My mom has been obsessed with watching the Food Network lately. Alton Brown and his show Good Eats are her favorite. I tolerated him until recently. A few nights ago, Alton did a special on lobster. He attempted to brush off the uneasy cook’s hesitancy to commit murder in their own kitchen by likening a lobster to a spider, and saying that since a lobster is essentially a giant “bug,” it’s life and death means nothing, and that it is “below” all of the other animals. I was upset and appalled, and had to leave the room for most of the episode. I had planned on snail mailing Alton an envelope of lobster literature, but neither the Food Network nor his “people” have released any of his contact information. Instead, I sent the following email to the Food Network:

I was dismayed at an episode of Good Eats that showed a few nights ago- the episode on lobster. Alton tried to brush off the act of killing and cooking a live lobster by insisting, first of all, that things can be done so that they don’t suffer, and second, that they are such insignificant creatures that one shouldn’t feel guilty about killing them. I was absolutely appalled by the way he handled the situation, and I was upset that he would show the killing and boiling of the lobsters on the air. I had to leave the room, I was so upset. No creature is so insignificant that their life is unimportant, and if the skeptical audience member feels guilty or uncomfortable over the notion of killing a lobster in their own kitchen (or watching one die on tv), perhaps they’re on to something.
Now to address my first point- it is scientifically proven that there is NO WAY to prepare lobster without the animal suffering. I believe Alton recommended two methods- placing the lobster in a bucket of cold water, or severing the spinal cord before cooking. Neither method is effective. Placing the lobster in a bucket of water is perhaps the worst thing you could do. The animal is incapable of breathing through its gills in a freshwater environment, and the freshwater destroys the balance of the lobster’s bodily systems. The lobster both suffocates and suffers as its joints become distended.
As for the second method, the lobster would feel pain after being cut in half, much like a human would if cut in half. In fact, the human would actually have the advantage, because, unlike the lobster, humans have autonomic nervous systems that force our bodies into shock that protects us from an overload of pain. Essentially, the lobster, in both cases, would suffer more than any human could possibly imagine.
I suggest that the next time Alton, or any other Food Network chef, finds themselves cooking with invertebrates, the least they can do is not speak of the creature’s death as flippantly and dismissively as Alton did.

Thank you for your time, and please pass this information on to Alton, if possible.

I haven’t quite placed myself on the animal rights spectrum from welfarism to abolition yet, but I’d like to think I sit somewhere in the middle. (I plan to analyze the difference between these two sides more in-depth in a later post.) I fully agree with the ultimate philosophy of abolitionism that animals do not exist for our means, but I struggle with the practical aspects of the philosophy. I try to live a lifestyle that does not exploit animals for my benefit, but I recognize that society has been built upon a system that does, and that because of this, society will not shift into a non-exploitative gear within my lifetime.

Gary Francione is the figurehead of the abolitionist approach to animal rights. (You can find his blog at http://www.abolitionistapproach.com Disclaimer: some of the images on his banner are not for the faint of heart.) If you listen to Vegan Freak Radio, like I do, you’ve probably heard quite a bit of his theory already. Gary asserts that all animal domestication is wrong, including the domestication of dogs and cats. He argues that the breeding of dogs and cats for pet ownership is wrong, but that it is our moral obligation to take in those who have already been mistreated.
So in a way, I don’t feel as if he truly answers the question at hand: yes, domestication is wrong, but what about pet ownership? There seems to be a fine line.

