorite of the Buddhist sutras, the Kalama Sutra (emphasis mine).
Do not go by revelation;
Do not go by tradition;
Do not go by hearsay;
Do not go on the authority of sacred texts;
Do not go on the grounds of pure logic;
Do not go by a view that seems rational;
Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances;
Do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it;
Do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent;
Do not go along because [thinking] ‘the recluse is our teacher’.Kalamas, when you yourselves know: ‘These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them…
Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.
A comment popped up on last year’s Thanksgiving post thanking me for the resources, which was the kick in the pants I needed to make sure I had a similar post for this year.
This year’s Thanksgiving will be an interesting one for us. We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving Day with friends who have the most interesting “how I went vegan” stories of anyone we know. Then, the day after, we’ll be celebrating again with my parents and my sister’s family at my sister’s house. What’s interesting there is that half of the people there will be celebrating a veggie Thanksgiving: my family, my mom, and my oldest niece (who’s been vegetarian for four months now!). We’re at the tipping point!
Nevertheless, I certainly remember how tricky Thanksgiving can be for new vegans or vegans with families that aren’t accommodating or understanding. So, here’s a slightly modified and updated version of my set of suggestions from last year:
Whether you’re spending a quiet Thanksgiving at home or braving an evening of stupid questions and taunts from 20 family members, there are some great resources online to help you get cooking and make sure that you not only have something to eat, but something to wow the rest of the family as well.
Nava Atlas is again offering her excellent A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving e-book. It features 65 recipes in all, including Nava’s own as well as contributions from all your favorite veg cookbook authors and bloggers (among them: Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Dreena Burton, Jill Nussinow, and Bryanna Clark Grogan). The e-book sells for $8.95 and all profits go to “humanitarian charities concerned with hunger, microfinancing for women in developing countries, and the alleviation of human trafficking.” Of course, there’s also Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Vegan Table and many, many other cookbooks with great sections on cooking for Thanksgiving.
Mainstream media is even offering up quite a few “vegan Thanksgiving” pieces, making hope this perhaps this is the year “Tofurky” will stop being the punchline to jokes about not eating turkey on Thanksgiving:
And, of course, there’s bound to be tons of great stuff courtesy of Vegan MoFo, as well.
Or, if you’re not the cooking type, Whole Foods has a pretty awesome Thanksgiving vegan dinner package (“for two, plus a few”) with six individual stuffed Gardein roasts, olive oil mashed potatoes, green beans with roasted shallots, cranberry pecan multigrain stuffing, cranberry orange relish and wild mushroom gravy. That sounds pretty awesome (too bad the image on the site is super tiny and pixelated).
And by that, I mean a celebration that doesn’t involve killing turkeys. Why not hang out with some turkeys instead? Sanctuaries around the country have vegan Thanksgiving get-togethers. The one at Poplar Spring is my favorite event of the year — imagine a vegan potluck with 300 people bringing dishes. Hot damn.
Below is a sampling of sanctuaries and their Thanksgiving events.
And a few restaurants and city listings of Thanksgiving events:
Someone should build a “vegan Thanksgiving” map like No Trick Treats! for Halloween.
Vegetarian and Vegan organizations also tend to do Thanksgiving meals on or around Thanksgiving, so check in with your local groups to see if there’s any thing to get involved in.
Farm Sanctuary runs the very popular Adopt-a-Turkey project each year, but you can also sponsor a turkey at your local sanctuary.
This is a good time of year to dig into More than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality by UPC’s Karen Davis (here’s a Google Books version). The level of detail is impressive — you’ll learn something. Trust me.
Some other stuff to peruse:
Feel free to share your favorite vegan Thanksgiving events, recipes, or books.
(Edited 11/19/2010 to add BVA’s event and 11/16/2010 to add SuperVegan, Washington Post, and Vegcast links.)
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