The way I see it, I own my pets about as much as a parent owns his or her children. We coexist in the same household, but I am responsible for his or her well being. My responsibility isn’t so much as an owner but as a caretaker, one to protect and make important decisions for my “child” because she is unable to herself. The only difference between the pet and a human child is that the human eventually grows up and learns how to do these things for himself. The animals that we call pets were indeed originally domesticated to serve us in some way (i.e. dogs assisted with hunting and cats kept mice and birds at bay), however, for most of us, this is not true anymore. We open our homes and hearts to provide these animals with a place to play, rest, and love. I hardly feel like I’m exploiting my cat when she rushes into the room, meowing for attention, and then leaps onto my lap or curls up by my feet, purring. I suppose that I see the terms “pet” and “companion animal” as interchangeable.
Some people do abuse and exploit their animals. Some people hoard animals and leave them to saunter around in their own filth. Some people force them to participate in dangerous and debilitating activities. (Michael Vick, anyone?) Some people mutilate and manipulate the bodies of their animals because of their preference and convenience. (This includes the declawing of cats.) These people should not be allowed to have animals. I think that these people should be weeded out through a screening process, perhaps similar to that which one would undergo before adopting a child. Anyone who seeks to take care of another life, human or otherwise, should be able to recognize the responsibility and have the ability to fulfill it.

Now, we do have the matter of the animal breeders who consider the animals to be little more than objects that provide a source of revenue, much like the animals at a feedlot. They have no problem shoving these animals in small cages without providing the exercise or social interaction that the animals require. I agree 110% that this aspect of domestication is wrong and should be fought. However, some people breed animals as a hobby, and, because they don’t breed them in mass amounts, are able and willing to take fine care of them. I fail to see anything wrong with this instance.

I know I personally have not obtained any of my pets from either a breeder or a pet store. All of the cats we’ve had in my lifetime have been adopted: the first, Nicki came to our doorstep as a stray, and we took him in. We adopted a pair of sister kittens, Angel and Cinnamon, from Spay and Save years later. And the lovely feline that currently shares my home, otherwise known as Cleo, was obtained from the SPCA. So I suppose you could say that this is one area where Gary and I do indeed agree: that we are morally obligated to rescue homeless animals. In that way, you are not supporting the breeders.

Finally is what I hope to be my strongest argument. I believe quite strongly that domesticated animals teach us compassion for the earth and the rest of the animal kingdom. It’s hard for me to say exactly where my great love for animals came from, but I am more than willing to bet that it evolved from my daily interactions with my cat, my grandmother’s dog and cats, and the companion animals of my friends. This is where I learned that animals experience emotions, that they can be intelligent in a way separate from how humans classify intelligence, that they each have unique personalities, and most importantly, I learned how to be gentle and kind to them. (This is how some people, who come from rough backgrounds, learn to love.) It was from this seed, which was planted when I was very young, that took root and formed the basis of my great compassion for animal. It turned me into a vegetarian, then an animal activist, then an environmentalist, and now a vegan. And I think that even if the breeding of dogs and cats in harsh mills was to become banned within my lifetime, it would still be important for people to keep companion animals in their homes. Judging by the way things are now, how people seem to place dogs on a higher plane than cows or chickens, I’m willing to bet that puppy mills will vanish before factory farms do. And I think that the experience of interacting with animals will assist in educating people about the great mental and emotional capacity that animals posses. Of course, this lesson would be imperative in the movement towards the eradication of factory farms, and then slaughterhouses- the movement toward a vegan world.

Sources
1. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/media/pdf/radio_netherlands.pdf
2. http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/should-we-keep-pets
3. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/about/what-you-can-do-to-help-achieve-abolition/
I highly recommend that you visit the last link. It articulately describes the all the objectives of veganism, and is an excellent article to pass on to anyone who doesn’t understand your veganism.

If you see something you like here, please give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, Digg it, post it on a social media site, or pass it on to a friend! I’ve been using StumbleUpon to establish a reader base, so if you stumble upon this blog, please pass it on! Help me educate as many people as possible! :D

Earlier this month, the American Dietetic Association published an updated paper on vegetarian diets, citing that both well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are not only healthy, but also an excellent preventative measure for many life-threatening diseases. Healthy vegetarian and vegan diets have been approved by the ADA for all stages of life, including early childhood, pregnancy, and adolescence. They recognize that vegetarians and vegans often have lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and high amounts of important nutrients. The association even put in the effort to research the specifics on why all of this is true.

So, if someone ever tells you that your diet is unhealthy, be sure to send them this report.

P.S. Does anyone else think that PETA’s ad at Michael Jackson’s memorial went over people’s heads? Especially since I don’t think MJ was a vegetarian. Plus, was the bikini really necessary?

Moo?

This new article from Treehugger claims that attempts to present the argument that eating meat (albeit “ethically raised” “happy meat,”) is necessary to slow climate change. What the article does address is that ruminants (cows, bison, goats, etc) are a necessary part of the grassland ecosystem, providing the soil with a natural source of carbon. Lately, the carbon levels in the soil have decreased to merely a quarter or less of the carbon they once had. Allegedly, the carbon has switched phases from residing in the soil to residing in the atmosphere.

Ok, so cows need to roam free in their natural habitat. I don’t disagree with that.

The part that really offends me is that the author is implying that because the cows exist, we need to eat them, and that the cows only exist because there is a demand for them to exist. That is just not right. Cows existed in the wild ages before they were bred to serve “our needs” as a food source. Cows were placed on earth to fill a void in the ecosystem and to live for their own means. Because we’ve removed them from their natural habitat and bred them to best serve us as we feel we need them to, we have re-created the void. Furthermore, cows will not cease to exist if we stop eating them, just as apples wouldn’t cease to grow if we suddenly stopped picking them.

Additionally, the article is suggesting that we all switch to “organic,” grass-fed beef, which simply is not viable. The resources do not exist to produce the vast amount of beef that Americans consume every year in this manner. Meat is produced on factory farms for a reason- because that is the most economical means to produce the quantity of meat that is demanded. As long as Americans eat triple-bacon cheeseburgers and 21oz steaks, at least some of the meat will have to be obtained from factory farms, which are innately ethical and eco-disasters.

This post isn’t necessarily about veganism, but I feel that veganism and environmentalism go hand-in-hand.

Yesterday, I ordered a couple of books from Amazon.com for a summer reading assignment. The default for when you order multiple items is if they can get one item to you faster than another, they will ship the two items separately. Well, this seems to happen to me quite frequently that they split up my orders, despite a note I wrote them last time I ordered requesting an option for the order to be delayed and shipped together. Amazon thinks they are providing good customer service by shipping the parts of the order as fast as possible, and not charging additional shipping. As an environmentalist, however, I would much prefer to wait for my order to ship as one unit and spare the extra set of packaging, especially since the delay would usually be only a couple days.

My other complaint is that I often receive items packed in boxes much larger than the actual item I ordered, stuffed with that plastic balloon packaging stuff to fill the box. Amazon.com is a large enough company to be able to stock a variety of different sized boxes instead of just a couple sizes that they use for everything.

In short, I think that Amazon.com could make a huge impact if they cut back on their packaging. If every person, or even every other person who orders from Amazon.com had the same issues with their orders, you could take all of that “spare” packaging and fill landfills! (not to mention the extra gasoline burned to transport the packages from place to place.)

So, I have a request: please join me in writing Amazon.com to complain and suggest that they offer the option of holding the parcel until all items can be sent together. (They don’t even have to do that with every order- just offer the option!) That way, we can keep more CO2 out of the air, and more packaging out of the landfill, and if some people still want to receive the same rapid service they’ve come to love from Amazon, they can. And if you want to complain about the mis-sized packaging, be my guest.
Furthermore, if you order something and they ignore your request to lump the order together and use less packaging, be sure to leave feedback about your dissatisfaction! Tell your friends! The more people we can get in on this, the more likely it is that we’ll see a change!

This post shall serve two purposes:

The first is to present a product review,

and the second is to tell you what I’ve been eating.

The first thing I’d like to do is tell you how awesome Vegan Rella is. Vegan Rella is the best vegan cheese that I have found, and one of the few that I have found in local stores that doesn’t actually contain casein as a melting agent. (Casein is from milk, folks. That kind of defeats the purpose of making the product out of soy, but what do I know. Moral of story: make sure you read your labels!) This cheese substitute has more than satisfied myself and two other vegans, both of whom rejected Follow Your Heart, the brand that I see frequently recommended in magazines and on the web. (That might not seem like many, but how many vegans do you know personally?)

I sampled both the Cheddar and Mozzerella flavors. The Mozzerella was used in a vegan pizza. My roommate was visiting for the weekend and neither of us had had pizza since we had gone vegan together several months ago. We piled a (vegan) pre-made crust high with sauce, cheese, veggies, and spices, and created some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise! I used the rest of it to make a second pizza after she left, (recipe to follow). The flavor, although not spot on, is very close. As excited as I am that this cheese melts, I am not entirely satisfied with the way that it does melt- it seems to melt a little too much. I suggest letting your dish sit for a few minutes after cooking so the cheese can “set” a bit. The price, in my opinion, is completely reasonable- it cost about $3.50 at my local health food store, and they tend to run on the expensive side.

I used the Cheddar today in quesadillas, another food I hadn’t had since I became a vegan. I layered the shredded cheese on tortillas along with a few spoonfuls of refried beans. (Check to make sure they aren’t made with lard- I usually buy the Taco Bell brand, as they make a variety that is specifically labeled “vegetarian.” Otherwise, check the nutrition label. If it contains no fat or cholesterol, you are safe.) I folded the tortillas in half, and heated them in one pan while I sauteed peppers and onions in another. The meal was complete with some salsa on the side. The quesadillas were superb! Due to the consistency of the cheese, however, these were not finger food. I tried to eat them with my hands, but the cheese was so oozy that I got it all over my hands. The cheddar flavor was almost right on, and the quesadillas were better than the ones I used to eat as a lacto-ovo!

Now for part two: probably the best pizza I’ve ever put in my mouth! I call my creation “Bruschetta Pizza,” as it was inspired by the popular Italian appetizer.

Ingredients:
Vegan prepared pizza crust (or make your own- there is a great recipe in Sarah Kramer’s and Tanya Barnard’s Garden of Vegan)
Jarred, all natural pizza sauce
Vegan Rella Mozzerella flavor, about half a block
2 Roma Tomatoes
About a handful of fresh basil (we have about a 2 1/2 foot tall basil plant in our backyard, with leaves half the size of my hand!)
Several olives
Garlic, to taste (I didn’t measure it out, but I’m willing to bet I used several tablespoons of minced fresh garlic. I like my garlic!)
About half a medium onion

I spread a cup or so of sauce over the crust. I diced the onion and sprinkled half of it on top of the sauce. I shredded the cheese and sprinkled that evenly on top. I diced the tomatoes, sliced the olives, and chopped the basil, and spread all of this out on top of the cheese, along with the garlic and the rest of the onion. Then I baked the pizza according to the directions on the crust. I highly recommend letting the pizza sit a few minutes after removing it from the oven, to let the cheese solidify a little bit.

Enjoy!

On a final note, while on the topic of cheese substitutes, I would like to mention that I highly recommend the vegan mac and cheese recipe from the June 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. My roommate brought the recipe with her when she came to visit, and we tried it that night. It was quick and easy, and didn’t require any expensive or unusual ingredients, other than nutritional yeast. As my roommate described, it tasted quite like alfredo sauce. The recipe can be found here.

P.S. I am about to order some of the Chicago Soy Dairy’s Teese from veganessentials.com, so expect a review on that soon!

I had been curious about the premiere of the new ABC cartoon, The Goode Family, ever since I saw a blurb about it in Vegetarian Times a few months ago. The editors of the magazine recommended the show, a goofy portrayal of vegan activists, pointing out that it’s healthy to be able to laugh at ourselves, and commenting on how nice it is to see such socially and morally conscious characters on a mainstream television show. Well, when I read the paragraph, my gut reaction was that this would be a medium to mock and question the motives of the new, ever growing class of educated, compassionate, socially and environmentally aware activists of the new millenium. This is the ultra-conservative’s way of making himself feel better for not joining in on the movement.

It turns out I was right. I was extremely disappointed, even angered and frustrated, with the pilot. One shouldn’t be surprised, knowing that this cartoon was crafted by the same ultra-conservative creators of King of the Hill and brilliant minds as Beavis and Butthead. Should we be surprised that this series falls into the same category of mindless television?

However, instead of writing an angry letter to ABC urging them to pull the show, like I had originally planned, I decided to take a more proactive approach. I am going to post a review of each episode, pointing out and correcting all of the misconceptions and stereotypes of vegans and environmental activists, therefore using this feeble farce as a tool to educate people. I’d been intending to post this series for weeks. Unfortunately, I’ve waited so long that the pilot is no longer up on Hulu, so I have to begin my series with the second episode, at least until I can find the first out there in cyberspace.

So, without further ado . . .

The Goode Family, season 1, episode 2: Pleatherheads

In this episode, Ubuntu, much to his mother’s dismay, lands himself a spot on the football team, where he finally feels that he belongs. Helen gets so caught up in the spirit of the game that she forgets who she really is. Meanwhile, Bliss tries to improve her advantage for getting into a good college.

The first things I notice about this show are the unflattering portrayals of vegan activists. They’ve covered just about every unflattering stereotype I can think of. Gerald, the father, is your stereotypical male vegan: overly-skinny, weak (note his pitiful attempts at high fives) and so un-manly he’s practically asexual. Knowing so little about sports, he agrees to take his son to a “football rehearsal.” It is a complete falsehood to say that a man cannot be compassionate and strong. When a man chooses veganism, he makes a choice to do something better for himself and the world around him. This is a choice that makes him strong in both the physical and mental attributes. A vegan man who is eating a healthy diet can enjoy fuller functionality of his body, knowing that he can exercise and build muscle without having to worry about being crippled by self-induced heart disease (due to poor diet) and other lifestyle diseases. This gives them an edge over the competition. For a list of sucessful male (and female) vegan athletes, click here. Check out Vegan Athlete for more information on a healthy and active lifestyle.
A vegan man can be strong mentally and emotionally knowing that he has the confidence and assurance to be different, in doing something that may not be popular, but that certainly is beneficial for himself and the world. An added benefit: women love compassionate men!

Next is Ubuntu, the overly-emotional adopted son, who is portrayed as being very thick-headed. He lacks the ability to be able to think for himself, so he simply does whatever he is told to do. All he really wants is to be accepted. After Ubuntu flies into a frustrated rage because he lacks the arts and crafts skills that the rest of his family does, and the neighbors come by to recruit him to the football team. Despite Helen’s objections, he joins and finds happiness in his new hobby.
What stereotype do we have here? The mindless vegan. The activist who does something because some nonprofit group is telling them the should, or because their friends are doing it, because their favorite celebrity supports it, or because it appears to be a fad. The implication is that we don’t know what we’re doing or why we’re doing it, because we never took the time to research or think it out. While I have heard about plenty of high school girls adopting vegetarianism for this reason, I know that there are even more individuals who have consciously made the choice to go vegan or become an activist, having thouroughly researched the cause, knowing full well what is at stake and what they can do to help. Veganism is not a fad. It is a movement.
I know that when I became a vegetarian at the age of 11, I read all the books I could get my hands on, and surfed the web, learning about factory farming and the environmental destruction of the agricultural industry. I had ceased to eat meat because I was uneasy about feasting on the flesh of anything that could breathe the air or walk the earth, but I came away with a deeper understanding of the actions and consequences of slaughter and processing. I was old enough to understand the deeper implications of my choices. And I became a vegetarian for life. I have never ceased to be an educated eater and consumer, reading books, watching documentaries, and surfing web articles every chance to I get, to help me to more intelligently understand and communicate my viewpoint to the world.

The daughter, Bliss, is more or less of your typical rebellious teenager, with a touch of flower child. In this episode, however, she is easy to relate to, at least for me, being shown as a good student who just wants to get into a good college.

I equate her to a member of the sort of crowd that PETA’s youth campaign, peta2, is trying to speak to. The rebellious teenager, looking to do something, anything that is different and not widely accepted by society, just for the sake of being an individual. (Ironically enough, there are more than enough of them to base a stereotype around. Looks like you aren’t an individual, are you?) I am surprised that they don’t put more focus on the punk/scene vegans who have unnaturally colored hair, wear black all the time and are covered in tattoos. That’s what I percieved the prominent vegan stereotype to be, perpetuated by PETA and other sources. I guess I am a bit grateful to see less attention paid to this stereotype and more to others.

And finally, the character who bugs me the most, is Helen, the mother. She is overly rash, selfish, and easily swept away in the heat of the moment. She looses herself in nearly every episode. In this episode, she protests the idea of her son joining the football team, but when he joins anyway, she turns into a cut-throat, overly-competitive monster of a football mom. She became mad with football fandom so much so that when she heard about the sacrificial pig, she encouraged her husband to kill it, despite the fact that such an action would be contrary to their views.
This perpetuates the stereotype that vegans aren’t rational, and that we fly by the seat of our pants, doing what the moment calls for and not using any foresight or considering what the future consequences might be. For many of us, this is simply not true. We may have chosen our diet based on a concern for our future health, faced with family histories of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or other harsh and debilitating diseases, or we may have chosen it recognizing the strain that factory farming places on the environment, hoping to see a brighter world for our children and grandchildren.
The stereotype is also perpetuated that we don’t fully commit to our beliefs, that we’re only vegan “when it’s convenient” or when the moment calls for it, and that some situations warrant a more pragmatic approach. Again, for many of us, this is not true. I have not touched meat for 10 years, and dairy for almost 8 months. I do not eat turkey on Thanksgiving or dye eggs on Easter. Just because it is tradition to do these things does not change the fact that an animal had to suffer for the sake of the tradition.

Things they got right:
Gerald looked like he was getting a little sick when they were passing chili dogs in front of him during the game: The smell of certain meat products do make me feel sick, such as pork, beef, and the smell of cookouts. Largely, I am okay with people eating non-vegan food in front of me, however, there are certain foods I cannot stand to see eaten in front of me, such as ribs, or anything with a bone in it. A couple of weeks ago, while at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Washington DC with some friends, the friend who sat next to me, (who isn’t very adventurous with food btw,) ordered a prawn dish. When they brought it out, the prawns still had their heads, eyes and all! That was a little much for both of us.

The tailgating party was especially non-vegan friendly: Your traditional picnic is laden with unhealthy (and non-vegan) cholesterol and fat-laden foods. I have been to many a picnic where I could eat little more than chips and fruit salad. However, it doesn’t have to be that way! Check out this video to see how Compassionate Cook’s Colleen Patrick Goudreau throws a summer party, or this article to see how Emeril throws a “green” tailgating party. (Many of the recipes aren’t vegan, per se, but substitutes can be made so that some of them are. I was really excited when I saw this episode, because the vegetarian options looked so good!)

Lastly, just like Gerald and Ubuntu, I was shocked and horrified at the ritual of killing a pig to bring good fortune to the team on their homecoming. I certainly hope that no real team actually does participate in such a ritual.

And on a final, and completely unrelated note, may Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett rest in peace. May God bless both of them, their families, and their fans.

I had a great vegan dinner tonight . . . or, uh . . . last night. I (mostly) followed the recipe on the back of a box of tomato lentil couscous, by Near East. (Now that I look at it closely, I see that it has honey in it . . . so fail. However, something similar could be replicated by making couscous with sun dried tomatoes, a little celery, and lentils, and adding paprika, garlic, agave to replace the honey, and I believe a little tumeric and parsley- I think I saw something green, but all it says is “spices.”) I cooked up my couscous with vegetable broth instead of water, and it was so flavorful!

The recipe called for a cup of chopped red onions, 1 cup diced zucchini, 1 cup sliced carrots, a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of garbanzo beans. The first three ingredients are sauteed in olive oil for 5 minutes and then the tomatoes and beans added and cooked for another 3ish minutes. Then you serve atop of the couscous.

I was out of garbanzos, so I substituted a can of great northern beans. I also added a teaspoon of fresh, finely diced garlic with the first ingredients. It smelled so good! After spooning over top of my couscous, I crumbled some falafel on top of that. (Fantastic Foods boxed mix- that I know for sure is vegan!) It was fantastic, and I’ll certainly be making it again!

I would have taken a picture had I a digital camera. That in itself is a long story. For another day.